FIPS is a program for non-destructive splitting of harddisk partitions.
To download FIPS, click on fips20.zip
Please carefully read the file FIPS.DOC for instructions on the use of FIPS. FIPS is not self documenting. I urge you to read at least sections 2, 5, 7 and 8. In case of problems read 4, 9 and 10 and the file FIPS.FAQ.
Muto Toshihisa has been so kind as to translate the docs into japanese. They are available in Japan from NIFTY-Serve as FPCUPRO LIB1 #463. Japanese users will hopefully know what this means. NEW: another (or possibly the same) translation is available on the WWW from this page.
One frequent problem people encounter is that their defragmentation program leaves unmovable sectors at the end of the partition. It is addressed in detail in FIPS.DOC. Other frequently asked questions are answered in the file FIPS.FAQ.
If you use OS/2, a disk driver like OnTrack Disk Manager or a disk compressor like Stacker, please read the relevant sections in the file SPECIAL.DOC.
The changes from previous version are listed in the file HISTORY.TXT. The latest version is available from my FIPS WWW page at
http://www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/
FIPS has been out for about five years by now. It has been used by many people on the Internet successfully. No serious bugs have been reported. Nevertheless one can never be sure one hundred percent. FIPS reads and writes the essential harddisk sectors, so an undiscovered bug may still corrupt your harddisk. Use at your own risk! If you want to make sure not to lose any data, make a complete backup before using it (in this case you at least save yourself the time needed for restoring if it works).
However, every effort has been made to provide a maximum of safety. When there is anything suspicious with the hard disk, the program will typically exit with an error message, even if DOS doesn't complain. If an error occurs, an error message is displayed together with a short explanation. If you don't know what to make of it, read FIPS.DOC and FIPS.FAQ.
If you want to know how FIPS works, read the file TECHINFO.TXT. If you have additions or corrections to make, please let me know.
FIPS is free under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (GPL). See the file COPYING. You may freely redistribute FIPS under the condition that you include all of the files listed below without changes. If you modify it, you must follow the conditions of the GPL.
I hold the copyright of FIPS. If you want to use parts of the source code in your programs, you may do so under the conditions of the GPL. Of course I would like to hear about it. If you want to use the code in a program that is not covered by the GPL (shareware or commercial), I will probably agree also, but you must ask me first.
Arno SchΣfer