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SafeBoot
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1989-02-04
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SafeBoot V2.2 ©1988 Mark Lanoux
UnderSea World Software 03-Oct-88
Docs revised: 29-Oct-88
Boring stuff:
This program is NOT public domain, nor Shareware. The author (me!)
retains all rights. SafeBoot is Copyrighted, therefore it may not be
sold by anyone without my permission. This program may be distributed
freely as long as all the files in the archive accompany it.
Brief history of SafeBoot:
V1.0 CLI based only
V1.1 Threw in some basic Workbench support...
V2.0 Trashed the old interface, added the Arp file requester
V2.1 ..mistakenly released..sorry!
V2.2 Replaced Arp file requester with one of my own doing, added
'loop mode' so multilple saves/restores can be done without
having to restart each time
...who knows what the future holds...
Requirements:
The only requirement, other then Kickstart/Workbench 1.2+, is to have
the BootIcon file in the directory that you start SafeBoot from. This file
is actually the .info file that will be created for any files that you
save IF you run under WorkBench. If you run from the CLI exclusivly, you
do not have to have this file for SafeBoot to work.
Synopsis:
The virus problem is well known in the Amiga community. These virus
are brought into the system from the boot sectors of a bootable disk, and
usually spread like wildfire unless detected. The numerous virus checkers
out there in PD land do the trick, but one problem is if the virus infects
the boot sectors of commercial disks, which occasionaly have special code
imbedded there which is needed to start the program, that disk will be
rendered useless. This program was written to solve that problem.
SafeBoot will allow the user to save custom boot sectors of all your
commercial disks and save them for such an emergency. If a virus somehow
manages to trash the boot sectors of a commercial disk, just run SafeBoot
and it will restore the boot sectors, therefore saving your disk! (and hard
earned money!).
INSTRUCTIONS:
SafeBoot is runnable from Workbench and the CLI. If you run it from
Workbench, an icon for the saved boot block data file will be created.
Remember, for the icon to be created, the BootIcon file must be in the
directory that you start SafeBoot from!
When the program starts, a small window comes up and you are presented
with nine gadgets. These gadgets are all thats needed to run the
program. Here is a layout of the gadgets:
Save Restore > ?
DF0: DF1: DF2: DF3: > ?
Volume Name Custom Name
(this is NOT a gadget) Status:
Exit
Save Sets the program into save mode whereby the user may save
the boot block data from a bootable disk. When clicked on,
Save will be printed next to the > .
Restore Acts like save, but this will allow the user to restore a
boot block to a bootable disk. Restore will be printed
next to the > .
DF0: DF1: These gadgets select which drive the bootable disk whose
DF2: DF3: boot block is to be saved/restored is placed. The drive
selected will be printed next to the > .
Volume Name Hitting this gadget will affect SafeBoot depending on which
mode (Save or Restore) you are in. If in Save mode, the
file that will be saved will be given the name of the
disk volume whose data is to be saved. The data file will
be saved in the directory that SafeBoot was started from.
In Restore mode, SafeBoot will look for the date file with
the disk volume name whose boot block is to be restored.
This file is searched for in the directory SafeBoot was
started from.
Custom Name This gadget puts up the file requester. You may select
files by clicking on their names, and to enter directories
you just click on the directory name. To back out of a
directory, hit the Parent Dir gadget. If you need to change
drives or even devices, use the proportional gadget on the
right hand side to display the bottom of the listing. At
the end is a list of AmigaDOS drives and devices. Clicking
on these will send you to any drive or device that you have
mounted. To select the file, you have 3 choices. First,
you may go to the string gadget near the bottom of the
requester and type in a name. Second, you can click on a
name in the list, it will then appear in the string gadget.
Or third, you may go to any directory you wish and click in
the string gadget. If you delete all the characters in the
string gadget (if any at all), then SafeBoot will use the
volume name of the target disk. This is like hitting the
Volumne Name gadget, except that you can specify in which
directory the file is. Finally, if you are satisfied with
the filename, click in the Use It gadget. To abort at any
time, click the CANCEL gadget.
Exit Quits the program.
When you have selected the mode of operation, the drive where
the bootable disk is located, and the filename, the actual work begins.
If all is ok, the filename that is created/accessed will be printed
in the Workbench Screen's title bar. If there is an error, a small
error message will be printed to alert the user.
There is no required order of operation, but a sample run may be
as follows. For a save, first click on the Save gadget. Next, select
the disk drive gadget where the bootable disk is placed. Finally,
decide on whether you want to use a custom name or the disk volume name.
To restore a boot block, just select the Restore gadget and follow the
same pattern as above.
As a little bit of added protection, if you attempt to save a
bootblock, and a file with the same name that you wish to use already
exists, SafeBoot puts up a requester asking whether or not you wish to
overwrite the old file. Click on Save Anyway to overwrite the file,
otherwise just click on Cancel.
At the time of saving, a checksum is calculated and saved as part of
the header. When a restore is attempted, the checksum is recalculated
and compared to the checksum in the saved header. If they do not match
for some reason, a requester is displayed warning the user, and a choice
is given on whether to proceed or abort is given.
A note on restoring boot blocks. SafeBoot saves as part of the
data file a header, this header contains the volume name of the disk
it was saved from. If you attempt to restore a boot block data file
to the disk that is was not originally from, SafeBoot puts a requester
warning you. You may then proceed to restore, or abort. If you give
a boot block data file a less than descript filename, you should go to
the CLI and do a TYPE <datafile> OPT H for a hex dump of the file.
You will see on the first line 'BootBlock for:' and on the second line
will appear the volume name this boot block file is for. But, for the
easiest way to check the volume name for a particular file, just check
that file's comment. You can do this in the CLI by listing the file or
by getting a directory where the file is. The comment line will show
'BootBlock for:' and the volume name will be printed here. If you run
from Workbench, just click on the icon for the data file, and select
the 'Info' menu selection from the Project menu.
This program was written in Benchmark Modula-2. I would like to thank
the following people, who in one way or the other, helped me to finish
this program (after heavy-duty testing):
Patrick Goudeau who gave me programming tips, help, suggestions.
Paul Trauth who drew the great icons, thanx Paul!
John Palmer who gave me the idea and who has helped test this program.
If you wish to thank me, gripe, complain, give money, etc, I can be
reached at the following address:
Mark Lanoux
4447 Markham Avenue
Jefferson, LA 70121 USA
The source is available from me, just send me a blank disk and it will
be promptly returned.
This program can be found on our board, UnderSea World BBS (504)-341-5323.
It is also in the New Orleans Commodore Klub (NOCK) library on it's
anti-virus disk, appropriatly named the in-NOCK-ulation disk.