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DOSLFNBK.TXT
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1997-05-04
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DOSLFNBK v 2.2 - Backs up/restores Win95 long filenames in DOS
Copyright (c) 1995,1997 D.J. Murdoch.
0. Contents of this file
1. Syntax
2. Description
3. Details
4. Memory Limitations
5. Safety
6. Recovery from Total Disk Failure
7. License
8. Release History
9. Acknowledgments
1. Syntax:
DOSLFNBK drive:directory [options]
will back up all the long filename records in the named
directory and subdirectories of it to a file called
BACKUP.LFN.
Options:
/all Back up all filenames, not just LFNs and unusual
attributes
/f filename Back up to this file instead (default .LFN
extension)
/force Force DOSLFNBK to go ahead without asking questions,
even when it may be unsafe
/from pathname Restore names from this path
/l List contents of backup file
/na No attributes: don't back up or restore attributes
/nf No full restore check
/nr No recursive: don't do subdirectories
/nt Don't restore times from LFN backup
/o Always overwrite existing LFNs
/orphans Go ahead if LFN damage is found
/p Prompt before each filename restore (ignored
during saves)
/r Restore from existing backup
/s directory Skip directory
/v Give running status report
/d filename Write a detailed debugging log to filename
Examples:
For recovery from a total disk failure, see section 6 below.
To back up every long filename on the disk into BACKUP.LFN:
doslfnbk c:\
To restore just the Windows directory and subdirectories:
doslfnbk c:\windows /r
To restore just the root directory, but no subdirectories:
doslfnbk c:\ /r /nr
To backup everything except the MS Internet Explorer cache and
history directories:
doslfnbk c:\ /s \progra~1\micros~1\cache /s \progra~1\micros~1\history
To backup the current directory and subdirectories:
doslfnbk .
To restore the "Program Files" directory name and its
subdirectories, you need two runs:
doslfnbk c:\PROGRA~1 /r
doslfnbk c:\ /r /p /nr
On the second run, you'll be prompted for each name to restore;
just say yes when you see "Program Files".
To see what filenames in the "Program Files" directory and its
subdirectories are in the current BACKUP.LFN file:
doslfnbk c:\PROGRA~1 /l
To restore names from files that were originally in
D:\OriginalDir (short name \ORIGIN~1) but which are now in
E:\CurrentDir:
doslfnbk e:\CurrentDir /r /from \ORIGIN~1
To get a listing of every file on your disk, including
attributes, sizes and times:
doslfnbk c:\ /all
doslfnbk /l
2. Description:
Microsoft's Windows 95 introduces long filenames (LFNs), and
they are mostly compatible with old software. However, there
are some problems. Old backup programs don't recognize LFNs, so
they don't get properly backed up. Worse, the Win95 backup
program doesn't support a lot of common backup hardware (e.g.
Colorado Memory Systems tape drives using accelerator cards) and
won't run in DOS mode, so recovery from a catastrophic disk
failure can be really difficult.
To address this problem, Microsoft put a program called LFNBK on
the Win95 CD ROM to back up your LFNs. However, it's very
inconvenient to use. It requires changes to your Control Panel
settings before and after use, and it works by stripping all the
LFNs off your disk --- so you need to restore them again after
you've done your backup to tape. It will only run after Win95
has booted, so again you've got big problems after a
catastrophic disk failure. If you've got a program that is
completely incompatible with LFNs then you might want to use
LFNBK, but for routine system backups it's too much of a pain.
I wrote DOSLFNBK to address these problems. It runs in any
version of DOS that can see your disk, and can both backup and
restore your files there. During backup, it makes no changes to
the names, so you can routinely run it just before a tape backup
and not have to undo the damage afterwards. It also allows
partial backups and partial restores; I'm pretty sure LFNBK is
an all-or-nothing affair.
The downside of DOSLFNBK is that it has to work on the disk
below the file system level. This means that it needs to lock
the disk to make sure no other programs are writing to the disk
while it is running. This may cause errors in the other
programs; I recommend shutting them down before running
DOSLFNBK, or running it in a single-tasking DOS session.
3. Details:
Contents of this section:
- what DOSLFNBK does
- what is in the backup file
- how to specify which directory to back up
- how to specify which directory to restore from
- existing long filenames and the /o option
- date information
- changed files
- file attributes and the /na and /nf options
- the /v verbose option and the /d debug option
- the /all option to back up all filenames
- the /force option to ignore warnings
- the /orphans option for damaged directories
- the /s option to skip directories
- large directories
- the LOCK and UNLOCK commands
- the irritating jump to full screen
- DOSLFNBK, disk defragmenters and directory sort utilities
- DOSLFNBK and XCOPY
- exit codes
- what DOSLFNBK does
When doing a backup, DOSLFNBK reads the directories on the disk
and writes copies of all of the LFN records to the binary
BACKUP.LFN file (or whatever file you specify with /f). If you
use the /nr option, it will work only on the specified
directory; otherwise, it saves those entries as well as
everything in any subdirectory below it.
- what is in the backup file
DOSLFNBK stores a full copy of the directory record for each
backed up file. You can see this information by using the /l
option to list the file. It also keeps a record of which version
of DOSLFNBK was used to produce the backup, and what command
line arguments were used. You can see this information by
TYPEing the backup file, or using the /V option when reading it.
- how to specify which directory to back up
Relative directory specifications are supported, and DOSLFNBK
understands SUBST to some extent. (I believe it's possible with
a complicated network of SUBST, JOIN, etc. to confuse it; don't
do that!)
The directory name itself won't be backed up or restored; only
the files and subdirectories within it. There is no way to
specify a subset of the files; you have to use the /p prompting
option if you want this.
The original drive letter is not stored in BACKUP.LFN, so you
can use DOSLFNBK to save the long filenames on one drive, use a
DOS utility to move them to another drive, and then restore the
filenames there.
- how to specify which directory to restore from
By default DOSFLBNK will restore to the same
full path as was originally backed up. To restore to a
different target directory, use the /from option. The name
given in the /from option should be the original directory name
fully specified in 8.3 format, with no drive letter. For
example, if you back up E:\OriginalDir, you should restore using
the option "/from \ORIGIN~1". If you forget the 8.3 form, use
the /L option to list the backup file to see it.
- existing long filenames and the /o option
DOSLFNBK will normally not overwrite an existing LFN with a
different one; you should rename the file to its 8.3 alias
before running if you want to restore an old name, or run with
the /p option for individual prompting, or the /o option to
force overwrites. These two options are mutually exclusive.
Some DOS versions (e.g. Hebrew DOS) store special characters for
short filenames in records that are identical to long filename
records. To restore the true long filenames in these DOS
versions, you *must* use either the /p or the /o option.
Similarly, Win95 sometimes generates LFNs when you copy files
with special characters (e.g. accented letters). If you have
moved or manipulated these files in Win95, you'll need to
overwrite these generated LFNs.
Win95 sometimes creates LFNs for files with special characters
in the names, even if the name is otherwise pure 8.3 form. I
suspect this is to allow compatibility across code pages: the
LFN will use the Unicode character encoding, while the 8.3
record depends on the code page. DOSLFNBK will handle these
properly for code page 437 (the standard US code page), but it
may fail to restore some filenames containing special characters
in other code pages, because it will think they are valid LFNs.
Use /p or /o to force a restore of these names as well.
- date information
Normally, DOSLFNBK will restore the backed up date information,
since older DOS versions and DOS utilities probably don't save
this properly. You can override this behaviour by using the /nt
switch.
- changed files
If during a restore, DOSLFNBK detects that the file size has
changed, you'll be prompted as to whether you want to restore
the LFN or not. If you choose to restore it, the date
information will *not* be restored, as it is probably incorrect.
- file attributes and the /na and /nf options
Many backup programs don't handle Win95 file attributes properly.
They will skip hidden files or hidden directories, or change the
attributes upon restore. Since some of the special features of
directories in Win95 depend on the attributes, this can cause
problems after a restore. To avoid this, DOSLFNBK does two
things: First, it checks that every directory and file recorded
in the backup file exists during the restore. If any are
missing, it prints a warning message. To skip this check, use
the /nf (no full restore) option.
The second thing done to protect against attribute-challenged
programs is to store information on files with any unusual
attributes, whether they have long filenames or not. These
include System, Hidden and Readonly files and directories, and
also files using two directory attribute bits that are not
normally used. During a restore, DOSLFNBK will restore any
attribute bits except the SubDirectory and Volume attributes
(because changing these would damage the disk structure) and the
Archive attribute (because this is typically used to signal
whether a file is backed up or not; one would expect it to
change after a backup).
If you don't want this special handling of attributes, use the
/na option. Only long filename records will be backed up, and
during a restore the file attributes of the file on the disk
will be kept.
- the /v verbose option and the /d debug option
To show you the progress of a run, DOSLFNBK prints a dot for
about every 10 directories examined or (in /v mode) prints the
directory and file names. If it stops printing for more than a
few seconds, something is probably wrong. Try running again
with the /d debug log option, and if it stops again, please
email me (dmurdoch@mast.queensu.ca) a copy of your log, along
with a description of your system. I'm very interested in
making DOSLFNBK as bug-free as possible.
- the /all option to back up all filenames
Sometimes you may want a record of the names of every file on
the disk. An easy way to get this is to run DOSLFNBK with the
/all option. This will save the directory descriptions of every
file and subdirectory on your disk. To view the listing, run
again with the /l option. You can also make use of this during
the restore to detect files that have changed since the backup,
or files that were missed in a restore.
- the /force option to ignore warnings
The /force option tells DOSLFNBK to go ahead without stopping
for several different warnings (e.g. overwriting the backup
file). Use it in a batch file only when you're sure you always
want it to go ahead.
- the /orphans option for damaged directories
When damage occurs to a directory (perhaps by an old non-Win95
compatible program), often the long filename records are left
"orphaned": they are no longer connected to any file. When
this happens, the best thing to do is to use a disk repair
program (e.g. SCANDISK) to repair the damage before running
DOSLFNBK, because DOSLFNBK is written under the assumption that
the disk structure is intact.
DOSLFNBK makes an attempt to detect orphaned LFNs, and is 99%
successful. When it detects any, it will stop and ask you
whether to continue the operation (the default response is No).
If you choose to continue a backup, then it will just skip over
the orphans, and back up everything else. If you choose to
continue a restore, it will delete the orphaned records.
If there is other damage to your disk, it is possible that these
actions are *not* desirable, and may result in an incomplete or
unusable backup, or further damage to your disk on a restore.
If you have a lot of damage to your disk and are just trying to
salvage what you can, you may not want to have to answer Yes to
all those questions. In that case, you can use the /orphans
option, which will make DOSLFNBK go ahead regardless of the
consequences.
In case it is not clear: I would personally never use the
/orphans option, and would almost never answer Yes if orphans
were detected. If you do this and your disk ends up in a mess,
you've only yourself to blame.
What you *should* do is avoid orphans in the first place: if
you detect orphans somehow, stop using whatever program created
them.
- the /s option to skip directories
The /s option tells DOSLFNBK to skip the back up or restore of a
particular directory. This is meant as a workaround for the
memory limitations in DOSLFNBK that are described in section 4
below. You can use /s as often as necessary to skip multiple
directories--the only limit is the command line length. Note
that the directory name must be specified using the short
aliases, e.g. "\PROGRA~1" instead of "\Program files". Relative
directory paths using "." and ".." are not supported. If used
in combination with the /from option, you should specify the
*original* path name to skip, not the current one.
- the LOCK and UNLOCK commands
Previous versions of DOSLFNBK used the DOS LOCK and UNLOCK
commands to lock the disk and prevent errors during restores.
The current version does this internally. If you have an old
batch file that runs LOCK, you'll get warning messages: "Unable
to lock drive X:". Just remove LOCK from the batch file and the
warnings will go away.
- the irritating jump to full screen
There is one bug in Win95 that the internal locking shows up:
if you try to restore LFNs to a disk that has any open files on
it while in a DOS window, the window will suddenly switch to
full screen. I don't know of any way to prevent this.
- DOSLFNBK, disk defragmenters and directory sort utilities
You may be tempted to use an older DOS-based disk defragger or
directory sort utility that doesn't understand long filenames,
and then use DOSLFNBK to restore the long filenames. DON'T DO
THIS! It is extremely likely to cause errors to your directory
structure which can't be repaired except by hours and hours of
work. The problem is that these programs usually leave a few
files with wrong but apparently correct long filenames. You'll
find that 90-95 percent of your disk is restored, but some
number of files are not. It is extremely difficult and time
consuming to find and repair these files. If you want to use
these DOS-based programs, you should remove all long filenames
first (e.g. using LFNBK, or by restoring from tape in DOS). A
better solution is to use Win95 compatible versions of these
utilities. (Win95 comes with a defragger, and there are shareware
directory sort utilities available, including mine,
available in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/dirutil as lfnsrt??.zip.)
- DOSLFNBK and XCOPY
I have received several messages from people who have tried to
use XCOPY and DOSLFNBK to back up their disk to a network drive
or elsewhere, and then found on restore that Win95 won't boot
properly. What appears to be the problem is that the 16 bit
version of XCOPY does not handle file and directory attributes
properly. DOSLFNBK will restore missing attributes, but if a
file is not there, all it can do is warn you. As far as I know
the only way to successfully use XCOPY in a backup scheme is
with a complicated batch file to remove special attributes
before the backup. More details are given in the file
XCOPY.TXT, which contains messages from several people about
this problem.
- exit codes
When a run is successful, DOSLFNBK exits with ERRORLEVEL 0.
When something goes wrong, it prints an error message and exits
with a higher errorlevel. The currently defined error levels
are:
99 - Syntax error
98 - Disk init error
97 - Disk read error
96 - Disk write error
95 - Disk directory error
94 - Directory init error
92 - Disk lock error
91 - Internal error
89 - Memory error
88 - Multitasker error
87 - Overwrite error
86 - Debug error
85 - Backup read error
84 - Backup write error
83 - Backup open error
82 - Backup close error
81 - Some directories were skipped because of low memory
80 - DOSLFNBK detected an error in the LFN structure on your
disk. You should run SCANDISK or another disk repair
program to do repairs.
4. Memory Limitations:
When running, DOSLFNBK keeps copies of several directories in
memory at once. It is written as a real mode DOS program and
keeps all of this data in the low 640K of memory. This means
that in a typical DOS session with 500K of memory available,
DOSLFNBK will run out of memory when about 15,000 directory
entries are in memory. On a restore, up to 3 copies of each
directory entry may be in memory at once, limiting DOSLFNBK to
disks with fewer than 5000 directory entries in any branch of
the directory tree. (The total number of files on the disk
doesn't matter; what matters is the number of entries in a
directory, its parent, grandparent etc., back to the root.)
When I wrote DOSLFNBK, I thought disks approaching this limit
were very unusual. However, it *is* possible to have such a disk,
and here's how to find out if you do:
Run your backup with the /V verbose option. At the end, it
will print a message something like
Used 255K; restore will require about 264K in DOS session.
If the amount of memory estimated for the restore is more than
you have available (as reported by the DOS MEM command), you
might have problems. You might not; the number reported is
usually an overestimate.
If it ever turns out that you do run out of memory during a
restore, you can still restore the LFNs by breaking up the
restore operation into several steps, restoring different parts
of your subdirectory tree separately. In the worst case (more
than 5000 entries in a single subdirectory), you may have to
temporarily move files out of the directory and restore the LFNs
a few thousand (!!) at a time.
Since the original release, it has become clear that there are
some common situations leading to very large directories. The
Microsoft Plus! package includes one, and WWW browsers often
create them while maintaining caches or history lists.
Unfortunately, the current version of DOSLFNBK doesn't handle
these very well; it just skips these directories and prints a
warning message and sets an error level on exit. I have added
the /s option to allow you to skip particular directories during
the backup or restore operation. A better solution that allows
all directories to be backed up is in the works.
5. Safety:
DOSLFNBK works with your disk at a level below the file system,
so if things go wrong during an LFN restore, it's conceivable
that you could lose whole files or directories. I've tried to
make it as safe as I can, but you should follow some simple
precautions:
- Run Scandisk before DOSLFNBK and get it to fix any errors.
In particular, if you've run other low level software (e.g. a
defragger or a directory sorter) that may have messed up the
LFNs, run Scandisk first. Better still: don't use that old
defragger/directory sorter, because Scandisk may not be able
to repair all the damage it does.
- Don't turn off or reboot your PC in the middle of a DOSLFNBK
run. If there's a power failure or (horrors!) a bug in
DOSLFNBK forces you to reboot, then Scandisk should be able to
repair much of the damage. You may lose some filenames, but
Scandisk should be able to recover the files themselves.
- If you hit Ctrl-Break or Ctrl-C during a DOSLFNBK restore,
it shouldn't do any damage other than giving you only a
partial restore of your LFNs --- but this is *not* a
well-tested feature, and there may be conditions under which
you'll suffer worse damage. Again, Scandisk should be able to
repair most of it.
- DOSLFNBK was written for version 4.00.950 of Windows 95 (the
August 1995 release). It hasn't been tested on the earlier
beta test versions, or any versions later than the January 96
fix pack (version 4.00.950a). If the VFAT file structure isn't
what DOSLFNBK is written for, it could do some real damage.
The current version is not yet thoroughly tested on FAT32, so
use it with care. The main reason for this is Microsoft's near
total lack of support of FAT32 for small developers, and their
incomplete and incorrect documentation of it. I would
recommend avoiding FAT32 if possible; software written for it
is likely to have many more bugs than should be acceptable.
- There may be special conditions on your system that DOSLFNBK
doesn't handle. If you can, try it out when you've got a good
second backup to make sure it works. If it doesn't, *please*
send me details, and I'll attempt to fix it.
6. Recovery from total disk failure:
If your boot disk fails, or you decide to repartition it, then
you may need to do a full restore from a backup tape.
Unfortunately, the Win95 backup program provides *no way* to do
this without re-installing Win95 from the original disks or CD
ROM. From reports I've heard, the same is true of most other
commercial backup programs.
However, if you have a reliable DOS-based backup program,
DOSLFNBK will let you do a complete restore from a backup. I've
only had to do this twice, so these instructions aren't
guaranteed to cover everything for every system, but they worked
on mine.
ADVANCE PREPARATIONS:
Before your disk fails (i.e. right now! :-), you need to prepare
the following:
1. A Win95 startup disk. If you didn't create one when you
installed Win95, start the Add/Remove Programs option in
Control Panel, and click the Startup Disk tab. Then click the
Create Disk button, and follow the instructions on-screen.
2. A copy of your DOS-based backup/restore program on a floppy
disk. It may require EMS memory; if so, you should put
HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE on your startup disk, and load them
via CONFIG.SYS.
3. If you use Drivespace disk compression, then you should also
make sure that the MINI.CAB file from the installation disks
or the CD ROM is in your Windows directory on the hard disk.
4. A full backup of your disk(s). Just before creating this,
run DOSLFNBK to save all of your long filenames. You'll need
to create one backup file for each disk. It's fine to leave
this on the hard disk so that it ends up on the backup; you
don't need to have it on floppy disk.
WHEN YOUR DISK FAILS:
Depending on the reason for your disk failure, you may be able
to skip some of the early steps here. Read them over, and
figure out where to start. If you have to, you can start again,
so the only thing you lose by starting too far down is time.
1. Make any necessary repairs to your hardware.
2. Boot from your Startup disk, and use FDISK to partition
your disk. Use "FORMAT c: /s" to reformat the disk and
transfer the system files to it.
NOTE: If you want to maintain the ability to boot to your old
DOS version, I've been told that the Startup disk's FDISK will
cause problems for you. You should boot the old DOS version
and use its FDISK to partition your disk, and then reboot from
the startup disk and use "SYS c:" to transfer the Win95 system
files. After that, you can continue as before.
3. (Optional) Transfer your tape backup software to your hard
disk.
4. If you're not planning to use Drivespace, you can skip down
to step 8.
5. If you want to compress your drive, you need to restore
enough of Win95 to run Drivespace. Don't restore the whole
disk; you might not have room for it. For most people,
restoring the files in the root directory and the files in the
Windows directory should be enough. If you have any essential
drivers in other directories, you'll need to restore them too.
Finally, you should restore DOSLFNBK and the data file(s)
containing the backed up long filenames.
IMPORTANT: You should not overwrite IO.SYS, but you *should*
overwrite MSDOS.SYS. It is a hidden read-only file in your
root directory. A good way is to erase MSDOS.SYS before
starting the restore (use ATTRIB from the Startup disk to
remove the System, Hidden, Read-only attributes), and then
tell your restore program not to overwrite existing files.
Restore all those files now.
6. Restore the long filenames by running
DOSLFNBK c:\ /R /V /F backupfilename
7. Remove the Startup disk, and reboot your system. You may
get some errors about missing drivers (e.g. no sound card
drivers), but things should basically work. Run DriveSpace to
compress your drives the way you want.
8. Reboot your system in DOS mode or from the Startup disk.
9. Restore all rest of the files on all of your disks from the
backup now. See the "IMPORTANT" note in step 5 about
MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS.
10. Restore all the rest of your long filenames by running
DOSLFNBK c:\ /R /V /F backupfilename
and if you've also got a D: partition,
DOSLFNBK d:\ /R /V /F backupfilename
You may get messages about some long filenames already
existing from your first restore; don't worry about those.
11. Some restore programs set the archive bit on all restored
files; you might want to turn it off (since you've still got
those files backed up) at this point.
Reboot your system, and things should be back as they were when
you did your backup!
7. License:
DOSLFNBK is *not* public domain software. Releases up to
version 1.6 were freeware, and you may use them at
no charge. However, the current release is shareware. You may
use it at no charge for an evaluation period
of 30 days only.
You are free to distribute unmodified copies of the complete
DOSLFNBK package, provided your total charge is no more than $1.
The total cost of a compilation (e.g. a CD ROM) including
DOSLFNBK must be no more than $1 per package in the compilation.
To continue to use DOSLFNBK beyond the 30 day evaluation period,
you must register it. There are three possible registration
levels available:
$10 simple registration + $5 handling charge
This registration fee gives you a license to use one copy of
DOSLFNBK indefinitely. If you include an email address when you
register I will notify you of new versions and how to obtain
them yourself. I'll also attempt to answer emailed questions
about DOSLFNBK from registered users. Payment may be made in
Canadian or US dollars (at par), or the UKP equivalent of $15
US. NOTE: See below for how to avoid the handling charge.
$20 upgrade registration + $5 handling charge
This registration fee also entitles you to use DOSLFNBK
indefinitely. In addition to the license to use it, I will mail
you a diskette containing the latest version, together with a
collection of other freeware and (unregistered) shareware
programs that I have written (including LFNSORT). If you send
an email address I will notify you of updates, and send one free
update by email if you request it. Payment may be made in
Canadian or US dollars (at par), or the GBP (Sterling)
equivalent of $25 US.
$45 source code registration + $5 handling charge
DOSLFNBK was written in Borland Pascal 7.01, using the excellent
Object Professional library from TurboPower Software. In
addition to the benefits of the upgrade registration, the source
code registration gives you the DOSLFNBK source code (including
an object-oriented low-level disk access unit, access to the new
Win95 DOS API functions, and a huge memory support unit, but not
OPro). Payment may be made in Canadian or US dollars (at par),
or the GBP equivalent of $50 US.
Any of the registrations can be done by sending a cheque or
money order to:
Duncan Murdoch
337 Willingdon Ave.
Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
K7L 4J3
NOTE 1: If you send a $10 simple registration order directly to
me at this address, I will waive the handling fee. Send a
cheque or money order for $10 in Canadian or US dollars, or the
UKP equivalent of $10 US.
NOTE 2: I will be overseas until June 1997. During this time I
will still fill orders, but there are almost certain to be
delays if you mail your order to my Kingston address.
You can also register or order source code from the Public
(software) Library (PsL) using MC, Visa, AmEx, or Discover card:
- by calling 800-242-4775 (US only)
- by calling 713-524-6394
- by faxing your order to 713-524-6398
- by sending your order by Compuserve to 71355,470
- by sending your order by Internet to
71355.470@compuserve.com
- online at http://www8.pair.com/dmurdoch/programs/doslfnbk.htm
PsL only accepts payment in US dollars. Please give PsL your
name exactly as it appears on the card, and tell them your
card's expiry date. DOSLFNBK is PsL product #14247.
The PsL numbers are for ordering only. I *cannot* be reached at
the PsL numbers. To contact me for information about dealer
pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, the status of
shipment of the product, the latest version number or for
technical information, write to me at the address above or the
email address below. I'd especially like to hear bug reports
and suggestions for improvements.
Internet: dmurdoch@mast.queensu.ca or dmurdoch@pair.com
8. Release history:
0.0 - first beta test version
0.1 - kept file attributes of existing file during restore.
0.2 - made messages more informative; fixed bug in handling
erased file entries; added check of overwrite of backup
file; changed default name of backup file to BACKUP.LFN and
made LFN the default backup extension; added /P option.
0.3 - fixed memory leak that caused run-time error 203 on large
restore
0.4 - added check for successful write of backup file, added
/force option.
0.5 - added report of memory use, /d option, many debugging messages
0.6 - cleaned up messages and debug log, removed disk size
restriction, added progress dots for non-verbose runs.
1.0 - first public release --- same as 0.6
1.1 - unauthorized release
1.2 - documentation changes and addition of /s option
1.3 - improved memory management, stopped use of obsolete DOS
service 1C, speeded up directory expansion on restore
1.4 - added /L option, support for relative path on command line,
internal drive locking, support for SUBST etc. Changed
exit codes to be compatible with LFNSORT.
1.5 - public release, same as 1.4c
1.6 - fixed bug in handling volume labels
1.7 - added integrity checks of disk structure,
backup/restore/display of file attributes, checks for
existence of backed up files, changed from freeware to
shareware, /o option.
1.9 - fixed display of some special characters, added FAT32 support,
added /from and /all options, added support for non-IOCTL drives
2.0 - fixed bug with FAT32 drives, bug with swapfile
2.1 - fixed bug with very large directories
2.2 - fixed confusing prompts, removed requirement for /L
directory to exist, changed backup format, restored support
for obsolete formats
9. Acknowledgments
DOSLFNBK was written based on the information in Robert Hummel's
article on Win95 long filenames in the June/July 1995 issue of
PC Techniques Magazine. Thanks are due to the beta testers, who
suggested many improvements, and several of whom were put to
considerable inconvenience by early versions that messed up
their disks. M. Guffey made a lot of useful suggestions for
improvements to the documentation. Several people sent me
details of working with XCOPY; some of them are included here in
the XCOPY.TXT file.