DISKCOPY (COPY DISKETTES ONLY) COMMAND

Purpose:  Copies the contents of the disk in the source drive to a disk in
          the target drive. If necessary, you can format the target disk,
          when copying.

Syntax:   [d:] [path] DISKCOPY <d1:> <d2:> [options]

Type:     External command

Parameters:

[d:] [path] before the DISKCOPY command defines the drive and the path,
            that contain this command.
<d1:>     - defines the source drive,
<d2:>     - defines the target drive.
/?/h      - help (all the other options are ignored).
/g        - ignore data read errors.
/v        - verification when writing.
/f        - format the target disk.
/o:<interleave> /i:<displacement>
          - analogous to those of the FORMAT command and are ignored if
            the "/f" is not specified.
/d<[:c] | <:disk>>
          - enable swap-out to a local disk.

     In the DISKCOPY command you can specify similar or different drives.
If you specify similar drives, copying will be performed using one drive.
The system will prompt you to change a diskette.  To continue copying, you
would press any key.

     Upon completion, the DISKCOPY command prompts you with the following
question:

        Copy another disk (Y/N)?

If you type "Y", the system will prompt you to insert new diskettes.
If you type "N", the copying will be completed.

Notes:
1.  The given command may be used only for copying diskettes. An error
    message will be displayed if a fixed disk is specified.
2.  If the format of the target disk differs from the format of the source
    disk, the DISKCOPY command prompts to format it anew.
3.  If the source drive contains errors and the "/g" option has not been
    set, the following message appears on the screen:

        Disk read error !
        Abort? Retry? Ignore? iGnore up to the end?

    Then, the user has a choice of specifying:
      A - cancel copying;
      R - try again;
      I - ignore the error;
      G - ignore all the errors right until the end of the diskette
4.  In case of target drive write error, the following is displayed:

      Disk write error !
      Abort? Retry? Ignore? Format track and retry? fOrmat up to the end?

    Possible answers:
     A - cancel copying;
     R - try again;
     I - ignore the error;
     F - format the faulty track then write again;
     O - format all the remaining tracks.
5.  In cases 2. and 3. the target drive may prove unfit for subsequent usage.
6.  Source and target drives may not be virtual disks, like those created
    by the SUBST command.
7.  DISKCOPY doesn't allow redefining the drives.
8.  If the double-sided disks were recorded in a high capacity drive, some
    problems may arise with their reading in standard capacity single- and
    double-sided drives.
9.  DISKCOPY can't be used with the JOIN command.
10. DISKCOPY doesn't work with network drives.
11. Non-standard disk formats aren't recognized by MS-DOS.
12. In case when the copying is done on a single physical drive and the
    amount of free memory is not sufficient for reading the whole diskette,
    the system attempts to organize swapping to the XMS-memory or to a
    specified local device (if the /d switch has been set) such as fixed
    disk, RamDisk etc. Any attempt of specifying a network or removable
    device is regarded as an error.  The /d switch is ignored if there isn't
    enough conventional or XMS memory.

Examples:

1.      diskcopy a: b:

copies a diskette from the drive A: to a diskette in drive B:

2.      diskcopy a: a: /v /d

copies the source diskette from the drive A: to the target diskette on the
same drive with verification and swapping to a local disk (C:).

3.      diskcopy b: b: /f /i:1 /o:1 /d:e

copies diskettes form the drive B: while formatting the target diskette
and swapping to drive E:

4.      diskcopy b: a: /g

copies a diskette from drive B: to a diskette in drive A:, ignoring read
errors.