FORMAT/DOS/DUP/RAMDISK IN 1 OPERATION¢ by ALEX PIGNATO, member of THE OL'¢ HACKERS ATARI USERS GROUP, Inc. NY¢¢ BOTH of these programs will be found¢ on this disk!¢¢ If you are like me, You hate to¢ have to do the necessary typing to¢ FORMAT a new disk, prior to using it.¢ Its a drudgery that must be done on¢ each new disk. Wouldn't you like to¢ FORMAT, add DOS.SYS, DUP.SYS, and¢ RAMDISK.COM to your disks all in one¢ operation, and at the same time, just¢ handle the disk once? Sounds too good¢ to be true? Here is how you can do¢ it, BUT, ONLY IF YOU HAVE TWO DISK¢ DRIVES!. ¢¢ On this disk will be found a¢ program called FORMDOS1.OBJ, which¢ has all the commands to do the job,¢ simply and very efficiently. To use¢ it, load a DOS.SYS disk, and then¢ copy RAMDISK.COM on this disk. Then¢ type [E] (RENAME) and then rename¢ FORMDOS1.OBJ to AUTORUN.SYS.¢¢ Now, before you load and boot the¢ disk with the new AUTORUN.SYS (the¢ renamed FORMDOS.OBJ) in DRIVE #1, put¢ in a blank unformatted disk in DRIVE¢ #2, then boot up the disk with the¢ new AUTORUN.SYS in DRIVE #1, then sit¢ back and watch the fun. Do not do¢ anything more at this point.¢¢ The screen will quickly give you¢ a warning that this program is about¢ to FORMAT, add DOS/DUP & RAMDISK.COM¢ on DRIVE #2.¢¢ The drive will go on and the¢ disk in DRIVE #2 will first be¢ FORMATTED, then DOS.SYS and DUP.SYS¢ will be added, then RAMDISK.COM will¢ also be added. This will all be done¢ without you doing any typing.¢¢ Following the above, DRIVE #1¢ will automatically activate, and the¢ DANGER WARNING that the program is¢ about to FORMAT, add DOS/DUP &¢ RAMDISK.COM to DRIVE #2, will be¢ printed on screen. You now have a few¢ seconds to take out the disk in DRIVE¢ #2, which has been FORMATTED etc.¢ TURN IT OVER (be sure disk has been¢ NOTCHED), and insert (side 2) the new¢ blank unformatted disk in DRIVE #2.¢ DO NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE!¢¢ Once again sit back and watch¢ the new disk being FORMATTED, with¢ DOS/DUP, and RAMDISK.COM put on the¢ disk, and all done without any typing¢ on your part.¢¢ This process will go on as long¢ as you keep feeding blank unformatted¢ disks in DRIVE #2. When you want to¢ stop the procedure, all you do is hit¢ [RESET] when the DANGER etc. etc.¢ sequence comes on screen.¢¢ Remember to keep the disk with¢ your new AUTORUN.SYS on it as your¢ Master Disk for whenever you want to¢ prepare a bunch of disks in advance¢ of your using them.¢¢ Also on this disk you should¢ find a program called FORMDOS2.OBJ.¢ This program will do the reverse of¢ the above. It will work from DRIVE¢ #2, and format disks in DRIVE #1. You¢ must first load a disk with DOS/DUP¢ on it, then insert the disk with¢ FORMDOS2.OBJ, and rename it¢ AUTORUN.SYS using [E]. Then put this¢ disk with the new AUTORUN.SYS in¢ drive #2, put in a blank unformatted¢ disk in DRIVE #1. You should still¢ have DOS on screen. Now, hit [L] and¢ type "D2:AUTORUN.SYS", and the¢ process will once again start over as¢ outlined above.¢¢ A final thought. I suggest that¢ you put FORMDOS1.OBJ on side 1 of a¢ MASTER DISK, along with RAMDISK.COM,¢ and put FORMDOS2.OBJ on side 2 along¢ with RAMDISK.COM, and then only use¢ this MASTER DISK whenever YOU WANT TO¢ FORMAT A WHOLE BATCH OF DISKS!¢ OF DISKS!
