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DiskDupe Trial ________________________________________________________________________ Owner's Manual Version 5.0 Micro System Designs, Inc. 10062 Miller Ave, Suite 104 Cupertino, CA 95014 Phone 408-446-2066 Fax 408-446-2095 DiskDupe Trial (May 1995) (DD50T.DOC) (c) Copyright 1988 - 1995 Micro System Designs, Inc. All rights reserved. DISKDUPE, DISKDUPE PRO, DISKDUPE AUTO PRO, DISKMACHINE, AUTOLOAD, RELAY, RAMBODISK, CASCADE, TRACK RANGE and MICRO SYSTEM DESIGNS are trademarks of Micro System Designs, Inc. Other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language (natural or computer) in any form by any means without the written permission of Micro System Designs, Inc., except as described in the following license. LICENSE AGREEMENT This software is protected by both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. You are granted a limited license to use this program on a trial basis for up to 30 days. To continue using the program after the trial period, you are required to pay the license fee. You are granted a limited license to copy DiskDupe for the trial use of others providing you include the files DISKDUPE.EXE, DISKDUPE.HLP, DISKDUPE.TXT, FILE_ID.DIZ in complete and unmodified form and make it clear to the recipient that this is not free software but payment of the license fee is required for continued use after the trial period. LIMITED WARRANTY Micro System Designs does not warrant that the functions contained in this program will meet your requirements or that the program operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Micro System Designs specifically disclaims all other warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of fitness for any particular purpose and of merchantability. IN NO EVENT WILL MICRO SYSTEM DESIGNS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, COMMERCIAL DAMAGE OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. GOVERNING LAW These statements shall be construed, interpreted, and governed by the laws of the state of California. You agree that this is the complete and exclusive statement of this agreement which supersedes any prior agreement or other communication between us on this subject. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government of the computer software and documentation in this package shall be subject to the restricted rights under DFARS 52.227-7013 applicable to commercial computer software. INTRODUCTION DISKDUPE DUPLICATES DISKS FAST! Thank you for trying DiskDupe. DiskDupe is the best program to automate your disk duplicating needs. DiskDupe can duplicate disks amazingly fast and without any fuss. Other programs simply don't measure up to DiskDupe in terms of speed, bad disk detection, ease of use, and depth of features. DiskDupe duplicates, formats and compares disks in a fraction of the time other systems can. It copies even high- density disks in a single drive - without swapping! DiskDupe senses when you put a disk in the drive and goes right to work. If a disk needs to be formatted, that's taken care of automatically. To perform at maximum speed, DiskDupe bypasses DOS and the BIOS and talks directly to your floppy controller. REQUIREMENTS - IBM PC or compatible computer - DOS 3.1 or later - 450k free RAM - Hard Disk, RAM Disk or Network WHATS NEW DiskDupe 5.0 new features include: - Support for extended disk formats like Microsoft's DMF 1.68Mb format - CRC protection of disk images that protects against viruses, data tampering and memory corruption - Track Range data support that permits for copying only the data portion of the disk - Ability to compare disks - User-definable IMAGE file descriptions that make it easy to find your IMAGES - User selectable drive step time for maximum speed - Extensive on-line help that is only a keystroke away - User definable JOBS that are saved internally and aid in the streamlining of repetitive copying - Windows style interface with color screens - Color and sound customization capability - Elapsed time and disks per hour counters - Disk information history box that permits viewing of prior messages during duplication - Disk cleaning counts that keep track of how often a particular drive is used and display an alert when it is time to clean the drive - A Windows icon and .PIF file are included INSTALLATION HARD DISK INSTALLATION To install DiskDupe on your hard disk: 1. Type: MD C:\DISKDUPE <Enter> to make a subdirectory for DiskDupe on your hard disk. 2. Type: CD C:\DISKDUPE <Enter> to change to that directory. 3. Insert the DiskDupe program disk in drive A:, or the appropriate floppy drive, and type: COPY A:\*.* <Enter> to copy the files to your hard disk. 4. Type DISKDUPE <Enter> to run DiskDupe. DiskDupe searches the current directory and your path for its configuration file DISKDUPE.DAT. You can add the \DISKDUPE subdirectory to the path statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that you do not need to change to the \DISKDUPE subdirectory every time you run DiskDupe. Note: If you have a previous version of DiskDupe, you can copy the files into the same subdirectory and your original setup information will be retained. NETWORK INSTALLATION Running DiskDupe on a network allows you to take full advantage of the multiuser environment and allows you to share image files. As long as only one computer is using DiskDupe at a time, you can install DiskDupe on the network under the terms of this license agreement. If more than one person will be using DiskDupe at the same time, contact us for information on a site license. If you are the only one using DiskDupe on your network, you can install it as described above in the hard disk installation. However, if you would like multiple workstations to be able to access DiskDupe, the network administrator should install it according to the following instructions. 1. Copy all the files from the DiskDupe disk into a shared subdirectory on the network such as F:\APPS\DISKDUPE. 2. Run DiskDupe from the shared subdirectory, configure it and exit to save the configuration file. 3. Copy the file DISKDUPE.DAT from the shared subdirectory to a local subdirectory that DiskDupe will be started from such as C:\DISKDUPE. 4. DiskDupe searches the current directory and the path for its configuration file DISKDUPE.DAT, which is updated with DiskDupe's current settings each time you exit. If DiskDupe cannot locate a DISKDUPE.DAT file, it creates one in the directory from which it was started. There are several ways for a user's configuration to be saved: - Start DiskDupe from the local subdirectory or create a batch file to do so. - Add the shared subdirectory, F:\APPS\DISKDUPE, to the user's PATH statement. - Keep "Auto-Set A:&B:" on in the shared subdirectory. If started with the shared DISKDUPE.DAT, DiskDupe will start up with the A: and B: drives tailored to the specific workstation's configuration at the time it was turned on or rebooted (drive settings can still be changed from within DiskDupe at any time). This alleviates the need for some users to have a local DISKDUPE.DAT file. SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY - Windows 3.1: If you receive an error 909 "DMA setup error" when you try to copy disks, start DiskDupe with the command line "DISKDUPE /DMAWINOFF". This will be saved so you only have to enter it once. - QEMM and SmartDrive 3.1: If you receive an error message saying the DMA buffer is too small, change your CONFIG.SYS to "QEMM386.SYS DB=3 DMA=15" to load QEMM. You don't need the DB=3 parameter if you don't have a SCSI hard disk. - OS/2: For maximum speed, open the DOS settings box for the DISKDUPE.EXE object. You'll need to set HW_TIMER to Off and IDLE_SENSITIVITY to 100 for the DOS session. NAVIGATING THE MENUS NAVIGATION BASICS AND STICKY MENUS DiskDupe uses the same technique for navigating the menus that is used in Windows, and just like Windows there are pull-down menus available across the top of the screen that allow the user to access dialog boxes for entering selections. If you have a mouse, you can select menu choices by clicking on them with the mouse. If you do not have a mouse, you can select menu choices by pressing <Alt><Z> where <Z> is the first letter of the menu. Once the menus are active, you can move around them using the arrow keys. Use <Enter> to select a menu item. The <F10> key enables the 'Sticky Menus' for default access to the menus for mouseless computers. Pressing <F10> again turns 'Sticky Menus' off. Once you have selected a menu item, a dialog box appears with choices for that item. Use <Tab> or <Shift><Tab> to move from field to field. When you have made your selections, press <Enter> to save them. When you are in a dialog box you can press <Alt><N>, where <N> is the highlighted letter of the option you want to go to. You can also press the highlighted letter of the option alone to move around as long as you are not moving from a field that required you to type something in. To leave a dialog box or help screen press <Esc>. To close a Job or any other file box, either click on the Close button in the upper left corner of the box or press <Alt><F3>. In the Help screens you can also use the <Tab> key to move the highlight bar from one keyword to another. Use <Enter> to select the highlighted keyword. Use the arrow keys or the <Page Up> and <Page Down> keys to scroll up and down in the Help screen. OPENING FILES When Opening a file from the File menu, you can type the name of the file and DiskDupe will add the appropriate extension automatically. If you want to open a file that doesn't have an extension, type a "." after the filename. You can also enter a new directory and press <Enter> to see the files in another directory or point to a file or directory in the list box to open it. DiskDupe will remember the last directory you used the next time you need to open a file. USING THE HELP FILE If you're ever in need of assistance, DiskDupe has an extensive on-line Help file to answer any of your questions. The Help file provides answers to simple "how to" questions as well as error messages that might appear on your screen. You can access the Help file through the menu bar or by pressing the <F1> key. Once you're in the Help file, you can use DiskDupe's hot keys to move around -- <F1> to go to General information on the Help file, <Alt><B> to go back to the previous Help screen, <Alt><C> to go to the Table of Contents, <Alt><I> to go back to the Index, <F5> to zoom in on Help and <Esc> to leave Help. OLD STYLE MENUS With the introduction of DiskDupe 5.0 the user-interface has changed. To accommodate prior DiskDupe users, there is an "Old Style Menus" option that can be found under Setup, Global that adopts the 4.0 menu style. JOB DIALOG BOX NAVIGATION The job dialog box shown in the center of the screen, displays all the current settings for the particular task that is to be performed as well a provides a method to change these settings quickly. Simply click on the blue box next to the item that needs to be changed with the mouse or <Tab> over to the selection and press <Enter> (to get to the job dialog box without a mouse press <F10> and then press <Tab> to locate the position of the cursor). For example, if you wanted to change Track Range to Data, click or press <Enter> on the box next to Range When the program is first ran, the position of the cursor is on the GO button of the job dialog box. This allows the user to simply press <Enter> to begin duplication. The cursor can also be positioned on the Copies and Operation selection to initiate duplication by pressing <ENTER>. BASIC OPERATION DiskDupe has three basic operations - duplicating, formatting, and comparing. Duplicate makes a copy of a disk, Format prepares a new disk for use, and Compare checks that two or more disks are identical. The Copies setting controls the number of copies that are made. Enter 0 for copies to copy continuously. Whether you are Duplicating, Formatting, or Comparing, DiskDupe always works from the Source drive to the Destination drive. It copies from the source disk, sometimes called the master disk, to the destination, or target disk. Sometimes, for instance when you format a disk, only the Destination setting is used. Although the simplest way to use DiskDupe is to copy from one disk to another disk, other modes are useful for certain tasks. Two other common ways of working with disks in DiskDupe are Relay and Cascade. There are also variations, such as creating an image of a disk on your hard disk and making copies from that file. For each variation, there are settings that control how each of the basic operations work. The basic technique goes like this: 1. Try working from the top down on the Job menu when changing menu settings. 2. If you want to format disks, set the Source to Format. 3. From the Job, Go menu, decide how many Copies you want and whether you want to Duplicate or Compare. COPYING DISKS Whether you're duplicating, formatting, or comparing, many variations are possible in DiskDupe. Copying from one disk to another is the simplest way to make new disks. Variations of this include Relay and Cascade introduced in detail in this chapter. Regardless of the options chosen, DiskDupe makes an exact copy of a disk, including hidden and system files, subdirectories, and volume labels. However, DiskDupe cannot make duplicates of copy protected disks. DISK TO DISK The most straightforward way to duplicate is to copy from one disk to another. This is useful for making a specific number of copies of disks of different types and sizes. For example, if you want 4 copies of a disk, you would select Duplicate with Copies set to 4. You do not explicitly need to set up DiskDupe to copy "disk to disk". It is the standard way it works. Below are step- by-step instructions. 1. From the Job menu select Source, Drive and choose the appropriate one to copy from. Source and Destination can be the same drive, but do not need to be if you have two or more drives. 2. From the Job menu select Destination, Drive and choose the appropriate one to which you want to copy to. 3. From the Job menu, select Go and set the number of copies that you want to make. If you want DiskDupe to copy continuously until you press <Esc>, enter 0 for the number of copies. Also select Duplicate for the operation. NOTE: If you wanted to compare the data of two disks to identify any discrepancies, instead of copying the data, you would follow the same above procedure except you would need to select Compare for the operation instead. 4. After selecting the operation and from the same menu, select the Ok button and press <Enter>. DiskDupe will prompt you to put the master disk in the Source drive and the drive light will turn on. As soon as you close the drive door, DiskDupe will start reading the disk into your computer's RAM memory, using your hard disk as virtual memory if necessary. This allows DiskDupe to make as many copies as you want without having to reread the master disk. Notes: - Although you can duplicate 360k disks in a 5.25", 1.2Mb drive, it is not recommended, particularly if the disks might need to be read in a 360k drive. A 1.2Mb drive writes a narrower track than a 360k drive, so it does not make a very good 360k duplicate. - DiskDupe will not successfully copy disks that are copy protected. However, it will allow you to make copy protected disks of your own. - Although DiskDupe is DOS-based, it will allow you to duplicate disks of other formats, including Mac high- density, Xenix, Unix, and Midi disks. DiskDupe can copy Unix disks that have an interleave of 3, but the copies it makes will have an interleave of 1. IMAGES If you frequently make copies of one disk, making an image of the disk on your hard drive saves time and avoids unnecessary wear on the disk. The only drawback is the hard disk space that images take up. To create an image, set Source to the drive with the master disk in it. Set Destination to Image and then type in a file name. DiskDupe images usually use the extension .DDI, but any extension may be used. Then select Go from the Job menu and Duplicate for the operation to create an image. Images can also be created from the File menu by selecting New, Image. After doing so, enter in a filename and follow the instructions provided on the screen. To use the image, set Source to image, and select the image. Then set Destination to the drive you want to copy to and select Job, Go. RELAY Relay is an extremely efficient method of backing up program disks or making copies of a shareware library. To use it, first make sure all your master disks have write-protect tabs on them. Relay senses the write-protect tabs and automatically reads and copies the master disks to all the non write-protected disks after each master disk. This allows you to make copies of different master disks of one type without using the keyboard. 1. To use Relay, make sure all your master disks have write-protect tabs on them. 2. From the Job menu select Destination, Drive and choose the appropriate one for the drive to which you want to copy to. Also from the Job menu, select Relay.for the Source. 3. From the Job menu select Go, Duplicate for the operation and press <Enter>. The number of copies doesn't matter when using Relay. 4. Put in the first write-protected master disk and let DiskDupe read it. 5. After it gets done reading, insert the disk you want the master copied to. 6. When you are ready to start using the next write- protected master disk just put it in. DiskDupe will recognize the write-protect tab and start reading this in as the next master disk. 7. When you are finished, press <Esc>. Caution: If your master disks do not have write-protect tabs on them, they will be overwritten! CASCADE If you have more than one floppy drive of the same type and are making multiple copies, you can use Cascade to get more efficiency out of your drives. Using Cascade is similar to copying from A: to B: - reading a disk from one drive and making a copy in another - except that, once the first disk is read, DiskDupe cycles through and makes copies in each drive. 1. From the Job menu select Destination, Cascade. 2. From the Job menu select Source, Drive. 3. Put a write-protected master disk into the first drive. 4. From the Job menu select Go, Duplicate and press <Enter>. *** Instead of using a master disk to make copies from, an image can be used instead. When selecting Source from the Job menu, select Image, then select Job, Go, Duplicate and press <Enter>. DiskDupe will read the first disk and then wait for you to remove the disk and insert new ones in all the drives. DiskDupe will sense the disk change, make a copy in the first drive, and then switch to the next drive to make a copy. It will make copies until it reaches the end of the cycle, where it waits for you to change the disks in all the drives. DiskDupe will sense when you insert a new disk in the first drive and resume copying immediately. If the disk is changed in the first drive before DiskDupe reaches the end of the cycle, you must press <ENTER> to resume copying. If a bad disk is encountered, you will have to remove it and insert a new disk in that same drive before DiskDupe resumes duplicating. Note: The IBM PC and compatibles cannot copy to two drives simultaneously. RELAY AND CASCADE You can also combine Cascade with Relay. In such a setup, the first write-protected master disk is read from the first drive in the cycle and will be copied to every non write- protected disk inserted in the following drives. It will continue, through the cycle, to make copies of the first disk until the second write-protected master disk is read and so on. To perform a Relay with Cascade, select Source from the Job menu, then select Relay, select Destination from the Job menu, then select Cascade, and then from the Job menu select Go, then Duplicate and press <Enter>. FORMATTING DISKS With DiskDupe, you can either format a disk as it is being duplicated or separately. When you copy disks with Duplicate, DiskDupe will detect whether a disk has been formatted and, if necessary, format it while copying. To format a disk do the following: 1. Select Job, Source, Format. 2. Select Job, Destination, Drive and choose the one you will use to format the disk with. 3. Select Job, Format and then set the Format option to Always, the Verify option to Always and the Track Range option to All. 4. Select Job, Go set the number of copies and then Duplicate. QUICK ERASE To do a quick erase follow the above instructions on formatting a disk, but instead set the Format option (Job, Format) to Only If Necessary and set Verify to Only After Format. Reformatting a disk that has been previously formatted takes only about 2 seconds per disk. This effectively wipes out the data on a disk by writing over the disk's FAT (File Allocation Table) and directory table. DiskDupe will write the first couple of tracks, where the file and directory information is located, realize that the disk doesn't need to be formatted, and prompt you for another disk. If you run a DIR or CHKDSK on the disk, you will see that the disk is indeed empty. If you also want to recheck the disk to make sure there are no damaged areas, set the Verify option to Always. This is quicker than a full reformat, but will check the entire disk for defects. Note: Although the disk appears blank, some of the data is still physically on the disk. The only time this might pose a problem is if the disk contains sensitive information that you want to be sure to wipe off completely. If so, use the full reformat option. FORMAT COMPATIBILITY When DiskDupe formats disks, it places a DOS 3.3 boot track on the disk. This is compatible with all versions of DOS. If you want to format a disk with the boot track of another version of DOS, or make a bootable disk or make formatted Unix, Midi or Mac high density disks, follow these instructions. 1. Format a disk using the normal format command for that system. With DOS this is Format or Format /S. 2. Use DiskDupe to make an image of this disk. 3. Now whenever you need to format a disk with this particular version of DOS, simply make a copy of this image. CLEANING To ensure good copies and avoid strange problems, it is critical that the drive heads be kept clean. Dirty heads can cause good disks to be rejected and bad disks to be passed. HOW DRIVES GET DIRTY Drive heads get dirty in two ways. Particles on the disk surface like dust and cigarette smoke can stick to the head and/or the magnetic coating on the disk rubs off on the head. These coatings vary in quality and they all absorb moisture. Poor quality disks that have been in humid environments can clog the drive heads after just 50 or 60 disks. When the head gets dirty, it no longer makes good contact with the disk and the dirt particles diffuse the reading and writing process. This produces erratic results. Some disks work fine while others are inexplicably rejected. CLEANING THE DRIVE To clean the drive, use a good wet-dry type cleaning disk. From the Setup menu select Drives, then highlight the drive that needs cleaning. Select the Clean button, insert the cleaning disk in the drive and press <Enter>. The drive will be cleaned for 15 seconds. While cleaning, DiskDupe moves the head back and forth across the disk. This provides the best possible cleaning and makes sure the cleaning disk is evenly used. Be sure to discard the cleaning disk if you see any discoloration on it or it has been used past the recommended number of cleanings. If you clean your drives regularly, a 15 second cleaning is sufficient. However, if your drives are especially dirty, several cleanings may be required. In extreme cases, it is necessary to clean the drive head by hand with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol. Cleaning the drive does not wear it out. A dirty drive will actually wear out faster because of the abrasive action of the dirt. HOW OFTEN TO CLEAN When drives are extremely dirty, you can actually see the dirt on the head. After you remove the cover, you will be able to see reddish-brown spots on the white ceramic piece attached to the moveable head-frame. We recommend that you clean the drive heads every 500 disks, or at least once a month. Sometimes in humid or dirty environments, you will need to clean the heads every 100 disks. If you start experiencing a lot of rejected disks or have other problems, it is always a good idea to clean the heads. DiskDupe has a cleaning counter that keeps track of how often you use a particular drive. Once the counter reaches a certain value (the default setting is 500) a Clean! button appears on the main menu alerting the user that it is time to clean the drive. To clean the drive simply press the button and follow the instructions given. DISK CONVERSION DiskDupe allows you to convert certain types of disks to disks of another physical size, such as a 5.25", 1.2Mb disk to a 3.5", 1.4Mb. You can, for example, copy a program's 5.25" program disks to 3.5" disks for installation on a laptop which only has a 3.5" drive. Converting disks is just a special application of the Duplicate command. The table below indicates which disks, drives, and settings to use for a conversion. The conversions listed are the only ones presently supported. Conversion Disk type Drive Type ------------- ---------- ------------------- 360k to 3.5" 720k disk 720k or 1.4Mb drive 720k to 5.25" 360k disk 1.2Mb drive 1.2Mb to 3.5" 1.4Mb disk 1.4Mb drive For the 3.5", 720k to 5.25" conversion, copy to a low- density 360k disk in the 1.2Mb drive. If you get an error on several disks, try using a 1.2Mb disk instead. This disk will be formatted to 720k capacity by using the area between the tracks. If a computer has problems reading the files on the disk, even though it recognizes the disk and can do a DIR of it, use the FIXFLOP.EXE program. This is a small memory-resident program that allows such computers to read this 5.25" disk. (NOTE: FIXFLOP is included with the registered versions of DiskDupe and can be found in our CompuServe Forum.) DiskDupe transfers the information track-by-track, including volume labels, subdirectories, hidden and system files. During a conversion, the destination disk will be formatted to the same capacity as the source disk. So if you are copying from a 5.25", 360k disk to a 3.5", 720k disk, the 3.5" disk will have a capacity of 360k. Track-by-track conversion won't copy from a higher density disk to a lower density disk, even if the higher density disk has just a few files on it. In this case, it's better to use the DOS Copy command to transfer the files. Note: If you are copying disks to send to others, we recommend making a master for each disk size, rather than using track conversions. This allows you to use the full capacity of the disk and will alleviate any possible problems that other computers might have reading these disks. JOB OPTIONS DISK TYPE Normally you can leave this set at Auto and let DiskDupe automatically sense the type of disk you are using. There are times however when DiskDupe requires the user to select the disk type. This occurs before formatting a disk. If you want to bypass this question, set the disk type to the appropriate type. CAUTION: Setting the disk type yourself can sometimes cause more problems than it is worth. For example, if the Disk Type was left on 1.2Mb accidently while copying a 1.44Mb disk, DiskDupe would assume that the disk being read in is a 1.2Mb disk and only copy the first 15 sectors of each track as opposed to the full 18. FORMAT OPTIONS The Format and Verify options are used to help speed up the disk duplicating time. If you always use new disks when making copies, go to Job, Format and select Always. This will save a few seconds that DiskDupe normally takes to identify that a disk is blank and shift into Format mode. When Format is set to Always, a 360k disk will take less than 58 seconds to duplicate. If, however, you sometimes use disks that are pre-formatted, you can save a lot of time by setting Format to Only If Necessary. This will skip the format step on disks that have been pre-formatted. You can use this option even if you use a combination of pre-formatted and new disks because DiskDupe will still sense when a disk is new and automatically shift into format mode for that disk. VERIFY OPTIONS If you are confident that the disks you have pre-formatted have not been subsequently damaged, you can also set Verify to Only After Format. On pre-formatted disks this can cut the duplicating time on a 360k disk down to less than 16 seconds per disk. Be aware, however, that if the disks have been damaged after they were formatted (for instance, someone accidently touched the floppy disk surface), DiskDupe will probably not detect this damage if Verify is set to Only After Format. Duplicating times for pre-formatted disks when Verify is set to Always are still fairly quick. COMPARING WHILE DUPLICATING To compare a disk byte-by-byte to the master during duplication, set Verify to Always or in a separate step use the Compare operation. Performing a compare is exactly the same as making a copy of a disk, except the Compare operation is selected instead of the Duplicate. See the previous section on Copying Disks. When viewing the duplication statistics on the screen, i.e. the little dots, circles and checkmarks, you will notice that both Verify and Compare are present. Verify is referring to the CRC check that the controller automatically performs when reading data from the disk. Compare refers to the byte-by-byte compare that is done when Verify is on. TRACK RANGE DATA When Track Range is set to Data it has no affect when reading a disk or image, but it can greatly increase copy times by writing to only the data portions of a disk. There are some caveats though. When using the Track Range Data feature it is important that the master be "clean" , i.e. completely blank (which can be accomplished by using the DOS format command with the /U switch or by formatting a disk with DiskDupe as discussed earlier) before files are copied to it so that there is no old data on the final tracks of the disk. When any image is used for copying and the Track Range is set to Data only the tracks that have data on the master are copied and verified on the destination disk. If DiskDupe has trouble reading any of the tracks that it is copying to then it will try to reformat the disk from the bad track through the last data track of the disk, so a poorly formatted disk is still usable. OTHER FEATURES JOBS A job is a particular task that the user would like DiskDupe to perform. The purpose of a job is to allow the user to save the settings for a particular task under a particular job name. The next time that task needs to be performed, the user can simply select the appropriate job rather than re- entering the settings. The settings that are unique to each job are those that can be found under the Job menu option, i.e. the setting for Source, Destination, Format, Verify etc. AUTOMATIC DISK SENSING DiskDupe automatically senses when you change disks without having to touch the keyboard. This will speed up your duplication and also eliminate errors. To sense a disk change, DiskDupe needs to keep the drive on. So when DiskDupe alerts you, it is okay to change the disk even though the drive light is still on. BAD DISK ALARM DiskDupe sounds an alarm when it encounters a bad disk and asks you to press the <ENTER> key. This alerts you that there is a bad disk to make sure you don't accidentally put it in the good disk pile. MAXIMUM SPEED There are several ways you can optimize the speed of the copies made with DiskDupe. CLEAN MASTER DiskDupe works faster when the master disk is "clean". This means that the master disk was formatted before any files were copied to it. Using a clean disk, DiskDupe is able to sense which part of the disk has valid data on it and only duplicate that part of the disk. If you have a master disk which has had many different files copied to it and then erased, DiskDupe will have to duplicate the entire disk even though all of the disk might not contain real data. To make a clean master disk, format a disk following the instructions described earlier for formatting a disk. Then use the DOS COPY command to copy the necessary files onto this newly formatted disk. This disk can now be used as your clean master disk. FORMAT AND VERIFY OPTIMIZATION 1. Pre-format the disks. This can be done by copying from a blank formatted disk. The disks will be formatted and verified and any bad disks will be rejected. You can format disks at any time that is convenient. 2. Use these pre-formatted disks later when you make copies. Make sure that Format is set to Only If Necessary and Verify is set to Only After Format on the Setup menu. 3. If you are nervous about not verifying the disk after you write to it, set the Verify option to Always. This will increase the duplicating times but will re-verify the entire disk. DUPLICATING TIMES The following table shows how long it takes DiskDupe to duplicate disks. If the source disk is not completely full, the duplicating times will be faster than this. Disks copied in one hour using DiskDupe. All these times assume that it takes two seconds to change the disk. 360K 1.2Mb 720K 1.4MB ----- ------ ----- ----- Blank Disks 62 38 32 32 Pre-formatted/verify 106 65 55 55 Pre-formatted 200 126 106 106 Note: Some 1.4Mb drives however, won't be able to achieve the full 106 disk per hour. Notice how much time you can save if you pre-formatted disks yourself. However, if you buy disks that have already been formatted for you, we recommend that you set Verify to Always. This insures that any disks that are bad will be detected. BATCH FILES All DiskDupe parameters can be entered from the DOS command line. This allows you to create DOS batch files to automate the use of DiskDupe. COMMAND LINES You can enter all the information on the DOS command line that you would normally have to enter by using the DiskDupe menus. Here is an example: DISKDUPE A: B: /C4 /DUP This will start DiskDupe with A: as the source drive and B: as the destination drive and will make 4 copies. The /DUP statement instructs DiskDupe to start duplicating and then return to DOS without stopping at the menus. This is useful if you want to use DiskDupe in a batch file. The A: is the Source and can be a drive, a DiskDupe image or the word RELAY OR FORMAT. The B: is the Destination and can be a drive or image. To use Cascade drives, use AB: like DISKDUPE DISK1.DDI AB: The /C4 sets the number of copies to 4. The /C is called a switch. There are many different switches you can use. You can use as many or as few switches as you want. The next section lists all the switches. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES /DUP Starts duplicating without pausing at the menus and returns to DOS when finished. /TEST Drive test. /C Allows you to set the number of copies Example: /C4 sets copies to 4. /FA Sets the option for formatting to Always. /FO Sets the option for formatting to Only If Necessary. /VA Sets the option for verifying to Always. /VO Sets the option for verifying to Only After Format. /T Sets the Disk type. Auto Specifies Auto 360 Specifies a 5.25" 360K copy (Low Density) 12 Specifies a 5.25" 1.2M copy (High Density) 720 Specifies a 3.5" 720K copy (Low density) 14 Specifies a 2.5" 1.4M copy (High Density) Example: /T720 Specifies a 720k copy. /CMOS "YES" uses CMOS bootup configuration for A: and B: drives, "NO" does not. Example: /CMOSYES *** For additional command line switches, see the on- line Help. BATCH FILE EXAMPLE You can combine DiskDupe commands into DOS batch files to automate sequences of tasks. The following is a batch file that reads in a source disk and creates a disk image file and makes 10 duplicates. DISKDUPE B: DISK1 /DUP IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END DISKDUPE DISK1 B: /C10 /DUP :END Notice that you can test if there was a problem using the ERRORLEVEL command. An ERRORLEVEL of one or greater indicates that there was an error. TROUBLE SHOOTING COMMON PROBLEMS PROBLEM: After I copy a disk using DiskDupe and then try to do a DIR on it, I get an error reading the disk. ANSWER: Take the disk out of the drive. Type <CTRL-C> several times and put the disk back in. QUESTION: On my PS/2 it copies the first disk fine but then makes a grinding noise and sometimes I get a "Bad Seek Error". ANSWER: Many PS/2's are NOT supported by DiskDupe 5.0. QUESTION: I am trying to copy 360k disks on my AT type computer and it is not working. ANSWER: Make sure you have your A: drive set up correctly (usually as a 1.2Mb drive) and that the copy type is set to 360k. TECHNICAL SUPPORT DiskDupe is backed by a technical support system designed to offer you fast, courteous service. All registered users receive unlimited, free technical support. We also provide limited support to unregistered users. In order for us to provide the best possible help please do the following before calling. Write down the serial number of the DiskDupe program, write down exactly what happened and what error message appeared, write down what type of computer you are using and be at your computer with DiskDupe running. DISKDUPE PRODUCTS The DiskDupe product line includes DiskDupe Lite, DiskDupe Standard, DiskDupe Professional and DiskDupe AutoPro. DiskDupe Lite is a no-frills duplication program designed for people that simply want to make copies, but don't require all the amenities of the Standard version. Main Features include disk images, relay copy, user definable jobs, 1.68Mb disk format and 5" to 3" disk conversion. There is a 4 copy maximum however. DiskDupe Standard is designed for people that routinely perform disk duplication and want all the features of the Lite, as well as full utilization of their computers EMS/XMS memory for quicker copying, command line support, adjustable drive step rate to increase drive efficiency, 2.88Mb drive support, user adjustable colors and sound and track range data. DiskDupe Professional is designed for software developers that want to do in-house duplication, and anticipate medium volume diskette duplication. The Pro contains all the great features of the Standard, as well as support for additional floppy drives, double speed drives, RAM drives, disk serialization, labels, custom disks and disk sets. DiskDupe AutoPro is designed to be used in conjunction with all the major manufacturer auto-loaders. It includes all the features of the Professional, with the addition of being able to generate log files of duplication activities, support quad speed (2XSDS) drives and in-lineprinters and provide network support. All of our products come with a comprehensive on-line help system that is only a key press away. If you need assistance beyond what the help can provide, you are entitled to FREE UNLIMITED technical support. As mentioned briefly before, we have a proven upgrade path available. If you decide to upgrade, almost all of your initial investment can be applied towards the upgrade. ** For a complete list of product comparison features go to the registration screen listing the various versions of DiskDupe available and press <F1>. HOW TO REGISTER To register, follow the instructions as described on the DiskDupe 5.0 Trial opening screen. Registration information can also be found under the Hello menu. You can contact us at: Micro System Designs, Inc. 10062 Miller Ave., Ste 104 Cupertino, CA 95014 TEL: (408) 446-2066 FAX: (408) 446-2095 For more information on our products: WWW: http://www.msd1.com/msd1/ FTP: ftp.msd1.com/pub/msd1 CIS: GO MSDESIGNS Internet: orders@msd1.com CIS: 75162,451 AOL: MaxDunn