Peter z80.eu
Experienced Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2016
- Messages
- 84
... that was my goal when I thought about writing an HDD imaging utility for DOS.
See http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry210331-173000 ... the program does not have a fancy GUI, but I guess still a useful user interface.
It runs with plain MS-DOS, not necessarily with a newer version.
It uses only BIOS interrupts which exists in an IBM PC/XT, but is also working with a Pentium system.
It has a limit, it can only create an image file from HDDs below 4GByte, but is designed typically for use with older and smaller HDDs up to 500MB.
That's because it does not support the extended INT 13h functions (that was not my goal, for these newer systems other software like Symantec Ghost can be used).
It can split the target image file into parts in sizes with 1MByte step granularity, and it stops while creating the parts for exchanging target medias (e.g. for ZIP 100 media).
It compresses also the image file parts to 60% of the uncompressed size, so you need less target medias for a full backup.
The target image file, after uncompressing it, is in raw format. The uncompressed parts can be glued together just with a COPY /B command (correct order needed).
The order is guaranteed not only by using a file extension with a number, but also in the file header of the compressed image file parts.
It does not have to know what file system is used, so HDDs formatted e.g. with XENIX or MINIX or UCSD file system can be saved in the same manner.
An unpack utility for modern Windows (32bit) is also available, so uncompressing does not need MS-DOS, you can use the Windows Command processor, too.
The finally created image file is usable with PCem or VMWare Workstation Player or similar.
I will try to continue the development, so a restore utility will be published later, also.
Thank you for reading. Plz visit my vintage computer blog at http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry210331-173000 to get additional infos and the program itself.
See http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry210331-173000 ... the program does not have a fancy GUI, but I guess still a useful user interface.
It runs with plain MS-DOS, not necessarily with a newer version.
It uses only BIOS interrupts which exists in an IBM PC/XT, but is also working with a Pentium system.
It has a limit, it can only create an image file from HDDs below 4GByte, but is designed typically for use with older and smaller HDDs up to 500MB.
That's because it does not support the extended INT 13h functions (that was not my goal, for these newer systems other software like Symantec Ghost can be used).
It can split the target image file into parts in sizes with 1MByte step granularity, and it stops while creating the parts for exchanging target medias (e.g. for ZIP 100 media).
It compresses also the image file parts to 60% of the uncompressed size, so you need less target medias for a full backup.
The target image file, after uncompressing it, is in raw format. The uncompressed parts can be glued together just with a COPY /B command (correct order needed).
The order is guaranteed not only by using a file extension with a number, but also in the file header of the compressed image file parts.
It does not have to know what file system is used, so HDDs formatted e.g. with XENIX or MINIX or UCSD file system can be saved in the same manner.
An unpack utility for modern Windows (32bit) is also available, so uncompressing does not need MS-DOS, you can use the Windows Command processor, too.
The finally created image file is usable with PCem or VMWare Workstation Player or similar.
I will try to continue the development, so a restore utility will be published later, also.
Thank you for reading. Plz visit my vintage computer blog at http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry210331-173000 to get additional infos and the program itself.