Member of the Association of Shareware Professionals
(For up to date information onchanges in DasBOOT!, check the
README.DOC file on the distribution disk.)
INTRODUCTION
DasBOOT! is a reconfiguration/rebooting program written and compiled in
Microsoft QuickBASIC V.4.5. The user may select a configuration from a set
of AUTOEXEC.BAT & CONFIG.SYS files displayed on the screen. The program
then copies these files to AUTOEXEC.BAT & CONFIG.SYS and does a cold boot
of the computer. DasBoot! can handle up to 200 configurations.
DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT
Users of DasBOOT! must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
"DasBOOT! 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 DasBOOT!."
*********************************************
*WARNING, WARNING, WARNING, WARNING*
*********************************************
Before running any re-configuration program, such as DasBOOT!, it is
advisable to create a boot floppy disk that contains the current AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS files. If you have Stacker installed, then be sure to include
necessary lines as well in your CONFIG.SYS and path statement in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
Delayed-write disk caches may cause problems with DasBOOT! and
similar reconfiguration programs which copy files to your AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files and then cold boot the computer. If you have problems, you
must flush your cache's buffer and then disable the cache before running
DasBOOT!
DasBoot! tries to prevent any disk cacheing programs from causing any
problems by issuing a DOS interrupt call to flush all disk buffers before
rebooting, but this may not work on all disk caches.
DasBOOT! may be run from any directory of your bootable hard drive.
Copy DasBOOT.EXE, DASBOOT.CFG, and any configuration startup files (pairs
of BAT and SYS files) to a directory on the hard drive from which you
normally boot (usually C:).
*****DO NOT RUN DasBOOT! YET!*****
You must first configure it and edit the sample CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files!
NEVER RUN DasBOOT! FROM WITHIN MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.0 or 3.1 !!!
Always exit from Windows. Do not run DasBOOT! from within a DOS
session under Windows! If you do so, some data and program files may be left
open, and may be irreversibly damaged. Also, Window's TMP files will be left
on your hard drive and will eventually fill up your hard drive unless you
manually erase them. DasBOOT! does not check for the existence of files
which you specify in the DasBOOT.CFG file. No damage will be done, but no
reconfiguration will be done either.
INSTALLING DasBOOT!
After UnZIPing the DASBOOT.ZIP file, make a DASBOOT subdirectory on your
boot drive. (MD C:\DASBOOT) Copy these files to your DasBOOT! directory
DasBOOT.ZIP contains:
DASBOOT.DOC (This file)
DASBOOT.EXE The executable file
DASBOOT.CFG The ASCII configuration description
HISTORY.DOC Revision history
NORMAL.BAT An example AUTOEXEC.BAT type file
NORMAL.SYS An example CONFIG.SYS type file
FS4MEM.BAT An example AUTOEXEC.BAT type file
FS4MEM.SYS An example CONFIG.SYS type file
VANILLA.BAT An example AUTOEXEC.BAT type file
VANILLA.SYS An example CONFIG.SYS type file
README.DOC Up to date info not in printed docs.
SETTING UP DasBOOT!
1). The user must create or edit a file called DasBOOT.CFG using a word
processor or text editor which can save files in ASCII format. The file
contains three lines for each entry. Do not place any extra carriage returns
between entries.
The format is:
Line 1: The name of the configuration set of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
files. Example: NORMAL to indicate NORMAL.BAT and
NORMAL.SYS. The example files include FS4MEM.BAT and
FS4MEM.SYS, VANILLA.BAT and VANILLA.SYS. The user must
create the BAT and SYS files and name them and use this exact name in
the first line of each 3-line setup, 8 characters maximum. Be sure
that there are no extra spaces before or after the name.
Line 2: A short description, up to 32 characters.
Line 3: A secondary description, up to 80 characters.
There is a limit of 200 configurations in the DASBOOT.CFG file. You may
create longer files, but DasBOOT! will recognize only the first 200 entries.
2). Add the environment variable DASBOOT to your AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
Without this variable, DasBOOT! will not be able to find it's setup data file
and will ask you for the setup configuration every time it is run. Add the
following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the root directory of your boot
drive and in each of the files referenced in DASBOOT.CFG:
SET DASBOOT=[Drive:\Path]
(example: SET DASBOOT=C:\DASBOOT
Reboot your computer before continuing with the next step.
3. Add your \DASBOOT subdirectory to all of the path statements in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT type files.
4). If you are using Stacker by Stac Electronics, then add the necessary
lines for Stacker to every one of your SYS files, and add your Stacker path
to the BAT files as well. If you fail to do this, then your Stacker drives
will be unavailable after DasBOOTing.
5). Reboot the computer before attempting to run DasBOOT!
IMPORTANT! Before running DasBOOT! for the first time, backup your
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Optionally, copy them to new files
such as AUTOEXEC.XXX and CONFIG.XXX. I recommend also keeping a
backup on floppy disk.
It is recommended that you copy your normal, everyday startup files
into the NORMAL files above, and the bare-bones maximum memory
configuration startup files that you may now be using from a floppy to run
Flight Simulator or other memory hungry game or application into the FS4MEM files.
COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT NORMAL.BAT
COPY CONFIG.SYS NORMAL.SYS
COPY BAREBONE.BAT FS4MEM.BAT ; or AUTOEXEC.BAT instead of
BAREBONE.BAT from your floppy boot disk.
COPY BAREBONE.SYS FS4MEM.SYS ; or CONFIG.SYS instead of
BAREBONE.SYS from your floppy boot disk.
The example files are for example only! Do not run them! They may
crash your system and have you scrambling for your DOS floppy, if you did not
copy the files as suggested above.
Since you are unlikely to have the same hardware and software
configuration as I have, you will probably want to (and HAVE to) modify the
BAT and SYS files to suit your system, in order to access any drivers (mice,
scanners, memory managers, hard drive drivers, etc.). You may use any word
processor which can save in ASCII format, or other editor such as EDIT which
comes with DOS 5.0. If you create other configuration setup files, then edit
the DASBOOT.CFG as well, following the DasBOOT.CFG syntax for the information
in each line.
RUNNING DASBOOT!
To run DasBOOT!, exit Windows or any other shell type program that you
may be using. Log onto the drive and directory where you have installed the
DasBOOT! files. If you have added the environment variable
(SET DASBOOT=C:\DASBOOT) and added the DASBOOT subdirectory to your path,
then you can type DASBOOT at any DOS prompt. (For new computer users, the
command for changing directories is CD\DASBOOT).
Now run DasBOOT! by typing DasBOOT (and screaming DasBOOT! at the top
of your lungs. Just kidding, although my friends and I do this at work,
<smile> That kind of gives away that we are using Flight Simulator
again.), and pressing the Enter key. The first time that you run DasBOOT!,
you will be asked a few questions on the configuration of your computer. A
file called DASBOOT.DAT will be written to your DasBOOT subdirectory. Next,
you will be presented with a menu of options. Select one of the boot
configurations by either pressing a number key, or by using the arrow keys
(see note below on arrow keys) to highlight a configuration and pressing
Enter. The screen will clear and you will see the message:
"DasBOOTing in Progress...".
Although every attempt has been made to clear disk buffers before
DasBOOT! reboots the computer, DasBOOT! may not complete the file copying
before re-boot if you are using a write delay with a hard drive cache. The
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files may become corrupted, or the re-boot may
cause a lockup if there are incompatible drivers, or TSR's in the CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. If lockup occurs, you will have to boot off of a
floppy disk, and edit your startup files on the hard drive manually. If
DasBOOT! cannot complete the file copies before a boot occurs, then you must
first disable your cache before DasBOOT!ing.
OPTIONS
There are 4 options in DasBOOT! V.3.0:
1. You can change whether DasBOOT does a warm boot vs. a cold boot by
using the [F1] key. You will see the [F1] key prompt at the bottom of
the screen change based on your selection. A warm boot does not go
through the POST error checking built into the BIOS and so is slightly
faster than a cold boot.
2. You may decide to do a reconfiguration without rebooting the computer.
This option, I call the 'MIDNIGHT KEY', is for times when you wish to
reconfigure the computer for other users such as less experienced
members of the family, but are about to turn off the computer and go to
bed. The next time the computer is turned on, it will boot into the
new configuration. With this option, you do not have to sit through a
reboot before shutting off for the night. The [F2] key toggles this
option and current staus is reflected at the bottom of the screen.
3. The [F3] key may be used to run the setup program, where the user
can change the paths to stacker or DasBOOT! or change the default
boot type to be a warm boot or cold boot.
4. You can run DasBOOT! from the command line without using the menu if
you know the names of the SYS and BAT files that you want to use. Just start
DasBOOT! from the command line and include the name of the SYS and BAT files.
Example: If the user has files called NORMAL.BAT and NORMAL.SYS in his/her
\DASBOOT subdirectory, then the user may type:
DASBOOT NORMAL [Enter]
to have DasBOOT! reconfigure and reboot without entering the menu.
5. The [F4] key can be used in the unRegistered version to print a
Registration Form.
ABOUT STACKER
DasBOOT has been tested with Stacker V.2.00, and V.3.00 by STAC
Electronics Inc. Stacker does not make any physical changes to the hard drive.
It creates a file on the hard drive called STACVOL.DSK. Within this file is
stored the data from the hard drive in compressed form. DOS assigns a new
drive letter for accessing the virtual drive created by the Stacker driver.
The compressed drive is the Stacker drive and the new uncompressed drive
(called the host drive) takes on the next available drive letter. If you
modify your configuration, such as adding or removing ramdrives or other disk
drivers, and re-boot, then the name of the uncompressed drive name will change.
The uncompressed boot drive contains AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS files as well
as any TSR's that existed on the original boot disk. Stacker must keep both
the compressed image of these files the same as the files on the uncompressed
drive. If the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS changes on the compressed drive,
then Stacker must update the uncompressed drive as well. For this reason,
it is necessary for DasBOOT! to determine the name of the uncompressed drive
and copy the new AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files there as well. Upon
rebooting, if Stacker detects the change, it will update the files to both
compressed and uncompressed drives, and an additional reboot is necessary.
DasBOOT! takes this into account and copies the new files to both the Stacker
drive as well as the uncompressed drive. This eliminates the extra reboot
that Stacker would normally require. The mechanism for doing this is to run
the STACKER.EXE program, and sends the results to a file called STACKER.DAS
on the compressed boot drive (usually C:). The files is parsed and DasBOOT!
determines the assigned drive letter to the uncompressed boot drive. The
STACKER.DAS file that DasBOOT! created is erased. Lastly, the new
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files are written to both drives before issuing
a cold boot instruction.
If you did not Stack the boot drive of your computer, then DasBOOT!
will copy the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files to the boot drive only. It
is very important, before running DasBOOT! on a Stacked hard drive, that ALL
renamed AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files referred to in the DASBOOT.CFG file
contain the necessary STACKER lines as well as the path statement to the
STACKER directory. If this is not adhered to, then file damage may result or
you may be unable to access your hard drive. In this case, you must boot from
a floppy disk containing the STACKER lines in the CONFIG.SYS file.
You may create a DASBOOT subdirectory on your host drive (the uncompressed
drive), and copy all of the DasBOOT! files there including your BAT and SYS
files. If you should inadvertantly boot up without Stacker loaded, then you
will be able to DasBOOT! back, with one limitation: Stacker does not
actually use the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the host drive, but instead uses the
AUTOEXEC.BAT on the compressed (Stacked) drive. And so, the first execution
of DasBOOT! from this situation will give you a mixed AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS. DasBOOT! once more and the problem will be corrected! And
then be sure to add the Stacker lines to ALL of the CONFIG.SYS type files!
For further information on Stacker, consult your Stacker manual.
HISTORY/Bug Fixes in DasBOOT!:
V.1.1 Although the program was written to recognize the up and down
arrow keys of 101-key enhanced keyboards, some keyboards may
required that the NUM LOCK and the CapsLock key be off for the
arrow keys on enhanced keyboards to work. DasBOOT! now turns
them both off at the start of the program.
V.1.2 Highlight was not selecting the whole line in V.1.0 and V.1.1,
and caused an unusual screen display.
V.1.3 DOS interrupt call added which dumps the DOS disk buffers.
V.1.4 DasBOOT! is made "Stacker Aware". Stacker is a trademark/copyright
of STAC Electronics. This version was not publicly released. It
was only released for beta testing.
V.1.5 Modifications were made to allow DasBOOT! to exist in a directory
which is different from the root directory of the boot drive.
This version has also been made "Stacker Aware". It has only be
tested withStacker V.2.00. This version was not released to the
public.
V.1.6 Additional error checking added to look for errors in DASBOOT.CFG.
V.1.7 Mouse support added. Not released to public.
V.1.8. Increased configurations to 200. Eliminated "Last Config" option.
V.1.9 Trimmed leading and trailing spaces from data read from
DASBOOT.CFG file.
V.2.0 Three new options: a) Cold vs. Warm boot, b) Copy files with no boot,
c) Change Setup.
V.2.1 Registration reminder added to screen.
V.2.2 Command line option added.
V.3.0 Compatibility with Stacker 4.0 added.
DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE
Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it.
If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to
register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration
while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With DasBOOT!,
registration for individual users is $10.00 in U.S. funds. Non-U.S.
registrants, please use an International Postal Money Order available from
your Post Office and include an additional $3.00 for shipping.
This pricing may change in future releases, as features are added.
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and
the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as
stated below.
Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial
authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there
are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of
distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute
the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example,
some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may
copy their Shareware.
Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should
find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial
or Shareware. 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 need to register/license it.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING
1. DasBOOT! won't configure and gets stuck in a loop asking for setup
parameters: Check that you have added both the path statement and the
environment variable statement to your AUTOEXEC.BAT files (all *.BAT files
listed in your DASBOOT.CFG file). Check that the paths are correct and
reboot your computer before trying to run DasBOOT!. It may be necessary
to type the SET DASBOOT=C:\DASBOOT command at the DOS prompt to
correct this error. At the DOS command prompt (C:\>), type SET [Enter] to
verify that the environment variable SET DASBOOT=C:\DASBOOT is set
correctly. You may need to increase your environment size in your
CONFIG.SYS files if your configuration contains many SET variable
parameters and a long path. See the section on the SHELL command in your
DOS manual on how to increase the environment size.
2. DasBOOT! indicates that there is an error in the DASBOOT.CFG file or
doesn't copy the new SYS and BAT files to the files in the root of the boot
drive: Check the file with a word processor or editor that can show control
characters and blank spaces. If there are extra characters in the line
naming the BAT and SYS files, then an error will occur.
3. Why doesn't DasBOOT! have a built-in editor? In all likelyhood, you already have a least a word processor on your system and possibly other text editors
as well (EDLIN with all versions of DOS and EDIT with MS-DOS 5.0 for
example). DasBOOT! is kept smaller by not "re-inventing the Wheel". (The
exceptions to the re-inventing the Wheel are, of course, my shareware games,
EGAWHEEL, VGAWHEEL, and WINWHEEL).
DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT
Users of DasBOOT! must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
"DasBOOT! 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
DasBOOT!."
DasBOOT! is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the
user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but 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 DasBOOT! and continue to use DasBOOT! after a reasonable
trial period, you must make a registration payment of $10.00 to
Russell Mueller. The registration fee will license one copy for use on any
one computer at 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.
Commercial users of DasBOOT! must register and pay for their copies
of DasBOOT! within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn.
Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Russell Mueller. The
registration price for commercial users is $10.00 per user.
Anyone distributing DasBOOT! for any kind of remuneration must first
contact Russell Mueller at the address below for authorization.
You are encouraged to pass a copy of the shareware version of
DasBOOT! along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to
register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users
will receive software support via mail, free upgrades/fixes for 3 months from
date of registration, as upgrades are made available, and a printed manual.
