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1993-01-16
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════════════════════════════
D i s k - R W
(Disk Read/Write)
════════════════════════════
(c) Copyright 1989,1993 by Klaus Hartnegg
Kleist-Str. 7
D-7835 Teningen
Germany
All rights reserved
current with version 2.37
C o n t e n t s
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Usage 5
3.1 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Syntax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 Sample batch files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Technical Notes 9
4.1 Default Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3 Using the /Relaxed-option . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.4 A note for Unix users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5 General Information 11
5.1 Revision History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 Known Bugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.3 Future Plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.4 Included Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Legal Stuff 13
6.1 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 Registering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2
1 Introduction
DiskRW is a VERY FAST floppy disk processing program for
various purposes:
- copy disks in one pass (i.e. you need to insert each disk
only once)
- mass disk duplication (one source, multiple destinations)
- store contents of disks in image files and create exact disk
copies by writing such files back to disks
and lots more (see list of features below).
DiskRW's main main features are it's high speed and compatibility
with non standard floppy controllers and disk formats, see
chapter 1.2
1.1 Quick Start
If you don't want to read the whole manual, just execute the
program with no arguments on the command line. This will display
a few examples. Be sure to configure DiskRW for all disks that
you are using, since it needs this to run at high speed.
You can skip the first and last config pass by pressing Escape.
1.2 The Speed
A precise timing will make sure that DOS doesn't spend ages in
unnecessary timing loops. This will speed up disk access typically by
a factor of 1.5 to 2.
While being extraordinary fast, it is still 100% compatible. DiskRW
has proved to work without any problems even on floppy disk drives
installed with driver.sys! If the high speed processing fails
completely, the worst thing that can happen is that DiskRW runs
slower. Created copies will work correctly.
1.3 Applications
There are many useful applications of DiskRW:
- copy disks with a speed that you never believed to be possible
- copy disks with inserting source and destination disk only once
- create multiple copies of one source disk with inserting
the source disk only once
- store the image of several disks on your hard disk to write
them back to disks sometime later
3
- archive images of several disks on larger capacity disks, tape
drive, cartridge, etc. You can even compress the disk images with
you favorite compressor program before storing them thus saving a
lot of disks.
- send disks via network/modem. The receiver of an image file can
create an exact copy of the original disk
- write the image of a 5.25" disk to a (larger capacity) 3.5"
disk without reformatting. The result will be an exact 1:1
copy, DOS is not able to tell the difference!
Besides the really high speed, DiskRW has several more
interesting features:
- automatically switch to format mode if necessary
- completely user-configurable: you can store frequently needed
options in a configuration file
- detects automatically the presence of DESQview and can be run in
a small window or in the background on 80286 and even on 8086
computers
- the unregistered version is not crippled in any way,
i.e. you can immediately use all the features listed above
- you can get the registered version for only 30 DM (approximately
US $20)! (VISA and Mastercard accepted)
2 Shareware
Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. The Shareware
system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you
buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has
the ultimate money-back guarantee - if you don't use the product, you
don't pay for it.
4
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the
copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as
stated below. The main difference is in the method of distribution. The
shareware author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the
software.
The shareware system and the continued availability of quality shareware
products depend on YOUR willingness to register and pay for the software
that you use. It's the registration fees YOU pay which allows to support
and continue to develop such products!
3 Usage
3.1 Installation
Before using DiskRW you should take a few minutes to install it. It will
also work when you do not do this but it will not reach full speed!
During installation DiskRW will determine the optimum disk access
parameters for every combination of drive type and disk capacity. It will
store these parameters in a configuration file (DISKRW.CFG).
If DiskRW can not find this configuration file, it will set both
parameters to 0. It will work correctly with these values and produce
correct disk copies but it will run slower.
To install DiskRW just run it with the /i (=install) option once for
every disk drive and disk type that you are using. Example: if you have
two disk drives (A: and B:) and are using 360k and 1.2MB disks in drive A:
and 720k disks in drive B: then you have to issue the command
DISKRW /i A: two times and DISKRW /i B: once. If you are asked to insert
the disk, insert once a formatted 360k and once a 1.2M disk into drive A:
and a formatted 720k disk into drive B:.
It is not important in which order you install the different drives and
disk types. You can also install additional drives or disk types or
re-install already installed ones at any time. If you forgot which ones
are already installed just look into the configuration file DISKRW.CFG.
It's a plain ASCII file.
During installation DiskRW will read the full disk several times. The
first and last run are only to show you the speed difference. They can be
aborted by pressing the ESC-key without any negative effect on the
5
parameter determination. This will save about a minute. The parameter
determination alone will take between one and two minutes.
The two time values displayed during installa