Forum Rules - Formats - Spotlights  -  Home - Library - New Additions

PC DOS 7 Physical disk conversion to disk image

16bit16bit
edited February 2010 in Software
I have come across a sealed box copy of PC DOS 7 on 3.5 disks and was thinking of converting them into disk images due to the sensitive nature of the medium they're stored on.

However, interesting thing is, they're not standard format disks, instead of adhering to 1.44MB on a high density disk, IBM found a way to increase the capacity of standard 1.44MB disks to hold 1.86MB but in turn, it becomes XD Format which is used by PC DOS only to my knowledge.

Any ideas on turning these special format discs into disk images (IMA format)?

Comments

  • BODBOD
    Winimage probably can.
  • QQ
    The 1.86MB is, I think, one of those DMF things. You can try, as BOD suggested, with WinImage, which can handle a ton of stuff. If that fails, RaWrite create a sort of disk image.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_Media_Format

    -Q
  • 16bit16bit
    I'll try out the WinImage route first, if it fails I'll try the RaWrite but if both fail, I'm hoping I can do it one other way.

    I think that maybe if I install PC-DOS into a virtual machine and then use its backup features to copy and backup the disks to virtual disk image blanks created by WinImage, it should work.

    If XDF support was new to PC-DOS 7, it should be able to read, write and create that same format through its internal utilities, at least one would assume.

    Thanks guys :)
  • os2fan2os2fan2
    On the first disk, there is a proggie called xdfdsk.exe, this will make the .xdf files. .xdf files are just .ima files with a different name.
  • 16bit16bit
    It would seem I'll have to hold off on this for awhile until I figure out what is wrong with my setup.

    I can't read any floppy disks, "Insert disk/No Disk in drive" and I'm trying to decide if its a lack of support for such media in Windows XP or if the drive is bad.

    I've tried the disks in a couple other XP systems with the same result so I'm thinking that Windows XP just doesn't like DOS formatted floppy disks at all, if I remember right I couldn't get my DOS 6.22 disks to read either a few months ago.
  • AnonymousAnonymous
    IBM POC DOS uses XDF format. This format is absolutely unreadable in XP (no support for it). However, Winimage and Virtual PC both support XDF. Start Winimage or a virtual pc guest OS and then stick the disk in, they can cope with any data on the drives.
  • ButcherButcher
    edited May 2010
    [haha]
  • os2fan2os2fan2
    Ah! yes, i have the full retail kits for IBM-DOS 5.02, 6.0, and PC-DOS 6.1, 6.3, 7.0, 2000. The version of 7.1 is more extensive then previously thought, but i have yet to sift through it. Most of these were bought early in the release stage. "too much cfc".

    Yes, IBMDOS 6.0 and PC-DOS 6.1 are really two different releases! One starts to "starting IBMDOS" while the other starts "PC-DOS".

    MS-DOS i have the full retail kits for 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 6.20, 6.21, 6.22. 7,0 beta 1 exists in binary only in my collection.
  • ButcherButcher
    edited May 2010
    [haha]
  • BODBOD
    IBM isn't lenovo, they just outsourced their laptop part of the business to them.
  • QQ
    Didn't the just sell it off?

    -Q
  • BODBOD
    I can't remember.
  • 16bit16bit
    I thought IBM sold the entire laptop production lines to Lenovo which caused a big stir in the government due to the government contracts with IBM for laptops and other computers for governmental use.
  • UglynGreyUglynGrey
    Lenovo is a firm in China that bough IBM's PC business including the laptops..... they build, produce and support the lines now using IBM under trademark...

    The gov stir is having your business outsourced to a non allied nation on something so critical like laptops with embedded security (such as encryption chips).

    This was my understanding of events and I'm quoting no sources
  • ButcherButcher
    edited May 2010
    [haha]
  • 16bit16bit
    Butcher:

    I'd love to image the disks but there is still the problem with getting the disks to actually read in the drive. They work, I tested them on a DOS setup I had when I was working on someone's computer but I can't get them to work on my system.

    I'll try again sometime soon to image them via WinImage on a real 9x system as even virtualized doesn't seem to work.
  • ButcherButcher
    edited May 2010
    [haha]
  • os2fan2os2fan2
    i am still trying to hunt down a german version of pc-dos 7.0 (any revision). along with a german version of ms-dos 6.22 (mine is 6.20).

    i have german and french computers set up in VM.

    at the moment i nearly have a diskette worth of pc-dos 7.10 as well. more than exists on the ghost diskettes, btw.

    the dos 7.0 set is now up to seven diskettes, as there is a fixpack attached (but separate).
  • os2fan2os2fan2
    I have this thing in image format for many years. The images were cut in 1999 for the cd K7920. I have been cutting images for cdrom in the manner that OS/2 did on their cdroms.

    One of the projects currently in hand is to make a cdrom install for OS/2 vers 2.0 and 2.1 with service pack to 2.11 All this exists, except the time.

    W
  • ButcherButcher
    edited May 2010
    [haha]
  • os2fan2os2fan2
    yes, that too, in original form
Sign In or Register to comment.