====================================================================== Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File) PD0745: DOUBLESPACE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ====================================================================== Revision Date: 4/93 No Disk Included The following information applies to Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Upgrade. -------------------------------------------------------------------- | INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY | | ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an | | Application Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY | | KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO | | THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A | | PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the | | accuracy and the use of this Application Note. This Application | | Note may be copied and distributed subject to the following | | conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and | | all pages must be included; 2) If software is included, all files | | on the disk(s) must be copied without modification [the MS-DOS(R) | | utility DISKCOPY is appropriate for this purpose]; 3) All | | components of this Application Note must be distributed together; | | and 4) This Application Note may not be distributed for profit. | | | | Copyright 1993 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. | | Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows | | is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. | -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Q. Why does DoubleSpace create a drive identified by the letter H when I have drives A, B, and C only? A. To avoid conflicts with existing drives, DoubleSpace examines the existing drive assignments during installation to find the highest drive letter currently in use. It then skips the next four letters and assigns the fifth letter to the new DoubleSpace drive. For example, if your computer has two floppy disk drives (A and B) and a hard disk drive (C), DoubleSpace locates the highest letter (C); skips drive letters D, E, F, and G; and then assigns drive letter H for its own use. For more information, refer to the "Freeing Disk Space" chapter in the "Microsoft MS-DOS 6 User's Guide." 2. Q. I am currently using a third-party disk-compression software package and now want to convert to DoubleSpace. How can I do this? A. To convert to a DoubleSpace drive, use the following steps: 1. Install the MS-DOS 6 Upgrade if you haven't already done so. 2. Back up your program and data files on all drives using Microsoft Backup or a third-party utility. 3. Create a bootable MS-DOS floppy disk. To do this, insert the original MS-DOS 6 Setup Disk 1 in either drive A or drive B, type the following command, and then press ENTER drive:setup /f where "drive" is the floppy disk drive containing Setup Disk 1. Important: After you type the above command and Setup prompts you to insert a disk to create the startup floppy disk, you MUST create that disk in drive A. Also, be sure that you choose to install on drive A. 4. Verify that the disk you have just created is bootable by inserting the disk in drive A and pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL. If your system starts up, continue with the next step. If it does not, reboot from your hard disk and repeat step 3 until you have created a bootable floppy disk. 5. Format the drive with the compressed volume file (CVF). To do this, type the following command at the A: prompt and then press ENTER format drive: where "drive" is the floppy disk drive containing the CVF. Note: If you are formatting drive C, use the /s switch with the format command to make the hard disk bootable. 6. If you formatted a drive other than C, skip to step 7. If you formatted drive C, you must reinstall the MS-DOS 6 Upgrade. To do this, insert Setup Disk 1 in drive A or drive B, type the following command, and then press ENTER drive:setup where "drive" is the floppy disk drive containing Setup Disk 1. Follow the steps on the screen to install the MS-DOS 6 Upgrade. Note: If you used Microsoft Backup for MS-DOS to back up your compressed drive, be sure to reinstall Backup for MS- DOS when Setup prompts you to do so. (You need this program to restore your backup disks.) 7. Install DoubleSpace. To do this, type "dblspace" at the MS- DOS command prompt, press ENTER, and then follow the steps on the screen. Note: For more information on DoubleSpace, refer to the "Freeing Disk Space" chapter in the "Microsoft MS-DOS 6 User's Guide" or type "help dblspace" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and press ENTER. For more information on Microsoft Backup, refer to the "Managing Your System" chapter in the "Microsoft MS-DOS 6 User's Guide." 8. Restore the files from your backup disks by using Microsoft Backup or your third-party backup utility. If you are using a third-party backup utility, you must install the software onto the hard disk. Refer to the manufacturer's documentation for the procedure to do this. 3. Q. I installed DoubleSpace and now each time I enter Microsoft Windows I receive the error "Corrupt Swapfile Warning." I have set up my permanent swap file many times, but I continue to receive this error. How can I correct this problem? A. In this case, the error "Corrupt Swapfile Warning" probably means your permanent swap file is being created on a DoubleSpace compressed volume. Windows cannot create a permanent swap file on a compressed volume. To correct this problem, set the permanent swap file to a noncompressed drive. Windows contains code to detect and avoid compressed volumes created with third-party software. However, Windows cannot detect compressed volumes created with DoubleSpace because Windows' release predates the release of DoubleSpace. For more information, refer to the "Freeing Disk Space" chapter in the "Microsoft MS-DOS 6 User's Guide," or type "help dblspace" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and press ENTER. 4. Q. I am trying to run Windows 3.0 in real mode so that I can change my permanent swap file with SWAPFILE.EXE. Every time I try, I receive the error message "Unsupported DOS version; upgrade to DOS version 3.1 or higher." What causes this error? A. This is an incorrect message. To correct this problem, run the SPATCH.BAT file, which is located on your original MS-DOS 6 Upgrade disks.