Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:18691 comp.sys.att:4168 Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ames!oliveb!tymix!antares!pnelson From: pnelson@antares.UUCP (Phil Nelson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.att Subject: Re: Whats the best DOS upgrade path? Summary: Warning Fastback problems! Keywords: DOS upgrade Message-ID: <146@antares.UUCP> Date: 4 Sep 88 01:28:42 GMT References: <39457@linus.UUCP> Reply-To: pnelson@antares.UUCP (Phil Nelson) Organization: Tymnet QSATS, San Jose CA Lines: 94 In article <39457@linus.UUCP| mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Granoff) writes: |After a total mishap and 98% recovery, I am now ready to try and |upgrade the DOS on my PC. | |I am currently at AT&T MS-DOS 2.11. I have an AT&T 6300, 640KB |memory, 20MB Seagate ST225 hard disk, 1 floppy, AT&T monochrome |monitor. | |As I understand it, I cannot use SYS to upgrade DOS from 2.x to 3.x |because 3.x is bigger. I must reformat. (Once I get to, say 3.1, I |could then use SYS to go to 3.2 without formatting, right?) | You are correct, you cannot go from 2.x to 3.x with sys, I havn't tried 3.1 to 3.2, it should work. |I have read quite a bit lately (here, in fact) that BACKUP/RESTORE |between DOS versions doesn't work. Whether that's true or not (is |it?), I am not planning on using DOS BACKUP and RESTORE. I got a copy |of FastBack+, which I am told by others, works just fine on AT&Ts. |Any comments? Will I be able to read FastBack+-written disks (under |DOS 2.11) under DOS 3.x? | You are correct, BACKUP/RESTORE will not work between 2.11 and 3.1, unless you have fewer than 10 backup volumes and good luck. I tried it once, they changed the volume number storage from BCD to binary. I also tried that other program you mentioned, about a year ago. It did not work at all on my AT&T, something to do with the floppy, I am told. I gave it away to someone with a true blue, where it seemed to work well, if a bit frantically. Probably they have fixed this problem, I advise you to make very sure before buying. I use Intelligent Backup, by Sterling Software. |Since I will have to reformat, what is the exact procedure? I think I |know, but I would like to check it out before I start: | | 1. DOS BACKUP my FastBack+ directory, to RESTORE later onto 3.x | disk, rather than reinstall it from scratch. ------ Just DOS COPY your whatever directory to the floppy, although you could probably get away with BACKUP here, why bother? | 2. Low level format with interleave factor 3. ------ If you have an extra hour or so, I suggest you experiment with Spintest, which just went by in comp.binaries.ibm.pc, I think. Interleave 3 might be too fast. (I think it's OK, though, for the Seagate) | 3. FDISK to create partition. ------don't forget to boot on the new OS disk and format... | 4. SYS to copy 3.x system. ------if you format with /s you won't need this. | 5. DOS 3.x RESTORE of FastBack+ directory. ------just MakeDir and copy to it from the floppy... | 6. FastBack+ restore (all but DOS 2.11 stuff) ------make sure your whatever backup program is not set to automatically overwrite existing files on restore. | |Right?? Will I be able to run DOS 3.x RESTORE on DOS 2.11 BACKUP |disks???? | sort of (see above). |Next, I can go to either AT&T MS-DOS 3.1 or AT&T MS-DOS 3.2. Which |should I use? Does it matter? I had heard that there was a problem |under PC DOS 3.2 in reading 2.x disks? Is this the case? Is this the |case with AT&T MS-DOS 3.2? | I could tell you a story about 3.1, terms for upgrade to 3.2, and my 6300+, but maybe I had better not... the end result was, after a great deal of wasted time, I am mad at my own company's PC support group, AT&T's PC support group, Microsoft's support group (or should I say robot?), and my clock still does not keep good time. I reset it every few days, a minor aggravation compared with trying to get it fixed. The tell me I'm the only one with this problem, so maybe I'm doin' it wrong :-). I suppose if I were buying now, knowing what I know, I would buy 3.2, which, I hope, will either keep the correct time, or can be patched to do so (of of course, I don't know if any of this applies to your 6300, my problem is with the 6300+). |What am I forgetting? Tell me. I hope I have, and trust someone will correct me where I have erred. | |Thanks for the information. You're quite welcome -- {ames|pyramid}oliveb!tymix!antares!pnelson | Contains: Potentially hazardous OnTyme: QSATS.P/Nelson POTS: (408)922-7508 | questions, Potentially hazardous Disclaimer: Not officially representing | opinions, Potentially hazardous McDonnell Douglas Corporation policy. | comments, Virtual Carcinogens