Back to home page

DOS ain't dead

Forum index page

Log in | Register

Search:  
Back to the forum
Board view  Mix view

How to back-up MS-DOS 6.21 Installation Diskettes? (Users)

posted by bretjohn Homepage E-mail, Rio Rancho, NM, 16.08.2012, 17:18

> > Can I just use the MS-DOS diskcopy command?
> >
> > Do I need to use the SYS command too?
>
>
> You need to use SYS command too.

It's been so long that I'm not 100% sure, but (at least MS) DISKCOPY does a sector-by-sector copy, so you don't need to use SYS. As you stated, though, DISKCOPY requires disks of the exact same type and size.

If you're copying between disks of different sizes, you should be able to use COPY/XCOPY, and then SYS to make the first disk of the series bootable (or SYS first and then COPY/XCOPY). Only the first disk of the series should need to be bootable.

Also, some programs use the volume label on the disk to determine which disk is being accessed. I don't know if the MS-DOS setup program works that way or not. If it does, you might also need to LABEL the copied disks if you use COPY/XCOPY & SYS (if you DISKCOPY, the volume label is copied automatically).

Another possibility is that the installation program allows all of the installation files to be one one disk, even if they weren't originally that way. E.g., if there were originally three 360k installation disks, you can simply do a SYS and COPY/XCOPY the contents of all three disks onto one 1.44M disk and the install program will still work OK. Again, I don't know if the MS-DOS setup program works that way or not.

No simple generic answer, unfortunately.

Post reply
 

Complete thread:

Back to the forum
Board view  Mix view
22762 Postings in 2122 Threads, 402 registered users (0 online)
DOS ain't dead | Admin contact
RSS Feed
powered by my little forum