In Windows NT, a workgroup is a collection of computers that appears, for convenience, under the same workgroup name when you browse network resources. Belonging to a common workgroup is a way for coworkers to quickly find each other’s computers on the network. When you browse the network, the names of all the computers in your workgroup appear first in the browsing directory. Any computer can join any single workgroup. You can join an existing workgroup or create a new one simply by typing a workgroup name. Windows NT Setup will accept almost any workgroup name you choose, including the default WORKGROUP. The only workgroup name you cannot use is the name you gave to your computer.

A domain is a collection of computers defined by the administrator of a Windows NT Server network. A domain provides the same convenience for network browsing and also provides access to the centralized user accounts and group accounts maintained by the domain administrator. Unlike a workgroup, a domain must already exist for you to join it. Joining a domain usually requires that the domain administrator add an account for your computer to the domain. If the administrator has given you the correct privileges, however, you can create your computer account during installation. Check with your administrator to see how your account will be created.

If you do not know the domain name for your computer and you want to finish running Setup without this information, you can select the Workgroup option and then type any workgroup name. After running Setup, you can join a domain or change the workgroup name by double-clicking the Network icon in Control Panel.