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INSTALL.DOC
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1991-06-10
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INSTALL.DOC File
Safe Erase Version 1.21
(C) Copyright by Tom Williams, 1990-1991
1) Determine which directory contains your MS-DOS programs. This will
be the directory containing the command.com file, typically just called
<DOS>. Verify this by changing directories if not already in the DOS
directory and typing: DIR COMMAND.COM. If command.com is found in the
directory list, this is the correct directory. Copy the following files
into this DOS directory:
- killf.exe
- retrieve.exe
- buildtab.exe
- killtab.exe
2) Edit your autoexec.bat file and make sure you have the following set
comspec definition:
SET COMSPEC=[drive:][path]COMMAND.COM
If you do not have this in your autoexec.bat file type it in now.
KILLF.EXE will occasionally need to know where the command processor is
located. The drive and path should point to the directory in which your
command.com file is in. This should be the directory in which you
copied the files above into. If the drive and path are not correct or
the set comspec definition is not put in the autoexec.bat file you will
probably encounter the following MS-DOS error messages while trying to
use KILLF:
Invalid COMMAND.COM
Cannot load COMMAND, system halted
If these messages are encountered reboot the system and check the
autoexec.bat file to make sure you have the set comspec definition and
that it specifies the correct directory that contains the command.com
file.
3) Step three is optional but highly recommended since it will speed up
access to KILLF.EXE and make erasing files faster. Edit your
autoexec.bat file and change the path command so that your DOS directory
is the the first directory in the list. This will cause your DOS
directory to get searched first when DOS looks for KILLF.EXE. For
example, if your path command looks something like:
PATH C:\TOOLS;C:\GAMES;C:\DOS;C:\CHARTS
Change it to:
PATH C:\DOS;C:\TOOLS;C:\GAMES;C:\CHARTS
How To Use Safe Erase
---------------------
Once the steps above are completed, KILLF is used exactly how ERASE and
DEL are used to erase files. Typing KILLF /? will bring up online help
information on the usage of KILLF. There are several other Safe Erase
programs that come with this package. The first is BUILDTAB.EXE. This
can be used to build a Safe File Table on each of the disks or diskettes
the user desires, however, this is strictly optional since KILLF will
automatically check a disk before erasing any files to see if it has a
Safe File Table. If the disk does not have a Safe File Table KILLF will
first build the Table, store the allocated clusters of the files to be
erased into the Table and then actually erase the files. A Safe File
Table will get built on the disk the very first time the KILLF command
is used on that particular disk. If the disk or diskette does not have
a Safe File Table and is almost out of disk space, KILLF may not be able
to build a Safe File Table until one or more files are deleted. KILLF
will indicate that a Safe File Table could not be built and ask the user
whether or not to proceed with the erase. If a file is erased and this
creates enough space for the Safe File Table, KILLF will build one
immediately after erasing the file. It is for this reason that the
BUILDTAB program is provided and it is best used right after a disk or
diskette is formatted. The Safe File Table is always built in the root
directory of the disk or diskette. BUILDTAB is used simply by typing
BUILDTAB or BUILDTAB [drive:] to build a Table on a disk in another
drive. Typing BUILDTAB /? will bring up online help information on the
usage of BUILDTAB. Once again, use of BUILDTAB is strictly optional but
will prevent the one situation in which the disk is too full to build a
Table and one or more files must be erased without the protection of
having their cluster numbers stored in the Safe File Table.
KILLTAB.EXE is used to remove a Safe File Table from a disk. KILLF will
not erase a Safe File Table since it is a read-only file. You would
only want to use KILLTAB if it was known that something corrupted the
Safe File Table or you no longer wish to use Safe Erase. KILLTAB is
used simply by typing KILLTAB or KILLTAB [drive:] to erase a Table on a
disk in another drive. Typing KILLTAB /? will bring up online help
information on the usage of KILLTAB.
Retrieving Files
----------------
Retrieving files is easy with the Safe Erase Retrieve program. Just
type RETRIEVE in the directory of the erased file or files. A panel
will come up with all the killed files listed. Each file name will
begin with a question mark. This is because when a file is erased one
of the things that happen to that file is that its first character is
changed to "σ". This lets MS-DOS know that the file is erased. Using
the arrow keys move around to the files you want to retrieve and change
the question mark to the correct character on each file that you want to
retrieve. If you don't want to retrieve a particular file just leave
the question mark alone. Once you have changed the question marks to
the correct character on all the files that you want to retrieve press
F5 to retrieve them. That's all there is to it.