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Article View: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Article #15551

Re: Hard disk utilities - query

#15551
From: madd
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1987 00:59
40 lines
2481 bytes
In article <157@houxj.UUCP> dck@houxj.UUCP (D.KWONG) writes:
>The mail order company that I ordered a PC/AT-compatible from
>sent along a floppy disk that is labeled "hard disk utilities".
>It contains several files called
>	DTCFMT, HDBOOT, SDBOOT, PARK, ALLPARK
>Does anyone know what they do?

DTCFMT should be a drive formatting utility.  Probably low-level sector
formatter.

HDBOOT is a boot utility that is needed to set up a hard drive on
early PC's (PC1's, I think, but it may be PC's in general).

I have no idea what SDBOOT might do.

PARK moves the heads on the hard drive to a safe section of the drive
so that it won't hurt anything when you are moving the drive around.
It should be used whenever you move your hard drive, just to be safe.

ALLPARK sounds like a general parking utility; maybe one that parks
every drive it can.

On most of the hard drives I've installed, they've had similar utilities.
Sometimes they're not even described in the documentation.  The best
way to find out what they do is try them -- if it's really destructive,
it'll tell you so before reformatting your hard drive.  Just to be
safe, I'd back it up first, though.  Maybe there are those out there
who write unsafe programs.  If you try out PARK and ALLPARK, chances
are they'll come up with something like "heads moved beyond cylinder xxx"
and the machine will hang.  It waits for you to turn it off.

Hope this is helpful.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                   - Jim Frost * The Madd Hacker -
UUCP:  ..!harvard!bu-cs!bucsb!madd | ARPANET: madd@bucsb.bu.edu
CSNET: madd%bucsb@bu-cs            | BITNET:  cscc71c@bostonu
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"Oh beer, oh beer." -- Me      |      [=(BEER) <- Bud the Beer (cheers!)
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!bacchus!husc6!bu-cs!bucsb.bu.edu!madd
References: <157@houxj.UUCP>

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!bacchus!husc6!bu-cs!bucsb.bu.edu!madd
From: madd@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Hard disk utilities - query
Message-ID: <719@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 4-Feb-87 19:59:19 EST
Article-I.D.: bucsb.719
Posted: Wed Feb  4 19:59:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Feb-87 10:04:45 EST
References: <157@houxj.UUCP>
Reply-To: madd@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP (Jim "Jack" Frost)
Organization: ODO (Organization for the Disorganization of Organization)
Lines: 40
Keywords: dtcfmt, hdboot, sdboot, ...