DOS 'Subst' Command

J

John P.

Ran across some recent messages in the newsgroup discussing use of the
DOS 'Subst' command to designate a folder to be perceived as a floppy
drive. I tried it (e.g., Subst A: C:\A_Drive in the DOS environment
provided by Win98SE, and it worked fine for the task at hand: providing
a 'drive' for opening/saving files by an old DOS app that's hardwired to
use only an A: or B: drive.

In the DOS environment provided by WinXP Home, the action of the Subst
command appears to be equally successful...but when the DOS app attempts
to use the designated folder, it reports "This disk is not blank (or has
bad sectors." It then asks for permission to format the disk, which
operation deletes the folder designated by the Subst command.

FWIW, the HD partition where the "A_Drive" folder is defined is FAT32
format, not NTFS. Have set the DOS app to be run in Win95/98
compatibility modes, w/ same result. The app itself runs well--it's
just the action of saving to the faux floppy drive that fails.

Would be a big help if I could get the declared folder to be perceived
and used as a floppy drive in this WinXP DOS environment the way it is
in the 98SE DOS environment. Any ideas whether it's possible...and if
so, what else (besides Subst A: C:\'path') would work? I haven't found
any command flags for Subst.

Thx in advance for any assistance.

John P.
 
J

John P.

Thx for the tip, Jeffrey. I'd seen mention of VFD in one of your
earlier posts when I was searching newsgroups for info on the 'Subst'
problem. I read through the description and saw that copying was a
feature planned for a future version, and so quickly--and
wrongly--thought VFD wouldn't be useful in this case. However, a simple
line in a batch file takes care of what I need to do...so VFD is an
excellent solution.

John P.
 
D

Dan

I am cross-posting this with 98 newsgroup for more helpful ideas for John P.

: Thx for the tip, Jeffrey. I'd seen mention of VFD in one of your
: earlier posts when I was searching newsgroups for info on the 'Subst'
: problem. I read through the description and saw that copying was a
: feature planned for a future version, and so quickly--and
: wrongly--thought VFD wouldn't be useful in this case. However, a simple
: line in a batch file takes care of what I need to do...so VFD is an
: excellent solution.
:
: John P.
:
: Jeffrey Randow (MVP) wrote:
: > I use VFD to do this... :)
: > http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html
: > ---
: > Jeffrey Randow (Network MVP)
: >
: > Remote Networking Technology FAQ -
: > http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
: > My Networking Blog: http://www.networkblog.net
: > MS Network Community -
: >
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/community/centers/networking/default.mspx
: > MS Home Networking Community -
: > http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/communities/wireless.mspx
: >
: > On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 16:32:55 -0800, "John P." <[email protected]>
: > wrote:
: >
: >
: >>Ran across some recent messages in the newsgroup discussing use of the
: >>DOS 'Subst' command to designate a folder to be perceived as a floppy
: >>drive. I tried it (e.g., Subst A: C:\A_Drive in the DOS environment
: >>provided by Win98SE, and it worked fine for the task at hand: providing
: >>a 'drive' for opening/saving files by an old DOS app that's hardwired to
: >>use only an A: or B: drive.
: >>
: >>In the DOS environment provided by WinXP Home, the action of the Subst
: >>command appears to be equally successful...but when the DOS app attempts
: >>to use the designated folder, it reports "This disk is not blank (or has
: >>bad sectors." It then asks for permission to format the disk, which
: >>operation deletes the folder designated by the Subst command.
: >>
: >>FWIW, the HD partition where the "A_Drive" folder is defined is FAT32
: >>format, not NTFS. Have set the DOS app to be run in Win95/98
: >>compatibility modes, w/ same result. The app itself runs well--it's
: >>just the action of saving to the faux floppy drive that fails.
: >>
: >>Would be a big help if I could get the declared folder to be perceived
: >>and used as a floppy drive in this WinXP DOS environment the way it is
: >>in the 98SE DOS environment. Any ideas whether it's possible...and if
: >>so, what else (besides Subst A: C:\'path') would work? I haven't found
: >>any command flags for Subst.
: >>
: >>Thx in advance for any assistance.
: >>
: >>John P.
: >
: >
 
P

PCR

He seems to be happy with the solution of VFD. Wait a while for the full
effects of his XP-poisoning to set in before bringing him here to
rehabilitate.

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR
(e-mail address removed)
| I am cross-posting this with 98 newsgroup for more helpful ideas for
John P.
|
| | : Thx for the tip, Jeffrey. I'd seen mention of VFD in one of your
| : earlier posts when I was searching newsgroups for info on the
'Subst'
| : problem. I read through the description and saw that copying was a
| : feature planned for a future version, and so quickly--and
| : wrongly--thought VFD wouldn't be useful in this case. However, a
simple
| : line in a batch file takes care of what I need to do...so VFD is an
| : excellent solution.
| :
| : John P.
| :
| : Jeffrey Randow (MVP) wrote:
| : > I use VFD to do this... :)
| : > http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html
| : > ---
| : > Jeffrey Randow (Network MVP)
| : >
| : > Remote Networking Technology FAQ -
| : > http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
| : > My Networking Blog: http://www.networkblog.net
| : > MS Network Community -
| : >
|
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/community/centers/networking/default.mspx
| : > MS Home Networking Community -
| : >
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/communities/wireless.mspx
| : >
| : > On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 16:32:55 -0800, "John P."
<[email protected]>
| : > wrote:
| : >
| : >
| : >>Ran across some recent messages in the newsgroup discussing use of
the
| : >>DOS 'Subst' command to designate a folder to be perceived as a
floppy
| : >>drive. I tried it (e.g., Subst A: C:\A_Drive in the DOS
environment
| : >>provided by Win98SE, and it worked fine for the task at hand: prov
iding
| : >>a 'drive' for opening/saving files by an old DOS app that's
hardwired to
| : >>use only an A: or B: drive.
| : >>
| : >>In the DOS environment provided by WinXP Home, the action of the
Subst
| : >>command appears to be equally successful...but when the DOS app
attempts
| : >>to use the designated folder, it reports "This disk is not blank
(or has
| : >>bad sectors." It then asks for permission to format the disk,
which
| : >>operation deletes the folder designated by the Subst command.
| : >>
| : >>FWIW, the HD partition where the "A_Drive" folder is defined is
FAT32
| : >>format, not NTFS. Have set the DOS app to be run in Win95/98
| : >>compatibility modes, w/ same result. The app itself runs
well--it's
| : >>just the action of saving to the faux floppy drive that fails.
| : >>
| : >>Would be a big help if I could get the declared folder to be
perceived
| : >>and used as a floppy drive in this WinXP DOS environment the way
it is
| : >>in the 98SE DOS environment. Any ideas whether it's
possible...and if
| : >>so, what else (besides Subst A: C:\'path') would work? I haven't
found
| : >>any command flags for Subst.
| : >>
| : >>Thx in advance for any assistance.
| : >>
| : >>John P.
| : >
| : >
|
|
 

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