China DOS Union

I'm posting excerpts from expert techW0rm's boot disk readme here for everyone to take a look at.
I have the IMG image file for his boot disk available for download on my FPT. It's in my isosoft\img. The filename is techw0rm.img



- Version 5.4 -

TECHW0RM.TXT:

1 - WARNING
2 - INSTALLING
3 - FEATURES
4 - MENU OPTIONS
5 - EXTENSION DISKS
6 - F.A.Q.
7 - FILE LIST
8 - MEMORY USAGE
9 - PROBLEMS & CURES
10 - CHANGES
11 - CONTACT
12 - THANKS
13 - PROGRAM URLS



1 - WARNING

1.1 - Copyrights belong to their respective owners listed in section 13;
this boot disk was put together using different programs collected
over the years along with some of my own.

1.2 - All responsability for any damages caused directly or indirectly
by using/installing this package are solely your own; TechW0rm was
created for experienced DOS users and has been made as bug free as
possible, yet this does not rule out all possible problems.

1.3 - DRVSPACE is disabled when booting from this disk.

1.4 - Microsoft's products, or Microsoft itself, appears to have a
problem with QEMM386. Please use "skip startup" to avoid any
problems re-installing Windows or select EMM386.EXE.

1.5 - The disk uses MS-DOS7! It is likely that your system uses a
different version and therefore some of your dos programs may be
incompatible; a special SETVER.EXE has been added to deal with
any such problems. Your system files (IO.SYS and COMMAND.COM)
should be restored using a backup or your windows cd unless you
have Win98SE.



2 - INSTALLING
- Save TECHW0RM.ZIP in a directory on your hard drive.
- Unzip it (to your hard drive) using PKUNZIP.EXE or WINZIP.
- Pop a disk into the drive.
- Run INSTALL.COM and pop the disk out as soon as it is finished.
- Write protect the disk. (open the switch at the disk corner)
- You're done. Boot a system with the disk in to test it out.



3 - FEATURES

This bootdisk as the following features:
- Boots in only approximatly 30 seconds .
- Disk is y2k compatible for all dos programs.
- Self-checks most files, not one byte can be changed.
- Self-checks the boot record for changes.
- Scrollback ability, using the scroll lock key.
- Universal IDE CD-Rom support. (no SCSI)
- Universal mouse support.
- XMS Ramdisk.
- Can detect unknown/known stealth viruses.
- Divide overflow error prevention.
- Disk contains a universal display driver.
- Autoexec.bat can be used as a command after boot-up.
- Many crashes are aborted (back to dos).
- Command recalling.
- Key rate is automatically set to fastest speeds.
- "D"; Powerful dir replacement is included.
- Filename completion with the "tab" key.
- Device drivers can be loaded after boot-up.
- Text display is sped up dramatically.
- Keyboard buffer is increased.
- Compatible with other dos version programs.
- Disk gives you the most possible conventional memory.
- Many powerful commands are included on disk.
- Disk has a boot-up menu for versatility
- It has an optional Disk2 boot for extension disks.
- Entire Disks/Partitions can be copied.
- Physical sectors can be saved (for recovery)
- Files can be recovered from NTFS drives.
- A maximum of 736k *conventional* memory is possible.
- Realdeal/Scour can be used for extreme security.
- Can recover CMOS (bios) passwords.
- Can backup/restore CMOS settings.
- Can wipe the CMOS to restore it.
- Partitions can be recovered/viewed.
- Can backup/restore files with LFN support.
- Drives can be made write-only.
- Partitions can be resized/moved.



4 - MENU OPTIONS

- Default: Uses custom boot-up chosen on install.
- Custom: Turn on/off; Security, TSRs, Ramdrive, CD-Rom, Mouse
- Step By Step: Yes/No question for most start-up options.
- Disk2: Boot from an extension disk (when prompted).
- Skip: Skip all; "Safe mode".



5 - EXTENSION DISKS

5.1 - Extension disks are one of the most interesting features of TechW0rm,
they are disks used by choosing "disk2 startup" from the boot menu
and allow using of these disks which have their own functions.
The main extension disks at this time are:

- NetW0rm: The internet boot disk, this disk allows you to
boot straight into arachne after answering the
most basic questions required to connect to the
internet; Phone Number, Username and Password.
- AV-W0rm: This extension disk contains F-Prot; a popular,
reliable, and overall very good virus scanner.
When using this extension disk, all the work is
done for you, it immediatly begins scanning all
your hard drives for any virii and prompts you
for removal if any are found.
- WinW0rm: An extension disk for booting directly into Win3.1
to format/partition/etc without having to know
any DOS command lines.



6 - F.A.Q.

6.1 - How do I use PRESIZER.EXE?

Use "skip startup", and use "nothing" -> then simply run
PRESIZER.EXE but backup your data just in case!


6.2 - How do I use PART.EXE (ranish partition manager)?

Use "skip startup", and use "HIMEM.SYS" -> then simply run
PART.EXE to use it.


6.3 - What's the "security" option for?

This option scans almost every file (using md5 hashing) to
check their integrity, if one byte is changed, you'll be
alerted. The security option also scans the boot record
for changes, you'll be alerted if it's changed as well.


6.4 - What's a TSR, what is it on the menu?

TSR stands for terminate and stay resident. A tsr is a
program that runs in the background. For this particular
disk, I have included programs such as peruse, to scroll
back to see missed text, killer for invalid opcodes, etc.
Choose no unless you're going to spend your time in dos.


6.5 - Ramdisk? What's that?

A ramdisk creates a fake hard drive out of ram, which will
speed dos command usage and the like. Turn this off if you
don't intend to be using dos.


6.6 - Why did you set all the filedates to 1999?

Some programs *do* have difficulty with the year 2000,
although the problems I've seen have been minor and
non-damaging, that doesn't mean there aren't any yet to
appear. This prevents any possible problems.


6.7 - How do I scroll up and see stuff I've missed?

Hit the scroll lock key, then use the arrow keys. Hit scroll
lock again to return to the prompt. TSRs have to be enabled.


6.8 - Where is FDISK.EXE?

You should have read the file list. It's known as AEFDISK.EXE
which I find to be a lot better. Use "AUTOEXEC /L" for a
list of partition types for use with AEFDISK.


6.9 - What's the FP.SYS menu option in skip startup?

FP.SYS is a driver that scans your hard drive for missing
partitions; it will assign read-only drive letters to any
of these partitions so you can backup data from them.
Only use this option only if you know what you're doing.


6.10 - I would like to use TechW0rm for gaming purposes, what do I do?

For this, simply add the appropriate TSR sound driver lines
to AUTOEXEC.BAT on the 13th line, right below "GOTO D" and
above ":V".

If you have any device drivers to load for your sound card,
add the appropriate lines to the 23rd line, below
"INCLUDE=B1" and above "INCLUDE=B2".



7 - FILE LIST
The following list quickly describes each program on the disk.
If you don't understand it, don't use it. Quite a few weren't
necessary but were put on to be ready for any situation.
Use /? to learn command line options for most;

50.COM - Sets the screen to 50-line mode (convenient).
AEFDISK.EXE - FDisk replacement.
ATTRIB.EXE - Change file attributes.
AUTOEXEC.BAT - Automatically executed batch file for boot-up.
BCOPY.COM - Copy a file in the background.
BOOTSECT.BAK - The backed up boot sector - compared to original.
CHKMEM.COM - Checks for suspicious memory usage; stealth virii.
CLEAR.COM - Clears the screen (good for messed up modes/colors).
CLOAKING.EXE - Stores drivers in EMS/XMS to lower low memory usage.
CMOSPWD.EXE - Can reset the bios/get cmos password
COMMAND.COM - Command interpreter.
CONFIG.SYS - Startup device driver loader.
CTMOUSE.COM - Universal mouse driver.
D.EXE - You still use "dir"?
DEBUG.EXE - Microsoft's DEBUG.EXE.
DELTREE.EXE - Delete a directory and all sub-directories.
DEVICE.COM - Load a specified device driver on command line.
DZ.COM - Divide overflow error corrector.
EDIT.EXE - MS-Dos file editor.
EMM386.EXE - EMS memory manager by Microsoft.
ESCAPE.EXE - Abort from crashes/programs with F12.
FCSH.COM - Doskey replacement.
FIX27.COM - Quite often saves memory for tsrs loaded.
FORMAT.COM - Formats a disk for DOS use.
FP.SYS - Scans for lost partitions/assigns drive letters.
HIMEM.SYS - Himem XMS device driver.
IO.SYS - The heart of ms-dos7; the kernel.
KEYBUF.COM - Expands keyboard buffer size.
KEYRATE.COM - Sets the key-speeds.
KILLER.EXE - Abort to dos on invalid opcodes. (less freezing)
LCOPY.EXE - XCOPY replacement with LFN support in DOS.
MD5SUM.EXE - Calculates the MD5 hashes.
MD5_FIC1.BAK - Stored MD5 hashes for all required boot-up files.
MD5_FIC2.BAK - MD5 hashes for checking on ramdisk.
MEM.EXE - MS-DOS's mem reporting tool.
MSCDEX.EXE - Mscdex.exe replacement, saves mem.
MSDOS.SYS - Dos "registry".
NO.COM - Exclude files for a particular command.
NTFSDOS.EXE - Driver to "see" NTFS drives.
PART.EXE - Partition Manager
PERUSE.COM - Lets you scroll back with the scroll lock key.
PRESIZER.EXE - Resize/Move partitions.
PROTECT.COM - Write/Read Warn/Protect any drive.
PROVIEW.EXE - Edit your physical disks and memory.
QEMM386.SYS - A memory manager.
QVIEW.EXE - A good hex editor.
REALDEAL.COM - Secure deletion TSR.
RECOVER.EXE - Recovers physical sectors.
SCANDISK.EXE - Microsoft drive "repair" utility.
SCOUR.COM - Security; overwrites past file eof's and free space.
SEARCH.COM - Search for a text string in file(s)/subdir(s).
SETVER.EXE - Make older/newer programs compatible.
SHSUCDX.EXE - Mscdex.exe replacement, saves mem.
SMARTDRV.EXE - Smartdrive; caching utility.
SRCBOOT.COM - Save/Restore/Check the boot record.
SRCFAT.COM - Save/Restore/Check the Fat Table(s).
SRCMBR.COM - Save/Restore/Check the MBR.
SWEEP.COM - Runs a specified command in all subdirectories.
SYS.COM - Copy system files/boot record for booting.
TOUCH.COM - Sets file date/time.
UMBPCI.SYS - Hardware UMB provider.
UNDELETE.COM - UnErases files from FAT partitions.
UNIVBE.EXE - Universal display driver.
VIDE-CDD.SYS - Universal cd-rom driver.
VIDRAM.COM - Increase conventional memory. (but lose VGA)
VPAGE.COM - Saves/Restores video ram into file/page.
WIPE.COM - Overwrites a drive.
XMSDSK.EXE - Loads an XMS ramdisk.
XTLINK.COM - Access drives over a serial/parallel cable.
ZENO.EXE - Speeds up text display.