1. To manage large volume disk images quickly and efficiently:
Using ImageMaster™, you can create disk images by simply dragging and dropping your hard disk, CD-ROM, Magneto-Optical, Iomega™, Bernoulli® or SyQuest™ icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon.
To convert your image files back to disk, just select the image files, hold down the Command key and drag the icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon. You will be prompted to select a destination volume as each image is written back to disk.
2. To provide a convenient and reliable means of mounting large disk images on the desktop:
Like ShrinkWrap™, ImageMaster™ will mount image files on the desktop that to the system will appear identical to the original volumes. However, ImageMaster™ is specialized to handle large volumes and accesses information directly from the original image file instead of loading into a scratch file or RAM. To mount image files, simply drag and drop the image file icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon. Image files can even be mounted as unlocked disks by holding down the Shift key during launch.
3. To seamlessly handle image files in their archived form:
ImageMaster™ will automatically compress and decompress archived image files on the fly with Aladdin's StuffIt Engine™. Now that the StuffIt Engine™ has been released as shareware with the DropStuff with Expander Enhancer package, you don't even have to own StuffIt Deluxe™ to take advantage of these convenient compression features.
Installation
ImageMaster™ is installed by decompressing the StuffIt™ archive and dragging the ImageMaster™ application to a convenient location on your hard drive. You may need to rebuild your desktop if ImageMaster™ will not initially accept drag and drop files. Hopefully, you already have the StuffIt Engine™ installed in your Extensions folder. If not, you should obtain Aladdin's StuffIt Deluxe™ or DropStuff™ with Expander Enhancer and install the software.
System Requirements
ImageMaster™ is a System 7-only application. It is AppleEvent aware, 32-bit clean, Power Macintosh, AV, ’040 cache and virtual memory compatible.
Introduction
Why do we need to deal with disk images?
Although there is some similarity between disks duplicated from disk images and disks copied by dragging icons, the results are not identical. Volumes created from image files are exact duplicates, including the exact icon placement, appearance of all windows, and the correct name of the disk. In addition, with disk images you have the added assurance that all the files have been duplicated correctly and completely.
Some convenient uses for disk images:
1. Backing up your old SyQuest cartridges:
Old 44MB and 88MB SyQuest drive can easily be backed up and stored on larger Bernoulli®, Magneto Optical or recordable CD media. When disk image files are stored in compressed form, they are space efficient but still easily accessible with ImageMaster™.
2. Verifying the integrity of CD-ROM builds:
ImageMaster™ can provide 32-bit checksums for use in confirming the data integrity of CD-ROM’s after the Golden Masters have been sent to production.
3. Take a "snapshot" of your system configuration:
Have you just spent hours configuring your system exactly how you want it? Use ImageMaster™ to create an image file that's an exact replica of your hard drive that can be use later to restore your system to it's original untouched state.
4. Mounting volumes over the network:
An image file can be mounted from a remote server such that it appears for all practical purposes to be a local drive.
5. Creating “instant” RAM disks:
Just drag a folder onto ImageMaster™ and a new RAM disk will be created with the contents of that folder. You don’t even need to reboot. When you’re done, just drag the mounted image to the trash.
Using ImageMaster™
New Image:
To create and mount a new blank image file from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose “New Image” from the File menu.
Mount Image File:
Image files can be mounted by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon:
1. In the Finder, select one or more image files that you want mounted.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. Let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. When everything is mounted, ImageMaster™ automatically quits.
>> Note: When mounting disk images via drag and drop, you can mount the image files as an unlocked disks by holding down the Shift key as ImageMaster™ launches. <<
If you prefer a “manual” way to mount image files:
1. Double click the ImageMaster™ icon to open the application.
2. Choose the “Mount Image...” command from the File menu.
3. Select the desired image file to mount in the standard file dialog.
4. Check the Mount as Unlocked Disk option if you desire read/write access to the mounted image file.
Mount Folder:
Folders can be mounted as images in the Finder by dragging one or more folder icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon:
1. In the Finder, select one or more folders that you want mounted.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. Let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a series of progress boxes. When each new image has been mounted and the contents of each folder have been copied, ImageMaster™ automatically quits.
To create and mount an image with the contents of a folder from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose “Mount Folder...” from the File menu.
2. Select a source folder using the standard file dialog.
>> Note: If you select a folder that is too large for the new image size that you've selected in Preferences, a “Destination disk is full” error will result and the new mounted image will be empty. <<
Unmount Image:
Image files can be unmounted in the Finder by dragging one or more mounted image file icons to the Trash.
To unmount image files from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose “Unmount Image...” from the File menu.
2. Select the disk image volume to unmount using the standard file dialog.
Create Image from Disk:
Image files can be made of volumes or mounted images by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon:
1. In the Finder, select one or more disks that you want copied.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. Let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. When all the disks have been read and image files saved to the destination folder, ImageMaster™ automatically quits.
To create image files from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose the “Create Image from Disk...” command from the File menu.
2. Select the disk to copy using the standard file dialog.
Write Image to Disk:
Image files can be copied back to appropriately sized volumes by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon while holding down the Command key:
1. In the Finder, select one or more image files that you want copied to disk.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. While holding down the Command key, let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. At this point you may release the Command key. When each disk image has been read and checksums verified, you will be prompted to chose a destination volume to overwrite.
>> Caution: The destination volume that you choose will be totally overwritten with the contents of the image file. For an additional layer of protection, enable the option to confirm overwriting the destination disk in Preferences. <<
To write image files to disk from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose the “Write Image to Disk...” command from the File menu.
2. Select the image file to copy using the standard file dialog.
Duplicate Disk:
Volumes or mounted images can be duplicated by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon while holding down the Command key:
1. In the Finder, select one or more disks that you wish to duplicate.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. While holding down the Command key, let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. At this point you may release the Command key. When each disk image has been read and checksums verified, you will be prompted to chose a destination volume to overwrite.
>> Caution: The destination volume that you choose will be totally overwritten with the contents of the image file. For an additional layer of protection, enable the option to confirm overwriting the destination disk in Preferences. <<
To duplicate disks from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose the “Duplicate Disk...” command from the File menu.
2. Select the floppy disk volume to duplicate using the standard file dialog.
Verify Image:
Image files can be verified by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon while holding down the Control key:
1. In the Finder, select one or more image files that you want to verify.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. While holding down the Control key, let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. At this point you may release the Control key. When each disk image has been verified, ImageMaster™ will display a dialog containing the image size and data checksum value in hexadecimal.
To verify image files from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose “Verify Image File...” from the File menu.
2. Select the image file to verify using the standard file dialog.
>> Note: If the original image file contained checksums and these match the calculated values, the message “Checksums matched” will be displayed at the top of the verification dialog. <<
>> Note: If the original image file did not contain checksums, you can update the image file with the calculated checksum values by selecting the "Update checksums" button. <<
Verify Disk:
Disks or mounted image files can be verified by dragging their icons onto the ImageMaster™ icon while holding down the Control key:
1. In the Finder, select one or more volumes that you want to verify.
2. Drag them over the ImageMaster™ icon until it is highlighted.
3. While holding down the Control key, let go of the mouse/trackball button.
ImageMaster™ will open and you’ll see a progress box. At this point you may release the Control key. When each disk image has been verified, ImageMaster™ will automatically quit.
To verify a disk or mounted image from within the ImageMaster™ application:
1. Choose “Verify Disk...” from the File menu.
2. Select the disk to verify using the standard file dialog.
Preferences:
1. The group of four “Destination:” radio buttons indicate where the image files and StuffIt™ archives created by ImageMaster™ should be stored. Selecting “Same as ImageMaster™” will use the folder where the running ImageMaster™ application currently resides. Selecting “Same as original” will use the folder (or desktop) that contains the original image file or disk. Selecting “Prompt for destination” will prompt you for a destination with a standard file dialog at runtime. Finally, selecting “Use:” will allow you to specify a folder of your choice. Note that you should always choose your destination folder to be located on an unlocked volume with plenty of free disk space.
2. The “Select” button allows you to chose a specific folder as the destination folder. If ImageMaster™ for some reason can't find this folder on startup, it will default to the startup volume desktop folder.
3. Checking the “Automatically decode and expand archives” check box will cause any archive format currently supported by the StuffIt Engine™ (.hqx, .uu, .bin, .sit, .sea, .cpt, .pkg, .zip, .arc, .gz, and .Z) to be automatically expanded to locate image files.
4. Checking the “Delete archive after expanding” check box deletes the archive from the disk after it has been expanded into its original image file. Use this feature carefully.
5. Checking the “Automatically Stuff™ image files” check box will cause all image files created with ImageMaster™ to be automatically compressed into their own StuffIt™ archive.
6. Checking the “Delete original after compressing” check box deletes the original image file from the disk after it has been compressed into an archive.
7. Checking the “Encrypt archives with password” check box will encrypt all image files created with ImageMaster™ using a password of your choice or a randomly generated password. Make sure to remember your password! You will need it to expand any encrypted images in the archive.
8. Checking the “Make archives self-extracting” check box will create self-extracting archives that anyone can decompress, even without a StuffIt™ product.
9. The group of four “Default new image size:” radio buttons indicate which method to use when determining the size new image. Selecting “Prompt for size” will prompt you for a size at runtime. Selecting “Use:” will always use the size you specify on the right.
10. Checking the “Verify mounted image checksums” check box will cause ImageMaster™ to verify the checksums of each image file prior to mounting it on the desktop. This provides a means of confirming the data integrity of the image file prior to it being mounted, although at a noticeable performance cost.
11. Checking the “Verify destination disk checksums” check box will provide an additional verification pass when copying image files to disk or conducting disk-to-disk copies to verify that checksums on the destination disk match the original. This verification pass is in addition to sector-by-sector verification already done by the driver.
12. Checking the “Warn if checksums are not present” check box will cause a confirmation dialog to be displayed whenever you attempt to verify a image file that doesn't contain checksum values or if you attempt to mount an image file unlocked such that the checksum values will be voided.
13. Checking the “Confirm overwriting destination disk” check box will cause a confirmation dialog to be displayed each time you are about to overwrite a formatted floppy disk.
Scripting Support:
1. ImageMaster™ supports a custom AppleEvent suite which gives you the ability to control and automate many of the functions within the application. The most common usage of these advanced capabilities is through scripting systems such as AppleScript™ or UserLand Frontier™. In order to facilitate your use of ImageMaster™ with scripting systems, ImageMaster™ includes an 'aete' resource which details the full complement of AppleEvents supported, as well as a gluefile for UserLand Frontier™.
3. Events in the custom AppleEvent suite returns a small integer as an error code when the command has been completed. This small integer is typically a standard OSErr. However, the following additional error codes have been added for support:
Code Description
-1 User has canceled the operation.
2002 Checksums do not match.
2003 StuffIt Engine™ is not present (or too old).
3. The "verify" AppleEvent will only display a dialog with the checksum values if the application is running in the foreground. So, if you want to see this dialog, make sure to activate ImageMaster™ from AppleScript™ before you send the verify command. A successful verification in the background just returns 0 (noErr).
Important Tips
Data Checksums:
When you create an image file from a volume, the data checksum values are preserved within the file so that they can be used later to confirm data integrity. If later you mount the image file as an unlocked volume, the data checksum will be voided, since you will be changing the data within the image file and the checksum values cannot be updated quickly enough to keep them accurately reflecting the current volume contents. In fact, recalculating the checksum values of large volumes is so time intensive, that to even update the checksums when image files are unmounted would still incur unbearably long delays when you drag these volumes to the trash, with no ready means to indicate that your computer has not hung.
To circumvent this problem, checksum values are removed if a image file is mounted as an unlocked volume. Additionally, if a new image file will be mounted as an unlocked volume immediately (i.e. New Image or Mount Folder), the checksum values are never even saved. To update the checksum values with their correct values when the image file is no longer mounted, use the Verify Image command to calculate the checksums, then select the "Update checksums" button.
Anti-Viral Utilities:
Some anti-viral utilities may consider ImageMaster™'s activities to be “suspicious” in nature and will stop processing to warn you of some events. If this happens to you, I recommend switching to a less invasive anti-viral utility such as John Norstad's freeware application Disinfectant.
Background Compression Utilities:
ImageMaster™ can't mount image files that have been compressed with background compression utilities such as StuffIt SpaceSaver™, AutoDoubler™ or More Disk Space™.
Macintosh Easy Open™:
You may find that after mounting a folder via drag and drop, the ImageMaster™ driver will be unable to unmount the image when you drag it to the Trash. This problem seems to occur due to errors generated by Macintosh Easy Open within the Finder that prevent the driver from ever being called to eject the mounted image. You can circumvent this problem on a case-by-case basis by using the "Unmount Image..." command from within the application, but to permanently avoid this situation, you'll need to remove Macintosh Easy Open™ from your Control Panels folder.
Version History
Version 1.0.1 - 15 Jul 95
- Fixed bug that would prevent further menu driven operations if an error dialog was received or operation cancelled earlier in the same session.
- If your selected destination folder can't be located on launch, the “Destination” option will no longer be automatically switched to “Prompt for destination”.
Version 1.0 - 06 Jul 95 Initial Release
In Planning for Future Versions
Version 2.0 - August '95
- Integration with ShrinkWrap™
- Support for self-mounting image files
- User configurable modifier keys
- PowerPC native code
Version 2.1 - September '95
- Support for image update files
- More advanced checksumming and comparison features
Windows '95 Version - Late fall '95
ImageMaster™ is Freeware
Freeware is copyrighted software freely distributed via the Internet, local bulletin board systems (BBS), commercial on-line services, user groups, and between friends. There is no charge for individual, non-commercial use.
For corporate site use or commercial distribution, ImageMaster™ must be licensed on an annual or per-unit basis. I also offer customized versions of ImageMaster™ for bundling with specific hardware or software products. Please contact me for licensing details and pricing.
Keep in mind that ImageMaster™ is copyrighted and that no one has the right to sell or alter it in any way without my written consent. I also will not be liable for any damages, including lost of data, lost profits, cost of cover or other special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages arising from the use of this program.
Contacting the Author
If you would like to obtain the latest version of ImageMaster™, suggest new features, or complain about a bug, just contact me at:
