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Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve ORG - Hard Disk Organizer Utility Copyright (1990/1991) M.H. Greve + D. Rifkind All Rights Reserved Distributed by: Greve Computer Systems Aubrigstrasse 23 CH 8804 AU Switzerland Date: December 2. 1991 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 2. Getting Started - Installation 2 3. About ORG 4 4. The Configuration File 6 5. Command Line Switches 12 6. Limitations and Restrictions 14 7. Acknowledgment 16 Appendix A - Program Termination codes 17 Appendix B - Error Messages 17 Appendix C - Bugs 20 Appendix D - Technical Support 21 Page 1 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 1. INTRODUCTION --------------- ORG is a Disk Organizer with a lot of features not found in other similar programs. In addition to the traditional function of un-fragmenting your disk, ORG will allow you to customize the sequence in which files are placed on the disk, let you "lock" (leave unchanged) any file or group of files, sort files in any directory and delete temporary files on the fly, all in a single pass. Moreover, ORG does this as fast or faster than most commercially available unfragmentation software. As you will discover when you use the program: "ORG is the only Disk Organizer that truly deserves the name!" User Supported Software: ------------------------ ORG is distributed as "Shareware" or "User Supported Software" and is fully copyrighted. You may have received a copy of ORG free from a friend or a bulletin board or (for a nominal fee) from a user's group or Shareware library. However you received ORG, you have a perfectly legal copy of the software. You are encouraged to make as many copies of the software and this documentation as you like and distribute it to anyone you want, as long as you do not charge a fee (other than to cover your own distribution cost) and distribute only complete, unaltered copies of the package, exactly as you received it. If, after trying the program for a few weeks, you find it useful and use it regularly, you must register your copy by completing the form included in the file "ORGREG.TXT" included in the distribution package. As a registered user you will receive a copy of the very latest version of ORG and will be entitled to free support and will receive upgrade notices and "bug fixes" as and when these become available (for one full year from the date of purchase). Page 2 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 2. GETTING STARTED & INSTALLATION --------------------------------- This section provides step by step instructions for running ORG on any drive of a standard IBM PS/2, IBM PC, XT, AT, or any 100% compatible running under MSDOS 2.10, or higher. If you are eager to run ORG right away, you need only read this chapter now and can revert to the rest of the documentation for a detailed description of the program's features and options later. Note that you should never attempt to run ORG under a multi- tasking operating system or OS-shell such as OS/2, Windows, DesqView or Software Carousel, nor activate any "pop-up" program (eg. SideKick) while the program is running. ORG can recognize some, but not all of the common multitasking programs and will refuse to run if these are detected. 1. Before you start, use the DOS DISKCOPY command to make a duplicate of the distribution disk or, if you downloaded ORG from a bulletin board, save the archive file onto two diskettes and store one (the original) in a safe place. 2. ORG does not require any special installation procedure. You may run ORG from the backup floppy disk or from a subdirectory on your hard disk. If you wish to run the program from your hard disk, copy the ORG.EXE program file to a subdirectory which is included in your DOS PATH (see your DOS User's Guide) and place the ORG.CFG file in the same directory or in the root directory of the drive you wish to "unfragment". 3. If you are running ORG for the first time, make sure you have a current backup of the drive you wish to unfragment. You may also wish to remove any resident utilities such as disk-cache programs in order to avoid any potential conflicts. 4. Run the DOS CHKDSK program on the drive and correct any errors reported by it before proceeding further. If there are lost clusters or cross-linked files on the disk, ORG will detect this and refuse to run. 5. Make the drive and/or directory containing ORG.EXE is the current drive/directory. (Not necessary if ORG.CFG is in a directory contained in your PATH). Page 3 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 6. Start ORG from the DOS prompt by typing: ORG [d:] [/F] [/SIM] <Enter> The parameter d: is any valid drive specifier known to your system (except a RAM disk or Network drive). ORG assumes the current default drive if you omit the drive specifier. Normally, ORG will only unfragment the files without regard to their sequence on the drive. The /F parameter causes ORG to perform a complete disk organization, placing files in the sequence specified in the configuration file (see chapter 4: The Configuration File). In default mode, ORG will normally optimize a 30MB drive in less than two minutes. The /SIM parameter (simulation mode) prevents ORG from actually writing anything to disk. As a first time user, you may wish to use /SIM to uncover any potential conflicts with your computer setup. ORG first reads the configuration file, evaluates the disk's drive parameters, reads the FAT (File allocation Table) and directory structure and, if necessary, sorts your files. A window displays ORG's progress through these steps. ORG will pause and wait for you to press the <Enter> key before proceeding to unfragment the drive. If you did not copy the configuration file, ORG will warn you of this and will use its own internal default settings. You may view these defaults and the configuration settings by pressing the <F1> key. If you decide you don't want to run ORG right now, press <Esc>, and ORG will return you to the DOS environment. If you have used other unfragmentation programs before, the screen layout with the large symbolic map of your disk will look familiar. To the right of the drive map, ORG displays some of the drive's parameters, a description of the symbols used, and it's memory usage. The %-completed and elapse-time displays in the lower right corner provide an indication of ORG's progress. ORG can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes to unfragment your disk. Typically, it will take 1 to 2 minutes to unfragment a 32MB partition with about 20MB of data. You may abort ORG at any time by simply pressing the <Esc> key. The integrity of your data is guaranteed if you exit in this manner. After optimization is completed, ORG will ask whether you wish to re-boot the system. Certain resident programs retain information about the previous state of the disk. Unless you are sure that you have no such programs in your system, you should type "Y" to allow ORG to initiate a system reset. (The re-boot query is not displayed if you have used ORG on a removeable diskette). Page 4 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve Laptop users: ------------- If you are running ORG on a laptop computer you may find the display difficult to read. This is because Laptops often emulate color displays on the built in monochrome screen, making certain colors hard to distinguish. In such cases, re-start ORG using the /L command line switch which forces ORG to use its monochrome display settings irrespective of the type of video adaptor in- stalled (see chapter 5: Command Line Switches). WARNING! -------- NEVER re-boot or switch off the computer while ORG is running, as this may cause loss of data. As a precaution, it is a good idea to run ORG after you have made a backup of your hard disk, particularly if you live in an area where power dips are common. 3. ABOUT ORG ------------ You may run ORG on any valid drive in your system. This may be a floppy, a hard disk, or a logical partition on your hard disk. ORG should not be run on virtual (RAM) drives or Network drives and will issue a warning if you specify one accidentally. If your computer is equipped with an EGA or VGA screen, ORG will detect when the screen is set to 43/50 line and automatically use the full screen display. You may force ORG to display in either 25-line or 43/50-line mode by using the appropriate command line switches (see Chapter 5). If available, ORG will use expanded or extended memory for its tables and buffers. It requires the EMS driver version 3.2 or above to access expanded memory. Extended memory requires the Microsoft XMS interface (HIMEM.SYS) to be loaded in your system. How ORG works: -------------- After you start ORG, the program notes any command line options and then searches for the configuration file ORG.CFG. ORG searches for this file in the root directory of the target drive you specified and then in the drive/directory from which ORG was loaded. ORG does not search your system's PATH. This somewhat restrictive search ensures good control over the configuration file used and prevents ORG from accidentally loading an old Page 5 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve version that may be "visible" in your DOS PATH. ORG.CFG contains a list of special commands that allow you to control the way in which ORG organizes the files on your disk. (Refer to chapter 4: The Configuration File). ORG reads and analyses the parameters, directory structure and FAT (File Allocation Table) of the drive and processes the "delete" and "sort" command functions in memory, WITHOUT writing to your hard disk. ORG pauses at this stage and waits for you to press the <Enter> key before beginning to organize the files. If you abort the program by pressing the <Esc> key at this stage, no data on the disk will have been modified. By pressing the <F1> key you can view the configuration settings before proceeding, to assure yourself that ORG will perform the desired operations. Once ORG has started organizing the drive, you can still safely interrupt the process at any time by pressing the <Esc> key. The consistency and integrity of your files is guaranteed if you exit ORG in this way, however ALL files which you flagged for deletion will have been erased. WARNING: NEVER power off or re-boot your computer while ORG is running as this may cause loss of data integrity which can be very difficult to recover even with programs such as the Norton (TM) Utilites. While ORG runs, it displays its progress on a disk-map in a window of your screen. In this map, each visible block corresponds to one or more physical clusters on the drive. The blocks that have already been processed are highlighted. Special symbols are used to indicate locked or bad clusters. The blocks being moved are highlighted with an 'r' (read) or 'W' (write). Note that ORG will always move the largest possible contiguous block of clusters. If it can, it will move them to the final destination immediately. If not, it will write them to the end of the disk temporarily. This process is very efficient since it ensures that each cluster on the disk is never moved more than twice in a session. Frequently, ORG will detect that it already has the clusters it needs in memory and will not re-read them. This feature not only saves time, but also prevents a lot of unnecessary "head- thrashing" action. ORG updates the FAT and directory areas after writing each group Page 6 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve of blocks, ensuring disk integrity as far as technically possible. In fact, loss of data is only possible during the relatively short time when the directories and FAT are "out of synch". This is important, because ORG will retain data integrity at all other times, even if a power dip were to occur during a "write" to the data area. You will notice that ORG often appears to read or write to a protected area or an area that has already been processed. This is normal and is because each block usually represents several clusters. File order and sequence: ------------------------ In its default mode ORG ignores file order and sequence on the drive. The algorithm used ensures that only a minimal number of files will be moved to fully unfragment the drive and fill any gaps between files. By filling gaps ORG prevents the drive from becoming rapidly fragmented again, since new files will be created at the end of the existing contiguous data area. When the /F option is specified, ORG will order all files sequentially on the drive: It places all directories first on the drive and then places remaining files in the sequence in which it encounters the file name entries in the (sub)directories. You may override or modify these default settings by using the "sort" and "order" commands in the configuration file, ORG.CFG (see Chapter 4: The Configuration File). When the /T option is used, files are sorted in ascending order by time/date stamp, placing the newest, usually most often changed files, last on the drive. This ORGanization method, unique to ORG proactively reduces the amount of fragmen- tation on your drive. If you were to compare the result of organizing a disk under ORG with that of other similar programs, you might find that some programs will start organizing the disk over again. This does not mean that ORG failed to optimize your disk, it merely indicates that there is more than one valid way (and no right way) to organize directories and files on the disk. 4. THE CONFIGURATION FILE ------------------------- ORG uses a configuration file (default: ORG.CFG) which allows you to customize the way your drive is ORGanized. The configuration file gives you full control over functions such as file sequence Page 7 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve on the drive, which files are to be deleted or "locked", ie. left unaltered, by ORG. NOTE: The ORG.CFG file is not mandatory. If the file is not found, ORG will use its own internal defaults (eg. lock system files on your C: drive). The configuration file simply provides an easy way to customize ORG's behaviour on your system. ORG.CFG is an ASCII text file containing a series of special ORG commands, much like a DOS batch file. When you run ORG without specifying a configuration file name, it searches for the ORG.CFG file in the root directory of the target drive you selected when you started the program and then in the drive/path where the ORG.EXE program resides. This restrictive search lets you keep a customized configuration file for each drive in the root directory of your hard disk. Under DOS versions earlier than 3.0, ORG will search for the configuration file in the current default directory (CWD) instead of in the directory from which ORG.EXE was loaded. ORG allows you to override the default name of the configuration file (ORG.CFG), by simply specifying a file name of the form "/@[d:][\pathspec\]filename" on the ORG command line. If you only specify a filename, ORG will search the root directory of the target drive and directory where the ORG.EXE program resides. The configuration filespec must be immediately preceded by the "@" sign. ORG.CFG uses a simple command structure similar to that used in compiler MAKE files. A sample configuration file (ORG.CFG) is included in the ORG package. Each line in the configuration file represents a command for ORG. The command syntax is: <function> [\path\][filename] [qualifier] [#<comment>] Each command can take a qualifier that tells ORG which file attributes are to be used to further specify the file(s). If you specified the "sort" command (see below), the qualifier has a different meaning: it indicates the type and sequence of the sort keys. Here are a few examples of valid commands: lock *.* +s # lock all system files delete \TEMP\*.back # delete all .BACK files sort +n-t # sort by filename, newest files first order *.EXE # place all .EXE files first Page 8 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve In the following you will find a detailed description of each element of the configuration command: Commands: --------- lock - prevents ORG from moving a specified file or group of files on the drive. This is essential to avoid moving files such as your DOS system files on the bootable partition of your disk. It may also be necessary to lock the identification files used by certain copy- protected software. The "lock" function takes an optional attribute parameter. ORG's default setting locks all "system" files. You may disable this default setting using the /nod command line option. sort - allows you to sort the contents of the directory in ascending or descending order by filename, extension, date & time, or size. A sort is always performed on an entire directory; if a filename is given, it is ignored by ORG for the sort operation. The qualifier determines the type and sequence of the sort operation. The command always places subdirectories first and then sorts directory names and filenames in two consecutive passes. NOTE: ORG processes directories and files in the order in which they are encountered. Using the "sort" command thus affects the sequence in which ORG will place the files on the drive. The "order" command described below allows you to override this sequence by specifying that certain files (or groups of files) be processed first. order - allows you to force certain files, or groups of files (specified using DOS style wild selections) to be placed first on the disk. If you use several "order" commands, they are processed in the sequence in which they appear in the configuration file. If a group of files is specified, they are processed in sequence, by directory and in the sequence in which they appear in the directory structure. Do not confuse this command with the "sort" command described above, which sorts directory and file names and thus implicitly determines the sequence of files. Page 9 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve As with the lock and delete options, you may specify one or more file attributes as qualifiers for the path\ filename spec. Note that ORG's default settings will place all directories first on the disk (behind the system files and/or the Volume identifier). You may disable this default setting using the /nod command line option. NOTE: The 'order' command is only meaningful in "full" ORGanization mode. (Chapter 5: Command Line Options). In QUICK mode or "New Files Last" mode, any 'order' commands are ignored. delete - allows you to specify a file or group of files that you wish to delete from the drive. For example, you might want to delete .BAK or .TMP files on your drive prior to unfragmenting. The default setting only allows ORG to delete normal files that is, files that have either no attributes or only the "archive" attribute set. You may override this default by explicitly specifying one or more file attributes. NOTE: Use this command with care, because if you accidentally delete a file with ORG, you will NOT be able to "un-erase" it any more later! For this reason, ORG will ignore a command to delete all files on the disk. ORG will also ignore requests to delete directories. The order in which commands are executed by ORG is fixed in the program. Irrespective of where they appear in the configuration file, commands are processed in the following sequence: 1. lock 2. delete 3. sort 4. order Because any "lock" commands are processed first, they will take precedence over "delete" commands that occur later, ie. ORG will NOT delete files that have been "frozen" by a previous lock command. If several similar commands occur, they are processed in the order in which they appear in the configuration file, eg: Page 10 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve order \command.com order *.COM order *.EXE The Path/Filename Specifier: ---------------------------- The second element in a command is the filename specifier. This element follows MS-DOS conventions for directory and filenames. You may specify any valid path (commands with invalid paths are ignored; no error message is generated). The filename may contain the "wild-card" symbols '*' and '?'. The filename may be omitted entirely if the pathname is terminated by a backslash (\). ORG will then assume you specified all files in this directory. The following are some examples of valid filename specifiers: delete \brief\backup\ # delete all files in \BRIEF\BACKUP order \*.WK1 # place all Lotus 2.xx files first delete *.tmp +r # delete .TMP files, including read-only Note that the path\filename specifier is optional, however it may only be omitted if you provide a qualifier on the line. This means you must EITHER include a filename OR a qualifier (see below) and may not omit both; a command containing a function only is flagged as an error. The Command Qualifier: ---------------------- The qualifier has two functions. For the "lock", "delete" and "order" options it specifies the desired file attributes. For the "sort" option, it defines the type, sequence and order (ascending or descending) of sorting. The qualifier is always optional. Valid file attribute qualifiers are: +r # Read-only files +h # Hidden files +s # System files +d # subdirectories +a # archive files A '+' (plus) or '-' (minus) sign must precede the attribute. The sign is used solely as a separator between consecutive attributes and has no other meaning: it does NOT qualify the attribute. Both signs are allowed for consistency with the sort qualifiers Page 11 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve described below and for possible future enhancement. Attributes may be combined on a command line. Some attributes are invalid for certain commands and are ignored. For example, the command "delete *.* +d" will NOT cause subdirectories to be deleted. File attributes are of little or no significance in file sorting operations. The meaning of the qualifier is therefore quite different for the "sort" option. The four sort qualifiers determine the type and order of the sort. The following are valid "sort" qualifiers: +n | -n # sort by name +e | -e # sort by extension +t | -t # sort by date/time field +s | -s # sort by file size The sign preceding the qualifier acquires meaning in that it now determines the direction of the sort, viz. ascending (+) or descending (-) order. You may specify multiple sort options; the sequence of qualifiers determines the sort order. Sorts are performed on the entire directory, ie. any filenames you specify are ignored. The following sort commands are identical: sort \DOCS\*.DOC +e-s sort \DOCS\*.* +e-s sort \DOCS\ +e-s They each cause all files in the \DOCS subdirectory to be sorted in ascending order by extension, placing the largest files first. Note that some combinations of sort qualifiers are mutually exclusive: a sort by name, extension AND size is meaningless because all files are uniquely defined by 'filename.ext'. Similarly, subdirectories cannot be sorted by size. Commenting the configuration file: --------------------------------- You may include comments in the configuration file to help you document your commands. Comments must be preceded by a '#' sign. They may be placed after a command or on a separate line in the configuration file. If comments are placed after a command, you must leave at least one blank space (or TAB) behind the command. order *.COM # This is a comment following a command. # Comments are also allowed on empty lines. Page 12 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 5. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ------------------------ ORG supports a small set of command line switches that control ORG's global settings. The complete command line is shown here: ORG [d:] [/A] [/E] [/Q] [/F] [/T] [/D] [/L] [/N] [/25|/50] [/NOD] [/SIM] [/P | /X | /NOX] [/NODMA] [/@configfile] [/H] where: d: is any valid drive specifier (A: - Z:). /A Automatic mode: ORG runs without pausing for confirmation and exits to DOS without pausing at the end of the run. This option will also suppress the re-boot query message normally displayed by ORG at the end of each run. /E Exit to DOS: At the end of each run, ORG will normally display a query message, asking if you wish to re-boot your system to reset any programs which may have retained information about the drive's previous state. The /E option suppresses this message and causes ORG to exit to DOS immediately. (The re-boot query is not displayed if you have used ORG on a removeable diskette). /Q Silent mode: disables sound. /F Full ORG: This option causes ORG to sort all files on the drive in the sequence in which they are encountered in the directories. You can modify this sequence by either sorting the directory contents or explicitly specifying which files are to be placed on the drive. (See Chapter 4: The Configuration File). /T Order by Time/Date: Places newest files LAST on the drive. When used alone, this option causes ORG to bias the file order by preferentially placing new files last on the drive, WITHOUT sacrificing speed. To force full ordering by ascending Time/Date stamp, use both the '/T' and the '/F' options TOGETHER! /D Directories only: ORGanizes directories only. /L Laptop mode: forces a monochrome display on laptops that emulate color video adaptors. Page 13 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve /N Causes path\file names of files being processed to be displayed. /25 Forces ORG to use a 25 line (text) display, irrespective of the initial display mode. Use either /25 or /50. /50 Forces ORG to use the 43-line (EGA) or 50-line (VGA) display, irrespective of the initial display mode. Use either /25 or /50. /SIM Simulation mode: Selecting this option will allow you to test ORG on unknown systems without actually writing to the disk. All other functionality remains unaffected. The message "Simulaton" is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. This option can be very useful if you are trying to optimize your system and would like to add TSR programs which you think may work with ORG. /NOD No defaults: turns off all default configuration options. ORG's default configuration locks system files and places directories first on the drive. Disabling these defaults may cause certain otherwise unmovable system files to be moved and should only be used by experienced users. You will have to enter every option explicitly. The /NOD option may be used to make room for, or replace the system files on the bootable drive without recourse to the DOS SYS command. WARNING: Use the /NOD switch with great care, particularly on your bootable drive (C:). /P Use exPAnded memory. Forces use of exPANded memory for buffers and the directory structure. /X Use exTEnded memory. Forces use of exTENded memory for buffers and the directory structure. /NODMA Enables direct data exchange between exPANded memory and the drive. In default mode, ORG uses an intermediate buffer in conventional, DOS memory to transfer data between the disk and the exPANded memory area. You may use the /nodma option to bypass this intermediate buffer, therby increasing unfragmentation speed when using exPANded memory. However, you should NEVER use this option if your hardware make use of DMA (Direct Memory Access) data transfers (some SCSI disk controllers do!). Page 14 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve DO NOT use /NODMA on machines with QEMM 6 installed. QEMM will detect direct exPANded memory to disk data transfers and refuse to operate. Also, on some old 8088 machines (IBM-PC/XT compatibles, direct memory transfer is known not to work correctly. /NOX NO Extended/Expanded meory. Forces use of conventional (DOS) memory only. /@fname Used to specify an alternate path\filename to override the default configuration file name (ORG.CFG). Example: "ORG /@MYCONFIG.CFG" /H Help: This switch overrides all others and simply causes a list of all available options to be displayed. Switches may be used alone or together (except /H) and may be placed in any order on the command line. The memory switches are mutually exclusive, ie. only the first memory switch (/P /X /NOX) used will be recignized and later ones ignored. Blank separators are optional except before the drive specifier. You may use a UNIX style dash '-' as a delimiter if you prefer. Thus any of the following commands are valid: ORG /F/A A: /SIM/NOX ORG C: -NOD -L ORG /A/L A:-NOD -@D:\MYDIR\MYCONFIG.CFG 6. LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ------------------------------- Operating System: ----------------- ORG requires MS-DOS 2.1 or higher to run. It must NOT be run under a multitasking Environment such as OS/2, Windows, DesqView or Software Carousel because you can never be sure that other programs are not using any of the files on the drive that ORG is processing. ORG will refuse to run under Windows or DesqView. Popular memory management enhancers for 80386 processors such as 386MAX and QEMM are however compatible with ORG. RAM- and Network drives: ------------------------ ORG should not be run with RAM drives or Network drives. If the Page 15 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve program detects either of these two devices, it will display an appropriate error message. ORG may however be run FROM either a RAM or Network drive. Large partition support: ------------------------ ORG places no restrictions on the size of the drive and will handle volumes greater than 32MB if you are using MS-DOS 4 or higher or Compaq DOS 3.31. The only limit is the amount of free memory in your system: there must be enough room for ORG to keep a complete copy of the directory structure resident in memory. If extended or expanded memory is used, there are NO practical restrictions to the partition size ORG can handle. The following theoretical limits apply: Maximum number of files on a logical drive...........32767 (includes the '.' and '..' directory entries) Maximum number of directories on a logical drive.....10922 (assumes a Root directory with 512 entries) The maximum number of files in any directory is limited by the size of the the EMS or XMS page frame (ORG uses a 64K frame) when using expanded or extended memory. Owing to the paged addressing using by the EMS interface, the maximum number of files ORG can handle is actually less than 64KB when using expanded memory. If conventional DOS memory if used, this restriction does not apply since the entire directory table is retained entirely in memory. Maximum number of files per directory: with EMS...... 1535 with XMS...... 2046 If ORG finds a larger number of files in a directory, it will display an error message with the name of the directory. If you get this message, you may first want to try and force ORG to use extended or conventional memory, before attempting to re-arrange (split up) the directory in question. Compatibility: -------------- Certain of ORG's options may change the order of files on your disk and/or delete files without using DOS functions. Certain disk utilities such as QDOS or the PC-TOOLS UNERASE or DOS's FASTOPEN may retain information about the drive's previous state. As a result, these programs may fail to operate correctly after Page 16 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve ORG has been run. At the end of each run, ORG will query if you want to re-boot the system in order to reset these programs' buffers. Unless you are quite sure that you are not using any programs of this type, you should always allow ORG to re-boot the computer. Use the /e command line option to suppress ORG's re-boot query message. A System Reset is normally only required for hard disks. Thus, if you have used ORG on a removeable diskette, the query message will not be displayed. If you are using utilities which maintain a reference file with disk status information (eg. DOS 5 mirror), you will have to re- run these programs to force them to rebuild the database. There are no other known incompatibilities with ORG. Many resident programs such as popular disk cache programs will not interfere with ORG's operation, however you should avoid running ORG in the presence of such resident utilites unless you understand their function well and test them carefully first! data transfer method by creating a special data transfer area in low (conventional) memory. Because of the multitude of available EMS drivers, ORG cannot detect all potential conflicts. If ORG's performance seems slow, you may use the /NODMA option (to enable direct EMS to disk transfer). 7. ACKNOWLEDGMENT ----------------- The original idea for ORG is by David Rifkind, Newbury Park, CA. Dave's "cluster-mover" concept is largely responsible for the awesome speed with which ORG unfragments your hard disk! I am very grateful to Dave for having donated me his code, without which, I doubt I would have written ORG. Page 17 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve APPENDIX A - PROGRAM TERMINATION CODES -------------------------------------- When ORG finishes a run, it sets the system ERRORLEVEL code before exiting to DOS. You may use these codes to determine whether or not ORG completed the pass successfully and glean some information about the cause of an abnormal termination, for example if you are running ORG from a batch file. ORG generates the following ERRORLEVEL codes: ERRORLEVEL 0 - Normal program termination. 1 - Program aborted by user. Issued when you interrupt execution with the <ESC> key or exit in response to a warning error message. 2 - Bad option on ORG command line -1 - All other errors and abnormal end conditions. APPENDIX B - ERROR MESSAGES --------------------------- If an error occurs, ORG will generate one of three types of error messages. User Errors: ------------ These will warn you of operating problems that are usually fairly easy to correct, such as the use of an invalid drive letter or that there is not enough memory for ORG to run. The following is a list of "User Errors". Most messages are self-explanatory. 1. The boot record of this disk shows an invalid number of sectors. 2. The media descriptor in this disk's file allocation table does not match the one in the boot record. Page 18 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 3. The File Allocation Table contains bad link entries. 4. There are cross-linked clusters on this disk. 5. There is not enough free space on this disk for ORG to work. You may need to delete some files. 6. A cluster being used by a file is marked as available. 7. A cluster being used by a file is marked as bad. 8. Lost cluster(s) found on the drive. 9. Cluster allocation error(s) found. 10. A subdirectory contains a bad entry. 11. There are too many options in the configuration file. ORG is limited to 50 configuration options. 12. The sector size of this disk is not 512 bytes. Under DOS version 2, ORG works only with 512-byte sectors. 13. The boot record of this disk does not contain an MS-DOS signature. This may not be a DOS disk. 14. The specified drive is probably a RAMdrive or Network drive. ORG should only be used on local disks! 15. The maximum number of directories (10,922) has been exceeded. Remove or merge directories and rerun ORG. 16. The maximum number of files (32767) per drive has been exceeded. Delete some files and re-run ORG. 17. The maximum number of files (xxxx) per directory has been exceeded in: d:\DIRECT\ Please re-arrange this directory before running ORG again. 17. There is insufficient DOS memory for ORG to run. Remove resident programs to increase memory. 18. Request for Expanded Memory failed. ORG requires at least 16K LIM 3.2 Expanded Memory per megabyte of data on your disk to run. Page 18 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve 19. Request for XMS Extended Memory failed. ORG requires at least 16K XMS Extended Memory per megabyte of data on your disk to run. 20. Request for exPAnded Memory failed. ORG may be able to use XMS or Conventional DOS Memory. 21. Request for exTEnded Memory failed. ORG may be able to use EMS or Conventional DOS Memory. 22. "Request for exTEnded Memory failed. ORG may be able to use EMS or Conventional DOS Memory." Notes: (i) Error 9 may indicate a serious problem with the drive. Normally the problem can be fixed with a disk utility such as the "Norton Disk Doctor" (TM). (ii) Error 10 frequently occurs when you attempt to ORGanize a RAM drive. (iii) Errors 11 through 18 can usually be corrected with DOS's CHKDSK program (see your MS-DOS User's Guide for a detailed description of the CHKDSK command). (iv) Errors 13 and 14 are warnings only. You may continue by answering "Y" at the prompt, but do so at your own risk. (v) Errors 20 and 21 occur when ORG attempts to allocate Expanded or Extended memory. If you are sure you have sufficient Extended or Expanded memory for ORG to run successfully but still get one of these error messages, please contact the author. You may still be able to use ORG by using the /nox option to force ORG to use conventional DOS memory only. Disk Errors: ------------ All Disk Errors reported by ORG (other than the trivial 'drive not ready' or 'diskette write protected') are serious errors that may indicate a deterioration of your hard disk. They are always caused by a failure to read or write to a given sector on the Page 20 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve disk. Depending on where and when they occurred, these errors may be recoverable. If the bad sector is in the FAT (File Allocation Table) area of your disk, you risk losing data. If ORG reports a DISK ERROR, exit and run DOS's CHKDSK program to verify the error and then run a disk diagnostics/repair program to recover as much data as possible and try to restore the files from your backup. If ORG reports a "FATAL" error, it has failed during an attempt to update the FAT or root directory areas. In this case, there is a serious risk of losing a significant amount of data. ORG displays the DOS internal error number (xxxx) and the sector number (nnnn) where the problem occured. If possible, ORG displays a message corresponding to the error. If a FAT write error occurred in FAT #2, it is very likely you will able to recover all your data. The following messages may be reported by ORG in the event of a disk access error: 1. "Recoverable error #xxxx, reading sector #nnnn in the data area." 2. "Recoverable error #xxxx, writing sector #nnnn in the data area" 3. "CRITICAL error #xxxx, reading sector #nnnn in FAT #m. The Disk may be unusable." 4. "FATAL error #xxxx, writing sector #nnnn in FAT #m. Data may be destroyed!" 5. "CRITICAL error #xxxx, reading sector #nnnn in the ROOT area. The Disk may be unusable." 6. "FATAL error #xxxx, writing sector #nnnn in the Root area. Data may be destroyed!" Internal Errors: ---------------- This last category of errors should NEVER occur. They are always associated with programming bugs and have been included solely to help with debugging. If you ever get an "Internal Error", please report it immediately and I will try and find the cause of the problem. Page 21 Documentation for ORG V:2.50 Copyright 90/91, M.H. Greve APPENDIX C - BUGS ----------------- Although ORG has been tested thoroughly, I cannot guarantee that it is truly free of bugs. If you encounter what you believe to be a bug in ORG, you should try the following steps before calling or sending in a "Bug Report": Remove all TSR programs from your system, especially programs such as disk cache software or RAM drives or, better still, re-boot the computer from a "virgin" DOS diskette and try to run ORG again. If ORG runs in this environment but not in your normal DOS environment, try reconstructing the system under which ORG failed by adding drivers and TSR's one by one until the problem re- appears. If you find the particular software which causes the trouble, please let me know about it, so that I can warn other users and try to find a "workaround" and send you an upgrade. APPENDIX D - TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------------------------------ If the above approach does not work, please send a detailed report including a full description of your system to either Dave Rifkind or myself (addresses shown below) and we will try to help you find and solve the problem. NORTH AMERICA (U.S., CANADA, AND MEXICO): David Rifkind 1800 West Hillcrest Drive, #287 Newbury Park, CA 91320 USA OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA: Michael H. Greve Aubrigstrasse 23 CH 8804 AU Switzerland Compuserve and BIX on-line support: ----------------------------------- If you have access to Compuserve you can contact Dave Rifkind under the Compuserve ID: 72510,2214. If you have access to BIX, you can contact Mike Greve under the BIXname "mike123" or Dave Rifkind under the BIXname "drifkind".