DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 1



	1. INTRODUCTION:


	   This document only contains information about new features in
	   DISK COPY FAST beta v4.93. Please refer to DCF493.DOC for basic
	   operation of the software.


	   DISK COPY FAST v5.0 will include many enhancements. Because of
	   the many changes to the program, it is very difficult to make
	   sure that it is fully compatible with all hardware and software
	   combinations. Although it has already undergone extensive
	   testing, some bugs may still remain. Therefore, this wide beta
	   release is being made.


	   All suggestions, and bug or compatibility problem reports are
	   very welcome and appreciated.


	   DISK COPY FAST v5.0, DISK COPY PLUS v3.0 and DISK UTIL PACK v3.0
	   are expected to be released by May 1, 1995. (Note: no guarantee
	   on the actual release date.)



      DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 2



	2. NEW FEATURES


	   1. PS/2 is now supported. Thanks to Mr. Robert Everett for his
	      help in making this possible.


	   2. Many odd-format disks are now supported. This includes
	      Microsoft DMF, IBM XDF (*) and selected FDFORMAT formats.
	      Users can also duplicate Macintosh high density disks with
	      DISK COPY FAST on the PC platform. Target disks can be
	      formatted on the fly for many of these formats. Please see
	      the following two sections for specific details and
	      limitations.


	   3. The /a option has been greatly enhanced. When ON (default),
	      DISK COPY FAST checks the track layout of both the source and
	      target disks before processing. This prevents the mistake of
	      copying a double density disk to a high density disk, but
	      still allows flexibility should this operation be desired.


	   4. The feature of auto formatting target disks has been greatly
	      enhanced.


	   *  Support for XDF format is limitted to legal backup purpose.
	      Users must have legal, original copy of such format and can
	      only produce one backup copy. Advanced feature, such as image
	      file, hot key for multiple copies, etc., are disabled for XDF
	      format.



      DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 3



	3. DISKETTE FORMATS SUPPORTED


	   For convenience, the term "non-standard format" refers to all
	   formats that are not widely used today. This includes 3.5"
	   diskettes not formatted as 720KB or 1.44MB and 5.25" diskettes
	   not formatted as 360KB or 1.2MB diskettes.


	   Diskette formats supported by DISK COPY FAST are divided into
	   the following four groups. Except for the types in group 4, DISK
	   COPY FAST can format a target on the fly.


	   1. Standard formats with valid boot sectors. This includes
	      360KB, 1200KB in 5.25" drive and 720KB, 1440KB in 3.5" drive.


	   2. Standard formats with invalid boot sectors. This includes
	      non-DOS disk such as MAC HD disk and DOS disks that are
	      infected by virus or have been disinfected from virus but
	      still have invalid boot sectors. By default, DISK COPY FAST
	      will give warning, but allow users to choose to "Ignore" it.
	      This warning can be turned off completely by the /v- option.


	   3. Selected non-standard formats with valid boot sectors. This
	      includes Microsoft DMF, IBM XDF and selected formats by
	      formatting programs such as 800K and FDFORMAT. Specifically,
	      the following formats are supported and can be formatted on
	      the fly.

	      a. Microsoft DMF
	      b. IBM XDF
	      c. 3.5" high density disks formatted to 1680KB or 1722KB.
	      d. 5.25" high density disks formatted to 1440KB or 1476KB.
	      e. 5.25" double density disks formatted to 800KB.


	   4. Other non-standard formats with valid boot sectors. DISK COPY
	      FAST can only copy disks of this group to pre-formatted
	      targets.



      DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 4



	4. MORE ABOUT ODD-FORMAT SUPPORT


	   Usually, the purpose of "odd-format" formatting is to increase
	   the capacity of a floppy disk. So far, the largest capacity
	   boost we have found is the IBM XDF format which is used in OS/2
	   releases. The XDF format uses larger sector sizes to increase
	   the capacity of 3.5" high density disk from 1.44MB to 1.836MB.


	   However, except in very few cases, some kinds of tradeoff do
	   exist. Usually the access speed is slowed down significantly,
	   and in some cases the reliability may suffer also. For example,
	   some formats use more than 80 tracks. As the read/write head
	   moves toward the center, the length of a track gets shorter.
	   This means the same amount of data is packed in a smaller area.
	   Some users may not feel comfortable using such formats for
	   critical data while others may feel that the difference in
	   length between the 80th track and the 82th track is not that
	   significant.


	   Based on these considerations, we chose to support on-the-fly
	   formatting for two formats each of the 3.5" and 5.25" high
	   density disks. For 3.5" high density disks, we support 1680KB
	   (80 tracks) and 1722KB (82 tracks) formats. For 5.25" high
	   density disks, we support 1440KB (80 tracks) and 1476KB (82
	   tracks) formats. Other formats can be copied without on-the-fly
	   formatting as long as the boot sector is intact.



      DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 5



	5. SUGGESTIONS AND BUG REPORTS


	   All suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated.


	   Although this is a wide beta release, it has already undergone
	   extensive testing. Should you feel there is any compatibility
	   problem or even a bug, please send your reports to DCF Software.


	   Please make sure the problem is repeatable, and please describe
	   it as detailed as possible. Information of the system, DCF
	   commands used before a problem shows up and the description of
	   how the problem shows up will be very helpful. For example,

	   "I run DCF under Windows on a 486/33MHz with EISA bus. I execute
	   READ command and it reads a 1.2 MB disk in a 1.2MB drive without
	   problem. Then I use the COMPARE command to compare the same disk
	   and it turns out OK too. But, when I proceed to use the WRITE
	   command to write to another 1.2MB disk it stops after a few
	   tracks. The Information box/window shows it's track 9. A red box
	   pops up with message "Diskette sector not found" and error code
	   1234h-5678h. When I press the right mouse button DCF suddenly
	   quits and gives me yet another error code 123h-456h. I tried it
	   several times with exactly the same commands sequence and this
	   problem always happened."


	   How to contact the author:


	    1. Call the PIE BBS in Sunnyvale, CA, U.S.A. at (408) 733-4670.

	       Please leave a message to CHANG LEE in the Shareware Authors
	       Conference on this BBS.


	    2. CompuServe Information Service (CIS)

	       Please send email to 71053,3517.


	    3. You can also send your suggestions, questions and/or
	       registration to the following address.

	       Chang Ping Lee
	       P.O. Box 60064
	       Palo Alto, CA 94306



      DISK COPY FAST    Copyright 1992-1995    Chang Ping Lee       page 6



	6. ADVERTISEMENT


	   Imagine that you can read a standard format disk, convert it to
	   the highest capacity (except XDF format,) then format, write and
	   compare the target, all done in a single pass! No more slow
	   formatting by FDFORMAT or similar utilities while you enjoy the
	   maximum flexibility.


	   Order DISK COPY PLUS today, receive the latest version, plus a
	   free update when DISK COPY PLUS v3.0 is ready.


	   NOTE: 1. The latest version of DISK COPY PLUS is v2.8 which does
		    NOT include the new features in this DISK COPY FAST
		    beta v4.93.

		 2. You need to mention this offer in the order form to
		    qualify the free update.

		 3. DISK COPY PLUS v3.0 is expected to be released by
		    May 1, 1995. (Note: no guarantee on the actual release
		    date.)