Floppy Disk OEM FAT IDs

[shattered]

""CAM",88" -- strings in MBR: "Formatted by enhanced floppy disc formatter. Copyright (C) "CAM" , L. Liverovsky, 1988."

"MCS 1993" and "MCS 1994" -- likely FFORMAT (http://old-dos.ru/files/file_241.html)

[SomeGuy]

"BYTEC2.0" is used by Bytec Hyperion MS-DOS 2.11.

[vwestlife]

MS-DOS 4.0x uses "IBM 4.0" since it was IBM who actually did most of the work while Microsoft was busy with their multitasking MS-DOS 4.0 project which only saw limited European release.

And can usually tell when Windows 9x has overwritten a disk's boot sector when it also changes the volume label to "Av" (including a lowercase character that is normally impossible) and attempting to change it using regular MS/PC-DOS results in an error.

[Xacalite]

And can usually tell when Windows 9x has overwritten a disk's boot sector when it also changes the volume label to "Av" (including a lowercase character that is normally impossible) and attempting to change it using regular MS/PC-DOS results in an error.

That's a side effect of VFN long file names.
They are stored as directory entries with "Volume label" attribute set, so non-LFN-aware software tends to display them as the volume label.

[dieymir]

pre-5.0 DR DOS versions use "DIGITAL ".
Paragon PTS-DOS uses "Paragon!"
PhysTechSoft PTS-DOS uses "PTSDOS60"

[Moebius]

Ok, being a floppy manager somewhere I do happen to know a thing or two about this.

?????IHC - Windows 9x (usually indicates the disk's FAT is not original)

Nothing to do with FAT per se, it's just a local modification typically coupled with last access timestamps (AT) embedded in a medium's root directory. The rumor has it that the last 3 letters stand for "CHICAGO" spelled backwards, which is the codename for the earliest Win95 release. Not sure why it spanned beyond Win95, though. Also, this behavior is not limited to Win9x alone and is present in at least all of NT-based OSs from 3.51 (presumably) to 5.1. I've had some of my dumps modified by WinXP exactly the same way. The bottomline is, this will eventually happen in pretty much any Windows version as of 1995 if a disk is not write-protected. While it may take some time for OEM ID to change (seems to depend on multiple disk access or scanning) the AT will stick to the root directory instantly on file access. A simple file copy procedure is enough to make it happen. At first only executable (.EXE, .COM) and 30kb+ file entries are targeted, but eventually all of them will meet the same fate. Again, depends on what you do.

WINIMAGE (you know the image is not original if this is present)

There are 2 instances to that, either an image is self-made via file injection (in which case a volume label is usually missing) or only the boot record has been replaced by WinImage, which is arguably the vice of older versions. Everything else should be intact, from FAT tables down to last sectors.

Ok, I've searched our entire dump collection for some of the earlier mentioned OEM IDs (and more) and here is what I got:

CH-FOR15: Inca (German version),
CH-FOR16: 4th & Inches
CH-FOR18: Eye of the Beholder 3 (German), Fantasy Empires (v1.1 German),
CMAST2.0: Sam & Max Hit the Road
IBM 20.0: Silverball Plus 2 v1.0 (disk 1), V for Victory: Market Garden, V for Victory: Velikiye Luki, System Shock (vB3.0S, disk 2)
IBMMS3.2: Aaaargh, Hardball 2, Knight Games, Laser Surgeon, Night Hunter, Rockford the Arcade Game, Shogun, The Amazing Spiderman, Roadwar 2000 & Roadwar Europa & Wargame Construction Set (Bonus Edition compilation),
IBMMS3.3: Monty Python's Flying Circus
IBMMS4.0: The Games '92: Espana, Mig-29 Fulcrum (disk 2), Supaplex, Vaxine
NECIS3.3: Jeopardy (1st, 2nd edition and Sports Edition), Space Quest 5: The Next Mutation (disk 1), Wayne Gretzky Hockey 2, Wheel of Fortune New Second Edition
ProCopy: Adventure Math, Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate my Babysitter (v1.4), Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (v2.1 registered), Blake Stone: Planet Strike (v1.0), Hocus Pocus (v1.1), Spear of Destiny (v1.0), Spear of Destiny Mission 2: Return to Danger (addon), Spear of Destiny Mission 3: Ultimate Challenge (addon)
PSA 3.1: SimCity Graphics Set 1 (addon)
PSA 3.2: Eye of Horus, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Hostage: Rescue Mission, Willow (disk 2), Steel Thunder, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (enhanced version)
StupnDOS: Space Crusade (StupenDOS)
T V2.11: Mega Man (TOSHIBA V2.21)
VGACPY45: Ishar 2 (Spanish version)
VGACPY46: Commander Keen: Keen Dreams (Softdisk, shareware)
VGACP600: Strike Commander and Strike Commander: Tactical Operations (addon)
VGACP625: Syndicate (disk 4 and 5)
WYTRON: Front Lines, Transport Tycoon (German version)
XTF-BOOT: Cadaver, Comanche (disk3), Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge, Merchant Prince aka Machiavelli the Prince, Operation Crusader (disk 2), World War II: Battles of the South Pacific (disk 1)
XTREEWIN: Patriot
ZDS3.3: Alphawaves, Death Knights of Krynn, Dick Tracy: The Crime-Solving Adventure, Solitaire's Journey

That's all for now. Hope it was helpful.