home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Pegasus Graphics Universe
/
Pegasus_Graphics_Universe.iso
/
support
/
vgacopy.doc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-01-20
|
25KB
|
696 lines
VGA-Copy pro 5.0a - improved replacement for DISKCOPY, FORMAT and DISKCOMP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please feel free to upload the shareware version of VGACopy pro 5.0a to any
electronic bulletin board or to give copies of VGACopy pro 5.0a to other
users (ensure to upload the complete version with all files, see FILES THAT
COME WITH VGACOPY PRO 5.0a).
* what you need :
- 286-CPU (or greater)
- EGA or VGA graphic-card
- Mouse (recommended)
- Floppy-Drive (up to 2.88Mb capacity)
- Hard- or ramdisk
* what you get :
- very fast one-pass disk-copy -format -verify -image-program
- graphical user-interface with buttons, icons and displays
- special sector-interleave-format (allows up to 100% faster
diskaccess for DOS and Windows programs)
- several high-capacity-formats (up to 1,72 MB on 3,5")
- converts "impossible" formats (e.g.. 1,44MB or 720KB on 5,25")
- supports Soundblaster and build-in-speaker
- creates image-files, useful for disk-transfer by modem
- supports McAfee's Anti-Virus-Utilities
- the Shareware-version is not crippled in any way !
* COPYRIGHT/LICENSE/WARRANTY
----------------------------
Program and documentation Copyright 1993, Thomas Mönkemeier EDV-Beratung,
Oldenburg. All rights reserved.
Because of the nature of this manual, some software products are mentioned
by their trade names. In most cases, these designations are claimed as
trademarks by the respective companies.
All mentioned software products are NOT part of VGACopy pro 5.0a. You must
buy or register them separately.
VGACopy pro 5.0a is shareware and may be freely distributed in it's
original form with all files (exception : the .VOC and .MOD-files may be
deleted, when VGACopy pro 5.0a is spread by modem). No user may modify
VGACOPY pro 5.0a or this document in any way. No fee, charge, or other
compensation may be accepted or requested without the express written
consent of the author. Distribution of VGACOPY pro 5.0a in conjunction
with any other product is prohibited, except with similar written consent.
Distributors of public domain software may distribute copies of VGACOPY pro
5.0a subject to the above conditions.
After a trial-period of 30 days you must register to get your own
individual copy of VGACopy pro. See chapter HOW TO REGISTER VGACOPY PRO
5.0a.
The author makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including
without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a
particular purpose. Furthermore, the author shall not be liable for any
damage to data or property which may be directly or indirectly caused by
the use of VGACopy pro 5.0a. In no event will the author be liable for any
damages, including lost profits, or for any claim by any other party.
* FILES THAT COME WITH VGACOPY pro 5.0
--------------------------------------
! .BAT a little installer
VGACOPY .EXE main program
VGACOPY .IDF icons
VGACOPY .GIF GIF-picture
VGACOPY .MOD MOD-file
VGACPY1 .VOC -
VGACPY9 .VOC several VOC-files
VGAORDER.ASC orderform
VGAREAD .EXE little driver for Dos and Windows
VGACOPY .DOC this text
VCP2DISK.EXE writes .VCP-image-files back to disk
*NOTE : If you have less harddisk-space or you don't like icons and sound
you may delete every file except VGACOPY.EXE .
* QUICK-START
-------------
You can run VGACopy pro 5.0a as soon as you finished decompression. All
functions are easy to reach, because of the graphical user-interface. You
only have to click on the easy-to-understand icons.
* GUIDED TOUR
-------------
* before you start VGA-Copy pro, you should add the utility "VGAREAD" in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT. This little program adds the ability to Dos and
Windows, to get rid of special disk-formats. It uses about 200 bytes of
base memory - of course you can load this useful little Program into the
HMA...
NOTE: VGAREAD is NOT necessary for the use of VGACopy pro ! It's just a
little driver for Dos and Windows. This driver was original developed by
Christoph Hochstätter for his program FDFORMAT and given to the
public-domain.
* type VGACOPY <RETURN> to start VGACopy pro. You see the title-screen
with a little picture of Thomas Mönkemeier, the programmer of VGACopy pro
(if you think, this picture looks awfully, you have never seen Thomas
"live" ... ) This picture was created by the famous computer-artist
Thiemo Eddicks. You may delete VGACOPY.GIF or replace it by any other
GIF (format 320x200 with 256 colors).
You should hear a nice song "Elysium", even if you have no soundcard.
(If your computer crashes at this time, please read the troubleshootings
at the end of this text). The song "Elysium" was composed on the AMIGA
Soundtracker by Volker Tripp, member of "Jesters of sanity". The
integrated mod-play-routines were developed by Mark J. Cox (programmer of
Mod-Play pro).
After a shareware-countdown (about 10 seconds, only active
in shareware-version) you see the graphical user interface - in
some computer-magazines it was described as "cockpit". This cockpit
contains three parts : button&switches-zone, disk-info-display and
info-window.
┌───buttons & switches─────────────────┤ ├─disk-info-display─┐
│ │
│ ╔════════╤════════╤════════╤═════════╦════════════════╗ │
│ ║▄ disk A│Read │Write │▄ Turbo Θ║ :::::::::::::: ║ │
│ ╟────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────╢ :::::::::::::: ║ │
│ ║▄ disk B│Compare │fOrmat │▄ VerifyΘ╟────────────┬───╢ │
│ ╟────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────╢ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ │ ▀ ║ │
│ ║▄ ed 1 │Scan │Kill │▄ FormatΘ║ │ │ │ │ │ ▀ ║ │
│ ╟────────┼────────┼────────┼─────────╢ │ │ │ │ │ ▀ ║ │
┴ ║▄ ed 2 │Info │Quit │▄ ModifyΘ║ └──┘ └──┘ │ ▀ ║ ┴
╠════════╧════════╧════════╧═════════╩══════════╤═╪═╤═╣
┬ ║ ││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││ │ │|│|║ ┬
│ ║ ││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││ │|│█│█║ │
│ ║ ├┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┼┤ │|│█│█║ │
│ ║ ││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││ │|│█│█║ │
│ ║ ││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││││ └─┴─┴─╢ │
│ ║ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙ ■∙∙∙║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
│ │
└───info-window──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
* buttons and switches
--------------------
You can click on the buttons to start action or click on the switches to
select/deselect features. If you prefer keyboard-input, or you don't
have a mouse, you can press the underlined key to select or activate.
- the four buttons on the left side represent your disk-drives, for
example A: 5,25 is the switch for your drive A: (5,25"). The green
"LED" should be luminous at the selected disk-drive-button. If you
have less than four disk-drives, the rest of the buttons will display
question-marks.
- READ : if you activate this button, the disk in the selected drive will
be read into the buffer.
- WRITE : this button starts the write or format access to the disk in
the selected drive.
* NOTE : every disk-copy is divided into two parts : "read disk to
buffer" and "write buffer to disk". Even if you only want to format a
disk, you will first have to fill the buffer (see FORMAT).
* NOTE : you may write a 3.5" 1.44MB buffer to a 5.25" HD-disk - and
vice versa ! That means, that you now have the ability to convert your
disks to the disk-format you need!
- COMPARE : compares the buffer with the disk in the selected drive.
Differences will be displayed yellow in the info-window.
* NOTE : don't be afraid, if there are differences in track 0 sector 1
and sector 2. If the MODIFY-selector is ON, the special VGACOPY boot-
program is located in these sectors.
- FORMAT : displays all possible format-capacities in the info-window.
Click on a bar to select capacity and the buffer will be filled. Then
click WRITE to write buffer to disk. You also can fill the buffer by
pressing F1 - F12 (see KEYS)
* NOTE : bad sectors will be displayed yellow in the info-window, but
will NOT be marked as bad (like MSDOS Format does)! You should not
work with disks containing bad sectors. Even if the dos-format reports
no errors, your data on these disks is not sure !
* NOTE : you can create impossible formats, e.g.. 5.25" HD with 1.44
MB, 5.25" DD with 720 KB, 3.5" HD with 1.2 MB and 3.5" DD with 360 KB !
- SCAN : if McAfee's SCAN is be found in a directory of your
PATH-environment, the files on the selected drive will be checked for
viruses.
- KILL : if McAfee's KILL is be found in your path, the viruses on the
disk in the selected drive will be killed.
- INFO : displays directory-information of disk in selected drive.
- Quit : quit VGACopy pro 5.0a and return to Dos.
- TURBO : if the turbo-switch is on, the screen-output will be disabled
during disk-access. Some people believe, the read- or writeprocess
will be faster with a blanked screen, so this feature is added in
VGACopy pro, but I never found a computer that considerable speeds up.
- VERIFY : if the verify-switch is on, every written track will be
verified.
- FORMAT : if the format-switch is on, every track on the target-disk
will be formated regardless of an existing format.
* NOTE : if your target disk is not formated with VGACopy pro, you
should set the format-switch ON to get the special VGACopy
pro-sector-interleave- format, that allows up to 100% faster
disk-access for Dos and Windows programs.
- MODIFY : if the modify-switch is on, a special bootsector is written to
the target disk. If your computer boots with a VGACopy pro bootsector,
you get a little menu on the screen :
VGA-Copy-Boot V5.0
------------------
Dies ist keine Systemdiskette ... No system-disk
F1 - DOS von Festplatte booten F1 - boot DOS from harddisk
F2 - Laufwerke vertauschen F2 - swap drive A: & drive B:
F3 - Neu versuchen F3 - try again
F4 - Reset F4 - reset
The ability to swap drives a: and b: will solve problems with programs,
that come in the wrong disk-size to you, because you can boot from
drive B: !
* NOTE: If you want to copy system-disks turn the MODIFY-switch OFF!
If you copy them with MODIFY ON, they can't boot your computer because
of the VGACopy bootprogram ...
* DISK-INFO-DISPLAY
-----------------
- the main part (trackdisplay) shows the actual track-number (usually
green, during read/write yellow).
Red numbers are error-codes :
01 Drive not supported
02 Format-error
03 Disk write-protected
04 Sector not found (Disk not formated ?)
0C Controller does not support format
40 Drive not ready
80 no Disk in Drive
BX (User)Break in Drive X
(you see, the programmer of VGACopy pro 5.0a likes errorCODES ! :-)
- above the trackdisplay you can see some basic-info about the disk, e.g.
name of the format program that formatted the disk, number of sectors,
capacity, number of sides, interleave and so on. (If your disk is
formatted with VGACopy, the version number and the name of your
computer is shown in the first line. Your computer's name is build
from the bios-checksum. Date and time of format are displayed in the
second line).
- on the left side is a graphical encryption of the BIOS-databyte :
yellow led for double-stepping, green for write-density, red for
successful recognition of disk-type and orange for format-reception of
BIOS.
* INFO-WINDOW
-----------
- the info-window tells you at any time during disk-access, what happens
to the inserted disk. Single bars on the display represent single
tracks on the inserted disk. Meanings of bar-colors :
dark green : track successfully read
light green: track successfully read, but weak. It is recommended to
format and rewrite SOURCE-Disk
yellow : read-error or verify-error (depends on the selected action)
black : empty track
red or cyan: write-access
blue : verifying
* Keys
------
ESC/SPACE : stop current action (also right mouse-button)
reset trackdisplay (also middle mouse-button)
F1-F12 : several format-capacities
F 1 160 KB old DOS-format
F 2 200 KB special format DD, VGAREAD required
F 3 360 KB 5.25" DD-format
F 4 400 KB special-format DD, VGAREAD required
F 5 410 KB special-format DD, VGAREAD required
F 6 640 KB laptop-OEM-DOS DD, two sides
F 7 720 KB 3,50" DD-format
F 8 820 KB special-format DD, VGAREAD required
F 9 1200 KB 5,25" HD-format
F10 1440 KB 3,50" HD-format
F11 1600 KB special-format 3,50" HD, VGAREAD required
F12 1720 KB special-format 3,50" HD, VGAREAD required
HOME/END : switches screen between color and black/white. Important to
color-blind people.
INS : increase frequency of display (on SOME monitors and graphic-
cards you get a better display)
PgUp/PgDn: skips display, try out !
Del : quit VGACopy pro 5.0a and return to Dos.
* ENVIRONMENT
-------------
In most cases it is not necessary to set environments, because VGACopy
pro uses its standard-settings.
TEMP set path for data-buffer (e.g. SET TEMP=D:\) NOTE: If the
TEMP-variable is not set, VGACopy pro selects the drive with
the most available disk-space. You should consider to use a
resizeable ram-disk for data buffer (e.g. SRDISK, available in
many mailboxes and internet sites)
SCAN set path and name for McAfee virus-scanner (e.g. SET
SCAN=C:\UTI\MCAFEE\SCAN.EXE /NOMEM) It's not necessary to set
SCAN, when SCAN.EXE is to be found in your PATH.
KILL set path and name for McAfee virus-killer (e.g. SET
KILL=C:\UTI\MCAFEE\CLEAN.EXE) It's not necessary to set KILL,
when CLEAN.EXE is located in your PATH.
* Note : McAfee's anti-virus-tools are NOT part of this
software- package. You should only use the latest version,
available in almost every mailbox or internet-site.
INFO the program mentioned in this path can be used to show
directory information of the selected drive. (e.g. SET
INFO=C:\VGACOPY\VGAINFO.EXE) If the INFO-variable is not set,
the Dos DIR-command will be used to display the directory.
Many people use special tools to show directory-information,
such as VGAINFO.EXE.
* NOTE : You can use the settings of the INFO-environment to
call special external programs you may need...
* DISK-IMAGE-FILES
------------------
VGACOPY PRO is able to create disk-image-files. This is very useful if
you want to transfer a whole disk by modem. These .VCP-files are
produced, if you start VGACopy PRO with the name of image-file as
command-line option:
VGACOPY D:\test
buffers the disk into the file d:\test.vcp . The image file consists of
all sectors in dos-sequence and is NOT compressed, because compress
programs like ARJ, LHA or PKZIP will reach maximum-compression only with
uncompressed files.
To write the image-file TEST.VCP back to disk, you start VGACOPY pro with
VGACOPY TEST.VCP
an then click on the WRITE-Icon.
You can also use the program VCP2DISK to write the VCP-image-files back to
disk. This program is very small and you can freely copy and distribute it
in conjunction with VCP-files. Run VCP2DISK without options to get help.
* COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
----------------------
Only experienced users should start VGACopy PRO with
command-line-options.
Option : /B force sound-output on internal speaker
/H to avoid 43/50 lines in text mode
/X disable fade-in and fade-out on VGA-cards
/S disable shadows at characters
/L use Int-13-calls instead of direct access
/D0-/D3 select drive 0 - drive 3
/V+ /V- turn VERIFY-switch ON or OFF
/F+ /F- turn FORMAT-switch ON or OFF
/M+ /M- turn MODIFY-switch ON or OFF
/T+ /T- turn TURBO -switch ON or OFF
-!R read disk into buffer
-!W write buffer to disk
-!C compare an entire disk
-!Q quit and delete .VCP-file
-!0- -!3 select active drive
-!Fxxxx generate empty xxxx-KB disk-buffer
name if name.vcp exist : start VGACopy with loaded
disk-image name.vcp
if name.vcp not exist : create disk-image name.vcp
Examples : Create disk-image-file D:\TEST.VCP from drive 0 :
VGACOPY d:\test -!0R
Write image-file d:\TEST.VCP to drive 1, delete image-file
and disable fading :
VGACOPY d:\test -!1Wq -x
Format & verify disk in drive 1 with 1.44 MB :
VGACOPY d:\test -!1F1440WQ /F+ /V+ -x
* TROUBLESHOOTINGS
------------------
Problem : Computer crashes before anything is to be seen on the screen
Be sure not to work with K5 (a german keyboard-driver), because
VGACopy pro 5.0a does not work with this driver. Try to start
VGACopy pro 5.0a with standard-Dos keyboard-driver.
On some computers the modplayer seems to work incorrectly. Please
delete VGACOPY.MOD and try again.
Windows : VGACopy pro is not a windows-application. On most computers it
works with Windows, if you delete all sound-files (.MOD & .VOC).
Playing sound may cause timer-problems.
ED-Disks: ED is the new 2.88 MB disk-standard. Obviously not all
manufacturers of ED controllers and drives use the standard from
IBM. VGACopy Pro was developed on a Longshine-controller and
works quite good on it. If your contoler does not work together
with VGACopy PRO, your ED- contoler is not compatible to the IBM
specification.
Copy-protection :
VGACopy duplicates only standard-dos-disks! It is not written to
duplicate copy-protected-disks. As many programs are sold on
unprotected disk, remember that software-piracy is a crime!
* HOW TO RECEIVE THE LATEST SHAREWARE-VERSION OF VGACOPY PRO
-------------------------------------------------------------
By modem : there are several VGACopy-support-BBS's in Germany, where you
can download the latest version of VGACopy PRO and VCP2DISK. As a
FIDO-User you can request the Magic VGACOPY. Modem speeds up to 16600 BPS
(Zyxel) are supported.
Cyberbox I Phone : +49 (0)441 391452 FIDO 2:241/2016
Cyberbox II +49 (0)441 391559 2:241/2027
On The Other Line I +49 (0)441 5040921 2:241/2008
On The Other Line II +49 (0)441 506539 2:241/2022
Bit Byter BBS +49 (0)4461 891223 2:241/2014
Fast Info +49 (0)441 9509333 2:241/2003
MatchBox Bielefeld (down until March 31st,1993)
+49 (0)521 175364 2:241/????
Internet-Sites : The latest version will be available on SIMTEL-20, GARBO,
NIC.FUNET.FI and mirrors of these archives.
* HOW TO REGISTER
-----------------
After a trial-period of 4 Weeks, you have to register VGACopy pro !
a) Please send 40 US-Dollars or the same amount in your
currency to the address below. Do NOT use all of your
little coins, because I can NOT exchange them in
Germany! [No! I really do not plan a trip around the
world!],
b) Assign 40 US-Dollars or the same amount in your currency
to Thomas Mönkemeier EDV-Beratung, Kto# 000-135764, BLZ
28050100 at Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg
c) Send an Euro-check, issued with 50,- DM to my address
below.
!! Anyway, don't forget to send me your COMPLETE ADDRESS !!
Please allow 10 to 14 days for delivery after your payment reached me.
SORRY, NO CREDIT-CARDS ACCEPTED!!
* REGISTRATION FORM
-------------------
---------------------------------cut here-----------------------------------
SENDER :
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ EDV-Beratung Thomas Mönkemeier │
│ Alte Amalienstraße 32 │
│ │
│ D - 2900 Oldenburg │
│ │
│ GERMANY │
└────────────────────────────────────┘
DATE :_______________________,19____
ORDER
=====
I'm satisfied with the shareware-version of VGACopy PRO. Please send me :
____ "VGA-COPY pro" registred version (US$ 40,00) = _____ US$
____ Updates from "VGA-COPY" to "VGA-COPY pro" (US$ 20,00) = _____ US$
Enclosed please find the disk-label of my registred
version of VGA-COPY.
____ post & package 3,00 US$ = _____ US$
──────────
Σ = _____ US$
=============
Money
[ ] is enclosed (cash or check)
[ ] is assigned to
Konto# 000-135764 at Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg, BLZ 28050100.
I got the program ______________________________________ Version ________ :
[ ] from BBS _____________________________________________________________
[ ] from Packet-Radio ________________________________________ (73! DG9BEX)
[ ] from Internet-Site ___________________________________________________
[ ] enclosed in a disk- or computer-magazine ______________________________
[ ] from a friend, colleague, owner of registred version __________________
[ ] as part of a software-package _________________________________________
-----------------------------------cut here--------------------------------
* CONTACTING THOMAS MöNKEMEIER EDV-BERATUNG
--------------------------------------------
Feel free to suggest new features for future versions of VGACopy pro !
You can contact THOMAS MöNKEMEIER EDV-BERATUNG at any of the following
addresses. Our normal business hours are 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM weekdays,
middle-european-(summer)-time.
By mail:
Thomas Mönkemeier EDV-Beratung
Alte Amalienstrasse 32
W-2900 Oldenburg
GERMANY
By phone:
Voice & Fax: int+ 49 (0)441 26673
By Email:
FIDO : 2:241/2016.2
Internet: Thomas.Mönkemeier@p2.f2016.n241.z2.fast.fido.de