This is the first page of the INTRODUCTION for the FOUNDATION article. DATE: December 13, 1985. Press PgUp, Pgdn, Up and Down to look through it, and hit Escape when done. 1 PREREQUISITES. 1.1 THE TONY DISK. I have NO idea who you are, how you got your hands on this, and what you think about all this, but I DO know that if all you have is a printed bunch of paper with this article printed upon it, you're out of luck. You MUST have a diskette with the entire collection of files that go with this article, or have access to one. I'm going to call it the Tony diskette. If you DON'T have access to that collection of files, you should call up the CHICAGO Bulletin Board run by GENE PLANTZ with your modem and communications software and become a paid-up member of the bulletin board. Here are the necessary parameters: PHONE NUMBER: (312) 885-9557 BAUD RATE: 1200 PARITY: NONE LENGTH: 8 STOP BITS: 1 If you would like to leave an electronic message for me, my ID number is ID1018. Once you've done that, (S)can for my ID number, and you'll see a few other articles I've sent up to Gene recently. This one is called FNDATION.ARC. Download these files using whatever protocol is appropriate for your software. You should ALSO download the newest version of the ARChive command. I use ARC430.EXE, which is version 4.3. The ARChive command is GREAT! I created and collected many little files. These files collectively take up a lot of space. I ran the ARChive command, and each file was crunched and squeezed and then added to one big file, which has a name that ends with .ARC. If you also have a recent version of the ARChive command, you can take that big file and have it extract the files within it. 1.2 TEXT EDITOR. This article has been created with Symphony, re-arranged with its Text Outliner, occasionally improved with its Spelling Checker, made ready for sending out into the world with EDIX 4.02, and ARChived with ARC430. This was ONLY done for this article! If you're going to playing with DOS on a daily basis, you had BETTER use a GOOD text editor! There are no excuses for using Wordstar in non-document mode, when EDIX is lots easier, MANY times more appropriate and powerful, and works in any subdirectory. Here's how to get it legally. (It's worth many times the price). EDIX Emerging Technology Consultants, Inc. 2031 Broadway Boulder, CA 80302 (303) 447-9495 LIST PRICE: $146.25 If you already use a text editor that has everything you've needed in the past, here are the things you're going to need for my articles: - Ability to generate an "" ESCape character (ASCII 27) on the screen. - Ability to edit (create boxes with) the upper 128 ASCII characters, such as: 201 203 205 187 ÉÍ ÍËÍ ÍÍÍ Í» ÉÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º º 186 º º 186 º º º º 206 º º º ÍÎÍ ÌÍÍÍÍÍÎÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ 204 ÌÍ º ͹ 185 º º º º º º º ÈÍ ÍÍÍ ÍÊÍ Í¼ ÈÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 200 205 202 188 201 209 205 187 ÉÍ ÍÑÍ ÍÍÍ Í» ÉÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º ³ º 186 º ³ 179 º 186 º ³ º º ³ º 197 196 º ³ º 199 ÇÄ ÄÅÄ ÄÄÄ Ä¶ 182 ÇÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ º ³ º ÈÍ ÍÏÍ ÍÍÍ Í¼ ÈÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 200 207 205 188 I have used those fancy characters throughout this article, but those characters are usually not printed correctly on a typical printer. Here's the news on how to create those graphics characters. If you have an IBM brand computer, you received a green BASIC manual along with your computer. Open up that manual to its APPENDICES (you'll see the pages numbered A-1, G-2, etc.) and look for the appendix called ASCII Character Codes. Notice all of those characters and columns of numbers. Here's how to use them: Make sure that you're now looking at a DOS prompt (the one that looks like A> or B> or C>, etc). Notice that the number 205 corresponds to a symbol that looks like two horizontal bars, one above the other. Just like this: Í Hold down the left key and the key simultaneously, and type the number 205 on the numeric keypad at the far right of the keyboard (NOT the numbers on the top row of the keyboard. Let go of the key, and you should see the symbol appear on the screen. Do it again, and notice that you are building a longer line of two horizontal parallel lines. Now try a few other symbols, including 186, 201, 203, 205, 187, 206, 204, and 185. Please remember that not every text editor or word processor will allow you to create these symbols. Wordstar, for one, will put a great big M on the screen if you type 205. That's why I lean towards the text editor called EDIX. 1.3 DISK OPERATING SYSTEM. You may as well upgrade if you're using DOS 2.00 or or 2.10 or 2.11. As of this writing, the best DOS I've found is PC-DOS 3.10. It's the newest version, there's VERY few bugs to bite you, and it's got a snappy feature that makes me smile... Using the Norton Utilities*, you can UnErase a file much later than with DOS Two Point Whatever. With the older versions, if you just erased a file, you had better get it back with UnErase muy pronto, before you save anything else onto the disk. With DOS 3.00 and 3.10 you've got a little more leeway. I've UnErased my lost files HOURS later in some cases! * Another indispensable box of DOS pipe wrenches, that pay for themselves over and over: The Norton Utilities Full Retail Price as of Winter, 1985: $100.00 US By: Peter Norton 2210 Wilshire Boulevard, #186 Santa Monica, CA 90403 (213) 826-8032 1.4 HARDWARE. MINIMUM hardware requirements for ANY OF MY ARTICLES: 1.4.1 COMPUTER. An IBM Personal Computer or compatible computer (such as a COMPAQ or CORONA or others) with one floppy disk drive (referred to as drive A:) and one Fixed Disk (sometimes called a hard disk, but we'll call it drive C:). If you've got more firepower, so much the better. You MUST be able to start up your computer and get to a C> or possibly D> prompt if this article is to make any sense to you. If your system refuses to start up and get to that kind of prompt, I advise you to contact the person(s) who sold the system to you, and have them do it for you. It's a simple courtesy, and they owe it to you. 1.4.2 HARD DISK. If you haven't gotten a hard disk yet, these articles are NOT going to do you much good! If you only have a 10 megabyte hard disk, you'll hit critical mass before too long unless you're VERY careful. The bigger the better, I always say. 1.4.3 MEMORY. If you've got an AT with the built-in 512k of RAM, you have an excuse for having less than 640k of memory. All others must go out and stock up on inexpensive memory chips and boards. The more USEABLE memory, the better. If you're going to add more than 640k to your machine, do it right! Make sure your add-on memory boards support the Lotus\Intel\Microsoft "EMS" standard. Anything else is just a drain of power, and won't be useable when the newer versions of DOS come out. 1.4.4 BUILT-IN CLOCK. I also assume you have a built-in clock in your computer, and you know how to get at it through software. It's essential that we be able to date-and-time-stamp our work so we can figure out which copy of our letter to Mom is the most recent one. These battery-powered clocks are currently built-into the better and newer machines like the IBM AT and Compaq 286 series. These are designed to AUTOMATICALLY provide DOS with the date and time. If you have an older-type machine, and have the necessary memory expansion to bring your memory up to at least 640k, chances are that you have one of these clocks on the add-on memory board. Look in that memory board's manual and on the diskette that came with it to figure out what software command on that disk provides tha accurate date and time. For example: I have a Persyst memory board in my machine, and I need CLOCK.COM to load the date and time into DOS, and the proper command to activate it is CLOCK/S >NUL The /s means to provide DOS with the current date and time, and the >NUL is a fussy way of making it do its stuff without advertising itself. I'll cover more about this in the REDIRECTION OF STANDARD OUTPUT section. 1.5 SOFTWARE. I'll make NO further enemies during this article if I can help it, so there will be no preaching about what application software is the best. DOS tools don't count. I'll speak out on those any day. I'm going to assume that you have an IBM PC AT with one hard disk. I'm also going to assume that you have a strong desire to have the software package called Symphony installed properly on your disk, and you are using IBM PC DOS 3.10 as a Disk Operating System. I'll assume that you have EDIX and can use it reasonably well, and that you have access to the freeware files I include with this article. 2 LESSONS 2.1 UNDERSTANDING MY INTENTIONS. HOW TO PREDICT MY INSTRUCTIONAL INTENTIONS. (USE OF THE KEY) I'm going to be expecting you to use the key a lot. This does NOT mean I'm going to mentioning it a lot. If I want you to type in the dir/w command and press enter, here's how I'll specify my desire: DIR/W Got that? Good! I'll also be wrapping my explanations around the commands, like this . . . VERIFY ON means that we want the computer to be doubly certain that everything it reads from or writes on any disk is accurate from now on. This seems obvious, but it's NOT automatically taken care of! It'll warn you of major problems most of the time. Yes, it DOES slow things down a touch, but we more than make up for it with the CONFIG.SYS file. Refer to the DSKWATCH command for more information on keeping a suspicious eye on your diskettes... 2.2 START UP THE COMPUTER. If you'd like to get going in the most efficient way, here's what I generally do to bring my clients up to speed. In order to continue, I'm assuming your hard disk is long since partitioned and formatted. If the person who sold it to you didn't do it for you, get a good computer store technician to set it up for you. If you're ALREADY using the newest version of DOS, skip this next section. 2.2.1 INSTALLING A NEWER VERSION OF DOS. Get the original DOS 3.10 disk and boot up the computer with it. Give it the date and time when asked to, and start issuing commands: VERIFY ON For the reasons stated above. SYS C: To install the two DOS 3.10 hidden files IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM onto the root dirsctory of drive C: COPY COMMAND.* C: To copy the third file COMMAND.COM to the root directory of drive C: and thereby make it possible to start up the computer with the proper version of DOS in memory. 2.2.2 CREATING THE C:\DOS SUBDIRECTORY MD C:\DOS To create a new subdirectory on drive C: called DOS, which is going to be our main base station of operations after we get done. Now, press the letter c, hit the function key, and hit enter. This repeated your last DOS command, but replaced the "m" with a "c". It's as if you manually typed in CD C:\DOS So, now you've got the default drive as the root directory of drive A: and the directory that's open and ready on drive C: is C:\DOS. You then start copying EVERYTHING from the plain DOS 3.10 disk into C:\DOS with COPY *.* C: But we're going to get rid of all of the typically useless files that you'll never use in a thousand years. We'll do that in a little bit. First, we're going to put in the OTHER DOS 3.10 disk, the one called Supplemental Programs. Unless you're heavy into assembly language programming, you don't need files like EXE2BIN.EXE or LINK.EXE, and you CERTAINLY don't want to plug up your hard disk with mind candy like DONKEY.BAS and SPACE.BAS. So we'll only copy one of the files onto drive C: COPY DEBUG.* C: This file (DEBUG.COM) may not be something you'll personally ever find a million uses for. But, the major computer magazines are FULL of recipes for cooking up little programs that can do you a lot of good, and the DEBUG command is the most popular tool for this these days. Let's keep it. 2.2.3 CLEAN-UP TIME. It's time to take out the trash. You may WELL disagree with my opinions, but I'm going to clean out some pretty wretched stuff. Let's switch over to drive C: C: ERASE SELECT.* Useless for real computers. ERASE KEY*.* Useless unless you live in Italy, etc. ERASE *.PIF Does ANYBODY use TopView? Really? Not I! ERASE COMMAND.* It's ALREADY in the root directory. We don't need it anywhere else. ERASE GRAFTABL.* Has anybody found a reason to keep this one? ERASE FDISK.* Useful ONLY on a floppy disk. ERASE BASIC.* We'll keep BASICA.COM. BASIC.COM is useless. After this, it all depends heavily on YOUR use of the computer. I personally don't like COMP.COM, PRINT.COM, DISKCOMP.COM. SHARE.EXE, or JOIN.EXE, but I could probably find some use for them if somebody could tell me something impressive about them. There's better software out there. This whole process of erasing those files was pretty painless if you only have to do it on one machine. However, if you do a LOT of cleaning up after other people's messes, I would STRONGLY urge you to get XTREE. Here's an excerpt from the ADVERTISEMENT for XTREE: Executive Systems, Inc. presents... X T R E E "Every person who uses computers creates numerous files for storing information and data. Often, files concerning similar topics can be found throughout several disks or in a haphazard arrangement on a single disk. To access any given file, the user must struggle through multiple directory listings, issue many complex commands, and usually view and review to remember what's in what and where. This process is confusing and time consuming." "MS-DOS provides a useful organizational structure called a directory. Directories allow the computer user to store files in separate groups on a disk. The files in a directory are kept distinct from files in other directories. MS-DOS also allows the user to organize and separate directories. Each directory on a disk, in addition to containing a group of files, can have "sub-directories" branching off from it. These sub-directories can each have their own group of files and sub-directories, and so on. This directory branching organization is called a "tree structure." When there is more than one directory on a disk, to find the way to a particular sub-directory on a disk, the user specifies a "path" of directory names." "A drawback of the MS-DOS implementation of the concepts described above is that as the number of directories and/or files grows, the harder it is to keep track of them, find the data you need, and to throw away any unneeded data." "The purpose of XTREE is to facilitate the file and directory maintenance process by providing you commands to access, delete, rename, view, move, list, or show any and all files within any and all directories on your floppy and hard disks. XTREE presents a "visualization" of the directories, sub-directories, and files on your disks in clear, graphic screen displays. Statistical data is also displayed at all times; this data is updated as you perform your tasks." "XTREE is a powerful, interactive file management utility for the serious DOS user. XTREE is available on the IBM PC and other MS-DOS computers. You can order your copy of the actual program by directly writing to us or using the telephone information below. We accept Mastercharge, VISA, and American Express credit cards." "Executive Systems, Inc. Department D. 15300 Ventura Blvd. Suite 305 Sherman Oaks, California 91403 818) 990-3457" 2.2.4 COPYING THE SOFTWARE COMMANDS THAT COME WITH THIS ARTICLE. The files that end with .COM and .EXE that (hopefully) were included with this article should ALSO be put into the C:\DOS subdirectory. We'll be putting the .BAT files in, too, after we decide which ones are appropriate for you. If you got this stuff from me on a diskette, just put that diskette in drive A: and give the following command: COPY A:*.COM This will copy all of the files on drive A: that end with .COM, and let's load one into memory immediately: DOSEDIT This command will be explained shortly. 2.2.4.1 EXPLAINING THOSE COMMANDS. FIRST and FOREMOST: I DID N O T create these commands! That's not my talent (yet). I'm the sort of person who is a tool collector. Anybody can cut glass, if they have a glasscutter. MY talent is in creating stained-glass windows and crystal decanters, and then showing others how to do it. You need more than just tools! I give credit to the authors in EVERY case where I'm aware of it. PLEASE let me know if I omitted your name. You deserve a lot of credit if you can create tools of this quality! 2.2.4.1.1 THE DOSEDIT COMMAND. This program was found on the San Jose IBM Employee PC Club Bulletin Board. This documentation was written by Brad Kidder, San Jose. As a programmer, I have found this program to be one of the most valuable programs that I have in my library. DOSEDIT is a simple editor for DOS commands. It can be used with DOS 1.1 and DOS 2.x. DOSEDIT uses a special set of the keys on the IBM PC keyboard to allow you to edit the DOS command you are entering or one of the previous commands that you have entered. It keeps a command stack of the last 256 characters of commands that you have entered and you can scroll back and forth through this stack. It also allows you to edit the current command being displayed. NOTE: 1 or 2 character commands are not saved. UP arrow Scrolls backward through the command stack. DOWN arrow Scrolls forward through the command stack. ESC Clears the command line. LEFT arrow Moves the cursor left one position. RIGHT arrow Moves the cursor right one position. HOME Moves the cursor to the beginning of the command line. END Moves the cursor to the end of the command line. INS Toggles the insert function. DEL Deletes the character under the cursor. CTRL-left arrow Moves the cursor left a word at a time. CTRL-right arrow Moves the cursor right a word at a time. CTRL-HOME Erases from the beginning of the line to the cursor. CTRL-END Erases from the cursor to the end of the line. CTRL-PGUP Erases the command stack. CTRL-PGDN Erases the displayed entry from the command stack. BACKSPACE Remains unchanged. CTRL-Z Puts in an End-of-File (1AH - replaces the F6 key). The function keys F1-F6 no longer have assigned functions. Tutorial: After power on, or , from the DOS prompt, enter DOSEDIT (One time). No message will be returned, only the DOS prompt. To experiment with DOSEDIT, from the DOS prompt enter: A> ECHO ONE A> ECHO TWO A> ECHO THREE Now use the up arrow key to see the last command (ECHO THREE). Again use the up arrow key to see the preceding command (ECHO TWO). Now press enter to execute that command. Then press the down arrow key to see the following command (ECHO THREE). Press either the up or down arrow key several times to see how the commands wrap around. Use the Esc key to clear the command line. Enter new commands and use the control keys defined above to become familiar with all the functions. 2.2.4.1.2 THE DSKWATCH COMMAND. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POWERFUL MEDICINE! If things are inexplicably giving you fits with the files on your floppy disks, and you deeply suspect the quality and integrity of your disk drives, THIS is the command to load into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file! It works intimately with the NEC chip that controls the disk drives, and pays attention to the error messages that the chip gives (which we humans normally never hear about). When the disk drive controller runs into a problem, we normally can only catch the GROSS errors by giving the VERIFY ON command in our AUTOEXEC.BAT or by typing it in at the DOS prompt. The DSKWATCH command detects the subtle errors, and silently puts one of the following messages on the upper right corner of the screen: Disk error: No response Disk error: Failed Seek Disk error: NEC Error Disk error: Bad CRC Seen Disk error: DMA Overrun Disk error: Impos Sector Disk error: No Addr Mark Disk error: W. Protected Disk error: Err Unknown If you load DSKWATCH into memory, you'll be seeing a lot of these messages, even if your floppy disk drives and controller are completely healthy. It helped ME to figure out that a fluorescent light near my floppy drives was magnetic enough to randomly wipe out my disks... I KNEW I had a problem, because my disks were going belly-up without warning. The DSKWATCH command was giving me error messages like crazy, and I kept eliminating the possible problems, creating new disks and doing my usual work, until the DSKWATCH command dramatically decreased its complaints. Now I only get error messages when formatting a new disk or booting up copy-protected software. 2.2.4.1.3 THE FINDDUPE COMMAND. SOURCE: Karson W. Morrison Feb. 13,1985 FORMAT: finddupe This is great for finding extra copies of files that may be plugging up your hard disk. It's easy to use, too! OPTIONS: List the entire directory of the disk: (1) List only Duplicate files on the disk: (2) For output on printer enter (P) prior to number option 2.2.4.1.4 THE FLIP COMMAND. This command is great in a batch file. Some basica files require all capital letters for input, or you might be in the habit of turning on the numeric lock when you use a program like Lotus 123. here's how to use flip.com: FLIP CAPS ON FLIP CAPS OFF FLIP NUM ON FLIP NUM OFF FLIP MONO FLIP COLOR 80 FLIP COLOR 40 2.2.4.1.5 THE LIST COMMAND. PURPOSE: Provides a GREAT way of scanning through a text file or group of files. Replaces the TYPE command. Displays the contents of an ASCII text file, line by line with the aid of scrolling and positioning commands. An ASCII file of any size may be listed. FORMAT: LIST [d:][path]filename[.ext] EXAMPLE: list C:\dos\*.bat The "filename" is optional. If omitted, you are prompted to to enter a filename. You may include drive, path, and wild cards in the file name. The first file which matches the name is displayed until an end-of-file character is encountered. Each file which matches the "filename" may be displayed. LIST was designed to display ASCII files. That is, files which contain text and not binary or control codes. Text characters usually range from a value of 32 to 127. Characters below 32 (a blank) are replaced with a funny character to indicate that a non-displayable character has been encountered. This character is an upside-down question mark. If you desire help while LISTing a file, simply press ? and you'll get a screenful of help concerning commands. 2.2.4.1.6 THE QUERY COMMAND. Source: Unknown This was the very first command I found that properly exploited a nifty little "trap door" in DOS. If you spent much time with the DOS manual, it BRIEFLY mentions the concept of "errorlevels". I'm not embarassed to say that I haven't got a clue what an errorlevel looks like, but I know what it does, so I'll describe it MY way. I think of an errorlevel as a "mailbox" in memory. The DOS manual tells us how to LOOK INTO that mailbox, but it tells us that only the BACKUP and RESTORE commands can put anything into it. If we use a program to put a particular number into that mailbox, that's called "setting the errorlevel". Using the Query command, we can write clever batch files that can branch in any direction we want, just by setting the errorlevel and referring to it later. I use this in the F.BAT batch file. 2.2.4.1.7 THE REBEEP COMMAND. Source: Unknown Best used in a batch file. All it does is beep its fool head off until you press any key to continue. I use it to signal disaster in the F.BAT batch file. 2.2.4.1.8 THE RENDIR COMMAND Source: Unknown This is a VERY simple program to use! It's a way to rename those pesky subdirectories, without any fuss or bother. The RENDIR command works just like the RENAME command, only it's a bit dumber. It DOESN'T know about paths and such, so it needs to be in the directory that contains the name of the subdirectory to be renamed. Here's how I use it.... You have RENDIR.COM in a subdirectory on drive C: called C:\DOS, and you have issued a PATH command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file saying: PATH=C:\DOS and you now can use the RENDIR command in ANY subdirectory... You then realize that you have a subdirectory on drive C: called C:\LOTUS. This is a dopey name, because you have Lotus 123 and Lotus Symphony on the same hard disk, and Symphony is in its own subdirectory, called C:\SYMPHONY. You now get a wild urge to rename the C:\LOTUS subdirectory as C:\123 (after all, NOBODY calls the program "lotus" anymore, they call it 123!). So, you issue the following commands: C: To make sure you're on drive C: CD\ To change over to the root directory DIR *. to look at the directory names RENDIR LOTUS 123 to rename the \Lotus subdirectory as \123 DIR *. to admire your work. 2.2.4.1.9 THE SCRNSAVE COMMAND. Source: Unknown This is a good utility for people who leave their computers on all day. I once helped a client who brought me his computer, which had a badly etched screen. His company used Lotus 123 all day, and when the computer was off, you could still see the spreadsheet BURNED into the screen phosphors, ruining them forever! FORMAT: scrnsave 6 (the 6 can be replaced by any number from 1 to 9) The 6 means that six minutes after you last touched the keyboard, the screen will go blank. As soon as you touch the Alt key, the screen will go back to the way it was. This is a safe command for IBM computers with IBM Monochrome or Graphics boards or both, but I'm still rather wary of using it on Compaq computers or any computer with a Hercules card. The older versions of the SCRNSAVE command were known to build up massive amounts of volts in the monitor board, frying the circuits! 2.2.4.1.10 THE VTREE COMMAND. Source: PC Magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a "visual tree" command, and it needs to be used on a disk that has subdirectories on it. EXAMPLE: vtree 2.2.4.1.11 THE WHEREIS COMMAND. Source: The original idea is from "Softalk for the IBM Personal Computer" by John Socha. PURPOSE: Searches for specified file(s) through all DOS 2.0 and above directories, listing matching files with their appropriate directories and sub-directories. FORMAT: whereis [filename[.ext]] EXAMPLE: whereis g*.* The filename or extension can contain wildcards. No matter what the current directory is, WHEREIS will search the entire disk, and list the directory(s) where the file resides. History: This is a revised version of the popular WHEREIS.COM program. This revision causes the screen to stop scrolling after displaying 23 lines and to prompt for more. Depressing any key will resume scrolling for 23 more lines. The revision was designed by John Tuccio of Westport, Conn. and implemented by Ted Eyrick of San Antonio, Tx. It will work correctly on the volume on which it is resident. It does not automatically cross over onto other volumes. (Note the absence of an optional volume label in the format description. The following examples demonstrate proper usage: WHEREIS myfile.txt WHEREIS myfile.* WHEREIS *.bas WHEREIS *.* 2.2.5 TREE-STRUCTURED SUBDIRECTORIES. THE DIAGRAM WE'LL BE REFERRING TO. You are about to see a drawing of how we're going to set up the hard disk. Rather than using it as a big box with thousands of manila folders dumped in at random, we will set it up as a filing cabinet with drawers. Each drawer MUST have a theme, otherwise you won't be able to remember where to find your goodies. First, there's the "Root" directory, called "C:\" Think of it as the "Top Drawer" of the filing cabinet, (in which we'll allow NO MISCELLANEOUS DRAWERS!) We DON'T want to put ANYTHING in the root directory unless it's absolutely necessary, because many hard disks have a limit to how many files can be created in the root directory. You might suddenly find this out if you keep receiving the "file creation error" message. The only files that I consider to be necessary in C:\ are COMMAND.COM, CONFIG.SYS, and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Since we'll be using the VTREE command to view the subdirectory structure, I'll be referring to THIS type of diagram from now on: ÂÄ DOS ÃÄ SYMPHONY ÀÄ WORKFILE ÄÄÄÄÄÂÄ BUSINESS ÃÄ PERSONAL ÀÄ MISC There are good reasons for wanting to set up the hard disk in this manner. This way, if you're using Symphony, and you want to choose a file, you don't have to look through forty files that are used by Lotus DOS. Also, it's neater in the long run. 2.2.5.1 DON'T COMPLICATE YOUR LIFE! This one probably doesn't even need to be mentioned, but I'd like to head you off if you plan to go berzerk creating sub-sub-sub- subdirectories. Unless you REALLY enjoy typing or are using excellent software (like Symphony and XTREE) that makes choosing a subdirectory as easy as pointing at it, take it easy. We want to keep the hard disk and our lives as clean and tight as possible. Since a subdirectory is actually just a file with information about other files within it, it takes up room (4096 bytes minimum for an XT!). 2.2.5.2 CREATING SUBDIRECTORIES. Go ahead and issue these commands: MKDIR \SYMPHONY Creates a subdirectory to contain the files that teach the computer how to be a multi-talented, multipurpose machine. MD \WORKFILE Creates a subdirectory that will be the first place Symphony will look at whenever it needs to find one of the files we humans create with Symphony. MD\WORKFILE\PERSONAL Creates a sub-subdirectory that we can choose as a storage place for Symphony personal files. Each line performed the same function, and I wanted you to see that you ARE allowed a little bit of leeway in how you type in commands. Not much, but some. We're giving each of our subdirectories a name consisting of up to 8 characters. (I personally don't use subdirectory names like WORKFILE.026, which use the entire 11 characters possible. It's just a matter of taste). We just created a few subdirectories and a sub-subdirectory. These are highly desirable, because we don't want 3,000 files tangled in a heap. Think of it as a filing cabinet with several new drawers: each drawer has its own name, so we know what it's for, and how to find it. 2.2.5.2.1 CHANGING THE C> PROMPT. So far, if you're confronted with a typical machine, you're staring at at VERY unfriendly DOS C> prompt. Enough, already! It's almost time to make the prompt work for us... First, let's play. Type this in: PROMPT Wake up, everybody! If you've never played with the PROMPT command before, the results from typing this in might alarm you a bit. It means nothing. We've just changed the standard way DOS sys "Yes, Boss?". No more fun for now, it's time for WORK. I want the prompt to change to look like THIS: It's now 13:30 on Thu 9-16-1988 (Current directory is C:\DOS) C>_ Here's how: type in the next line EXACTLY. PROMPT It's now $t$h$h$h$h$h$h on $d$_(Current directory is $p)$_$n$g If you hunt down the proper reference (look in the DOS manual in the back for the PROMPT command), you'll see that there is a LOT of information, but no recipes for success. (Does this typify the rest of the manual? Of course! Maybe they'll bind this article into the next DOS manual.) The PROMPT etc. stuff up above is my DE-BUGGED, CLEAN AND PRETTY AND NO-FOOLING MIGHTY DAMNED EFFICIENT way of changing the prompt. Here's the explanation: $t means give us the current time, but it normally gives us a display like 10:05:06:08. Personally, I'd rather not look at that. So, we use $h as a backspace to chew up the unnecessary digits. $d means we want to see the date, but since we already know what year it is, we'll get rid of that with some more $h's. $_ means "move down to the next line". $p means we'd like to keep track of WHERE we are in the hard disk's subdirectory structure. It gives a running report of our PATH. $n$g just means give us the standard C> or A> prompt. 2.2.5.3 MOVING THROUGH THE SUBDIRECTORY SYSTEM. Now that we can see where we are at all times, let's look at the new directories: VTREE which should show us a something that looks like this: ÂÄ DOS ÃÄ SYMPHONY ÀÄ WORKFILE ÄÄÄÄÄÄ PERSONAL Then, we'll take a little tour through the structure... CD\WORKFILE Which is the standard way of telling DOS to "close" one drawer (technically referred to as the "default directory") and open up another one, called C:\WORKFILE. Now, let's ask for a directory listing: DIR and you should see something that looks like: Volume in drive C is MY TOOLBOX Directory of C:\WORKFILE . 11-20-85 7:26p .. 11-20-85 7:26p PERSONAL 11-20-85 7:26p 3 File(s) 1018432 bytes free The top two files are supposed to be ONLY for the internal use of the computer. In most cases, you can ignore the single-dot file. We've got PLANS for the double-dot file, which will come in handy in a minute or so... First, let's create a few more sub-subdirectories: MD BUSINESS Which creates a sub-subdirectory parallel to the C:\WORKFILE\PERSONAL subdirectory. We'll check that by typing in VTREE to admire our efforts. MD MISC creates the last of our sub-subdirectories for now, and we can say VTREE one more time, just to be compulsive. 2.2.5.3.1 A QUICK WAY TO MOVE DOWN ONE DIRECTORY LEVEL. CD BUSINESS will move us down one level into the C:\WORKFILE\BUSINESS subdirectory, and our prompt should affirm this. This particular command is a VERY snappy way to save typing while in DOS, because we might normally have to type CD\WORKFILE\BUSINESS to accomplish the EXACT same thing! 2.2.5.3.2 A QUICK WAY TO MOVE UP ONE DIRECTORY LEVEL. Now, according to the DOS prompt message, you should be in the C:\WORKFILE\BUSINESS subdirectory. Let's move UP one level in a simple way: CD .. And you'll notice from the prompt message that you're now back in the C:\WORKFILE subdirectory. What happened? The ".." file is where DOS keeps track of what's above it in the tree structure, and we just used it to quickly move UP one level. Let's do it again... CD .. NOW you can see that the current directory is C:\, which is as far up as we can go. If you loaded the DOSEDIT command a ways back, just hit the up arrow key until we get to the CD\WORKFILE command again, add \PERSONAL to it, and press enter, which is exactly equivalent to the CD\WORKFILE\PERSONAL command. 2.2.5.3.3 A QUICK WAY TO MOVE SIDEWAYS IN SUBDIRECTORY LEVELS. If you've been keeping up all along, you should have a prompt that tells you that you're currently in the C:\WORKFILE\PERSONAL subdirectory, and we'd like to move SIDEWAYS into the C:\WORKFILE\MISC subdirectory. Here is a reasonably quick way to do it: CD ..\MISC which says, (in effect), "go up one level and come back DOWN one level into the MISC subdirectory next door". Now that we're there, we can quit our educational tour and get on with installing a menu sytem. 2.2.5.4 MENU TEXT FILES Let's copy a couple of my generic menu text files into the proper subdirectory: COPY A:*.TXT \DOS this copies all files that end with .TXT into the proper subdirectory. Now, let's quit doing our commands by remote control, and enter the C:\DOS subdirectory ourselves: CD\DOS Now, let's admire these files... LIST *.TXT which allows us to non-destructively flip through all files ending with .TXT, and we can signal when we're done with each one by hitting the key. Just for the heck of it, as soon as you've gotten back to a DOS prompt by pressing the key a few times, try these commands: TYPE MENU.TXT To literally dump the contents of that file on the screen, and TYPE MENU2.TXT To display the second, less crucial menu options. You'll notice that there are only TWO box-shaped menus. Here's why: 2.2.5.4.1 MENU PRACTICALITY: DON'T FORCE A CLIENT TO THINK. I am NOT being snide by using this opening title... I don't want to THINK, I want to DO. Let the computer do the left-brain stuff - I'll handle the creative end. I used to espouse 5 separate menus, all subdivided into categories: Software, Tutorials, Backup, Diskettes, and Miscellaneous. You wanna know what happened? 9 out of 10 people never bothered to hunt through the menus to track down the proper command to back up the hard disk, and I got tired of it. Now, I just stick to two menus: 2.2.5.4.2 MENU.TXT This is our MAIN menu, and it should contain the commands that we use most often, or SHOULD use most often. Here's what MENU.TXT should look like: ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MENU º Type one of the below and then press Return. º MENU º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º MENU = This menu again. (MENU 2 = Second menu) º º S = Symphony (S OTHER = Tutorial, PrintGraph, Translate) º º º º F = FORMAT a 360k floppy disk in drive a: (F HI = HI-DENSITY) º º DOS = INSTALL DOS on a freshly formatted diskette. º º FULLBACK = Back-up ALL of the information on the hard disk. º º ENDOFDAY = Back-up TODAY'S information from the hard disk. º º LOCKUP = SAFELY TRANSPORT this computer from place to place. º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ MENU.TXT is what will be the first thing you look at each time you start up your computer, and hopefully the last thing you'll see as you turn it off. Due to typical space limitations (and in the interest of keeping the first menu reasonable decipherable), we have a second menu to supplement the first: 2.2.5.4.3 MENU2.TXT The only reason for the second menu is to contain the miscellaneous commands that are not deathly important, but aren't explained elsewhere. ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MENU 2 º Type one of the below and then press ÄÙ º MENU 2 º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º MENU = To see the first help menu again. º º LOCKUP = Make the computer SAFE to move from place to place. º º DISKCOPY A: A: = Make a perfect COPY of a floppy disk. º º CHKDSK/F = ("JANITOR" command) Checks for trash on the hard disk. º º DIRSIZE = Get a DIRectory listing with directory size. º º BACKSTAT = Find out what files haven't been backed-up lately. º º REL *.TXT \DOS = RELocate all files ending with .TXT into C:\DOS º º WHEREIS G*.* = Find all files on the hard disk beginning with G. º º LIST *.TXT = Leisurely view all files ending with .TXT º º FINDDUPE = Easy way to locate duplicate files on hard disk. º º VTREE = Get a Visual TREE of the subdirectories. º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Of course, NEITHER of these menus are wriiten in stone. If you are going to be doing this sort of thing for other people, here is a nice rule of the road from me to you: 2.2.5.4.4 MENU ETIQUETTE: EASIER TO REMEMBER IS BEST OF ALL. I've seen a lot of consultants fall short on this one: They've discovered how to set up a menu, and they make it look like this: ==================================================================== PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AND PRESS ENTER: ==================================================================== 1 - For Symphony 1x - For Symphony in magenta and green 2 - For dBASE III 2x - For dBASE III with every Prokey macro in the world ==================================================================== This menu was designed for a "Techie" who is used to thinking like a computer, and I would respectfully like to hit them with a brick when they do this to a computer that doesn't BELONG to them! I suggest the following, alternative phrasing for the average end user who is scared of the computer, (and their replacement who has to learn from THEM!): ==================================================================== PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AND PRESS ENTER: ==================================================================== s - For Symphony s mg - For Symphony in magenta and green db3 - For dBASE III db3 4me - For dBASE III with every Prokey macro in the world ==================================================================== In my experience, most computer-timid people would rather have the machine be friendly, even if it means MORE keystrokes. Yes, it's true. Besides, if you work on HUNDREDS of computers over a span of a year's time, how do you expect to SUPPORT the first of these two menus? You'll waste two hours on the phone (with a fearful client who wiped out your menus) trying to track down your own bad habits to clean them up. KEEP IT SIMPLE! And if you really doubt this, ask the user's opinion. 2.2.6 BATCH FILES. Once again, I expect you to have a DOS prompt on the screen that tells you that the current directory is C:\DOS. If you have my articles and various files on a diskette, put that diskette in drive A: and issue the following command... COPY A:MENU*.BAT which will copy all batch files beginning with MENU into the current directory. There should be ONLY ONE, called MENU.BAT. On the odd chance you aren't yet familiar with batch files, I'll give you a quick primer. 2.2.6.1 BATCH FILES, RATHER INADEQUATELY EXPLAINED. Batch files are a major way of making life easier for ourselves on IBM/Compatible computers. We've been typing in a lot of commands to DOS during the course of this article, and I GUARANTEE you'll get sick of baby-talking to DOS if you're not already. We humans can collect all of the commands we normally issue into small files. We then can just press two or a few keys, and the computer kicks into gear, performing these commands one after the other, saving us many keystrokes. It's our way of using DOS as a programming language. 2.2.6.1.1 THE MENU BATCH FILE - THE TYPICAL EXAMPLE. If you issue the following command: MENU then the first help menu will be placed on the screen in a nice way. Alternatively, MENU 2 will place the second help menu on the screen. This is all accomplished with a single batch file called MENU.BAT. Let's take a look at it. TYPE MENU.BAT should show you this: echo off cls C: cd \dos if '%1'=='2' goto menu2 type menu.txt goto end :menu2 type menu2.txt :end I'll explain the new concepts contained in each batch file down here: ECHO OFF is used as first line of EVERY batch file, and nowhere else ever. It means we don't want the following commands flashed on the screen in a confusing way, so "zip your lip, computer!" CLS means "clear the screen". The second command for EVERY batch file. C: means that DOS should pay attention to drive C: from now on. This tells DOS that you want to "change the default drive", meaning that all of your previous commands might conceivably have been taking it for granted that drive A: was the important one, and now drive C: is going to be the important one. This line is CRUCIAL, but for a hidden reason. I WILL refer to this later on! CD\DOS means that DOS should pay attention to the C:\DOS directory from now on. Important for the same reason! Time to get off track temporarily: 2.2.6.1.1.1 PARAMETERS. Good concept, bad name. If I type in the following command: MENU 2 then the "2" is called a parameter. If we had phrased our command with a few more parameters, such as "MENU 2 TEXAS COWBOYS", then "MENU" would be parameter 0, "2" is parameter 1, "TEXAS" is parameter 2, and "COWBOYS" is parameter 3. It goes all the way up to parameter 9 if you want. I never go beyond parameter 2, personally. 2.2.6.1.1.2 REPLACEABLE PARAMETERS. Once again, here is the line I'm currently explaining: IF '%1'=='2' GOTO MENU2 The %1 is what is called a "replaceable parameter". I can see several people fading out of the room when they see this one, but I'll explain how it works. It's NOT that bad, if it does some good! Loosely translated, "IF '%1'=='2' GOTO MENU2" means this: "If what the human being typed in as parameter 1 looks like a number '2', then skip the next few lines, looking for the address called 'MENU2'. Once you find it, continue executing the commands you'll find on the next line. If ther is NOT a '2' at all, or the parameter is anything BUT a '2', just continue with the next line". Here's why this can do us some good. Remember how I insisted that we be careful not to put unnecessary files on any disk? I used to have two different batch files, one to show the first menu, and one to show the second menu. I have since discovered how much space those little files are REALLY taking up. In the November 12, 1985 issue of PC Magazine, it's mentioned that files containing only 1 byte on a Seagate 20 megabyte hard disk REALLY take up 8,192 bytes of storage! Using replaceable parameters, I make each batch file do the work of at least two, and it's only a little bit slower. 2.2.6.1.1.3 THE MENU BATCH FILE, CONTINUED. TYPE MENU.TXT displays the first main menu on the screen, GOTO END means that the next few lines should be skipped, and as soon as the line that looks like :END is found, the batch file will continue with the next line, if any. :MENU2 is only a label that we can branch over to. It does nothing except sit there, waiting to be looked for. TYPE MENU2.TXT displays the second help menu on the screen. :END is another label we can GOTO. The MENU.BAT is a reasonable example of how I write my simplest batch files. If I'm placing notes within my batch files for other people to learn from, some of my batch files extend to over 100 lines! If you're using a nice fast computer, that's not much of a problem, but the delays inherent in a LONG batch file can be pretty prohibitive. There are some AMAZINGLY complicated ways to break a mega-batch-file down to only 2 or 3 lines, but that's another article completely. 2.2.6.1.1.4 THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE. Remember how I had you dink around with the PROMPT command? I consider that to have been a VERY good lead-in to this batch file. THIS IS THE BIGGIE! Other batch files are A-Okay for saving us a little work here and there. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is THE LAW for the computer. NO FOOLING. Most people haven't got a CLUE about this stuff. How would you like your computer to run better? We human beings create the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to make our IBM or compatible computers work MUCH better on a day-to-day basis. If we are clever and knowledgeable, we can overcome the worst deficiencies in the Disk Operating System (DOS). For instance, you might using a program for several hours, saving your work onto a storage disk VERY carefully. Just before turning off the computer, you save your work for the last time. For NO obvious reason, the data you save is NOT saved correctly. Totally unaware of this, you turn off the power and go do something else. Next morning, you attempt to retrieve your work, and are greeted with a loud beep and an error message saying: "Part of file is missing". Here's another example: If you've been using your computer for awhile, you may have tried to stop your computer from printing out something in error. You may have had the experience that this doesn't always work as quickly as you would like. The computer stops misbehaving when it finally feels like getting around to it. This lesson is NOT guaranteed to completely eradicate such problems, but it can help provide some peace of mind. Each time you start up the computer, the Disk Operating System (DOS) looks for a "batch" file called AUTOEXEC.BAT, containing as many or as few commands as we desire. DOS then follows these commands, one by one. Here's a little preparation for our next step: make sure that the current directory is C:\DOS, put the diskette with my files in drive A: and then say COPY A:*.MSG to copy all message files that end with .MSG into the current directory. You'll see why shortly, in the sections explaining the AUTOEXEC.BAT and the FULLBACK.BAT and ENDOFDAY.BAT files. The AUTOEXEC.BAT doesn't do us any good unless it's in the C:\ (root) directory, so let's move on up to the top: CD\ 2.2.6.1.1.4.1 DON'T WIPE OUT A PREVIOUS AUTOEXEC.BAT! We should be in the C:\ directory, and let's CAUTIOUSLY test to see if there is ALREADY an AUTOEXEC.BAT file in there. TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT Might or might not get any results. If you get a message saying "File not found", we're safe to issue the next command: COPY A:AUTOEXEC.BAT if the disk containing my files is in drive A: If the TYPE command displayed a file on the screen, why don't you just read along with the rest of us, but restrain yourself from modifying or adding a new AUTOEXEC.BAT on top of your old one unless you feel confident about doing it! 2.2.6.1.1.5 THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE, CONTINUED. Here's what my generic AUTOEXEC.BAT looks like: echo off cls date time path=C:\dos cd\dos break on verify on dskwatch dosedit scrnsave 6 >nul prompt It's now $t$h$h$h$h$h$h on $d$_(Current directory is $p)$_$n$g type backdate.msg type menu.txt Again, I'll begin an explanation of the new concepts: DATE and TIME mean that the computer is going to ask you for the date and time at this point. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! After you back up your work onto floppy diskettes, you can tell which diskette contains the most recent copy by looking at the directory. This can save you from accidentally wiping out or losing important work. 2.2.6.1.1.5.1 IF YOU HAVE A COMPUTER THAT LACKS A BUILT-IN CLOCK. This is the ONE time I'm going to lapse from my supposition that you're using an IBM AT. The DATE and TIME lines are NOT NECESSARY in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on newer machines like the IBM AT and the Compaq Deskpro 286 series! Forget you ever knew they existed! They can get in your way! I only include those two lines here for those people out there who DON't have built-in clocks in their machines. As I was saying much earlier in the HARDWARE MEMORY REQUIREMENTS section, if your older machine already has at least 320k of RAM, chances are very good that it contains an additional memory board that has a battery-powered clock. This memory board came with a diskette, containing various files. One of these files will automatically enter the date and time for you. Copy this file to the C:\DOS subdirectory, and include its name in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, instead of the DATE and TIME commands. For example: if you're using an AST Six-Pak Plus memory board, the proper command is ASTCLOCK. If I were you, I'd replace the DATE and TIME commands with the ASTCLOCK command, but I'd do it in a certain way: 2.2.6.1.1.5.2 REDIRECTION OF STANDARD OUTPUT. This information is a supplement to the DOS manual's "redirection of standard output" section. If you manually run the ASTCLOCK command, ASTCLOCK You'll get a message on the screen that looks somewhat like this: Date and time processors loaded Current time is 02:41:24 Current date is 11-21-85 So, if you're creating a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT and wish to include the ASTCLOCK command, change the line saying ASTCLOCK to a line that says ASTCLOCK >NUL and you'll notice that the date and time are still being loaded into the computer, but no message is flashed on the screen. The > symbol means that we want to dump something to somewhere other than the usual place, which in this case means the screen. In this example, we're dumping it out to electronic limbo, which is called NUL in DOS. Here's something else to try, just to get a feeling for redirection: turn on your printer, and issue the folowing DOS command: DIR >PRN Normally, the output of the DIR command is the screen, but now it's been temporarily changed to the printer, called PRN. 2.2.6.1.1.5.3 IMPORTANT KEY TO THIS SYSTEM! THE PATH COMMAND. PATH=C:\DOS means that we want to give commands, and we want DOS to follow our commands EVERY time. By giving the PATH command each time we start up the computer, we're telling DOS where it can find further information if it doesn't understand us. The THEME of the C:\DOS subdirectory is that it contains all of our TOOLS AND GOODIES. DOS will use the news it got from the PATH command to find any tools and goodies it needs. I CAN'T stress this strong enough. If the system is set up properly, using this article's guidelines, you only need to set the PATH command ONCE in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, to ONE subdirectory, and you'll reap some benefits: 2.2.6.1.1.5.3.1 BENEFITS: FASTER OPERATION. Setting a PATH that looks like this: PATH=C:\;C:batch;C:\PROGRAMS;C:\RBASE;C:\DOS is certainly possible, but it's HORRIBLY slow, because by the time the PATH command has finished forcing the hard disk to root through all of those subdirectories, you could have been growing HAIR as a hobby. 2.2.6.1.1.5.3.2 LESS ERROR MESSAGES. The PATH command is not normally described this way, but here is the bottom line: The purpose of the PATH command, if properly set up, is to make the "Bad command or filename" error message unnecessary. Have YOU ever seen that message, HMMMMM? I am SO sure! 2.2.6.1.1.5.3.3 EASE OF USE. If you adhere to my guidelines, all of your batch files will work in ANY subdirectory, on ANY disk, any time you see a DOS prompt. Period. 2.2.6.1.1.6 THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE, CONTINUED AGAIN. BREAK ON means that we want to reserve the right to panic and break out of problems we might be experiencing. Normally, we can tell the computer to "WHOA" by holding down the CTRL KEY and briefly pressing the SCROLL LOCK or BREAK key on the upper right corner of the keyboard. (See the word "Break" on the front of the key?) This procedure will still work, but now we've told the computer to pay EXTRA-attention to our desire to break out of what's going on. VERIFY ON means that we want the computer to be doubly certain that everything it reads from or writes on any disk is accurate from now on. This seems obvious, but it's NOT automatically taken care of! It'll warn you of most major malfunctions while they're happening, no matter what program you're currently running. The way a VERIFY problem makes itself known is with a message such as: Disk read error drive C: Abort, Retry or Ignore? As soon as you see that sort of message, you're being expected to make a decision between those three possible choices. I CAN't give you a general rule of thumb, but you COULD press 'I' to Ignore the error and try to figure out what the problem was and how to get around it. I know I already explained the DSKWATCH command in the section called THE DSKWATCH COMMAND, but I still think it bears repeating how much I like this command to partially supplement the VERIFY ON command. The DOSEDIT and SCRNSAVE commands can be included or deleted from the AUTOEXEC.BAT without any problem, but you might want to at least give them a try... TYPE BACKDATE.MSG is a nice way to get solid information that only shows up when you start up your computer. It gives a report on when the information on the hard disk was last backed up. You'll see it in a moment. 2.2.6.1.1.7 TESTING THE AUTOEXEC BATCH FILE. Open the drive A: door and hold down the again, and give the computer the date and time if asked to. The next thing you should see on the screen at this time should be the following message, supplied by BACKDATE.MSG: The most recent hard disk backup was performed on... (None so far) Right under that, you should see the main Menu, and under that there should be a prompt that looks somewhat like this: It's now 13:30 on Thu 9-16-1988 (Current directory is C:\DOS) C>_ 2.2.7 THE CONFIG.SYS FILE. This is NOT exactly a batch file, but it IS a file we humans create, containing a collection of special commands. The difference is that these commands are NOT commands that you normally can type in at the DOS prompt. The CONFIG.SYS file is another "obedience trainer" for your computer, and its shocking how few people know the value of it. The file called CONFIG.SYS is read before AUTOEXEC.BAT, and has a different reason for existence. When you start up your computer, the Disk Operating System is loaded into memory. It then looks for a file called CONFIG.SYS on the start-up disk. If the file exists, then DOS performs the commands that we human beings have set up for it. After that, the AUTOEXEC.BAT kicks in. You can study the technical aspects of the CONFIG.SYS file in greater detail in your DOS manual's Configuration Commands section. CONFIG.SYS is great for everyone, but especially for those advanced computer users who like to have a lot of programs in memory at the same time. For instance... I have Symphony, Prokey, Sidekick, DOSEDIT, and the DOSEDIT utility in my computer's RAM memory simultaneously while writing this article. If I didn't prepare a good CONFIG.SYS file a few months ago, I could pretty well expect things to start "crashing and burning". I get distress calls from repair technicians all the time. Most times it's because they can't pinpoint a problem as a definite hardware or software problem, and they call me when the shotgun approach (replacing boards and software and hard disks) has no effect. Nine times out of ten, the problem can be traced to the lack of a CONFIG.SYS file. Here's why: Normally, you can only have up to 8 files open in memory at one time. Think of this as being able to juggle 8 objects at once: if your computer tries to "juggle" more than it can handle, things start crashing and burning, the keyboard locks up solid, stuff like that. Unpredictable problems are assured. So, we'll talk about the FILESS statement in your CONFIG.SYS file to find out how to get around that. Another benefit of the CONFIG.SYS file is that it will likely make your hard disk and floppy disks quit making a "wacka wacka wacka" sound. This is done with the BUFFERS statement. 2.2.7.1 CREATING A CONFIG.SYS FROM THE KEYBOARD. We're going to create a file called CONFIG.SYS from scratch in the root directory of the hard disk.. First, let's test to see if there's ALREADY a CONFIG.SYS in your root directory. Turn on your printer, and issue this command: TYPE C:\CONFIG.SYS >PRN If nothing printed out, and the screen shows a "File not found", you can safely move on to the next paragraph. If the printer printed out something ELSE, you DEFINITELY want to do some studying before you do anything that might be hazardous. The process of creating a CONFIG.SYS file that I'm about to explain would create a NEW file on top of the old one. This is FINE if you have the printed record of your old file and combine the old stuff with the new stuff using the next paragraph. Here's the simplest way to create a fresh, new CONFIG.SYS file. Type each of these commands, pressing ENTER after each line: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS BUFFERS=16 (Refer to next paragraphs if using more than 10 FILES=28 megabytes of storage)... After the last line, hold down the key and briefly press Z. This is equivalent to hitting the key, except the DOSEDIT command overrides that function. That should put a "^Z" on the screen, which is an "end of file" character. Then, press ENTER. You'll see your disk drive's light go on and then off. That means the CONFIG.SYS file has been created. You can now re-start your computer in the normal fashion, with invisible but valuable differences... Here's the explanation: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS means that we want to copy a file called CONFIG.SYS from the console (screen) onto the current disk drive. BUFFERS=16 is a great way to speed up your computer's disk accessing. According to the great Peter Norton, the best number of BUFFERS to assign depend on the type of disk drive you use the most. If you only use floppy diskettes, you should set the number of BUFFERS to 8. If you use an IBM PC XT with a 10-megabyte hard disk, set your BUFFERS to 16. If you use an IBM AT or a Compaq Deskpro with a 20-megabyte hard disk, set your BUFFERS to 32. I'm only guessing, but it seems like the progression is 16 BUFFERS to each 10 megabytes. I've seen a properly set up BUFFERS statement make many hard disks MUCH quieter and quicker. This is how we more than overcome the speed disadvantage of the VERIFY ON statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. FILES=28 means that we want to give DOS the ability to "juggle" up to 28 files in memory at once if necessary. This can include memory-resident utilities like Sidekick, Applications software like Symphony or Framework, Symphony's Tutorial Application, the Lotus Access Menu, and any other such goodies we might use during a typical day's work. I've found that 28 is a good number, though there's no real upper limit to the number you can specify. Each additional file you add takes up 39 more bytes of RAM memory. The FILES statement can be especially nice for all of the Symphony or Framework or dBASE III users who have discovered problems when combining their application software with various memory-resident programs like the Pop-Up series and SideKick. You might have noticed that the computer would inexplicably lock up when you'd have many of these programs in memory. Being logical and intelligent, you'd stop using these auxiliary programs. A PROPERLY set-up FILES statement in the CONFIG.SYS file may clear up your woes! This is advice that might just cause you to welcome Sidekick and all of the others back into daily use. There's LOTS of other things that can go into the CONFIG.SYS file, but they're REALLY not appropriate in a FOUNDATION article. Well cover several more goodies real soon! (The articles are already written!) 2.2.8 BATCH FILES, CONTINUED. Please go ahead and re-start the computer if you haven't already, so we can continue. The following batch files are EXTREMELY debugged: 2.2.8.1 THE S.BAT FILE. In order to use the S.BAT file, we need to be fully prepared to install Symphony on the hard disk. If you don't use Symphony, and/or never INTEND to use Symphony, I would still urge you to read through this section for the newest nuggets of information. If you HAVE Symphony and use it or would like to, here's what we need to do: We're going to install Symphony into the C:\SYMPHONY subdirectory, and clean out any unnecessary files. At that point, you're going to have to deal with the copy-protection situation. At the time of this writing, (Winter 1985), the newest version of Symphony is the debugged version of Version 1.1. It normally requires a "key disk" in drive A: each time you begin Symphony, and that's something I have found irking. If you ALSO find this to be irking, contact these folks. among others: Quaid Software Limited Central Point Software, Inc. 45 Charles Street East 9700 SW Capitol Highway, #100 Third Floor Portland, OR 97219 Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1S2 (503) 244-5782 (416) 961-8243 If the rumored new version of Symphony really DOES allow you to install it and run it without a key disk, forget I said anything. We shall SEE. Go ahead and issue the following commands: CD\SYMPHONY and then put the TONY disk in drive A: COPY A:S.BAT \DOS to copy the S.BAT file into the C:\DOS subdirectory, whereupon we put one of the Symphony diskettes in drive A: (any of them) and say COPY A:*.* to copy all files from A: into C:\SYMPHONY. Repeat this with each of the Symphony diskettes, and follow the standard installation procedures in the Symphony manuals. By the time you're done, you should be back at the DOS prompt, and still in the C:\SYMPHONY subdirectory. Issue the following commands to clean up any unnecessary files: ERASE COMMAND.* You would not BELIEVE how many people don't catch this one! The COMMAND.COM file belongs in ONE place... The C:\ directory, and NOWHERE else! I cleaned up one hard disk that had COMMAND.COM in 17 places on the hard disk! ERASE *.BAT If you're done with your installation, and you're using a hard disk, you DON'T need any batch files in this subdirectory. ERASE CONFIG.SYS Ditto. We've got THAT covered in the C:\ directory already, right? Now it's time for OUR batch file. Make sure you're currently in the C:\DOS subdirectory, by saying: CD\DOS and then put the Tony disk disk in A: COPY A:S.BAT and now, let's take a look at it: TYPE S.BAT Here's how it should look: echo off cls C: cd\symphony if '%1'=='other' goto other symphony goto end :other access :end cls cd\dos type menu.txt If we use this batch file, it's a LOT easier getting into Symphony and its peripheral programs. We COULD make the batch file simpler by running the Symphony program itself from ACCESS as well, but that hogs up memory (about 5k, last I heard). As usual, here are the new concepts not covered before: SYMPHONY is the "bare-bones", most memory-efficient way of starting up the main program. ACCESS is the "shell" to run all of the auxiliary Symphony programs, as well as the main program itself if you don't mind the extra memory being used up. 2.2.8.1.1 THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE INSTALLATION. Here is a VERY important concept I don't want you to miss... After the SYMPHONY command is invoked within S.BAT, the batch file STOPS. As soon as we exit from Symphony, the batch file CONTINUES with the next line! Many people don't get that until they see it happening. This is THE KEY to designing a batch file to work with ANY software. 2.2.8.1.2 BREAD-AND-BUTTER BATCH FILE & SOFTWARE INSTALLATION. Here's another, less ornate throwaway example. This procedure is the SAME for nearly EVERY program out there! Assuming you're in the mood to install CROSSTALK telecommunications software in the C:\XTALK subdirectory, here is the QUICK way to do it. MD\XTALK CD\XTALK and put the Crosstalk program disk in A: COPY A:*.* ERASE COMMAND.* CD\DOS Then, I'd create a batch file called XTALK.BAT that would look like THIS: echo off cls C: cd\xtalk xtalk cls cd\dos type menu.txt Then, using EDIX to modify MENU.TXT, I'd add a line that looks like this (the line referring to "xtalk"): ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MENU º Type one of the below and then press Enter. º MENU º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º menu - To see this menu again. ( menu 2 - for second menu) º º s - For Symphony (s other - for Tutorial, PrintGraph, etc.) º º xtalk - For Crosstalk XVI. º º º º lockup - To SAFELY TRANSPORT this computer from place to place. º º f - To FORMAT a floppy disk in drive a: º º dos - To INSTALL DOS on a freshly formatted diskette. º º fastcopy - To make a perfect COPY of a floppy disk. º º fullback - To back up ALL of the information on the hard disk. º º endofday - To back-up TODAYS information from the hard disk... º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ That's the big point this whole article was leading towards! If that seems a little too easy, I wouldn't be surprised. Too many people OVERCOMPLICATE life for themselves and their friends. It CAN be simple! I've found that batch files that look like this are my batch file bread and butter. A good 90% of the batch files that I've created to begin using TIM IV or Multimate or other software look just like this one, with only the 4th and 5th lines being different from file to file. Again, if you follow the simple guidelines I've set out in this article, you can add in just about any new software just by creating a new subdirectory, copying the diskette into it, and creating a batch file in the C:\DOS directory that follows the above guidelines. 2.2.8.2 THE LOCKUP.BAT FILE. USING THE SHIPDISK COMMAND... (for IBM-brand hard disks) Take out the reddish-colored "Guide to Operations" book that came with your computer, and open it to the inside back cover. You'll notice that there is a diskette there, labeled "Diagnostics". Put that disk in drive A: and issue the following command: COPY A:SHIPDISK.* This copies any files present on drive A: with names that begin with "SHIPDISK" onto the current disk drive and directory. (Hopefully still the C:\DOS subdirectory of drive C:) Then, let's put the Tony disk in A: and say COPY A:LOCKUP.BAT Here's what LOCKUP.BAT looks like: echo off cls C: cd\dos echo This routine is about to "Lock Up" the echo computer's hard disk, making it echo SAFE to move from place to place. echo Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto no cls echo Wait for the red light to go off echo before doing anything else... echo In order to get the hard disk to work echo at all from now on, it will be echo necessary to turn off the computer echo and then start it up again... shipdisk :no cls type menu.txt Here's the reason for this batch file: When you physically move an IBM hard disk, it's important to do some preparation. The hard disk reads information with an "arm". If that arm bashes against some information on the disk, it might cause some damage in an unpredictable way. Therefore, IBM has provided a "shipdisk" command on the "Diagnostics" disk that tells the hard disk's arm to move to a safe area on the disk and stay there. 2.2.8.3 THE F.BAT FILE. This batch file is designed to SAFELY format two different types of floppy diskettes. The HIGH density disks (1.2 megabytes) and the LOW density disks (360 kilobytes). This batch file is designed for a computer that can HANDLE these two different types of diskettes. If you have an OLDER type of computer that can only handle the LOW density diskettes, look further for the proper batch file. To use this batch file, you would type F if you want to format a LOW density diskette. F HI if you want to format a HIGH density diskette. echo off cls c: cd\dos if '%1'=='hi' goto HIGH if '%1'=='HI' goto HIGH echo You are about to format a 360k floppy disk in drive a: echo This will wipe out all information (if any) that exists on echo the disk. Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto end format a:/4 goto end :HIGH echo You are about to format a 1.2 Megabyte (HI-CAPACITY) floppy disk in drive a: echo This will wipe out all information (if any) that exists on echo the disk. Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto end cls format a: :end cls CD\dos type menu.txt If you have an OLDER type of computer that can only handle the LOW density diskettes, here is YOUR F.BAT file: echo off cls c: cd\dos echo You are about to format a floppy disk in drive a: echo This will wipe out all information (if any) that exists on echo the disk. Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto no format a: :no cls type menu.txt 2.2.8.4 THE DOS.BAT FILE. echo off cls c: cd\dos echo You are about to install the Disk Operating System on a floppy disk echo in drive a: echo This makes the floppy diskette have the power to start up the echo computer all by itself, before any hard disk gets a chance to do so. If echo you're using a hard-disk-equipped machine, you won't normally be needing to echo do this procedure, because you'll be starting up the computer using the echo hard disk most of the time. echo Again, this is normally NOT NECESSARY for most diskettes, and it hogs echo too much storage space. Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto no cls echo Please make SURE you have a diskette in drive a:!!! pause cls echo Presently transferring the first two invisible system files. . . echo These files are called IBMDOS.COM and IBMBIOS.COM, and they are echo ONLY necessary on a diskette if you intend to start up a computer echo with that diskette. echo ÿ sys a: echo . Copying the third file over. . . (COMMAND.COM) copy c:\command.com a: :no cls type menu.txt Here's the explanation for the new commands in this batch file: SYS A: means that we want to copy two of the previously-mentioned hidden files onto our new floppy disk, so that it will have 2/3 of the ability to start up the computer if we want it to. (Remember when we got a display of the total disk space and electronic memory? You were told that there were 3 hidden files. The third one was the file where the name is stored). "copy command.com A:" gives the floppy disk the last 1/3 of the above-mentioned ability, by putting a copy of the DOS file "command.com" on drive A: As of now, that floppy disk can start up a computer like yours with no error messages. However, this whole batch file is not used very much, because those three files (the two hidden files called IBMDOS.COM and IBMBIO.COM, plus good old command.com) take up about forty or seventy thousand characters of space on a floppy disk, which might well be used for other things, like backup copies of all of your personal letters and phone lists. In other words, don't use DOS unless you know for a fact that the diskette will be starting up somebody's computer on a regular basis. Probably 95% of the floppy disks you'll deal with on a regular basis will only hold stuff important to human beings, not to computers. Let's go on: 2.2.8.5 THE FASTCOPY.BAT FILE. echo off cls C: cd\dos echo You are about to make a quick copy echo of a floppy disk in drive A: echo onto another disk (later on) in drive A: echo Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto no diskcopy A: A: :no cls type menu.txt ECHO You are etc. is an authorized exception to the "zip your lip" command. We WANT a message to be flashed on the screen, and the echo command can do it for us. DISKCOPY means to make a perfect copy of one diskette in its entirety onto another diskette. There is no batch file here for the "diskcomp" command, which verifies that our diskcopy was okay. This is because we said "verify on" in our autoexec.bat file when we started up the computer. 2.2.8.6 THE SLOWCOPY.BAT FILE. echo off cls c: cd\dos echo You are about to make a slow (but PERFECT) echo copy of one floppy disk in drive a: echo (the SOURCE diskette) onto another diskette (The TARGET disk). echo Do you want to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto no copyiipc a: a:/v :no cls type menu.txt 2.2.9 BACKING-UP THE HARD DISK. I DID NOT COMPLETELY originate the following three files: BACKUP.BAS, FULLBACK.BAT, and ENDOFDAY.BAT. These were heavily modified from a wonderful article in a past issue of the PC-oriented magazines. If I can find out who the original author was, I'll be glad to give them credit. Here's a hot tip from Tony to you... since the DOS manual doesn't go into great detail to tell you, here is the proper procedure for COMPLETELY backing-up all of the information from the hard disk onto some floppy diskettes. The reason why we want to do this is because we've already created a carefully-constructed collection of valuable information, and we're fully aware that accidents can happen. We want to be able to keep an emergency copy of all of our subdirectories, software, utilities and hard work. I'll explain how to do the dumping-back procedure later. Here is the way my backing-up procedure works: If you want to perform a COMPLETE backup of everything on the hard disk, you would invoke the FULLBACK command. This would give you some advice about how to be prepared. Once you begin the backup procedure, you'll get asked for each backup diskette in turn. Let's say it takes you 17 diskettes to completely backup your hard disk. If this were true, then 16 diskettes were COMPLETELY filled, and probably diskette # 17 has some empty space left. We WILL be using this empty space! The BACKUP command copies each file onto the diskettes, and making a little notation in the hard disk's directory by each file's name, indicating the file has been backed-up. For the sake of being simplistic, I'll call this notation a "chalk-mark". Later on, if you modify any files by adding names to your database or re-saving a worksheet or copying a new file onto the disk, you'll also "erase" the "chalk-mark". This is why the ENDOFDAY batch file exists. I'll refer to it shortly. After the FULLBACK command gets through with backing-up onto floppy diskettes, it'll beep and ask you what diskette you have in drive A: Using our example, let's say you open the diskette drive door and take a look at the diskette, which is labeled "BACKUP #17". You type in 17 and press enter, and that information is stored away for later use by the ENDOFDAY batch file. So, you continue using your computer over the next week, adding new information. It's time to do an ENDOFDAY backup! Let's pretend once again that diskette # 17 still has some room left on it. If you give the ENDOFDAY command, it searches though the entire hard disk, looking for any files lacking a "chalk-mark". If it finds them, it adds them onto disk # 17, continuing to fill it up. If disk # 17 gets filled up, you'll be asked for disk # 18 and so on. You might want to do this sort of thing every week, and at the end of the month, do another FULLBACK on a completely different set of diskettes. At the end of the NEXT month, RE-USE the original backup diskettes with another FULLBACK procedure. This is the safest way of doing a backup of your hard disk, if you're using the DOS BACKUP.COM command! 2.2.9.1 THE FULLBACK.BAT BATCH FILE. echo off cls c: cd\dos echo You are about to begin the process of COMPLETELY backing-up the echo information stored on the hard disk... echo ÿ echo Every step will be explained to you as you go through this procedure. echo ÿ echo If you're new to all of this, here's what you should do. In order to continue echo this procedure, you should have AT LEAST fifteen formatted diskettes ready. echo The average 10 megabyte hard disk holds a maximum of 30 diskettes worth echo of information. echo ÿ echo If you don't have enough diskettes ready, just answer "n" to bomb out of this echo part and go buy enough diskettes to get the job done. Then format the echo diskettes. echo ÿ echo Then, put a paper label on each diskette, and give each one a label like echo Backup disk 01, echo Backup disk 02, etc. echo and then give the FULLBACK command another try. echo ÿ echo If you've done a FULLBACK backup before, just re-use the old backup disks. echo ÿ echo Are you FULLY prepared to continue? query cls if not errorlevel 1 goto end backup c:\ a:/s echo This pause is intended to let you see if there are any messages from DOS. pause cls if errorlevel 4 goto failure if errorlevel 3 goto you-stop if exist \dos\*.msg erase \dos\*.msg basica backup cls echo Hurray! judging from the lack of error messages from DOS, It worked properly! echo Okay... You're all done! Now, take all of your backup disks echo and HIDE THEM UNDER THE BED! pause goto end :you-stop echo Evidently you told the computer to stop by pressing Control-Break... echo That's fine, but PLEASE do another backup as SOON as possible! rebeep goto end :failure echo WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! echo Oh, no! This computer is acting up! The backing-up procedure is echo in desperate need of being re-run! echo WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! rebeep :end cls cd\dos type menu.txt This batch file takes advantage of the fact that the BACKUP.COM file sets an errorlevel according to how well things went during the backup procedure. I included these lines: if errorlevel 4 goto failure if errorlevel 3 goto you-stop because I've had personal experience where the BACKUP command did NOT completely backup all of the hard disk due to a wiped-out floppy diskette. The FULLBACK batch file will alert you if something major goes wrong. Please refer back to the section explaining the QUERY command for more on errorlevels. 2.2.9.2 THE BACKUP.BAS FILE. I also refer to "basica backup". This is the ONLY time I use the BASICA language. 10 'This is BACKUP.BAS, heavily modified by Tony Lindsey, (619) 295-2922 20 KEY OFF:CLS 30 OPEN "\dos\backup.msg" FOR APPEND AS #1 40 OPEN "\dos\backdate.msg" FOR APPEND AS #2 50 PRINT CHR$(7);" We're almost finished! " 60 PRINT CHR$(7);" " 70 INPUT "What is the NUMBER of the diskette in drive a: RIGHT NOW";A$ 80 PRINT #1," >> Backup disk #";A$;" <<" 90 PRINT #2," The most recent hard disk backup was performed on ";DATE$ 100 SYSTEM:END It creates two text files. One is called BACKDATE.MSG, containing a single line that looks like this: The most recent hard disk backup was performed on 12-13-1986 That line is displayed just before our main menu, every time we start up the computer. It's a nice way to be reminded when I last did a backup. The other text file created by BACKUP.BAS is called BACKUP.MSG, which contains the name/number of the last diskette used for a backup: >> Backup disk #17 << We use this in ENDOFDAY.BAT. 2.2.9.3 THE ENDOFDAY.BAT FILE. echo off cls c: cd\dos echo You're about to make an ENDOFDAY-style backup of the echo information that has not been saved lately. echo Would you like to go on with this? query if not errorlevel 1 goto end cls echo Okay! You're going to need to put type \dos\backup.msg echo into drive a: before you can go on to the next step. echo Are you READY to continue? query if not errorlevel 1 goto end if exist \dos\*.msg erase \dos\*.msg backup c:\ a:/s/a/m echo This pause is intended to let you see if there are any messages from DOS. pause cls if errorlevel 4 goto failure if errorlevel 3 goto you-stop if errorlevel 1 goto nofiles basica backup cls echo Hurray! judging from the lack of error messages from DOS, It worked properly! echo Okay... You're all done! Now, take all of your backup disks echo and HIDE THEM UNDER THE BED! pause goto end :you-stop echo Evidently you told the computer to stop by pressing Control-Break... echo That's fine, but PLEASE do another backup as SOON as possible! rebeep goto end :failure echo Evidently the disk you put in is NOT acceptable for some reason... rebeep goto end :nofiles Echo Evidently the computer found no files to back up. This might or echo might NOT be considered as good news. pause :end cls cd\dos type menu.txt IN CLOSING: I've worked like a slave on this article, and I've asked about 20 people to go over it and give me stern criticism. That was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, two have done so. I'm strongly desiring to get this article out onto the bulletin boards, so I'm going to ask you once again to contact me if something is left open to doubt or needs further clarification. I'm honing my writing skills, and I want to continue putting out the information I've gathered. I have enough RIGHT now for about 17 articles of this length, and I'm still gathering. Drop me a line! Tony Lindsey, December 13, 1985 2.3.3 SUGGESTED READING. (All recommendations are my own opinions, formed after personal experience) Recommended reading material for beginning computer learners: PC World magazine. I've noticed that their emphasis has been on getting the "big picture", and they can sum up a lot of information in a few pages in a way that a beginner can understand. Recommended reading material for intermediate computer learners: PC magazine (The independent guide to IBM Personal Computers). A twice-weekly magazine, containing wonderful pearls amidst the endless advertisements. For example: the Departments section of the table of contents shows the page numbers of the "User-To-User" and "PC Tutor" columns, which educated me more than any other source, along with the corresponding columns in PC World magazine. Great for finding out the stuff that IBM never told you. PC Magazine PC World Ziff-Davis publishing PC World Communications, Inc. P.O. Box 2445 555 De Haro Street Boulder, CO 80321 San Francisco, CA 94107 Recommended reading material for people who are ready to dive into the deep end: Inside the IBM PC by Peter Norton. An excellent book, but easier to understand if you pay extra for the diskettes that are offered as supplements to the book.