2.8 DOS Utility Commands

SETVER

Type: External

Syntax:

SETVER [d:]:path][filename (number)][/delete][/quiet]

Purpose: Makes Version 5 of DOS appear to be an earlier version when an application requires it.

Discussion

The SETVER command displays the version table and reports a DOS version number to programs or device drivers.

Use this command if you want to display and modify the version table, which lists names of programs and the number of the MS-DOS version they are designed to run with. If you want to use a program that has not been updated for DOS 6, you can add its name to the version table by using the SETVER command.

Options

number - Specifies the DOS version number 2.11 to 9.99.to be reported by SETVER.EXE to the specified filename. The /delete and /quiet options cannot be used with this option.

/delete - Used to remove a file from the version table. Can be abbreviated to /D. You cannot use the number option with /delete.

/quiet - Used to keep DOS from displaying messages (used with /delete).

Example

If you want to list the contents of the version table on drive d, enter setver d:

UNDELETE

Type: External

Syntax:   UNDELETE [d:][path][filename] [/DT|/DS|/DOS]

               UNDELETE [/list|/all|/purge[d:]|/status|/load|/U|/S[d:]|/Td:[-entries]]

Purpose: Restores files deleted with the DELETE command.

Discussion

Used to recover files that have been previously erased. The UNDELETE command can only recover deleted files if no new files or changes have been made on the disk since the deletion. Therefore, if you accidentally delete a file that you want to keep, stop what you are doing immediately and use the UNDELETE command to retrieve the file.

Options

/all - Automatically recovers all of the files you specify.

/list - All available files are listed (but files are not recovered).

/DOS - Restricts recovery to those files that meet the file specifications (filespec) in the disk directory table.

/DT - Restricts recovery to those files found in the Delete Tracking File.

/DS - Restricts recovery to those files found in the SENTRY directory.

/load - Loads the Undelete memory-resident program into memory using information defined in the UNDELETE.INI file.

/unload - Unloads the memory-resident portion of the Undelete program from memory, turning off the capability to restore deleted files.

/purged[d] - Deletes the contents of the SENTRY directory.

/status - Displays the type of delete protection in effect for each drive.

/S[d] - Enables the Delete Sentry level of protection and loads the memory-resident portion of the UNDELETE program.

/Tdrive[-entries] - Enables the Delete Tracker level of protection and loads the memory-resident portion of the UNDELETE program. The optional entries parameter specifies the maximum number of entries in the deletion-tracking file (PCTRACKR.DEL). It must be a value in the range 1 through 999 with the default value determined by the type of disk being tracked.

Examples

To undelete all recoverable files in the CHAPTERS directory, enter

undelete \chapters\*.* /all

To undelete all recoverable files in the current directory using the delete-tracking file, enter

undelete /dt

UNFORMAT

Type: External

Syntax:

UNFORMAT d: [/J][/L][/test][/partn][/P][/U]

Purpose: Used to undo the effects of formatting a disk.

Discussion

The UNFORMAT command is used to recover files on a disk that have been erased by using the FORMAT command.

NOTE:

The UNFORMAT command cannot always recover all the files that were on a disk that was accidentally formatted. To assure a better recovery of files on a formatted disk, use the MIRROR command.

Options

drive Specifies the drive containing the disk to unformat.

/J - Checks the disk to determine if the MIRROR command has been used to place file-recovery information on it. (In DOS Version 6, this program is stored on the DOS supplemental disk.)

/L - Used with the /partn parameter to tell DOS that there is no MIRROR file on the disk.

/P - Used to tell DOS to send any UNFORMAT messages to the printer.

/U - Used to tell DOS to recover files from a formatted disk without using the MIRROR file information (starting with DOS Version 6, this option is no longer available).

/partn - Used to restore a corrupted partition table of a hard disk drive. This option requires a PARTNSAV.FIL file created by using the MIRROR command with the /PARTN option (starting with DOS Version 6, this option is no longer available).