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Q97455: MS-DOS: Making a Bootable DoubleSpace Floppy Disk

Article: Q97455
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 19-NOV-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article lists the steps necessary to make a bootable DoubleSpace-
compressed floppy disk.

NOTE: This procedure works on 720K, 1.2-MB, and 1.44-MB disks only.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Steps to Create a Bootable Floppy Disk with DoubleSpace
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1. Format a floppy disk in drive A using the following command:

     format a: /s

2. Run DoubleSpace and compress the floppy disk in drive A. For example, type
  "dblspace /compress a:" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command
  prompt, and then press ENTER.

3. After DoubleSpace finishes compressing the disk, it mounts the disk. Run
  DBLSPACE /LIST to determine which drive is the host drive.

4. Delete the READTHIS.TXT from the host drive. For example, type "del
  h:\readthis.txt" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt
  and then press ENTER.

5. Copy COMMAND.COM to the host drive. For example, type "copy c:\command.com
  h:\" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and then
  press ENTER.

6. Using MS-DOS Editor, create a DBLSPACE.INI file on the host drive with the
  following lines in it:

      MaxRemovableDrives=<number of floppy drive on your system>
     FirstDrive=<one letter greater than the last drive letter used>
     LastDrive=<five letters greater than the last drive letter used>
     MaxFileFragments=120
     ActivateDrive=<host drive>,A0

  For example:

     MaxRemovableDrives=2
     FirstDrive=D
     LastDrive=H
     MaxFileFragments=120
     ActivateDrive=G,A0

  NOTE: DBLSPACE.BIN reads the DBLSPACE.INI file from the floppy disk, and
  ignores any DBLSPACE.INI files on the hard disk drive. Therefore, any
  ACTIVATEDRIVE= lines in the DBLSPACE.INI file on the hard disk drive aren't
  processed, and the corresponding compressed volume file (CVF) on the hard
  disk drive isn't mounted. Thus, data stored in that CVF is inaccessible. To
  work around this situation and ensure access to other compressed drives, add
  an additional ACTIVATEDRIVE= line for each compressed drive to the
  DBLSPACE.INI file on the floppy disk. For example:

     MaxRemovableDrives=2
     FirstDrive=D
     LastDrive=H
     MaxFileFragments=120
     ActivateDrive=G,A0
     ActivateDrive=H,C0

  WARNING: If you edit the DBLSPACE.INI file, be sure you do not have
  FirstDrive= set to a letter used by a physical or logical drive (such as
  drive C). Also, do not set the LastDrive= and FirstDrive= statements to drive
  letters that are more than 13 letters apart.

7. Delete the MS-DOS system files on drive A. (These files are not required on
  the compressed volume.) To do this, type the following at the MS-DOS command
  prompt, pressing ENTER after each line:

  " deltree a:\dblspace.bin
  deltree a:\msdos.sys
  deltree a:\io.sys " (without the quotation marks)

  The disk is now bootable. The CVF on the floppy disk now mounts automatically
  when you restart your computer with this disk in drive A.

Additional query words: 6.00 double space

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS600
Version           : MS-DOS:6.0

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