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H:\!DOCS\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT SURVIVAL DISK COMMANDS Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch Survival Disk Commands Charles V. Balch, Spring 96 Rev 1.0 Sooner or later creating and printing documents is not enough. Files need to be saved and retrieved, backups (copies) of your essential information can be a life saver, and disks become infected with a virus or physically damaged. Overview Files are the unit of information that computers use to store information. A file might be a document such as from a word processor or spreadsheet, a program, or system data. Every file has a location called it’s path. The path includes a drive letter and subdirectory of the given file. Drive letters A & B are usually for floppy disks that users can carry from computer to computer. Drive C is for the internal hard disk of a given computer. D & E are for other local storage devices such as another hard drive and/or a CD-ROM. Letters above E are usually point to network drives that are shared by many computers. Directories are groups of files and/or directories. Directories are used to group and organize files into a logical organization. Saving & Retrieving Most applications save a copy of current work in memory as a file via the use of the Save command under the File menu. The Save As command allows a different name and/or location (path) to be specified. in some applications the Save As command has an option that allows the file to be saved in a different file format. Different file formats are useful for interchanging information with other applications. Retrieving files from a disk to memory is usually done via the Open command found under the File menu. Your application must be capable of interpreting the file that you wish to retrieve. Often the path that the open command defaults to must be changed. Occasionally files of different types than the opening application will be desired. If this is the case, use the “List files of type” option. Disk and File Backups The easiest way to back up your floppy disk is to make a copy of it using the Copy Disk command under the Disk menu of File Manager. The process will erase all information on the target or destination disk. It is a good practice to lock your source disk before making a copy of it so that you will not accidentally erase it. Partial Backups (Copying) Accomplish incremental or partial backups by clicking and dragging a file from one disk to the other under File Manager (See the Windows 3.1 handout). At UVI, the C:\TMP directory is a useful place to temporarily hold a file. Perhaps to copy it from one floppy to another. Damaged Disks First make sure that it is your disk that is at fault and not the computer by switching computers. Disk still acting funny? Try the following in the order shown. Remember, the primary objective is to retrieve as much data as you can. Make a disk copy of the damaged disk if possible. Copy all A: files to the c:\TMP directory Windows Method Highlight all files in the C:\TMP directory by clicking on the top file/directory then clicking on the bottom file while holding the Shift key. Delete the highlighted them by pressing the Delete key. Highlight all the files on your floppy and copy them over. Delete all files in the C:\TMP directory by typing “DEL C:\TMP\*.*” Copy all files from your floppy by typing “XCOPY A:\*.* C:\TMP /S/E” If all the files copied, you are in great shape. Format a new disk and copy them on to it. Throw out your old disk it’s not worth saving. If they did not copy... Check for VIRUSES Select “Exit to DOS” from the Start Up Menu, switch to FPROT directory with “CD \FPROT”, start F-PROT by typing “F-PROT”, switch Method to “Scan and Disinfect”, search. Try copying all files again. Check for Defects From the DOS prompt, type SCANDISK A: and follow the instructions. Try copying files again. Notes for off-campus use FPROT is public domain. It is in the “G:\DATA\TRANSFER” area. Copy F-Prot on to a disk formatted as a System disk and to lock the disk. Boot your off-campus computer with the disk. It is a good idea to run SCANDISK and then DEFRAG about once a week or so on your home computer. While your at it check for viruses! Normal Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 4 Heading 5 Heading 6 Default Paragraph Font Header Footnote Text List Table Footnote Reference Bibliography Example Quote Question Answer wfxRecipient wfxFaxNum Heading UVZc0 Telecom_Out Telecom_In Page_Heading wfxDate Title_Heading wfxTime wfxSubject Charles V. Balch&H:\!DOCS\CLASSDOC\WINDOWS\DISKCARE.DOCÿ@HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus LPT3: HPPCL5E HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus HP LaserJet 4 Plus/4M Plus Symbol Palatino Book Antiqua Courier Courier New SURVIVAL DISK COMMANDS Charles V. Balch Charles V. Balch