Wanted -- Free Program to Create Floppy Images from Floppy Disks

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob
  • Start date Start date
R

Rob

I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file from
a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to floppy
disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
 
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file from
a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to floppy
disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you're running some flavor of MS-Windows.

Here are three ways:

The standard, and the least "friendly", is the unix-style dd command.
There's a windows port, with instructions, available at:
<http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/rawwrite/dd.htm>

A GUI utility: http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/floppyimage.html

A command-line utility:
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/bin/CreateCD.zip
(just use the "fdread.exe" program from this)
 
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file
from a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to
floppy disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
Click to expand...

I have no idea if its still available, but I used a program (dated 1993)
called DiskCloner from a company called North Beach Labs.

I have images of all software I ever purchased on floppy disk backed up
this way. Several times I have re-written a disk so that I can re-install
the software. Works good.

From memory it was shareware.
 
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file from
a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to floppy
disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
Click to expand...
The old DRDOS (which is now available free) used an advanced version of
the MSDOS diskcopy which would copy a floppy to an image file on a hard
disk. I've used this diskcopy in a Windows (including NT & W2k) DOS
prompt with no problems.
Dave
 
Rob posted this on alt.comp.freeware
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image
file from a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a
floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files
to floppy disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me
know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
Click to expand...

http://www.winimage.com/

Agate.
 
Rob said:
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image
file from a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to
floppy disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
Click to expand...

I found a great web site listing lots and lots of FREE programs for creating
images from floppy disks and restoring them.

See http://www.fdos.org/ripcord/rawrite/

Out of all the programs listed, the web site recommends the following:

1) DskImage: OSPlus Disk Imager (read & write images) for DOS
(And the FreeDOS diskcopy is also a good alternative)

2) RawWriteWin for Windows.

The website does not list the Floppy Image v1.5.2 recommended in a couple of
the posts. I will ask the webmaster to consider adding it to his list. But
it looks VERY good... I like the options -- compressed, uncompresssed or
self extracting..

After a lot of searching on the net, it would appear that most folks
recommend the following free programs:

For DOS --- Rawrite --- to restore images to floppy disks. (Most Linux
distributions recommend it)
Raread --- to create floppy images from floppies.

fdvol -- to restore images to floppy disks
(Recommended by Minix over rawrite)

fdimage -- to restore images to floppy disks.
(Recommended by FreeBSD to supersede rawrite)

*** Rawrite and raread appear to be the most recommended
for DOS.

To create a set of boot disks or installation disks,
bootset looks great. It is based on rawrite and does MD5 checking!

For Windows -- RawriteWin

Linux -- Just use the dd command

Rob


..
 
Rob scribebat:
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image
file from a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a
floppy.
Click to expand...

As far as I remember, Network Associates offer a program called
"RWFloppy" on their site that can do this. (It was created to submit
virus infected floppies electronically)

bye,

Onno
 
Doctor said:
I have no idea if its still available, but I used a program (dated
1993) called DiskCloner from a company called North Beach Labs.

I have images of all software I ever purchased on floppy disk backed
up this way. Several times I have re-written a disk so that I can
re-install the software. Works good.

From memory it was shareware.
Click to expand...

It looks like DiskCloner is sharware. Too bad..

Rob
 
Rob said:
Thanks but no thanks... WinImage is shareware.
Click to expand...

There is another program by the same author, extract, which can do a lot
of what winimage can do, maybe with less flashy interface.

Extract is freeware.
Available from the same site as winimage.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/winimage.htm

Other interesting links:
http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/leaf/doc/docmanager/docid_10171.html?rev=1.2
http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/cdrecord/alpha/win32/
 
Rob said:
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file from
a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.
Click to expand...
I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to floppy
disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)
Click to expand...
Are they free programs to do both?
Click to expand...

I've had excellent results with RESQFLPY. It's DOS freeware that
comes with the RESQ shareware archive
(http://www.invircible.com/download/resq.exe).
 
I am looking for a free program to not only create a floppy image file
from a floppy but also to copy the image file back to a floppy.

I have found rawrite and rawritewin but they only copy image files to
floppy disks.
(If there are other free programs like rawrite, please let me know)

Are they free programs to do both?

Rob
Click to expand...

3.5 master

graphical tool for the creation and management of 3.5" 720 kb and 1.44 mb
floppy disk images, which can be password protected, compressed and self
extracting (sfx).

<http://www.mirkes.de/en/freeware/flpmstr.php>
594,348 bytes
 
Rob posted this on alt.comp.freeware
G'day Rob,

One I used in an earlier version was Dkopie. It will read/write
images, as well as do a number of other disk copying operations,
including handling some non-standard formats. A quick google on
"dkopie" will turn up a number of references to it on various MSDOS
file archive sites etc. Version 3.0 (1997) seems to be the last
around and is still available as of this evening at Simtel:
<ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/diskutil/dkopie30.zip>

Probably not supported anymore? (And I don't know how it will
go under modern versions of Windows -- but at least you get the
source code with it. :) Here's a summary of its features stolen from
<http://www.bookcase.com/library/software/msdos.util.disk.html>
<quoting>
Summary: DiskCopy DOS, 2M(GUI), FDformat disks (VGA,286+)
License: Freeware
Requires: VGA, 286+.
Email: (e-mail address removed)
Download: dkopie30.zip (Aug 17 1997, 371.4K)
Description:
dKopie is a Disk COPY (KOPIE) program for IBM-Compatible computers
operating under the DOS operating system. Source (asm) included for
non commercial use.
Features:
- Can copy normal disks (the same formats as diskcopy)
- Can copy FDFORMAT compatible formats
- Can copy disks formatted by 2M
- Can copy disks formatted by 2MGUI (experimental)
- Can copy normal disks with an abnormal boot sector
- Can read/write image-files
- Can make use of XMS-memory
- Is available in an English and a Dutch version
- Is completely free (Freeware)
- Comes with the complete source (ASM)
</quoting>


Cheers, Phred.
 
Rob,

It's good that you kept looking after finding some good imaging
programs. You'll likely need one for convenience in Windows and
another that works in DOS or Linux so you can restore an emergency
boot disk if your system dies.

Make sure the disks for emergencies don't use the options to compress
or include extra information so that they will be compatible with the
DOS or Linux versions!

My 2 cents,

Joe P

I like the options -- compressed, uncompresssed or
 
Joe said:
Rob,

It's good that you kept looking after finding some good imaging
programs. You'll likely need one for convenience in Windows and
another that works in DOS or Linux so you can restore an emergency
boot disk if your system dies.

Make sure the disks for emergencies don't use the options to compress
or include extra information so that they will be compatible with the
DOS or Linux versions!

My 2 cents,
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I will be using the floppy imaging program to make
copies of some Linux floppy boot disks and to make copies of some of my
DOS/Windows programs that I have on floppies.

Rob
 
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