NewDeal Technical Support Document 253

BACK UP ORIGINAL PROGRAM DISKS


Procedure to make back up copies of your NewDeal software

Introduction

There are two reasons you may wish to duplicate your original installation disks: to make a backup in case the originals become lost or damaged, or to copy the original disks to a different disk size or format. The original disks are not copy protected, so you can easily make duplicates following the instructions below.

Making backup copies for archival purposes

To copy the disks for archival purposes, you need the same number and type of diskettes as the originals. Write protect the original disks for safety first. Then, in NewManager, choose Disk, then Copy Disk to duplicate them. You must use the same size source and destination disks, so be prepared to swap the original and copy in and out of the drive. It is not possible to use Copy Disk to copy from one size disk to another.

Copying to a different disk size or format

To copy the disks to a different format, you'll need access to a computer which contains both sizes of disk drive. Perhaps a friend has a computer with both sizes of drive, perhaps you have access to such a machine where you work, or maybe there's one you can use at your local library.

You must copy the installation diskettes to disks of a higher capacity than the originals. The following chart shows the possible formats. Copying to lower capacity disks than the originals will not work. For example, if you wish to copy from 3.5" 720K Low Density to 5.25" 360K Low Density, you will need to use the procedure explained at the end of this document. What follows is a list of combinations that can be copied from disk to disk.

SOURCE   DESTINATION
5.25" 360K Low Density   3.5" 720K Low Density
3.5" 720K Low Density   5.25" 1.2MB High Density
5.25 1.2 MB High Density   3.5" 1.44 MB High Density
The source or original disk contains the NewDeal software and the destination disk is the copy. Keep in mind that the destination disk must always have a larger disk capacity than the source disk.

Before you begin

Making the copies

  1. Put in Disk #1 of the NewDeal software, (the first source disk), and enter:
    VOL A: (or B:, if the disk is in the B: drive)
    Write the volume label, for example NEWDEAL 1, on the first destination disk's paper label. You will not need the volume serial number.
  2. If your disks aren't formatted, format them. For high density diskettes, use the command:
    FORMAT A: (or B: , if the disk is in the B: drive)
    For 720K diskettes, the command is:
    FORMAT A: /F:720
    (This command will work if you are using MS-DOS 4.x or newer or DR-DOS 5.x or newer. For other versions of DOS, consult your DOS manual.)
    At the end of the formatting process, you will be prompted to enter a volume label. Enter a name for each diskette, but not the volume label from step 1 above.
  3. Place the source disk #1 in drive A: and destination disk #1 in drive B:. At the DOS prompt, enter:
    XCOPY A:\ B:\ /s /e
  4. Repeat steps 1 through 4 with all remaining diskettes.
  5. Finally, rename the disks with the correct volume labels. Place each of the destination diskettes in the drive and enter
    LABEL B:NEWDEAL_1
    where NEWDEAL_1 is the name you wrote on the paper label for each disk.
  6. If you are unsure of the volume labels, then make sure your diskettes have no volume labels.

What if I want to copy 3.5" LD or 5.25" HD to 5.25" LD?

It is not possible to copy the contents of a higher capacity disk to a lower capacity disk. However, you can install the software to the hard drive of a machine with both types of drives and then use the DOS programs BACKUP and RESTORE commands to move the software to the destination machine. For example, if you needed 5.25" 360K Low Density disks to install on your XT with a low density drive, but you have 3.5" 720K Low Density disks, you would do the following:
  1. Install the 3.5" disks to a machine that has both a 3.5" and a 5.25" disk drive. Have several 5.25" Low density disks formatted in advance. Be sure to format low density 5.25" 360K disks on a low density disk drive. Formatting low density disks on a high density drive can cause problems reading those disks on a low density drive.
  2. Use the DOS command BACKUP to copy the program files and subdirectories to the 5.25" low density disks. At the DOS prompt, enter:
    BACKUP C:\NEWDEAL\*.* /S A:
    (Note: If you have installed your NewDeal software somewhere other than C:\NEWDEAL, or if the 5.25" drive is not A:, substitute the appropriate drive letter and directory name.)
  3. Use the DOS command RESTORE to copy the installed software to the other computer. At the DOS prompt, enter:
    RESTORE A: /S C:
    Follow the on screen RESTORE instructions until the process is complete.
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Last Modified 17 Feb 1999