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P5DOS010.TIP
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1993-06-01
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Unless you've watched the screen as your disk defragger goes
to work, you might not have noticed a potential adverse
effect of upgrading to DOS 5.0: When you install the DOS 5.0
upgrade, the new versions of the DOS system files, IO.SYS
and MSDOS.SYS, are often stored in the physical middle of
the hard disk instead of at the beginning as they were in
earlier versions.
(They still appear in the root directory, as before, but
their physical locations on the disk platter may be
different.) Since the DOS system files come with their
read-only, hidden, and system attributes turned on, no disk
defragger will move them. This factor can prevent you from
completely optimizing your hard disk. But if you have The
Norton Utilities, you can use its Disk Tools program
(DISKTOOL.EXE) to move the new system files to the front of
the disk.
Boot your computer from a DOS 5.0 floppy, and run DISKTOOL.
Select "Make a Disk Bootable" from the menu. When the
program asks which disk you'd like to make bootable, select
C:. This technique relocates the system files so they are
the first entries on the hard disk.
Nicholas F. Champion
Costa Mesa, California
Editor's Note: Unlike earlier versions, MS-DOS 5.0 doesn't
require the system files to be the first two on the disk.
The advantage of this change is that DOS doesn't need to
push other files out of the way to make room for the new
system files during installation; instead, it can simply
store the system files wherever there's room. But as Mr.
Champion correctly points out, placing these "unmovable"
files in the middle of the disk can make life tough for a
disk organizer. You won't see any change in your directory
listings after using Mr. Champion's technique, and you'll
have the same amount of free space on your disk as before,
but your defragger won't have to work around two
inconveniently placed but unmovable files. Moving the system
files to the beginning (that is, the outside edge) of your
disk does more than facilitate defragging. It also makes
your system more reliable (the outermost tracks of a hard
disk are the least likely to fail) and helps it boot faster.
Norton's DISKTOOL is a foolproof way to accomplish this
task. But if you don't own The Norton Utilities, you may be
able to convince your favorite defragger to move the files
by removing their hidden, system, and read-only attributes.
From the root directory, issue the commands ATTRIB -R -S -H
IO.SYS and ATTRIB -R -S -H MSDOS.SYS to turn these
attributes off (the file names may vary with some
computer-specific packagings of MS-DOS). Then run the
defragger, instructing it to put the files MSDOS.SYS and
IO.SYS first. A few defraggers may still refuse to move the
files,but most will oblige. Once the files are moved, you
can restore their attributes with the commands ATTRIB +R +S
+H IO.SYS and ATTRIB +R +S +H MSDOS.SYS, again issued from
the root directory.
Title: Freeing DOS From Fragmentation
Category: DOS
Issue Date: September, 1992
Editor: Brett Glass
Supplementary Files: None
Filename: P5DOS010.TIP