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════════════════════════════
D i s k - R W
(Disk Read/Write)
════════════════════════════
(c) Copyright 1989,1993 by Klaus Hartnegg
Kleist-Str. 7
D-7835 Teningen
Germany
All rights reserved
current with version 2.37
C o n t e n t s
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Usage 5
3.1 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 Sample batch files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Technical Notes 9
4.1 Default Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3 Using the /Relaxed-option . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.4 A note for Unix users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 General Information 11
5.1 Revision History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 Known Bugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.3 Future Plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.4 Included Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Legal Stuff 13
6.1 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 Registering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2
1 Introduction
DiskRW is a VERY FAST floppy disk processing program for
various purposes:
- copy disks in one pass (i.e. you need to insert each disk
only once)
- mass disk duplication (one source, multiple destinations)
- store contents of disks in image files and create exact disk
copies by writing such files back to disks
and lots more (see list of features below).
DiskRW's main main features are it's high speed and compatibility
with non standard floppy controllers and disk formats, see
chapter 1.2
1.1 Quick Start
If you don't want to read the whole manual, just execute the
program with no arguments on the command line. This will display
a few examples. Be sure to configure DiskRW for all disks that
you are using, since it needs this to run at high speed.
You can skip the first and last config pass by pressing Escape.
1.2 The Speed
A precise timing will make sure that DOS doesn't spend ages in
unnecessary timing loops. This will speed up disk access typically by
a factor of 1.5 to 2.
While being extraordinary fast, it is still 100% compatible. DiskRW
has proved to work without any problems even on floppy disk drives
installed with driver.sys! If the high speed processing fails
completely, the worst thing that can happen is that DiskRW runs
slower. Created copies will work correctly.
1.3 Applications
There are many useful applications of DiskRW:
- copy disks with a speed that you never believed to be possible
- copy disks with inserting source and destination disk only once
- create multiple copies of one source disk with inserting
the source disk only once
- store the image of several disks on your hard disk to write
them back to disks sometime later
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- archive images of several disks on larger capacity disks, tape
drive, cartridge, etc. You can even compress the disk images with
you favorite compressor program before storing them thus saving a
lot of disks.
- send disks via network/modem. The receiver of an image file can
create an exact copy of the original disk
- write the image of a 5.25" disk to a (larger capacity) 3.5"
disk without reformatting. The result will be an exact 1:1
copy, DOS is not able to tell the difference!
Besides the really high speed, DiskRW has several more
interesting features:
- automatically switch to format mode if necessary
- completely user-configurable: you can store frequently needed
options in a configuration file
- detects automatically the presence of DESQview and can be run in
a small window or in the background on 80286 and even on 8086
computers
- the unregistered version is not crippled in any way,
i.e. you can immediately use all the features listed above
- you can get the registered version for only 30 DM (approximately
US $20)! (VISA and Mastercard accepted)
2 Shareware
Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. The Shareware
system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you
buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has
the ultimate money-back guarantee - if you don't use the product, you
don't pay for it.
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Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the
copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as
stated below. The main difference is in the method of distribution. The
shareware author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the
software.
The shareware system and the continued availability of quality shareware
products depend on YOUR willingness to register and pay for the software
that you use. It's the registration fees YOU pay which allows to support
and continue to develop such products!
3 Usage
3.1 Installation
Before using DiskRW you should take a few minutes to install it. It will
also work when you do not do this but it will not reach full speed!
During installation DiskRW will determine the optimum disk access
parameters for every combination of drive type and disk capacity. It will
store these parameters in a configuration file (DISKRW.CFG).
If DiskRW can not find this configuration file, it will set both
parameters to 0. It will work correctly with these values and produce
correct disk copies but it will run slower.
To install DiskRW just run it with the /i (=install) option once for
every disk drive and disk type that you are using. Example: if you have
two disk drives (A: and B:) and are using 360k and 1.2MB disks in drive A:
and 720k disks in drive B: then you have to issue the command
DISKRW /i A: two times and DISKRW /i B: once. If you are asked to insert
the disk, insert once a formatted 360k and once a 1.2M disk into drive A:
and a formatted 720k disk into drive B:.
It is not important in which order you install the different drives and
disk types. You can also install additional drives or disk types or
re-install already installed ones at any time. If you forgot which ones
are already installed just look into the configuration file DISKRW.CFG.
It's a plain ASCII file.
During installation DiskRW will read the full disk several times. The
first and last run are only to show you the speed difference. They can be
aborted by pressing the ESC-key without any negative effect on the
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parameter determination. This will save about a minute. The parameter
determination alone will take between one and two minutes.
The two time values displayed during installation should lay between 6
and 9. If you get higher numbers, you might have a slow computer or slow
disk controller. In this case try installing again with the
/quiet-option. If this results in less total time for the last run and
smaller parameters, you should make /quiet a default option (see
section 3.1 on page 9).
Make sure that you do not have a multitasker running such as
Quarterdecks DESQview or Microsofts Windows when installing DiskRW since
it will then determine and store wrong parameters. Also do not press the
pause key or pop up any TSR programs while the initializing process is
running. You can safely abort at any time by pressing Ctrl-C or Break.
3.2 Syntax
Syntax : DiskRW [options] source [destination]
Parameters in brackets are not always needed.
To read the contents of a disk and save them in a file specify the disk
drive (followed by a colon) as source and the filename as destination.
For writing an image file to a disk specify the filename as source and
the disk drive as destination.
To install DiskRW specify the /i (install) option and only one disk drive
letter (followed by a colon).
The next version of DiskRW will also accept disk drives both as source
and destination. This will result in a temporary file or expanded memory
being used to store the disk image.
Examples:
DiskRW A: C:\Temp\floppy.dsk (read disk to image file)
DiskRW C:\Temp\floppy.dsk A: (write image file back to disk)
DiskRW /i A: (install DiskRW for the disk in A:)
3.3 Options
Options can be specified anywhere on the command line: before, after or
in between the arguments. They are not case sensitive. Every option has
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to be preceded by the switch character (usually '/', but you can change
this, see section 3.4 on page 10).
Every option can be made a default option (though this might not be
useful for all options). See Section 3.1 on page 9.
List of all options:
F: Format and verify destination before writing
Format and verify every track before writing the data.
If you know for sure that the disk is unformatted, you should also
specify the /Overwrite-option (see below). Otherwise DiskRW will
test whether or not the disk contains data what will take a few
seconds on an unformatted disk.
A: Autoform
switch to format mode only if necessary
O: Overwrite without warning
Usually DiskRW will beep and ask for permission to overwrite
non-empty disks or already existing files.
If you use the O-option, DiskRW will overwrite already existing
data without warning. WARNING: Use this option with care!!
R: Relaxed size test (write only)
Usually compares the capacity of the disk being written to with the
one the image file was created from and aborts if they are not
identical.
If you specify the r-option you can write the image of a 360k disk
to a 3.5" 720k disk for use on a system with only 3.5" disk
drives.
You can also write the image of a disk with the old (larger) size
back to such a (now smaller) disk sometime later.
C: Compare mode (NOT YET IMPLEMENTED)
This will cause DiskRW not to copy but to compare the specified disk
and image file. You can expect DiskRW to contain this option in the
very near future since I am already working on it.
Nx: set number of copies (NOT YET IMPLEMENTED)
For use together with the copy mode (that is also not yet
implemented).
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I: Installation
Use this to teach DiskRW the drive parameters and speed of your disk
drives with all different disk capacities. These parameters will be
stored in the configuration file DISKRW.CFG. They are needed to
achieve maximum speed.
When using the init mode specify only one disk drive and enter a
formatted disk into this drive.
B: use Bios for screen output
Use this option on not 100% compatible computers if you otherwise
can not see the screen output. Usually DiskRW writes directly to the
memory of the video card since this is much faster.
Possible problem: Bios screen output is much slower and accessing
the disk in the way DiskRW does this is very time critical. Even a
small additional delay may cause an enormous slow down of DiskRW. If
this happens you should also use the /Quiet switch.
Q: Quiet, no screen output while copying
If you have a slow computer or are using the /Bios-option, you
should try whether DiskRW runs faster if you specify this option. If
this is the case you should make this a default option (see
Section 3.1 on page 9)
E: English screen output
this is the default, but read also the description of the D-option
below
D: German screen output
DiskRW will automatically switch to German screen output if you have
set the country code to 49 with the line country=49 in your
CONFIG.SYS-file.
The next version of DiskRW will also come with German documentation
(in addition to, not instead of the english one!)
Pn=x: set parameter n to x (n=1 or 2)
Usually DiskRW will read the disk timing parameters from its
configuration file DISKRW.CFG. However if you want to use other
values just for a few disks without modifying the
configuration file, you can specify them with this option.
Example: /p1=1 /p2=3
T: set number of tracks
Usually DiskRW will determine the number of tracks to copy by
reading these numbers from the disks boot sector. This will work
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with all standard DOS disks. With this option you can force DiskRW
to process a different number of tracks.
Warning: this option is dangerous! Use it only if you know precisely
what you are doing since it can make a disk unusable!
S: set number of sectors
Same as /t except it affects the number of sectors instead the
number of tracks. Same warning applies here too!
3.4 Sample batch files
I have included two sample batch files to automate two common
applications of DiskRW:
DiskRW1 will create one copy each of one or more source disks
Syntax: DiskRW1 [options] source destination
Example: DiskRW1 A: B:
DiskRW2 will create multiple copies of one source disk
Syntax: DiskRW2 [options] drive
Example: DiskRW2 B:
All specified options will be passed to DiskRW. Make sure that the file
DISKRW.EXE can be found either in the current directory or in one listed
in your path variable (please read a DOS manual if it doesn't work and
you don't know what the path variable is).
4 Technical Notes
4.1 Default Options
You can easily specify default options to be used automatically every
time you execute DiskRW. Just write them into a file with the name
DISKRW.OPT and place this file either in the current directory or in the
same directory as DISKRW.EXE.
In this file the options must not be preceded by the switch character
('/' or '-') but they have to be separated by each other with blanks.
You can use any word processor to create this file. Just make sure to
save it as plain ASCII file. Alternatively you can also create it with
this command: ECHO (your default options here) > DISKRW.OPT
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4.2 Compatibility
DiskRW can read and write any type of floppy disks including but not re-
stricted to the most common ones: 360 kByte, 720 kByte, 1.2 MByte and
1.44 MByte. I haven't tried 2.88 MB disks yet but they should work too.
It will also work with disks having an unusual number of tracks and/or
sectors such as 820k 5.25" disks. However formatting of some of these
non-standard disk formats might not be possible (formatting 720k and
820k 5.25" disks does work!).
4.3 Using the /Relaxed-option
Writing the image of a disk with higher capacity to a smaller one will only
work if the disk was once formatted to higher capacity but then the image
of a smaller disk was written onto it.
Writing the image of a smaller disk to a larger one should always work.
However: capacity alone is not the really important item. The destination
disk has to be formatted with the same or higher number of tracks,
sectors, sides and the number of bytes per sector. If only one of theses
numbers is smaller it will fail.
4.4 A note for Unix users
This program will usually accept both
a) '/' and '-' as switch character (to start an option)
b) '\' and '/' as path separator
But: you can not start a filename with '/'.
However if you have your switch character variable set to a different
value than the default (the default is '/', changing it is not possible
any more with Dos 5) then
a) your value OR '-' can be used as switch character (or only '-' if
this is your value)
b) filenames are allowed to start with '/'
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5 General Information
5.1 Revision History
1.2 translated program and documentation to english
1.3 added /r (relaxed) option for disks with different capacity
1.4
- speed increase by factor of 1.5-2 by using other DOS interrupt
- Break and Ctrl-C detection
2.0 (29-July-1991)
- combined the two programs DiskRead and DiskWrite to one executable
that is only slightly larger than the old DiskWrite
- DiskRW will now also work with all disk drives installed with a
device=driver.sys statement in the CONFIG.SYS file.
2.1 (8-Aug-1991)
- user has now the choice to abort or retry on disk errors
- better Ctrl-Break handler, previous one flushed keyboard buffer
- several more error traps
- bypassing BIOS for screen output for higher speed on slow computers
- added options Bios and Quiet for compatibility
- circumventing a bug of MS-DOS that causes a delay when the data
buffer passes a 64k barrier
2.12 α (13-Aug-1991)
- using optimized disk access for higher speed
- further speed increase
- options /s1 and /s2 for tests
2.2 (5-Sep-1991)
- enormous speed increase by using precise timing of disk accesses
- removed /force switch, use /relax instead
2.3 (11-Oct-1991)
- read parameters from file DISKRW.CFG
- new options /Format and /Autoformat
- renamed /s to /p (parameters)
- new options /Tracks and /Sectors
2.31 (26-Oct-1991)
- forgot to include the sample batch files in previous release
- /q was not handled properly if used together with /i
- included possibility to skip two non-vital installation steps by
pressing ESC
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2.32 (6-Nov-1991)
- /o (overwrite) option affected only overwriting of disks, will now
work with image files too.
- formatting of 5.25" 720k disks possible now
2.33 (06-Feb-1992)
- formatting is much faster now: formatting, writing and verifying a
5.25 HD takes 106 seconds now versus 133 seconds in version 2.32.
This is now very close to the absolute minimum that the hardware
allows!
- if DESQview is present, write directly to its screen buffer
- if running in compatibility box of OS/2 don't reset disk after
writing with the /r option (OS/2 doesn't support IOCTL)
- a few more error traps
2.34 (14-Apr-1992)
- only the docs have changed
5.2 Known Bugs
DiskRW will run extremely slow in the compatibility(?) box of OS/2. This
is not an error of DiskRW but rather a communication problem between DOS
and OS/2. Better don't use DiskRW in this penalty(!) box. I haven't tried
yet with OS/2 2.0 - maybe this is corrected there.
This one is not really a bug, but also a restriction: DiskRW will not run
with DOS prior to version 3.0. With versions prior to 3.2 it will run but
it can't tell DOS that the disk has changed after writing. It will notify
you that you have to remove and re-insert the disk before accessing it.
If you find one more problem please tell me so and I will try to solve it!
5.3 Future Plans
- easier disk copy
move all functionality from the sample batch files into the program
itself, i.e. "DISKRW A: B:" will copy directly from A: to B:
- use extended memory
- new option /n=x: set the number of copies
- new option /c: compare image file with disk
- higher speed when running in a multitasker without affecting other
tasks more than necessary
- german documentation
You can encourage me to spend much more time on the further development
of this program by paying the registration fee!
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5.4 Included Files
DISKRW .DOC this documentation
DISKRW .EXE executable
DISKRW1 .BAT sample batch: create one copy each of several disks
DISKRW2 .BAT sample batch: create multiple copies of one disk
ORDER .FRM order form
HARTNEGG.LST list of all my shareware programs
VENDOR .DOC contains informations for disk vendors and BBS operators
6 Legal Stuff
All trademarks mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.
6.1 License
Users of DiskRW must accept this disclaimer of warranty: DiskRW is
supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or
implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of
merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no
liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from
the use of DiskRW.
DiskRW is a "shareware program" and thus not free. It is fully
protected by international copyright laws.
You are free to copy and distribute DiskRW as long as all files belonging
to it are distributed together and are not modified in any way. You are
encouraged to pass a copy of DiskRW along to your friends for evaluation.
If possible please distribute the original ZIP archive. Please do not
give it away altered or as part of another system.
The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal
computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to
provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products.
If you find this program useful and find that you are using DiskRW and
continue to use DiskRW after a reasonable trial period, then you are both
under legal and moral obligations to make a registration payment to Klaus
Hartnegg Shareware (see separate file ORDER.FRM for a registration form,
VISA card accepted!).
The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at
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any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example
is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be
freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is
no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at
another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the
same time.
You must never give the key-file away (see below). This file is proof of
your registration and contains your name and a serial number.
Commercial users of DiskRW must register and pay for their copies of
DiskRW within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn.
Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Klaus Hartnegg
Shareware.
Anyone distributing DiskRW for any kind of remuneration must first
contact Klaus Hartnegg Shareware at the address below for authorization.
This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors
recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware
distributors, and such distributors may begin offering DiskRW immediately
(However Klaus Hartnegg Shareware must still be advised so that the
distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of DiskRW).
6.2 Registering
To register complete the file ORDER.FRM, print and mail it to my address
below.
With registration, you get the right to continue using the software and
free technical support by mail or e-mail. Also within one or two weeks
you will receive a diskette with
- the key-file(s) for the program(s) that you registered (if any of
my programs finds its corresponding key-file it will not display the
annoying shareware reminder any more)
- the current version of this program that may already include some or
all of the features listed above in section "Future Plans"
- unregistered versions of all programs that I am currently
distributing as shareware
Please note that the key file system means that you get FREE UPDATE to
ALL future versions since the key-files will not only work for the
present, but also for all future versions of the same program!!
The technical support will answer questions and fix serious bugs. For
problems involving a specific hardware or software environment or
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feature, I may choose not to modify the program. In that case, if the
problem is reported within three months after purchase, I will refund the
price.
---------------------------------------
Klaus Hartnegg Shareware
Kleist-str. 7
D-7835 Teningen
Germany
This software is under development. Error reports and other comments are
welcome. Please do not hesitate to use electronic mail for communication.
Send e-mail to "hartnegg@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de" (this address may
be valid only until end of 1993)
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