🚀 go-pugleaf

11srust@gallua.gallaudet.edu (Scott A. Rust) writes:

>	I'm having a problem copying DOS 5.0 setup disks from their original
>5.25" HD disks to 3.5" HD disks. The computer I'm installing the program into
>only handles 3.5. Using diskcopy doesn't work as the computer says the dirves
>or formats are incompatible. Using copy *.* doesn't work because it doesn't
>copy the entire disk. Suggestions on what I can use here?

I'm assuming that this is a DOS *upgrade* and not a new installation.

If so, the disks have no files with any special attributes (hidden, system,
read-only).  (I just checked both my 3-1/2" and 5-1/4" absolute masters
just to be sure.)  

In fact, most of our several thousand users upgraded their systems from
a NetWare server directory I created by using the normal DOS COPY
command to copy the files from the disks.  (and yes, this was done with
Microsoft approval.  We purchased all the necessary licenses.)  There 
should be no reason why the COPY command won't copy all the files.

I suspect that your problem is not a missing file but the volume serial
numbers.  A 3-1/2" HD diskette can obviously hold the entire contents
of a 5-1/4" disk, so you should be able to copy the disks with the COPY
command (no subdirectories exist, so XCOPY isn't needed), then make
sure that each target disk is assigned the volume label of the disk
from which it was copied...and watch the spaces.  The volume labels
are probably of the form:

  DISK      1

Note all the embedded spaces.  Check each disk as you copy it and
use the LABEL command to write the appropriate label to your 3-1/2" disk.

Joe Morris / MITRE