NTFS Formatter that Runs in DOS

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John

On 19/05/2017 14:37, wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John



Dos? are you sure about it? what is your operating system? 98Se, 98, 95?

Try this link:

https://superuser.com/questions/258720/how-can-i-format-a-ntfs-drive-from-dos

One post seems to suggest using Linux Live DVD to format the disk!!.
God knows how this works.

--
With over 500 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

On Fri, 19 May 2017 18:46:49 +0100, Good Guy
wrote:

On 19/05/2017 14:37, wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John



Dos? are you sure about it? what is your operating system? 98Se, 98, 95?

Try this link:

https://superuser.com/questions/258720/how-can-i-format-a-ntfs-drive-from-dos

One post seems to suggest using Linux Live DVD to format the disk!!.
God knows how this works.

It is easier to just boot up Disk Wizard, free if you have a
Seagate/Maxtor drive in your system somewhere. (on their web site) The
drive doesn't even have to work, it just needs to report the ID on the
DW search. Then DW will work on all the other drives.
I just plug in a USB backup drive for that.

wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John

Many of the modern installer DVDs for Windows,
include a WinPE based OS. You can boot an installer
DVD, and find the "Command Prompt" option, and have
your very own Command Prompt.

In there, you might find the "Format" command, or
use "Diskpart". To set up a partition in Diskpart
might be some work.

And there is plenty of other media, with the necessary
programs on it. Linux LiveCDs with a copy of Gparted
for example. You can do "New Partition" in there, set
the size and alignment, and so on.

*******

In addition, if you boot a Windows installer CD/DVD with the
intention of installing, the "Custom" option gives access
to creating new partitions, removing partitions, and so on.

You might not have to look very far.

To practice your craft, you can install VirtualBox
on one of your better computers, define a virtual
machine environment, set up at least one blank disk
drive, and do any of those procedures. The advantage
of this method, is right next to the VirtualBox window
containing the environment you're testing in, you
can keep a copy of Firefox open, with recipe pages
and the like. So it is possible to test this stuff,
without need of "uncomfortable" working conditions.
Once you're satisfied a particular method meets
your needs, you can try it on "real" hardware.

Paul

On 05/19/17 19:46, Good Guy wrote:
On 19/05/2017 14:37, wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John



Dos? are you sure about it? what is your operating system? 98Se, 98, 95?

Try this link:

https://superuser.com/questions/258720/how-can-i-format-a-ntfs-drive-from-dos

One post seems to suggest using Linux Live DVD to format the disk!!.
God knows how this works.

Yes, you can format ntfs from Linux, this for it's not a crippled OS
like microsoft-windows.

wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

You cannot run a program without an OS. So, yes, there WILL be an OS on
your floppy disk or from whatever you boot. It might be one of the free
ones or licensed ones but there will be one there. An application
cannot run itself - unless written in assembly to the instruction set of
the CPU on the particular host where you load that self-executable.
Assembler programmers coding for a specific CPU are rare. Assembler
progammers coding for a CPU [family] are not -- they're called OS
programmers.

In fact, you already mentioned an OS in your inquiry: DOS (which could
be one of several varieties). DOS = Disk Operating System. That's a
general term for an operating system on its loading scheme. The DOS you
probably meant could be: PC-DOS, MS-DOS, IBM-DOS, Caldera OpenDOS,
FreeDOS, or DR-DOS (aka Novell DOS). There are other [older] DOS'es,
like CP/M, but those won't do you much good.

You cannot format to NTFS using PC/MS/IBM-DOS. Those do not have NTFS
support. You need to use one that understands NTFS, or you have to add
support for NTFS to DOS (e.g., NTFS4DOS). I haven't bother to check if
the non-MS/IBM flavors added support for NTFS.

Ever heard of gparted (GNOME Partition Editor), a GTK+ front end (to
provide a GUI) to GNU Parted? Yep, that boots an OS (Linux) to then run
its programs (tools).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GParted

VanguardLH wrote:
wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

You cannot run a program without an OS.

( Actually, you can :-) )

memtest86+

And to show you how "badass" the developers of
that were, the floppy diskette with the program on
it, has no file system :-) So two concepts are killed
in one shot.

And I think the idea is great.

And the third concept it has, is code movement.
The program is able to lift itself in memory,
then jump to the new location and execute. That
helps extend the areas of memory it can test. So
at one instant, the program might be at location
0x10000, and at the next, it's at 0x30000. Then
it moves back again later. And that means the program
copies itself, over and over again, as it moves
to get out of the way of the testing.

So the program tends to flout convention. It looks like
something an old assembler programmer would do, to show you
what "close to the metal" looks like.

Paul

In message , Paul
writes:
VanguardLH wrote:
[]
You cannot run a program without an OS.

( Actually, you can :-) )

memtest86+

And to show you how "badass" the developers of
that were, the floppy diskette with the program on
it, has no file system :-) So two concepts are killed
in one shot.
[]
It _is_ a great utility.

It still requires the firmware in the BIOS (and is there any in a floppy
drive? I can't remember) to know how to operate the floppy drive, and
load from it ... (-:

(Ah, BRENDA, the [7 bit, _ones_ complement arithmetic, _serial_
processing - it was an oddball!] machine I first computed on: set up the
switches, press load, set up the switches, press load ... OK, only 16
memory locations, 8 possible instructions ... [though I suppose even
_those_ implied some "firmware" ...])
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Illinc fui et illud feci, habe tunicam?

On 5/19/17 11:46 AM, Good Guy wrote:
One post seems to suggest using Linux Live DVD to format the disk!!.
God knows how this works.

Works quite well, if you have a bit of knowledge. And a modern distro,
at least most of the one's I've experimented with, look surprisingly
like using Windows. But there seems to be a variety of partitioning
utilities, something different for each distro.

Or...

You could download Gparted, the Gnome Partition Editor, install in a
disk, possibly a USB stick, and boot from it. Looks a lot like most
Windows partitioning program. I don't remember for sure, but it may
format Apple's HFS system.

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On Fri, 19 May 2017 13:37:44 +0000, wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Thank You in advance, John

One of the DOS program that can format a partition to NTFS is the old
payware Partition Magic (a partition manager) but it's no longer sold. It
supports FAT 12/16/32, Ext2, and NTFS.

The old version of Acronis Disk Director and Paragon Partition Manager also
includes (or can create) a bootable CD whose partition manager program runs
under DOS. Newer versions runs under linux and then Windows Vista+ PE. Both
support NTFS.

Check Hiren's Boot CD for the DOS version of Paragon Partition Manager.
There may be other partition managers included that support NTFS.

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Paul
writes:
VanguardLH wrote:
[]
You cannot run a program without an OS.

( Actually, you can :-) )

memtest86+

And to show you how "badass" the developers of
that were, the floppy diskette with the program on
it, has no file system :-) So two concepts are killed
in one shot.
[]
It _is_ a great utility.

It still requires the firmware in the BIOS (and is there any in a floppy
drive? I can't remember) to know how to operate the floppy drive, and
load from it ... (-:

(Ah, BRENDA, the [7 bit, _ones_ complement arithmetic, _serial_
processing - it was an oddball!] machine I first computed on: set up the
switches, press load, set up the switches, press load ... OK, only 16
memory locations, 8 possible instructions ... [though I suppose even
_those_ implied some "firmware" ...])

The BIOS is definitely an enabler. You can think of some
of the BIOS code as being "drivers". And the floppy read operation
is supported by BIOS calls. Once the program is loaded, you
can pop the floppy out of the drive, as it is not referenced
while the program is running.

What an OS provides, is a scheduler, and a means of sharing
compute power over multiple tasks. In the case of memtest86+
it has a single purpose, the code can just keep running,
so no scheduler is involved. The program does listen to the
keyboard (and as far as I know, there's some sort of BIOS
call for that).

At times, I'm really surprised no other developers
are doing this stuff. Think of all the neat test programs
you could write, for bringing up new computers, that could
be done that way.

Paul

On Sat, 20 May 2017 11:01:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Paul
writes:
VanguardLH wrote:
[]
You cannot run a program without an OS.

( Actually, you can :-) )

memtest86+

And to show you how "badass" the developers of
that were, the floppy diskette with the program on
it, has no file system :-) So two concepts are killed
in one shot.
[]
It _is_ a great utility.

It still requires the firmware in the BIOS (and is there any in a floppy
drive? I can't remember) to know how to operate the floppy drive, and
load from it ... (-:

(Ah, BRENDA, the [7 bit, _ones_ complement arithmetic, _serial_
processing - it was an oddball!] machine I first computed on: set up the
switches, press load, set up the switches, press load ... OK, only 16
memory locations, 8 possible instructions ... [though I suppose even
_those_ implied some "firmware" ...])

The BIOS is definitely an enabler. You can think of some
of the BIOS code as being "drivers". And the floppy read operation
is supported by BIOS calls. Once the program is loaded, you
can pop the floppy out of the drive, as it is not referenced
while the program is running.

What an OS provides, is a scheduler, and a means of sharing
compute power over multiple tasks. In the case of memtest86+
it has a single purpose, the code can just keep running,
so no scheduler is involved. The program does listen to the
keyboard (and as far as I know, there's some sort of BIOS
call for that).

At times, I'm really surprised no other developers
are doing this stuff. Think of all the neat test programs
you could write, for bringing up new computers, that could
be done that way.

Paul

Back in the olden days IBM had a lot of test programs that ran at the
BIOS/Machine language level. Most of the PS/2 stuff ran that way. The
early PCs had BASIC in the BIOS. No OS necessary.

wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

format.com

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

Hiren's boot CD has a myriad of freeware tools including DOS tools such
as format.com.

The .info site doesn't have the .iso but the .org does.

https://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd All in One Bootable CD which has
all these utilities

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/


--
Mike Easter

Paul wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a NTFS formatter that runs in DOS?

Note: I am willing to pay for it.

What I would like to be able to do is put this NTFS formatter on a
bootable floppy disk. Next, power up my old computer (with a floppy disk
drive), and use the NTFS formatter to format the hard drive.
Note: I do not want to install an OS on the hard drive.

You cannot run a program without an OS.

( Actually, you can :-) )

memtest86+

And to show you how "badass" the developers of
that were, the floppy diskette with the program on
it, has no file system :-) So two concepts are killed
in one shot.

And I think the idea is great.

And the third concept it has, is code movement.
The program is able to lift itself in memory,
then jump to the new location and execute. That
helps extend the areas of memory it can test. So
at one instant, the program might be at location
0x10000, and at the next, it's at 0x30000. Then
it moves back again later. And that means the program
copies itself, over and over again, as it moves
to get out of the way of the testing.

So the program tends to flout convention. It looks like
something an old assembler programmer would do, to show you
what "close to the metal" looks like.

Paul

The part you snipped from my message:

unless written in assembly to the instruction set of the CPU on the
particular host where you load that self-executable.

They built their own loader. That's in assembly. DOS would load the
program into memory and then pass control to it. Before DOS gets
loaded, its boot loader has to load the DOS' own kernel. That's what
the boot loader for memtest does: load their executable code into memory
and pass control to it. As mentioned, assembler code written to the CPU
instruction set can eliminate the need for an OS.

Well, the above would work *if* that's how they wanted to do it. I
downloaded the source code and started looking in text files. They use
a Linux kernel as the OS to then load their program.

17) Acknowledgments
...
- The initial versions of the source files bootsect.S, setup.S,
head.S and build.c are from the Linux 1.2.1 kernel and have been
heavily modified.

So they started with a Linux distro and then modified it so it became
their own fork. They borrowed the bootstrap and boot loaders instead of
starting from scratch to code their own in assembler. Also, there is a
mt86+_loader.asm file: an assembler coded loader so they do use their
own, as mentioned above, to load the program but then why would they
need Linux? When I looked inside the .asm file, their boot sector load
(bootsect.s), necessarily constrained by the 512-byte size of a sector,
loads this OS boot loader that loads and passes control to the OS image
for their Linux.

Memtest isn't the only software that I've run across that employs its
own bootstrap and boot loader code to then load an executable image into
memory and pass control to that memory image. I've seen hardware
diagnotic tools do the same. There is probably several others that I no
longer remember that code in assembler to the CPU instruction set to
eliminate the need for a an OS kernel.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

V15.2 from 11/2012. No more updates I assume?
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