      DFSee version 9.xx       2008  (c) 1994-2008: Jan van Wijk
 =========================[ www.dfsee.com ]==========================

For exact version info, release date and changes see the DFSHIST.TXT file

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Installation
_______________________________________________________________________________

The standard distribution of DFSee (DFSEEvxx.ZIP) contains all the DFSee
files you will need to use it, organized in the following directories:

 - DOS    Everything needed or usable to run on DOS or Windows-9x full-screen
 - WIN    Everything needed or usable to run on Windows-NT, 2000 or XP
 - OS2    Everything needed or usable to run on OS/2 version 2.0 or newer
 - LINUX  Everything needed or usable to run on LINUX, kernel 2.x or newer
 - MAC    Everything needed or usable to run on MAC OS X (Intel CPUs only)
 - DOC    The main DFSee documentation files in text and some in PDF format
          with detailed information about DFSee and the commands.

So, just unzip DFSEE.ZIP in a directory of your choice ...

NOTES:

      1)  The smaller, dedicated ZIP files DFSEEvxx_*.ZIP only have the
          files for one platform, or just the TXT/PDF documenation files.
          These are intended for dial-up downloading ...

      2)  Required operating-system files are of course NOT included!
          Specifically, for a minimal OS/2 system (bootable floppy, or CD)
          to run DFSOS2, check the DFSDLLS.TXT file for DLL dependancies.


IMPORTANT:

          When you are new to DFSee,  I recommend you use the
          DFSTART script to start with.  It will collect some
          very useful backup files the first time it is used

          To collect minimal information about your system, to
          email to others, or post on newsgroups for help, use:

          DFSxxx -query

          Where DFSxxx is any of the DFSee executables (see below)
          It will produce a "dfsquery.log" file to be sent/posted.


DFSee is a SWISS-ARMY KNIFE of disk-tools packaged in a single
executable file (.EXE). There is really no need for 'installing'
anything, as long as the executable can be found.
(in the PATH for instance).

So make sure the executable is in a tools directory or a directory
of its own, and make sure that directory is in the PATH to make it
more convenient. The only thing that IS a bit important is that
the registration file needs to be in a directory in the PATH as
well, and must be renamed to the fixed name: 'dfsee.key'.

Available executables:

- DFSOS2.EXE    The OS/2 executable, full function including REXX
- DFSWIN.EXE    The Win-NT/2000/XP executable, full function
- DFSDOS.EXE    The (extended) DOS executable, full function
- dfsee         The native Linux executable,   full function


TIP:     For optimal viewing of all the info in the DFSee displays,
         a wide screen (or windows) is recommended, 100 characters
         wide or even more works very well.
         The minimum workable widt is 80 characters.

MOUSE: - OS/2 or eComstation (DFSOS2.EXE):
         For optimal mouse usage make sure the 'Mouse Actions' in the
         (upper left) system-menu for a Windowed session is NOT checked!

       - Windows NT / W2K  / XP / Vista
         For mouse usage make sure the 'Quick Edit Mode'
         in the properties for the command window is NOT checked!
         (this is ON by default on Windows 2000, meaning no mouse support)

       - DOS (und FreeDOS etc ...)
         Mouse support with any Microsoft-Mouse compatible driver.

       - Linux and Mac OS-X
         No mouse support (yet)
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Important backups
_______________________________________________________________________________

I advise you to keep a copy of DFSDOS.EXE plus the DFSDPROC.DFS
script file on a DOS boot-diskette for emergency purposes.

Then an important backup command to used on your existing system(s)
as a preventive measure:

DFSOS2.EXE psave * filename  Some short description of your system

Or simply use the corresponding DFSee menu item:

        Mode=FDISK ->
          Backup partition info ->
             All disks listed

Will make a backup of all important partition-table and boot sectors
to a relatively small file that can be used in cases of emergency to
restore them with 'prestore' or using the DFSee menu:

        Mode=FDISK ->
          Restore partition info ...

Use a meaningful 'filename' for each different system you backup.
(of course it works just as well with DFSDOS.EXE or DFSWIN.EXE)

For extra information on the systems you could also run the
DFSDISK.CMD or DFSDISK.BAT script that comes with DFSee.
It will create six DFSDISK*.* files for each physical harddisk
in the system.

Note: The DFSDISK and PSAVE stuff above is included in DFSTART,
      so if you use that you are on the safe side!

      Realize that when using DFSDOS to restore imagebackups or
      partitioning info, it can ONLY read from FAT or FAT32 drives!
      So storing important recovery info on HPFS, NTFS or EXT2
      file systems might not be a good idea!


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Online Help
_______________________________________________________________________________

As a command-line program, DFSee has limited online help, useful
to check the syntax and parameters. The following is available:

'help'  command  : This will display a short introduction and a few
                   important selection commands.

'??'    command  : List all generic commands, available in every mode

'?'     command  : List all commands specific to the current mode

'???'   command  : List sector-types recognized in the current mode

DFSEE   -?       : List available switches for the DFSee executable
                   from the operating-system command-line.
                   The switches set some preferences and options like
                   windowing, using a logfile and batch-mode.
                   (DFSEE = DFSDOS, DFSOS2, DFSWIN or dfsee).

Most commands that require parameters will also display a short usage
and help when called without any parameters, or sometimes when called
with the parameter '-?'

Finally, whenever a (confirmation) dialog window is presented to ask a
question or get other input, you can use the <F1> function-key to get
additional help on that specific dialog or question.

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Recommended reading
_______________________________________________________________________________

DFSee is a rather complex program with dozens of commands that could
be used. You will need some time and effort to master that complexity.

All commands and some generic topics are covered in DFSxxxx.txt files:

- DFSEE.TXT     = A short introduction to DFSee and its concepts
- DFSINST.TXT   = short installation description
- DFSPROMO.TXT  = A short promotional text on DFSee and its concepts
- DFSHOWTO.TXT  = An ever growing collection of recovery scenarios and
                  other useful DFSee usage examples
- DFSTERMS.TXT  = A terminology reference about DFSee and partitioning
- DFSCMDS.TXT   = The main command-reference with all generic commands
- DFSDISK.TXT   = Description and examples of the DFSee UNFDISK procedure
- DFSFDISK.TXT  = The FDISK (partitioning) command reference
- DFSHPFS.TXT   = Command reference specific to the HPFS filesystem
- DFSNTFS.TXT   = Command reference specific to the NTFS filesystem
- DFSFAT.TXT    = Command reference specific to the FAT  filesystems
- DFSJFS.TXT    = Command reference specific to the JFS  filesystem
- DFSEXT.TXT    = Command reference specific to the EXT2 and EXT3 filesystem
- DFSRSR.TXT    = Command reference specific to the REISER filesystem
- DFSCRIPT.TXT  = Reference for using command-scripts with DFSee
- DFSHIST.TXT   = History of changes for DFSee, known bugs and wish-list
- DFSYNTAX.TXT  = Syntax rules for DFSee command, parameters and options

Background information on PC-partitioning, filesystems and some of
the DFSee internals and working are in PDF files:

- DFSEECON.PDF  = DFSee concepts, introduction. (not a user guide!)
- PCPARTIT.PDF  = PC partitioning including the OS/2 LVM extensions
- FSYSTEMS.PDF  = Filesystems on-disk structures explained
                  (FAT, FAT32, HPFS, NTFS and a little JFS)


There is some additional material on the DFSee website including the
complete contents of all menu helppages with screenshots, a HOWTO,
plus links to reviews and tutorials by others:

        http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/help
and
        http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/about

And presentations that explain some background on DFSee and
filesystems. (HTML as well as PDF format

        http://www.dfsee.com/present

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Known Problems
_______________________________________________________________________________

- The DOS version, DFSDOS.EXE will NOT display all present volumes
  (driveletters) using the 'VOL' command, or offer all of them in
  one of the filedialogs. NETWORK and CDROM letters will be missing.
  In many cases, if you KNOW the driveletter, you can use it directly
  in a command anyway, or even use it in the filedialog entryfield
  to have the files for that drive displayed.


- The OS2 version, DFSOS2.EXE is known to fail (abort on startup) when a
  virtual floppy-disk driver is loaded that is not initialized, as in:

        device=c:\tools\vfdisk.sys  0

  Initializing it to another value (like 1 for a 1.44Mb diskette) solves that.

