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1990-11-30
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* T E M P O R A R Y *
-------------------------
B O O T M E S S A G E U T I L I T Y
-------------------------------------------
D O C U M E N T A T I O N
---------------------------
Copyright (c) 1990 by Falk Data Systems.
All rights reserved.
Last updated: November, 1990
Falk Data Systems Orders: (800) 326-5615
5322 Rockwood Court Tech Supt: (915) 584-7670
El Paso, Texas 79932-2412 FAX: (915) 584-1540
U.S.A. CompuServe: 71420,2431
Introduction:
-------------
Several people have been asking for more control over their
custom boot messages. They wanted to be able to completely
change the boot message, and they wanted more room in which to do
it. I wanted to see how it would work out, so I sat down one
morning and wrote a quick test program called "BootUtil". I
looked into adding this feature to EzFormat.EXE and decided that
since a major upgrade was planned anyway, it wouldn't make sense
to go through the cost of translations (EzFormat.EXE is in three
languages) right now. But I also realized that people wanted the
capabilities of BootUtil. So, like a politician, I compromised.
I decided to add BootUtil to the Easy Format package, until the
next major upgrade.
Falk Data Systems: BootUtil.DOC Page 1 of 4
- TEMPORARY Boot Message Utility -
BootUtil is intended to help you produce your master disk prior
to duplication. BootUtil enables you to place custom boot
messages on a diskette. This custom boot message will appear
anytime someone boots their computer with that disk in their A:
drive.
BootUtil uses BIOS calls to update the boot sector on an already
formatted diskette. If you have one of the newer drives that is
not supported by the BIOS then BootUtil will not work for you.
The next major update to Easy Format will support your drives.
Documentation:
--------------
In keeping with the temporary nature of BootUtil, this
documentation is very rough and to the point.
Memory Usage:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BootUtil requires about 110K of free memory to run.
Boot Message Display Attribute:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When choosing the display attribute for your boot sector message,
be sure to pick an attribute that is visible on both color and
monochrome systems. You can use the pop up Color Attribute Chart
in the Programmer's Productivity Pack for reference.
DOS Version 4 Boot Sectors:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The DOS version number defaults to the version of DOS that the
program is running under. At the request of Hans Salvisberg
(Switzerland), BootUtil allows you to override the version number
which is written into the boot sector. This is useful if, for
instance, your program supports all versions of DOS from 2.0 on,
you can set the DOS version number in the boot sector to 2.0.
This doesn't have any major effects and using the default will
work just fine. One important consideration is DOS versions 4.00
and above. DOS version 4.00 adds extra parameters to the BPB and
will eat up some of the space (32 bytes) that would normally be
used for your custom boot sector message. BootUtil was not
designed to produce diskettes intended only for DOS versions 4.xx
and above. I recommend NOT using DOS 4.x for the version number.
Falk Data Systems: BootUtil.DOC Page 2 of 4
- TEMPORARY Boot Message Utility -
When the next major update to Easy Format is released it will
include the capability of producing diskettes intended only for
DOS 4.00 or higher - although I can't think of a reason why
someone would want to exclude all prior versions of DOS.
Technical Support:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope some of you find this *TEMPORARY* utility to be useful.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to send me
(Bob Falk [71420,2431]) messages via CompuServe Mail.
Custom Boot Message Editor:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boot message editor uses standard WordStar commands (like you
find in most of Borland's editors). It defaults to overwrite
(not insert) mode. If you plan on making major changes to the
default boot message then I recommend that you delete each line
by pressing <Ctrl><Y>, then switch the editor into insert mode by
pressing the <Ins> key.
Editing commands Key(s)
-------------------------------------- ------------------------
Left Left, Ctrl-S
Right Right, Ctrl-D
Word Left Ctrl-Left, Ctrl-A
Word Right Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-F
Beginning of Line Home, Ctrl-QS
End of Line End, Ctrl-QD
Up Up, Ctrl-E
Down Down, Ctrl-X
Scroll Up Ctrl-W
Scroll Down Ctrl-Z
Page Up PgUp, Ctrl-R
Page Down PgDn, Ctrl-C
Top of Window Ctrl-Home, Ctrl-QE
Falk Data Systems: BootUtil.DOC Page 3 of 4
- TEMPORARY Boot Message Utility -
Bottom of Window Ctrl-End, Ctrl-QX
Top of Message Ctrl-PgUp, Ctrl-QR
Bottom of Message Ctrl-PgDn, Ctrl-QC
Delete Del, Ctrl-G
Back Space Bksp, Ctrl-H, Ctrl-BkSp
Delete Line Ctrl-Y
Delete to End of Line Ctrl-QY
Delete word right Ctrl-T
New Line Enter, Ctrl-M
Insert Line Ctrl-N
Tab (8 spaces) Tab, Ctrl-I
Quote (enter control character) Ctrl-P
Insert toggle Ins, Ctrl-V
Auto indent toggle Ctrl-OI
Word Wrap toggle Ctrl-OW
Reformat paragraph (word wrap on) Ctrl-B
Reformat entire buffer (word wrap on) Ctrl-KG
Restore current line Ctrl-QL
Quit (Finished) Esc, Ctrl-Break
** Thank you for your support! **
Falk Data Systems: BootUtil.DOC Page 4 of 4