On May 11, 10:24 pm, "Rod Pemberton" <do_not_h...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> "Frank Kotler" <fbkot...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:W9wVj.91$Pr1.90@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Came across this article about
recovering data from a hard drive
> > salvaged from the debris of the Columbia space shuttle...
>
>
<http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/S/SHUTTLE_RECOVERED_DATA?SITE=W...
> CTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>
>
>
>
> > ----------------------
> > However, at the core of the drive, the spinning metal platters that
> > actually store data were not warped. They had been gouged and pitted,
> > but the 340-megabyte drive was only half full, and the damage happened
> > where data had not yet been written.
>
> > Edwards attributes that to a lucky twist: The computer was running an
> > ancient operating system, DOS, which does not scatter data all over
> > drives as other approaches do.
> > ----------------------------------
>
> It does bring up the filesystem question of whether "lumping" (vs.
> "scattering") data results in better FS performance or worse FS
> fragmentation...
>
> I noticed that in the article there was no real description of the
"newly
> built drive". Was it a drive identical to the original drive? Or, was
it a
> custom built drive - perhaps with higher density read heads using the
same
> R/W technology?
>
> The simplicity and specificity of the DOS filesystem was how one used to
> "upgrade" to a new DOS version without 'sys' available. School, work,
> library. etc. typically had a newer version, but had removed the 'sys'
and
> command to prevent unauthorized copying. Old 'sys' versions wouldn't
work
> on newer DOS versions. But, DOS or 'copy' places the starting sector of
the
> new files exactly where the old were on the floppy. (It may copy some
or
> all of the data over the old locations too...). I.e., you could
effectively
> sys'd a new bootable floppy by copying files. Make a bootable floppy
for
> your DOS version, using 'format' and 'sys'. 'attrib' to get rid of
priv's.
> Reboot their computer using your bootable DOS floppy. (You can't do
this
> today due to BIOS settings.) Use 'copy' (not xcopy) to copy new
versions of
> IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, COMMAND.COM over old versions. Reboot to
> new DOS version.
>
> Rod Pemberton
Does M$-DOS still available in the market?
|
