Retail MS-DOS 6.22 floppy disk binary images
Well, hello forum!
I found out about this place while searching for properly dumped, unmodified retail MS-DOS 6.22 floppy disk binary images, but so far I've had little luck; it appears to be a rather elusive set.
As much as this would qualify as a request, let it rather serve as an exhortation also, so that anyone with the power to carry out the task (not me, unfortunately), and to present the images impeccable, may beforehand understand a more appropriate protocol than what's been observed up to this point, considering the inconsistency in the integrity of the images currently available from the Library.
It would take nothing short of a real DOS-powered machine with a functional floppy drive and good ole' ImageDisk in order for the dump to retain the totality of the information, as opposed to messing around with WinImage and already compromised downloads from the internet.
The truth is, most images floating around are standalone files that have been manually packed and repacked in a thousand different ways, lacking thus the original format information as well as the original volume data, the original boot record, the original labels, the original timestamps, etc.
That's not a good thing for adequate preservation, though I understand it's better than nothing.
I've tried to download "Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Plus Enhanced Tools (3.5) version 6.22" from the Library to see what it's all about, given that the person responsible for the upload asserted to also have been the one behind the creation of the images, but apparently the mirrors are down.
Thanks for your time and sorry for the inconveniences.
I found out about this place while searching for properly dumped, unmodified retail MS-DOS 6.22 floppy disk binary images, but so far I've had little luck; it appears to be a rather elusive set.
As much as this would qualify as a request, let it rather serve as an exhortation also, so that anyone with the power to carry out the task (not me, unfortunately), and to present the images impeccable, may beforehand understand a more appropriate protocol than what's been observed up to this point, considering the inconsistency in the integrity of the images currently available from the Library.
It would take nothing short of a real DOS-powered machine with a functional floppy drive and good ole' ImageDisk in order for the dump to retain the totality of the information, as opposed to messing around with WinImage and already compromised downloads from the internet.
The truth is, most images floating around are standalone files that have been manually packed and repacked in a thousand different ways, lacking thus the original format information as well as the original volume data, the original boot record, the original labels, the original timestamps, etc.
That's not a good thing for adequate preservation, though I understand it's better than nothing.
I've tried to download "Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Plus Enhanced Tools (3.5) version 6.22" from the Library to see what it's all about, given that the person responsible for the upload asserted to also have been the one behind the creation of the images, but apparently the mirrors are down.
Thanks for your time and sorry for the inconveniences.
Comments
If I recall correctly, we recently updated our DOS 6.22 download with an original unmodified redump from genuine media. However all of our recent updates are only on Mirror one, and due to some leaches hogging bandwidth, that mirror is temporarily off line until a new system is fully in place to help prevent that.
Unfortunately, a lot of other similar sites don't care if their releases are genuine or even complete. With truly rare software, sometimes a crufty copy is the best that can be had, but here at Winworld we strive to do better.
Feel free to look around and report any issues with the downloads. If anything is in need of a "redump" I, or a few other here can mark the download as such. If you happen to have any yourself, please do contribute them! Much of the stuff here was "inherited" from other sources, so there are certainly many releases that need improvement.
An easy way to detect an improper dump, particularly on a DOS disk, is looking at the label. E.g. you're looking at a disk image from this very MS-DOS disk set in a hex editor: if it says something like "NO NAME" rather than "DISK______1"(6 hard spaces 0x20), that's probably a re-constructed disk, not an original, even if it retains file integrity and original timestamps.
The best software available for creating full 1:1 binary dumps would be ImageDisk (floppies) and CloneCD (CD's, of course)
Obviously we're not talking usability alone here, but actual preservation, as in every one bit being accounted for.
If I ever come across a disk that's still readable, I'll be more than happy to share it here.
Best regards.