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Text File  |  1987-07-30  |  3KB  |  55 lines
  1.           DISKPREP                                  Jeff Prosise
  2.           Command                                    l986/No. 21
  3.  
  4.           ______________________________________________________
  5.  
  6.           Purpose:  Permits making a floppy disk self-booting
  7.                     even if the DOS "system" files were omitted
  8.                     when the disk was formatted and program files
  9.                     have subsequently been added to it.
  10.  
  11.           Format:   DISKPREP [d:]
  12.                          followed by:
  13.                     SYS [d:] (a DOS command)
  14.                     COPY COMMAND.COM [d:] (a DOS command)
  15.  
  16.           Remarks:  In addition to having a copy of COMMAND.COM,
  17.                     diskettes formatted with the /S (system)
  18.                     option contain the two "hidden" files,
  19.                     IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM, as the first two
  20.                     entries in the disk directory.  (The clusters
  21.                     for IBMBIO.COM must be contiguous.)  A non-
  22.                     system disk stores regular files in the areas
  23.                     where the "system" files must reside if the
  24.                     disk is to be self-booting.
  25.  
  26.                     DISKPREP relocates clusters currently used by
  27.                     non-system files to other areas on the disk,
  28.                     updating the disk directory and file
  29.                     allocation table accordingly.  After running
  30.                     DISKPREP, the DOS SYS command can install the
  31.                     hidden system files in their proper
  32.                     locations, and the DOS COPY command can be
  33.                     used to put COMMAND.COM on the disk.
  34.  
  35.                     DISKPREP does not support high-density (1.2
  36.                     megabyte) diskettes, 3 1/2-inch disk
  37.                     cartridges, or hard disks.  However, provided
  38.                     sufficient room remains on the disk, DISKPREP
  39.                     can be used to upgrade the DOS version on a
  40.                     self-booting disk.  Attempting to replace a
  41.                     later DOS version with an earlier (lower
  42.                     numbered) one is not recommended.
  43.  
  44.                     Notes:
  45.  
  46.                     1.   DISKPREP should not be used on floppy
  47.                          disks that already contain
  48.                          subdirectories.
  49.  
  50.                     2.   Since copy-protected disks often employ
  51.                          non-standard sectoring for their own
  52.                          purposes, DISKPREP is not recommended
  53.                          for use on such disks.
  54.  
  55.