             R. Loew Electronics Disk Formatting Utility

                           Version 1.3

                           10/19/2010

                       Copyright (C) 2010
                       by Rudolph R. Loew




The R. Loew Electronics Disk Formatting Utility provides the ability to
precisely format a Hard Drive Partition.



REQUIREMENTS

DOS, Windows 98, 98SE or ME.
BIOS or Overlay support for the size of Hard Drive required to run in normal
mode.



DEMO VERSION

The Demo Version supports all of the Options but will not Write to the Disk.
The Install/Uninstall Multi-Boot Profile will Write to the Disk but only a
single Profile will be set up.
This allows you to try out the Program but you will not be able to change any
Data on the Hard Drive.



INSTALLATION/UNINSTALLATION

None required. Run Executable from DOS or a DOS Box to use.



COMMAND SYNTAX

RFORMAT [-BootOnly....] [-DOS6] [-Ext EXT] [-LogOnly]
   DrvLtr|(Num Off|Pri#|Log#) 12|16|32|Erase
   [Secs #] [ClusSize #] [Offset #] [FATSize #] [RootClus #] [DirEnts #]
   [Align #] [Media #] [Geometry H# S# Slen#] [Base #] [NumFats #] [Unit #]

NOTE: All arguments must be placed on one line.

The -BootOnly Option tells RFORMAT to Write Only the Boot Sector(s). This
will leave the FAT Table and Directories intact. No Files will be erased.
If used with the Erase Command, only one Sector will be Erased.

If FAT32 is specified, repeating the -BootOnly Option allows selective
initialization of the reserved area. If the Oprion is used twice, the
reserved space below the FAT Tables will be erased. If it is specified three
times, the reserved area will not be erased, but the FAT Tables and Root
Directory will be Cleared.

WARNING: If the Partition's Parameters are changed, using the -BootOnly
         Option will cause the data to be corrupted.

The -DOS6 Option Installs a DOS 6 compatable Boot Sector to allow Booting of
DOS 6. Do not use on Partitions Booting Windows 9x.

The -Ext Option changes the expected extension of the Boot File (IO.SYS).
This option is useful in Multi-Boot environments where two or more
Operating Systems share the same C: Drice. EXT is the desired 3 letter
extension to be used. For example:

-Ext EBD  will Boot IO.EBD instead of IO.SYS.

The DrvLtr is the letter assigned to the Partition from A: to Z:.

Alternatively the INT 13 Drive Number "Num" and Start Sector "Off", "Pri#" or
"Log#" can be specified. This is for Drives that do not have Partitions such
as Floppies, SuperDrives and some USB Drives or for Partitions that have not
been recognized by DOS or Windows. Using the Drive Number on a Hard Drive or
Partitioned USB Drive with a Zero Offset will overwrite the MBR. A specific
Primary Partition can be specified by using "Pri#" where # is the Partition
Number from 1 to 4. A specific Logical Partition can be specified by using
"Log#" where # is the Partition Number starting from 1. Large Sector USB
Drives must be formatted this way as Windows will not assign a Drive Letter
to a Partition if it is not formatted and they cannot be accessed from DOS.
Using this method is also recommended when Formatting Large Sector Hard
Drives if you don't use the BLKSIZE.SYS Driver. If you use the Absolute Start
Sector "Off" argument, you will need to specify the Number of Sectors for the
Partition (see Secs Option Below).

The Drive Number "Num" is 0 for the A: Drive, 1 for the B: Drive, 0x80 for
the Boot Hard Drive and 0x81 and up for the remaining Hard Drives.

You will need to reboot to see a Partition that was not previously detected
or has had it's setting changed.

If using a Multi-Boot Profile created by RFDISK, the currently selected
Partition Profile will be used. Otherwise you will have to use the "S" option
in RFDISK to select the Profile containing the desired Partition and Write
your selection to the Drive. After formatting you can reselect another
Profile.

A Drive Letter, or Drive Number and Offset arguments, is required.

The Partition type can be specified as 12 for FAT12, 16 for FAT16, or 32 for
FAT32; using E will erase the Boot Sector(s). This argument is required.
The E Choice will erase 9 Sectors unless the -BootOnly Option is used. In
this case only the first Sector will be Erased. Erasing only the First Sector
of a FAT32 Partition is not enough to clear the Partition.

The remaining options override the settings that RFORMAT computes for the
Partition. Changing them may degrade operation or possibly corrupt other
Partitions.

The Secs Option sets the total number of Sectors in the Partition. RFORMAT
uses the reported size as a default. If set larger than the Partition size,
the following Partition(s) may get overwritten. This Option is required if
the Drive Number and Absolute Start Sector were specified earlier.

The ClusSize Option sets the number of Sectors per Cluster. RFORMAT uses the
algorithm specified by Microsoft for FAT32 Partitions and uses the smallest
Cluster Size allowable for a given Partition size for FAT12 and FAT16.
Cluster SIze must be a Power of 2. Setting 128 Sectors per Cluster will cause
problems with some Programs and cannot be used as a Boot Partition without
Patches. Setting 256 Sectors per Cluster requires a Patched IO.SYS and
VFAT.VXD to use the Partition. 512 Sector Clusters can only be used with a
Patched Windows XP. Contact Author for details on these Patches. If you set
the Cluster Size too small, RFORMAT will increase it until a Valid Format can
be creeted.

The Offset Option changes the Offset of the first FAT Table. Increasing this
setting can provide space for hidden data, extra boot sectors, or to skip
over bad Sectors. The default is 1 for FAT12 and FAT16. The default is 32 for
FAT32. The minimum for FAT32 is 9. If the Align Option is also used, the
selected Offset will be at least the specified Offset.

The FATSize Option sets the number of Sectors in each FAT. Changing this
setting will reduce the available space for Files. Increasing this setting
may be useful if the Partition will be Clonedm or expanede,  to a larger
Partition.

The RootClus Option sets the initial Root Cluster for FAT32 Partitions.
The default setting and minimum setting is 2.

The DirEnts Option sets the number of Entries in the Root Directory for FAT12
and FAT16 Partitions. The size will be rounded up to completely fill all
Sectors.

The Align Option sets the absolute Sector location of the Start of the Data
Area of the Partition to have a specific Alignment. RFORMAT will
automarically take into account the Start Sector of the Partition. If you are
using the Western Digital "Advanced Format" Drive or other Drive with 4KiB
Physical Sectors, use Align 8. This is designed for Windows 9X, not XP.
The Align value must be a Power of 2.

The Media Option changes the Media Byte. Changing this will probably make the
Partition unuseable.

The Geometry Option sets the Number of Heads, Number of Sector per Track, and
the Sector Size. The Defaults are the Values returned by Interrupt 13 AH=8
and a Sector Read Test. If not readable, the Default for Hard Drives is 255
Heads, 63 Sectors and 512 Byte Sectors. The Default for Floppies is 2 Heads
and 18 Sectors. This Option should only be used if you need a different
Geometry. Using Sectors larger than 512 Bytes requires Patches to several
DOS and Windows Files to be used. All three numbers must be specified if this
Option is used. If the Sector Size is changed, you will need to reboot
before using the Partition.

The Base Option set the Partition Start Field in the Boot record. Changing
this setting can cause corruption to other Partitions if set incorrectly.

The NumFats Option set the number of copies of the FAT Table. DOS and Windows
will only recognize Partitions with 1 or 2 FAT Tables. The default is 2.
Some RAMDISKs use 1.

The Unit Option sets the Boot Drive recorded in the Boot Sector. The default
is 0 for Floppy Disks and 0x80 for Hard Disks. This can be used with
ChainLoaders but the standard IO.SYS does not properly handle Booting from a
Partiiton that will not be mapped to C:.

All arguments and Options, except the FAT Type, can be specified using the
First letter of the Option Name.

Numerical Arguments (specified as '#' in the syntax) can be entered in
Decimal, Hexadecimal as 0x####, Octal as 0o####, or Binary as 0b####.

In most cases the defaults should be used as in the following examples:

RFORMAT A: 12
RFORMAT C: 16
RFORMAT D: 32

Id you use any settings to modify the Partition, it is recommended that you
record this information on paper or another Drive or Partition. This will
allow you to Recover the Partition if it gets damaged.



OPERATION

When run, RFORMAT will compute the value of Parameters not specified in the
Command Line. If the configuration is Invalid, the Program will Print an
Error Message and Stop. Warnings will be Printed if non-fatal issues are
found. The Program will read any existing Boot Record and compare the
results. Depending upon the results, one of three displays will be shown.

If no recognizeable Partition exists, it will display the new Partition
Settings.

If an existing Partition has the same format, it will display one column
with the Partition Settings.

If an existing Partition has a different format, it will display two columns
showing the old and new Partition Settings.

You will then be asked to confirm that you want to proceed. Anything other
than 'Y' will be treated as No.

If you instructed RFORMAT to Erase the Partition, it will Prompt you to
Continue and will do so if you enter 'Y'.



ALIGNMENT

Some of the newer TeraByte or larger Hard Drives use larger Physical Sectors
internally to increase capacity. The Western Digital "Advanced Format" Drives
use a 4KB Physical Sector. To efficiently use these Drives, Reads and Writes
should be in multiples of the Physical Sector Size and should start and end
on a Physical Sector Boundary. Windows 9X uses 4KB Blocks to Read and Write
Hard Disks, but no provision was made to align these transfers to Physical
Sector Boundaries.

The Alignment Option of RFORMAT adjusts the FAT Table Size and Offset so that
the Data Area is Aligned to the Specified Boundary. Since the Underlying
Partitions may not be aligned in any way, Formatting multiple Partitions
using the Alignment Option and the same settings may result in non-identical
Partitions. In addition, changing the FAT Table Offset may cause some
problems with poorly written Disk Utilities that expect the standard settings.

If you need to insure compatability with these Utilities, you may need to
change the starting point of the Partition. For most Computers, moving the
Start of the Partition up or down one Cylinder will do this. To do this, run
the RFORMAT Program, using the oroignal Partition, as follows:

RFORMAT X: 16 A 8
or
RFORMAT X: 32 A 8

If the chosen # of Offset Sectors is 1 (for FAT12 or FAT16) or 32 (for FAT32)
the existing Partition is OK as is. If not, repartition, reboot and repeat
the test. It should be OK now. If not, your BIOS is using a geometry that
makes Alignment more complex. The RFDISK Partitioning Utility (See Related
Products Below) has an Option to assist in Aligning a Partition.



RECOVERY

Use the -BootOnly Option to repair or update a Damaged Boot Sector(s).
If the settings are not affected, or the Partition is unrecognized, RFORMAT
can be used to used to Repair the Partition without losing data.

If the Boot Sector is corrupted, causing DOS to not recognize the correct
size of the Partition, use the Erase Command with the -BootOnly Option to
Clear the Boot Sector, reboot the Computer, then install the appropriate
Partition Type with the -BootOnly Option. This will only work if RFORMAT
was originally used to Format the Partition and the same settings are used.



USB AND OTHER EXTERNAL DRIVES

USB and other External Drives can be Formatted by RFORMAT in the same manner
as Internal Drives as long as a Drive Letter has been assigned to the
Partition to be Formatted. If no Drive Letter has been assigned or Windows
does not recognize the Partition, you will need to use the Drive Number and
Start Sector instead of the Drive Letter when Formatting (see Syntax above).
In Windows 9x, some USB Drivers do not support Interrupt 13H Calls so the
External Drive may not be accessible by it's Drive Number. If you cannot
access the Partition by it's Drive Letter or by it's Drive Number, you will
either need to Format it from DOS (without Windows running) or replace the
USB Driver.

To replace the USB Driver you will need to do the following:

1. Uninstall the Driver for the particular Drive that you want to Format.
2. Remove it's INF file from the WINDOWS\INF or WINDOWS\INF\OTHER Folder.
3. Get and Install a Generic USB Driver such as the free Driver on my Website
   or a Public Domain Driver such as NUSB or USB20DRV.

Large Sector USB Drives such as the Seagate Go-Flex 3TiB Hard Drive will not
be assigned Drive Letters after Partitioning and before Initial Formatting,
so you will need to use the Drive Number and Start Sector Syntax to do the
Initial Format. After Intial Format you can disconnect and reconnect the
Drive and the Drive Letter(s) should be assigned. You will be able to
Reformat using the assigned Drive Letters after that.



BAD SECTOR HANDLING

RFORMAT does not scan for Bad Sectors and does not save Bad Cluster Data from
a previous Format. If you are concerned about Bad Sectors and want to detect
them and/or lock them out, you will need to run SCANDISK or other Integrity
Checking Program to find them.



RELATED PRODUCTS

RFDISK   Advanced Configurable Partitioner.

TBPLUS   Multi-Terabyte Hard Drive Support Package. Contains the following:
         RFDISK
         RFORMAT
         LARGESEC
         40BITLBA
         PATCH137 (Extended)
         BOOTMAN
         IO.256/VFAT
         IO.32K/VFAT


PARTS    Partition Mapper.

PATCH137 Large Disk Support Patch for Windows 98, 98SE and ME.

BOOTMAN  Large Disk Support BIOS Overlay for DOS, Windows 98, 98SE and ME.

IO.256   Patch to support 256 Sector per Cluster FileSystems.
VFAT     Supports 8GB FAT16 Partitions.

LARGESEC Patch to support up to 32KB Logical Sectors FileSystems.

40BITLBA Patch to support up to 512TiB Hard Drives.

BIOS     Large Disk Support Patches for Tyan S1590 Motherboard and others.

EPIA     Patched BIOSes to fix bug in VIA EPIA BIOSes from 01/02 thru 06/05.

DOS      Patches to DOS 6.2 to access Drives larger than 8GB.

XPPATCH  Updates to Windows XP Original Edition to provide 48-Bit LBA support
         during installation.

PATCHENC Patch to Support Encrypted Hard Drives.



CONTACT INFORMATION

Rudolph R. Loew
506 Bieling Rd.
Elmont, NY 11003

1-516-352-9078

RLoew@hotmail.com

Website:  http://rloew1.no-ip.com

IP = conference.no-ip.org  PORT = 8192  (Conference Console)
