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From: unkydave@shumv1.uucp (David Bank)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Overide of write protect on floppies
Message-ID: <4240@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Date: 19 Oct 89 15:13:19 GMT
References: <1454@minnow.sp.unisys.com>
Sender: news@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu (David Bank)
Organization: NCSU Computing Center
Lines: 36

In article <1454@minnow.sp.unisys.com> lee@minnow.sp.unisys.com (Gene Lee) writes:
>
>
>Does anyone have some software that I can run which would reconfigure
>the floppy drive in my pc AT compatible to ignore write protect tabs.
>
>The bottom line is that I want to copy programs to floppies for 
>distribution and have a bunch of floppies laying around that don't
>have slots cut in them.  
>
>Please mail you responses, thank you.
>
>			Gene W. Lee

   I know you asked for an E-Mail response, but just to clear the air on
this net group, I'm also Posting one.

   You simply cannot do what you want. The write-protect tab is a
HARDWARE inhibition. It is not software (OS) or firmware (BIOS)
based.

   The write-protect tab interrupts a circuit. Without that circuit,
the write-voltage never reaches the floppy's read-write head and
consequently no writing is possible.

   If write-protects were able to be overridden by software, that'd
make them pretty useless against viruses and Trojan horses, now
wouldn't it???

   In order to do what you want, you'll have to PHYSICALLY
modify your floppy drive. Either that or get a disk duplicator
that doesn't have such a feature.

Unkydave
unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu
bank@cslimg.ncsu.edu