What Files Are Needed to Uninstall Windows NT Service Pack (173877)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q173877

SYMPTOMS

If you applied a Windows NT 4.0 service pack from a network share, you may not be able to uninstall the service pack.

CAUSE

This may occur if loss of network connectivity has made Update.exe or the service pack executable (that is, nt4sp3_i.exe) inaccessible because it resides on another server.

RESOLUTION

NOTE: In order to uninstall the Windows NT service pack, the option to create an uninstall directory must have been chosen during the application of the service pack and the %SystemRoot%\$NTServicePackUninstall$ must exist.

If the service pack was installed from the self-installing file (for example, the Service Pack 3 executable file is called nt4sp3_i.exe), perform the following steps:

  1. From the system that contains the nt4sp3_i.exe executable file, extract the files to a directory by typing the following from an MS-DOS command prompt:
    nt4sp3_i.exe

    This will expand all the Service pack files without installing them.
  2. Copy the files Update.exe, License.txt, and Update.inf to a floppy disk.
  3. Run Update.exe from the floppy disk on the Windows NT system you want to uninstall the service pack from, and you will be prompted with the option to uninstall the service pack.
If the service pack was installed from a previously extracted service pack directory on another server, perform the following steps:

  1. Copy the files Update.exe, License.txt, and Update.inf to a floppy disk.
  2. Run Update.exe from the floppy disk on the Windows NT system you want to uninstall the service pack from, and you will be prompted with the option to uninstall the service pack.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/9/2001
Keywords:kbsetup KB173877
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.