Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/fileutil/dd311.arj/MANUAL.TXT

Text File | 1991-10-01 | 17.5 KB | 616 lines

Manual For Disk Duplicator Plus


DISK DUPLICATOR SHAREWARE does not contain every feature, but
information is left in for completeness.

The full copy of DiskCopy Master contains even more new features
see NEWS.TXT


1. Disk Duplicator

 1.1.  Overview

Disk Duplicator is a very fast and extremely simple disk copying
program.  Requiring no operator intervention at any time apart
from putting in new disk.


 1.2.  The Advantages of Disk Duplicator

   1.2.1.  Ease of Use

At long last the end of frantic disk swapping has come, Disk
Duplicator now totally replaces the DISKCOPY utility.

With the invention of high capacity drives, whenever you wanted
to copy a disk you have had to swap disks 5 times just to get one
copy. Now there is Disk Duplicator.

If for example, you wanted 5 copies of a disk that is three
quarters full, you had to make 25 disk swaps which takes well
over a quarter of an hour of your time!

Now with Disk Duplicator you can relax a little and let your PC
do the work and you remain cool, putting the source and
destination disk in only once.

If you want another destination disk written as well, Disk
Duplicator doesn't waste time reading the source disk again.


   1.2.2.  Perfect Copies


A brand new disk can be double verified, once on the track format
and once on the track write.  If you wish to make it even faster
you can leave the write verify disabled.  So, with Disk
Duplicator you know you have a good copy.

No longer will you risk mixing the source with the destination
disk and end up with a corrupt copy or the ultimate disaster, a
corrupt copy and a blank source disk!  Disk Duplicator will
remind you if your source disk is in fact the blank one, and no
swapping of disks means you are unlikely to mix up your left hand
with your right!


   1.2.3.  Fast Duplication

Disk Duplicator is fast, written in assembler, it only copies the
parts of the disk that need copying, skipping the blank tracks
when reading and writing.

Usually a disk is only about three quarters full, so Disk
Duplicator will do the same job with a 40% reduction in time!
Less on the disk means faster copying, so you could make your
copies even quicker.  You can disable FastCopy if needed for an
unusual disk.

Disk Duplicator is a very fast and very cheap method of copying
disks


   1.2.4.  Intelligent copying

Disk Duplicator needs no instructions for a simple copy, it works
out your disk type and you just press a key to start the copy.
Disk Duplicator is clever enough to realise that it must not
partly format a disk, so if the destination disk is not
formatted, it will switch to format only, after the data area has
been copied.



   1.2.5.  Dynamic Spool Location

Disk Duplicator if it can not find enough room to fit the spool
file on to the hard drive specified, will search all the systems
drives to find a space large enough.  No operator intervention
is needed.


   1.2.6. Disk Duplicator Plus

With Disk Duplicator Plus, no operator intervention is needed at
any time at all, unless you want an option set.

Disk Duplicator when loading tests you system and configures
itself to perform best on your own PC.

Auto sensing means that Disk Duplicator Plus senses when a disk
is present and what type it is.

It then goes on to make a perfect copy by auto sensing when a
disk has changed and formatting it if it needs to.


  1.3. Options available on Command Line

   1.3.1. Option Overview

To configure Disk Duplicator may require the use of some of the
following command line options.  All the command line options are
entered as a back slash followed by the option command letter in
upper or lower case.


   1.3.2.  The /B  Option (Batch Copy)



CRITICAL IMPORTANCE - CRITICAL IMPORTANCE


**  EVERY SOURCE DISK MUST BE WRITE PROTECTED  **


YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED


This mode permits the duplication of many source disks on to
respective destination disks.

It is imperative that your source disks have their write protect
tabs on them as the data on ANY NON WRITE PROTECTED DISK WILL BE
DESTROYED!


How it works,

When a diskette is put into the drive, it is tested.  If it is
write protected it is read from.  When you next place a diskette
that is not write protected into the drive it will be written to.

Thus you may read a source disk, and make for example 7 copies,
then without intervention, you may place another source disk that
is write protected into the drive, and DDP will read from this
disk.  This time when you next place a non write protected disk
into the drive it will write the contents of the last source
disk.

E.g.

Making 5 copies of one source disk and 3 copies of another.

     Place in drive             Assumption Made     Action
                                                    Taken

1st    Write Protected          Source              Read From
1      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
2      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
3      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
4      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
5      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
2nd    Write Protected          Source              Read From
1      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
2      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
3      Non Write Protected      Destination         Written To
Finish


     Result 5 copies of the first source disk and 3 copies of
     the next.


   1.3.3.  The /I  Option (Increment Label Number)

In conjunction with the /L option, this will add the serial
numbers to the disk label.  The number entered will be used at
the starting point for the disk serial number.  Clearly this
number should not have more digits than the number of hashes in
the new label name.


Serial Number Examples - Command line:

Note:  x = Hash Character



DDP  /L  DISKxxxJUN  /I 44


Creates the 1st disk with a label of:

                                               DISK044JUN

and the 2nd disk with a label of:

                                               DISK045JUN

and the third disk with a label of:

                                               DISK046JUN

and so on.


   1.3.4.  The /K  Option (Keyboard)

This option disables the auto disk sensing and requires the user
to press the Return key on the keyboard to indicate when a
diskette in the drive.

Also see Auto Sensing Disk Change feature.


   1.3.5.  The /L  Option (Label)

To add a new label to the destination disk, without this option
the destination disk will have the same label as the source disk.

If you wish to add serial numbering to the disk use this option
in conjunction with the /I option - in this case the new label
name should contain Hashes where you require the number to be
installed.

The number will be in normal decimal mode right justified space
filled with zeros and incremented from the right.  See examples
in /I Option.


   1.3.6.  The /M  Option (Monochrome)

For users with a monochrome display this will switch off the
colours and provide a clear readable display.


   1.3.7.  The /N  Option (Normal Copy)

This option forces Disk Duplicator to do a Normal copy, i.e. copy
all tracks whether or not they contain data, and always format
the destination disk.

Disk Duplicator will automatically switch on this option if it
has a problem determining the used area of the source disk.


   1.3.8.  The /S  Option (SuperCopy)

This option will only format that area of the disk that will
contain data for even faster copies.  This is ideal for Demo
disks that will not be written to after creation.

Note:  A user of the disk will need to reformat the disk to be
       able to add further files/data to the disk etc.


   1.3.9.  The /V  Option (Verify)

This option forces Disk Duplicator to verify all the write
operations performed on the destination disk.



 1.4. Features available

   1.4.1. Expanded Memory

As with extended memory Disk Duplicator Plus will use normal base
RAM as it store if there is enough room, if not, it will use
expanded memory as it's spool device if expanded memory is
present.

Up to 1.5Mb of expanded memory may be needed in the worst case
to fit all the information in.

If the Base RAM or the expanded memory is not present or is not
big enough, Disk Duplicator Plus will switch to the hard drive
as it's spool, searching all hard drives to find space.

Only after all of the above will Disk Duplicator Plus give up and
declare insufficient space on spool device.


   1.4.2. Extended Memory

As with expanded memory Disk Duplicator Plus will use normal base
RAM as it's store if there is enough room, if not, it will use
extended memory as it's spool device if extended memory is
present.

Up to 1.5Mb of extended memory may be needed in the worst case
to fit all the information in.

If the Base RAM or the extended memory is not present or is not
big enough, Disk Duplicator Plus will switch to the hard drive
as it's spool, searching all hard drives to find space.

Only after all of the above will Disk Duplicator Plus give up and
declare insufficient space on spool device.


   1.4.3. Log file

Every time Disk Duplicator is used a file DD.LOG in the root
directory of the spool drive i.e. drive C: is appended.

This file contains information of the what was accomplished when
disk duplicator was last used, including details on the last
serial number used etc.


A Sample log file is shown below.


  DISK DUPLICATOR -Log File-  Opened - 18/11/90  @ 09:56


  Source      Orig               New Label           Copies   Bad

   Disk       Label         Start        End
    1       SALES DATA      SAL-06       SAL-26        20     0

    2       RESULTS                                    57     1

    3       PURC DATA       PUR-106      PUR-136       30     0


 Log closed - 10:45


   1.4.4.  Auto Sensing Disk Change

DDP will auto sense when a diskette has been changed in the
drive.  All the user need do, is watch the screen for prompts and
swap diskettes when indicated.

This feature eliminates the need for a key to be pressed before
recognising that a diskette has been changed.  In use the drive
active light on diskette drive may remain on.  Please ignore the
light on the drive and read the prompts on screen for diskette
changes.

Some types of diskette drives on certain machines may have
difficulty with this feature.  If DDP does not recognise when a
diskette has been changed, the user can use the /K option on the
command line to disable the Auto Sensing and use the keyboard
instead.


 1.5.  Technical Information & Troubleshooting

   1.5.1.  Disk Drives & Disk Types

Disk Duplicator will copy standard IBM PC formats.

e.g.   5.25" (360k & 1.2Mb) and 3.5" (720k & 1.44Mb) diskettes.

Disk Duplicator will not copy "copy protected" disks, or non
standard disk formats.

Disk Duplicator allows you to specify which drive to use for the
source and spool device.  Assuming the source drive you have
specified is a floppy drive and exists, it will always be used,
whereas the spool device you specify is only taken as a
recommendation.- If there is not enough space for the spool file
then Disk Duplicator will search for another drive with
sufficient space.

Disk Duplicator Plus will use Expanded memory or Main memory in
preference to the spool device you suggest, to reduced the
duplication time.


   1.5.2.  Program Requirements

Disk Duplicator will run on IBM PC XT, AT, PS/2 or 100%
compatible

DOS 3.2 or greater is required, and up to 1.5Mb temporary space
free on a hard disk drive is needed for spooling depending on the
disk type being duplicated.

Disk Duplicator needs to be run from a drive that it can put it's
log file onto.  Therefore always start Disk Duplicator from a
hard drive if possible, or if you are using a floppy dive in a
two floppy drive system, always leave the diskette in the drive
that Disk Duplicator loaded from and use the second drive for
copying.


   1.5.3.  Copying Speed

Using a 386 PC and a half full 1.2Mb source disk with copy verify
off, and a formatted destination disk, speed timings are shown
below:-


DOS Diskcopy


 One Copy =  2 Mins 12 Second   - 5 Disk Swaps

 Five Copies=  11 Mins 2 Seconds     - 25 Disk Swaps


Disk Duplicator Plus

 One Copy =  53 Seconds         - 1 Disk Swap

 Five Copies =   3 Mins 13 Seconds   - 5 Disk Swaps



    1.5.4.   FastCopy Needs

When Disk Duplicator has not been told to disable FastCopy, by
using the /N option, it is reliant upon a good source disk to
copy.

The source disk must be correctly formatted and should have the
data starting at the beginning of the disk and stretching across
the disk in one group.   The empty data area is therefore also
in one group at the end of the disk.

The source disk must not have Bad or Invalid Sectors on it.

If you receive a message saying "Run CHKDSK /F", return to DOS
and run the CHKDSK /F program to clear any invalid sectors.
Check the  CHKDSK display for any Bad Sectors on the disk, if
there are any don't use the disk, make another fresh one.

If you still have problems use the /N option to switch to Normal
Copy and the whole disk will be read without trying to skip the
empty data areas, if it can.  This is slower but still perfectly
acceptable.

See "Making a good source disk"



   1.5.5.  Making a good source disk

To make a good source disk

A.     Create a directory on your hard drive called TEMP and
       copy all the files from your source disk into that
       directory.

      eg:  XCOPY  A:*.* C:\TEMP  /S

B.     Format you source disk and give the disk a volume name
       e.g. SALES DATA.  If there are any bad sectors don't use
       it as a source disk, try again with a fresh disk.

     eg: FORMAT A: /V

C.     Copy all the data from your TEMP directory back to the
       source disk.

      eg:  XCOPY C:\TEMP\*.* A: /S

D.     Write protect the source disk with a write protect tab
       and label the disk with an appropriate name.


   1.5.6.  Low capacity Disk in a High Capacity Drive

With 5.25" disks, never write a Low Capacity 360k disk in a 1.2MB
High Capacity drive, if you do, there is no assurance that the
destination disk will be readable in other peoples drives.

With 3.5" disks you may write either format in either drive.



   1.5.7.  Making many copies of a disk

Disk Duplicator is ideal for making many copies of the same disk.

If you are going to distribute the duplicated disks it might be
wise to perform random sampling of duplicated disks to confirm
all is well, before sending them out.



   1.5.8.  Disk Problems

A. If you experience difficulty with a disk, use the /N option
   to enable Normal Copy.

B. Follow procedure in "Making a good source disk"

C. Rename your config.sys and autoexec.bat and reboot this will
   ensure your PC has maximum memory available and no TSR
   (Terminate and Stay Ready) programs are interfering with the
   operation of Disk Duplicator

D. Ring Performance Technologies Technical Support UK 0344 488118



   1.5.9.  Disk Caching


It is not recommended that you use Disk Duplicator Plus with any
form of Disk Cache, as this can confuse Disk Duplicator and cause
erratic results.




   1.5.10. Diagnostic Facilities

The Disk Duplicator disk contains comprehensive diagnostic
facilities.

If needed Performance Technologies Technical Support will
instruct you what to do.





 1.6.  New features in this version


New features incorporated this PLUS version of Disk Duplicator :=


 EMS - Expanded memory support

   Automatic use of any expanded memory installed in system for
   the spool file.  Result: reduced duplication time.


 XMS - Extended memory support

   Automatic use of any extended memory installed in system for
   the spool file.

   Result: reduced duplication time.


 Super Copy - Super Fast Copy

   For disks for distribution why waste time formatting parts of
   disk you won't be using.

   Result: reduced duplication time.


 Auto Sense - Senses disk changes

   To simplify the operation even further, no operator
   intervention on the keyboard is required, just insert the
   disks as requested by the program.

   Result: simpler operation.


 Serial Numbering - Sequential numbering of disks

   Add sequential serial numbers to each disk produced, number
   stored in disk label for ease of reference.

   Result: easy tracking duplicated disks.


 Batch Copy - Multiple copies of multiple source disks.

   This new version has a /B option for batch copy.  In batch
   copy any write protected disk is read and any non write
   protected disk is written to.

   This mode is for making copies from many different source
   disks, with out intervention.

   Result: faster multi-source duplication


 Disk Duplicator Log File - Log of all copies made.

   A log is kept of all action made by Disk Duplicator Plus, so
   you can keep records of serial number issued and copies made
   etc.

   Result: accurate records



 Improved Audible Prompts




 1.7.  Performance Technologies Address



Our Address for contact is as follows:


       Performance Technologies Ltd
       PO Box 36
       Bracknell
       Berkshire
       RG12 8TE
       England

       Telephone:  UK 0344 488118