Sam Heywood wrote: ------------------Begin Quote-------------------
On Sun, 2 Jun 2002 17:01:41 -0400, Roger Turk wrote: > Am I wrong in my understanding of DOS that the files needed to create a boot > disk (MSDOS\PCDOS, IO.SYS/IBMIO.SYS, COMMAND.COM) are *always* files on the > DOS disk, but, except for COMMAND.COM, are hidden/system files? Could you > not create a boot disk by copying these files (removing the hidden/system > attributes first) to the root directory of a particular logical drive on your > HD, going to that root directory, and doing a SYS a:? You are right, except that the system files have different names depending on DOS version. Also the system files for all versions of DOS that I have ever seen are *always* hidden/system files. If you boot to C: and then do a SYS a: from the root directory of C:, the operating system files will be transferred to A:. If the operating system files appropriate to the DOS version you booted to on drive C: are no longer found you will just get an error message. Sam Heywood ---------------------End Quote------------------- You are right Sam. I was just looking over Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs," and he brings up the point that if you do a SYS on an OS that uses different names for the system files than the installed system (or OS on the floppy), you can run into trouble. He also points out that he has never had any problem upgrading the same OS by just transferring the system files to the HD using SYS, *however*, he does report that the opposite (installing an earlier version) is not without problems. SYS will not only copy the system files, but will place them in the proper location in the root directory and will also do *something* to the boot sector. The system files, MSDOS.SYS, IO.SYS also need to have the hidden and system attributes when using SYS (if I understand what Mueller said correctly). Earlier, I was looking thru my DR-DOS manual and DR-DOS's system files do not need to be located first on the boot drive. Roger Turk Tucson, Arizona
