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win3x
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mfd.exe
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CONVERT.ZIP
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CONVERT.TXT
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1997-02-12
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** Copyright **
C_FIX.EXE and W_FIX.EXE are copyrighted 1996 by RSE Software and may
not be modified in any way.
** Purpose **
C_FIX.EXE and W_FIX.EXE modify WIN.COM and COMMAND.COM so that
whenever these files are run they also attempt to run Magic Folders.
As long as someone boots from your hard disk, and not from a floppy,
this virtually guarantees that Magic Folders will always be loaded
and protecting your files. It will also protect your files even if
the user boots from a floppy and then starts Windows.
( BTW, you can protect against a floppy boot if your BIOS allows
password protection. Simply configure your BIOS to always boot from
C: and then use the BIOS password feature to assure no one but
yourself can get in and change the BIOS to attempt to boot from A:.
Remember tho, that if something does happen and you need to boot from
a floppy you must go back in and change your BIOS to boot from A: so
the floppy boot will work.)
** IMPORTANT **
We don't support these conversion programs in any way. You use them
entirely at your own risk. Do not use these programs unless you
agree to accept all the risks of doing so and agree not to contact us
regarding technical support. Why?
First, we don't want to deal with those who will convert their
COMMAND.COM and WIN.COM files and then lose the backups of the
originals or will proceed without reading and following the
instructions.
Secondly, Magic Folders doesn't require converted WIN.COM and
COMMAND.COM files to be effective. There are other ways of making it
almost as secure. See "Help" within Magic Folders for details.
We're just releasing these because of much arm twisting by our
customers.
Thirdly, COMMAND.COM and WIN.COM are files we don't feel comfortable
encouraging people to modify. Your system is worthless without these
files. You better make backups of the originals in case the modified
versions don't work.
Fourth, with a fully supported program we do an extensive beta test
where others diligently test the software prior to its release to the
public. This is not the case with this software.
Now that I've scared you to death, let me say that there really isn't
much danger in using these programs as long as you have backups you
can restore if the converted programs don't work.
** Conversion Instructions **
Don't convert your WIN.COM and COMMAND.COM files until you've had
Magic Folders running long enough to be sure it's working as you want
it to. No use going thru all this if you're going to uninstall it
anyway.
1. Make sure you have a bootable floppy. Test it.
2. Copy MF.EXE to one of the hidden folders on your hard disk and
rename it, keeping the .EXE extension. For example you might copy
MF.EXE to C:\HIDFOLDER\VIDCTRL.EXE. To protect if further you may
also want to give it a SYSTEM, READ-ONLY, and HIDDEN attribute. This
file is the weak link. If it's deleted then Magic Folders won't
load. Jot down the complete pathname of this copied-renamed MF.EXE
file as you will need it when you run the conversion programs.
3. Find each occurrence of COMMAND.COM on your hard disk. You'll
most likely find copies in C:\, your DOS or MSDOS directory, and your
\WINDOWS directory. But use File Manager or Explorer to search
everywhere.
4. Make backups of all the COMMAND.COM files you find, noting which
goes where so you can restore them if need be.
5. Go to DOS and go to each directory and run C_FIX.EXE (or
W_FIX.EXE to convert WIN.COM) and follow the instructions. (If you
put C_FIX.EXE and W_FIX.EXE in one of your PATH directories then
you can run them anywhere without having to specify their full
pathnames.)
Do steps 3-5 for WIN.COM also.
** Multi-Boot Systems **
If you have multiple boot options (including the "Boot to previous
version of DOS" in Win95) then boot to each option and perform the
above for each option - USING A SEPARATE BACKUP DISK FOR EACH BOOT
OPTION. Don't worry about converting a file more than once. The
conversion programs check for that.
** Virus Scanning Options **
If you have virus scanning software you should disable it prior to
running the conversion programs. Your virus scanning program may
also flag the modified files as being infected by a virus. There
should be a way to make your virus program readjust it's records so
it accepts the converted files as legitimate. Once your program
accepts the converted programs as being legit, don't dismiss future
virus warnings as they may be real.
** Testing **
Once the conversions are made then REM out the line in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file that runs MF.EXE. If you have Win95 then also REM
out the line in SYSTEM.INI in the [386enh] section that states
"device=MF.EXE", then reboot and see if Magic Folders works as it
should. If it does then also check all your other boot options
(including "Safe Boot" in Win95). If Magic Folders gets loaded
correctly then you can remove the REMmed out lines reference earlier.
When Magic Folders is loaded by your converted WIN.COM and
COMMAND.COM files it is sometimes loaded into conventional memory and
not high memory. That means that in DOS you may have 4K less
conventional memory. It's not much but I thought you'd want to know.
The way around this is to continue to load Magic Folders from your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file using the LH command and just use the conversions
as a backup in case someone modifies the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
** Problems? **
If things go wrong: Run RESTORE from the backup disk the conversion
programs made. If that doesn't work then restore the originals from
the backup disk you made prior to running the conversion programs.
If you have multiple boot options then boot to each option and run
RESTORE from the backup disk you created for that boot option.
If Magic Folders loads all the time except during Win95 safe mode
then WIN.COM hasn't been converted.
** Uninstalling Magic Folders **
DISABLE on your KeyDisk and the "Uninstall" option in Magic Folders
will obviously not restore your original COMMAND.COM and WIN.COM
files. You will need to do that yourself as described in the
previous section.
** Known problems **
If using Win95 and you attempt to run WIN.COM from within Windows
(I don't know why anyone would want to do this....) then the message
that should say "Windows is already loaded" is scrambled and comes
out as nonsense.
This is the only problem we've noted to date but that doesn't mean
there aren't others. If you encounter others please let us know by
sending e-mail to convert@pc-magic.com so that we can update this
list.
Thanks.