OK, way OT I know, but if any of you remember our basic DOS commands (I used to know this stuff, but Windows-induced amnesia has set in bigtime), maybe you can help me: I have an old CPU running Dos ver 3.3 and I need to copy the contents of the hard drive onto 3.25 floppies.
The directory contents I need to copy are in a directory called Cob8001 on the C drive, so I thought that
xcopy [space]c:cob8001 [space] a: [space] /w
would allow me to copy the contents of the cob8001 directory onto the disks in the a: drive and prompt to change disks when the disk is full, but it doesnt prompt for a new disk and just says “insufficient disk space” when the fist disk fills up. So Im messing up somewhere, but I cant find any of my old DOS manuals, and Bill Gate’s tauntingly satanic laughter is echoing somewhere in the distance…
Again, sorry for being so OT…if any of you know what I’m doing wrong I’d appreciate it, or if any of you know some other board I can post on where some one would have an answer, I’d really appreciate it.
You might try using Zip to floppy. It compressed and there are arguments/options to set that will store all the directory information and story subdirectory contents too. Try Pkzip /h or -h to get help screens.
source Specifies the file(s) to copy.
destination Specifies the location and/or name of new files.
/A Copies files with the archive attribute set,
doesn’t change the attribute.
/M Copies files with the archive attribute set,
turns off the archive attribute.
/D:date Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
If no date is given, copies only those files whose
source time is newer than the destination time.
/P Prompts you before creating each destination file.
/S Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
/E Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
/W Prompts you to press a key before copying.
/C Continues copying even if errors occur.
/I If destination does not exist and copying more than one file,
assumes that destination must be a directory.
/Q Does not display file names while copying.
/F Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
/L Displays files that would be copied.
/H Copies hidden and system files also.
/R Overwrites read-only files.
/T Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not
include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes
empty directories and subdirectories.
/U Updates the files that already exist in destination.
/K Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes.
/Y Overwrites existing files without prompting.
/-Y Prompts you before overwriting existing files.
/N Copy using the generated short names.
Vapor: looking over that list, I dont see what I thought I would, namely a command that prompts to change disks when the desination disk is full, and that must be my problem. Am I missing something obvious that my newbie brain isnt grasping? Do you know if that is a separate dos command I need to include? sigh.
[ This Message was edited by: DazedinLA on 2002-08-13 10:51 ]
Its been a while since I used DOS, but I didn’t think you could xcopy from a hard drive to a floppy. I thought the destination drive had to be the same size as or larger than the source drive.
In real life, we always used PKZip for something like that, not only because it does make disc-swapping easy but also because compressed files use a lot less floppies.
attrib . +a < set archive attibute byte on each file
xcopy . a: /a < copies file with archive byte set AND turns it off when copied.
repeat xcopy until all files are copied
As each disk filled up, the copy would abort, meaning that only the files copied would have their archive attribute removed. Then, you’d simply put in another disk, repeat the xcopy command, and keep doing so until all files had been copied.
The xcopy method works fine as long as you do not have any files that are bigger than one diskette (1.4 meg); however, the zip method works regardless of the size of the files. It also signficantly reduces the number of diskettes, making it less likly you’ll loose data through bad media (diskette).
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-08-13 16:19 ]
Good point about file sizes..hadn’t thought of that. Then again, in old dos, I’d be surprised to find any files that were bigger than a meg…back then, 20-40 meg hard drives were not uncommon, and I assumed that it was just an old system someone was cleaning off. Maybe I shouldn’t assume
On 2002-08-13 16:17, LeeMarsh wrote:
The xcopy method works fine as long as you do not have any files that are bigger than one diskette (1.4 meg); however, the zip method works regardless of the size of the files. It also signficantly reduces the number of diskettes, making it less likly you’ll loose data through bad media (diskette).
Enjoy Your Music,>
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-08-13 16:19 ]
Thanks everyone…yes using pkzip I used -& to span disks, but eventually deleted enough garbage files to be able to get the zip file onto one disk.
Now Im so screwed because I have two lathe machines that use old computers, and once I’d backed up the data on one I went to the other and there is a virus on the other computer. sigh. Its running on DOS 3.3, not even on Windows, so now I get to figure outhow to antivirus an ancient CPU that has only one 5.25 drive, one 3.25 drive, and only runs in DOS. Nothing like working on the leading edge of trailing technology…
