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HALT.TXT
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1996-09-04
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27KB
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696 lines
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Copyright (C) 1996 by Fulvio Marino. All rights reserved.
+-----------+
-----------------------------| PREFACE |------------------------------
+-----------+
Not freeware! Please read the legal stuff at the end of this
document. Thank you.
Registered programs will not display the copyright notice; this is
the one and only difference between unregistered and registered
versions.
This document explains the installation and the use of the
Intelligent Rebooter command and describes the operations which may be
performed with it.
The main part of the manual is aimed at the user of any DOS based
computer, who may or may not have previous experience of a DOS
environment.
+----------------------------------------+
---------------| WHAT IS "THE INTELLIGENT REBOOTER" ? |---------------
+----------------------------------------+
Any PC user should check data consistency on her/his system(s)
periodically, with appropriate tools. A good idea is to perform this
check automatically, for example by inserting it into the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file, but this way is time consuming and, usually, people don't like it.
So, PCs are often checked too late, when the damage is too big to be
recovered.
The Intelligent Rebooter is the solution: at boot time, it launches
your check-programs only in case of necessity. At shutdown time, the
Intelligent Rebooter offers a wide range of features to secure you
against data loss: its target is to stop the PC in a reliable way.
The Intelligent Rebooter is a reliable tool to stop and/or to restart
your computer so to minimize both the possibility of data loss and the
boot time. It is fully configurable and may be adapted to a wide
variety of user's needs. In the event of malfunctions, it may stop,
ignore them, or ask for user intervention. External programs can run
it, thanks to the silent option (no message is displayed). The std-I/O
option allows to run it also from a remote session (f.e., a modem
connection, or any other way that allows a program to be executed,
interactively or not). The Intelligent Rebooter may:
* flush disk caches
* park the heads of hard disks
* halt/reboot PC (in 8 different ways)
* after a PC crash, run (at boot time) your preferred
diagnostic/recovery procedure (such as SCANDISK)
+------------------------+
-----------------------| HW & SW REQUIREMENTS |-----------------------
+------------------------+
The Intelligent Rebooter can be run on any DOS based PC. The DOS
operating system must be 3.1 or greater (however, 6.0 or greater is
recommended).
The following disk caches are supported:
- SMARTDRV.SYS v3.x (the "SMARTAAR" cache control device -- untested)
- SMARTDRV v4.00 or greater
- NCACHE-F (Norton Utilities v5)
- NCACHE (Norton Utilities v6)
- NCACHE2 (Norton Utilities v7 or greater)
- caches compatible with the above listed ones
The program is able to detect if one of the following multitaskers is
running:
- MS Windows/386 v2.x
- MS Windows v3.0 or greater (Win95 included)
- DESQview v1.x or greater
- multitaskers supporting INT 2F/AX=1680 (like OS/2 2.0+, Windows 95,
Windows NT, those using DPMI 1.0+, etc.)
Heads of hard disk units may be parked if:
- INT 13/AL=10 is able to detect HDUs
- BIOS supports INT 41 (HDU 0) and 46 (HDU 1 to 3), and is compatible
with the standard retrieving method (HDU 2 and 3); some PS/2 models
may fail on these requirements
This program may operate a reliable reboot (INT 19) if the operating
disk cache flushes its buffers on demand (INT 21, DOS function 0Dh: most
caches do it, included those listed above). Because interrupt vectors
are preserved, INT 19 usually causes a system hang if any TSRs have
hooked vectors from 00h through 1Ch, particularly INT 08; however, the
Intelligent Rebooter preserves the system integrity anyway: by playing
with a few options (mainly: /W), you could bypass this problem.
Malfunctions in cold boots are common while stealthing ROM BIOS (f.e.,
this may happen with QEMM); boot it warm, instead.
+----------------+
---------------------------| INSTALLATION |---------------------------
+----------------+
A. Copying the files
--------------------
You need both the executable (HALT.EXE) and the configuration
(HALT.CFG) files. Copy both of them somewhere on your disks. In case
of conflicting names, you can rename them, but you must conform to the
following rules.
1. The extension of the program must be .EXE.
2. The program searches for its configuration file in the same directory
where it resides, with the same name and the .CFG extension. For
example, if you install HALT.EXE as D:\PGM\LIB\STOP.EXE, then
HALT.CFG should be installed as D:\PGM\LIB\STOP.CFG, else you have to
use the /I option with its full path specification.
From now on, we suppose that you installed the files into C:\DOS\. by
typing something like
COPY HALT.* C:\DOS\.
in order to install all the Intelligent Rebooter's related files (.EXE
and .CFG, as well as its .TXT manual).
B. Editing AUTOEXEC.BAT
-----------------------
Now edit your C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT file, by adding the line
C:\DOS\HALT.EXE /C
at the very beginning of the file. This line should be executed before
performing any write access to your hard disks, so to stand the best
chances in recovering your data after a system crash. By default, this
line will execute "SCANDISK /ALL /CUSTOM", and you would like to change
it. If your DOS is not 6.0 or greater, the line could be (for example)
C:\DOS\HALT.EXE /CC:\DOS\CHKDSK C:
or, if you own Norton Utilities, your line could sound like
C:\DOS\HALT.EXE /CC:\NU\ndd C: D: E: J: /Q /FRAME
Please have a look at the description of the /C option: you will
learn how to start almost everything with it, included .BAT files and
batch files specific to your shell (f.e., .BTMs for NDOS and 4DOS).
All done. It's ready!
C. How to use it
----------------
REMEMBER: to reboot, or to switch off your PC, enter the command
"HALT" (or whatever you renamed it to). This ensures you that PC is
halted correctly (it may even be moved: disks' heads are now parked
safely). At boot time, disk check will be skipped.
Use /TY option extensively! It has been conceived to deeply trace
the activity of the Intelligent Rebooter, so you can see what's really
happening inside it; should its behaviour not satisfy your needs, you
can easily change the configuration (by skipping the halt/reboot phase),
until it works well for you.
+---------------