Category : Utilities for DOS and Windows Machines
Archive   : RBOOT500.ZIP
Filename : REBOOT.DOC

REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -1-


1st August 1991

REBOOT v5.00

(C) Copyright 1990, 1991, Peter Ogden




CONTENTS
--------


Caution.........................................................2
Limit of liability..............................................2
Purpose.........................................................2
License information.............................................3
Files included in the REBOOT suite..............................4
Compatibility...................................................4
Setting up......................................................4
Installing user options in REBOOT...............................7
Running REBOOT..................................................8
Sequence of events..............................................9
Companion programs.............................................10
ACTIVE......................................................10
BTIME.......................................................11
CHKBOOT.....................................................11
Trouble-shooting...............................................12
REBOOT.CFG corruption.......................................12
Erratic mouse flashing......................................12
Insufficent memory for editor...............................12
Error - unable to load editor...............................12
Error - unable to create temporary file.....................13
Error - unable to create REBOOT.TMP.........................13
Error - unable to open REBOOT.CFG...........................13
Error - null #Name encountered..............................13
Program history................................................14
About REBOOT...................................................16
Acknowledgements...............................................17




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -2-


**************************** CAUTION ****************************

Users of Delayed Write disk caches should read this document
thoroughly before using REBOOT. If REBOOT is not set up correctly
there is a slight possibility of damage to data on you hard disk.

*****************************************************************


LIMIT OF LIABILITY

REBOOT is distributed as-is. The author disclaims all warranties,
expressed or implied. The author will assume no liability for
damages either from the direct use of this product or as a
consequence of the use of this product. Further, the author
reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes
from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of the
author to notify any person or organisation of such revision or
changes.


PURPOSE

As application programs become larger and more complex, conflicts
between programs become more and more common. Some programs
simply require a larger amount of memory than is normally
available. The simple solution is to reboot the computer with a
different (non conflicting, or low memory use) configuration.

The REBOOT suite of programs have been written to perform this
task, and to preserve the users environment as much as possible
across these reboots, and with special handling for 4DOS.

REBOOT can reboot the computer with a new CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT selected from a list of choices (maximum of 128
configurations allowed). Delayed write (also called staged write)
disk caches are catered for. For users of 4DOS 3.0 and above, the
command history list can be written to a file before booting (if
you don't use 4DOS currently, you should try it). The various
configurations are kept in a single file (REBOOT.CFG).

Note: 4DOS is a shareware replacement (by J.P. Software) for the
MS/PC-DOS COMMAND.COM. It enhances the existing commands,
adds several new commands, scrollable command history, and
heaps more. If you work with DOS at the command line or
write complex batch files, you should be using it! 4DOS is
available on good BBS's all over the world.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -3-


LICENSE INFORMATION

REBOOT is the copyrighted property of Peter Ogden. You are
granted a limited license to use, copy, and distribute the REBOOT
suite of programs provided the following conditions are met:

A. Copying and distribution fees may not exceed $15.00
Australian.

B. REBOOT may only be distributed in its original unmodified
state.

This software is distributed under the user supported software
concept. Though REBOOT is copyrighted, you are encouraged to copy
and distribute this program to others. If you like this product
and find it useful, a registration fee of $20.00 Australian is
required for continued use. A twelve month instant update plan is
available (new versions mailed to you as soon as they are
complete) for an additional $25.00 AUS. Site licenses are
available at a reduced rate (contact the author).

The user supported software concept (also known as "shareware")
is an attempt to provide quality software at low cost. Both the
user and author benefit from this plan. The user will benefit by
being able to "test drive" software thoroughly before purchasing
it. The author benefits by being able to enter the commercial
software market while avoiding the high cost of commercial
distribution.

This concept helps many independent authors and small companies
that would otherwise be discouraged from developing and promoting
their ideas. It can only work with your support. If you obtain a
user supported program from a friend and you are still using it
after a few weeks, then it is obviously worth something to you,
and a contribution should be sent.

For further information and registration, please send
correspondence to:

Peter Ogden
ESB Consultancy
P.O. Box 2259,
Boulder,
Western Australia 6432

or Fax: +61 90 21 8364

or, for information, bug reports, or suggestions (not
registration) Netmail at 3:690/643.5 (FidoNet).




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -4-


FILES INCLUDED IN THE REBOOT SUITE

ACTIVE.EXE Program that reports the active (current)
configuration.
BTIME.EXE Program that adds or updates the Date/Time line
in REBOOT.CFG. In combination with CHKBOOT,
allows conditional processing in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT (see also CHKBOOT.EXE).
CHKBOOT.EXE Program that reads the Date/Time line from
REBOOT.CFG, compares it to the current Date,
and returns a DOS error level depending on a
supplied condition.
EXAMPLE1.CFG An example config file (simple).
EXAMPLE2.CFG An example config file (network).
EXAMPLE3.CFG An example config file (complex).
REBOOT.DOC This document.
REBOOT.EXE The main REBOOT program.
REGISTER.FRM Registration form.


COMPATIBILITY

REBOOT should run on any IBM PC, PC/XT, AT, 386 or 486 or close
compatible with at least 128K RAM (512K for editing function),
single floppy disk drive, monochrome or colour display, MS/PC-DOS
version 3.0 or later, with or without a mouse. Screen writes are
direct to video RAM (or if Desqview present, via a shadow buffer)
for reasonable speed of display. Users of EGA/VGA displays have
the option of high intensity backgrounds.


SETTING UP

First, a file containing all your different configurations must
be created (or one of the included examples modified to suit)
using a standard ASCII text editor, either from within REBOOT or
manually. The general form of this file is:




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -5-


#Name = Config 1
{ }
{ Lines to be written to the CONFIG.SYS }
{ }
---
{ }
{ Lines to be written to the AUTOEXEC.BAT }
{ }
#Name = Config 2
{ }
{ etc... }
{ }

The REBOOT.CFG starts with the name given to this configuration
(which MUST be unique). It is followed by the CONFIG.SYS lines
(as you would normally have them in DOS's CONFIG.SYS), followed
by a divider line (consisting of, at least, 3 dashes '-'),
followed by the AUTOEXEC.BAT lines (also exactly as you have them
in DOS's AUTOEXEC.BAT).

REBOOT.CFG should be in a directory that is in the PATH or you
will always have to change to that directory before calling
REBOOT.

Where possible, REBOOT allows comments to be included in the
REBOOT.CFG. To include a full line comment, the character in
column one of the line must be a semicolon (;) (see sample
REBOOT.CFG's). Any comment entered on a #Name command line after
column 28 is ignored ('#Name = ' + 20 character name). Any
comments entered after the divider (on the same line) are also
ignored. Blank lines may also be included in REBOOT.CFG (not
written to the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS).

All commands for REBOOT begin with a '#' symbol (except the
active configuration as noted below), must begin in column 1, are
followed by space, an '=' symbol and another space.

e.g., #Name = QEMM 5.11

The command may be in any mixture of upper or lower case (i.e.
#NAME = , #Name = , #name = , are all equivalent).

The current, active configuration is marked by the use of an
asterisk (*) instead of the hash symbol (#) as the first
character of a REBOOT special command. All the commands related
to the active configuration must begin with an asterisk (*) (see
example REBOOT.CFG's).




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -6-


REBOOT currently has eight special commands:

#Name This is the only command that must be in the REBOOT.CFG
file. This indicates the beginning of a configuration and
the name to use in the pop up pick list. The maximum
length of the name is 20 characters (any characters after
this are ignored). Any characters may be used in a name
except the slash (/) character (which could be confused
with a command line option).

#Descr (Optional). Allows a single line description to be given
for each configuration (maximum of 80 characters). This
line is displayed at the bottom of the screen as you
scroll through the pick list. The first 40 characters are
written to the 4DOS DESCRIPT.ION file if it exists.

#Flush (Optional). This is the command line you would type to
flush the delayed write (also called staged write) disk
cache. If more than a single line command is required to
flush the cache, a batch file may be named. If you use
4DOS, this line can be a compound command (maximum of 255
characters).

This line actually causes REBOOT to EXEC another copy of
the command processor, so in fact, you could get REBOOT
to perform almost any function before booting.

***************************** NOTE ******************************

If you use a delayed write disk cache, you MUST include
the #Flush line in every configuration that loads the cache, as
without it, the configuration may not be written to the disk
completely before the PC is rebooted. If this occurs, there is a
chance that the file allocation table (FAT) could be damaged,
possibly rendering the data on the disk unreadable. See example
configuration files for examples of how to set up PC-CACHE v6 and
HYPERDISK.

*****************************************************************

#Hist (Optional). This command line gives the full path and
filename of the command history file to store the
command history for this configuration. This allows
multiple (separate) command histories to be kept for
unique configurations. If no #Hist line is included, no
attempt is made to save the command history. Currently,
only 4DOS command history is handled.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -7-


#Date (Optional, added by BTIME) This line is ignored by
REBOOT. The Date and Time are added to REBOOT.CFG by
BTIME, and tested by CHKBOOT. ACTIVE also reads this line
and will display the time and date of the last boot if a
valid time and date are found. The time and date should
not be manually entered (format is important).

#Defs, (Optional, added by Install option) These lines contain
#Defs2 all the customisation information (colours, defaults
etc.) that the user selects with the Install option. This
line should not be manually edited.

#Reg (Optional, added by Install/Register option) This line
holds the registration information for registered users.
This line should not be manually edited.

REBOOT creates the CONFIG.SYS by reading from the line
immediately after the chosen #Name command (ignoring comment
lines and blank lines) up to (but not including) the divider
line. The AUTOEXEC.BAT is likewise created by reading from the
line immediately after the divider to the next #Name command or
the end of file (always ignoring blank lines and comments).

The #Descr, #Flush and #Hist lines can be placed anywhere between
one #Name line and the next.

All modifications to the configurations should be made to
REBOOT.CFG (not directly to the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS
files). The wrong flush command may be used if you change the
type of disk cache in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT directly. If
you must modify or create a new CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT
directly, be sure to update the copy in REBOOT.CFG, AND be sure
that the special command lines start with asterisks (*) rather
than hashes (#) where necessary.

REBOOT can optionally be forced to write it's temporary files in
a directory pointed to by the environment variable TEMP. If you
have a slow disk drive, you may wish to set TEMP to point to a
RAM Drive to speed up the processing of the REBOOT.CFG file. If
you have a fast drive or use a large disk cache, you may find
that pointing TEMP to the same drive that REBOOT.CFG is stored on
(or not setting it at all) will be faster.


INSTALLING USER OPTIONS IN REBOOT

Once the REBOOT.CFG file is set up, you may install the user
options for REBOOT. This can be done by running REBOOT and then
pressing:




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -8-



Alt-I (or clicking on Install on the help line)

This will then show you a screen offering several sections you
may change. The options available include: setting the colours
used in the pick list, description line, help line, warning
messages, and information messages, entering registration
information, set the disk that the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
are to be written to, toggle mouse cursor flashing on or off,
toggle use of special reset code for the DEC PCSA LAN on or off,
whether to default to a cold boot rather than a warm boot, and to
set the filename of the editor to use when modifying the
configuration file. This information gets written to the
REBOOT.CFG file.

The editor filename entry can be entered in one of three ways. If
the editor can be found via the DOS PATH, only the file name of
the program is required (e.g. EDLIN). If the editor to use is not
in the path, then the full path, filename and extension may be
entered (e.g. C:\SYS\EDLIN.COM). Thirdly, you may enter a 4DOS
alias. This method requires the command processor to be loaded
(using up some memory) and masks any errors that have occurred.
Wherever possible the most reliable way of enabling the editor
option is to give the full path. Most editors should be able to
load in the memory available, an error message will be displayed
if there is insufficient memory to load.

Colour selections selected for REBOOT will also be used for
ACTIVE.

Pressing Escape (or the right mouse button) at any time before
pressing Enter (or the left mouse button) to accept the setting
will abort the configuration without making any changes. The
mouse is fully functional throughout the configuration program,
with the left button being the 'accept' key (equivalent to the
'ENTER' key on the keyboard) and the right button the 'abort' key
(equivalent to the 'ESCAPE' key).


RUNNING REBOOT

REBOOT can be run in two ways:-

REBOOT

or REBOOT Name

If REBOOT is typed without specifying a name, a pick list will
appear on screen of the configuration defined in REBOOT.CFG. If a




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -9-


name is given, the corresponding configuration is immediately
written and the computer rebooted.

The pick list allows the user to scroll through the
configuration names using the arrow keys (if more than 15
configurations exist, there is a 15 line window, and an elevator
bar will appear). If a mouse driver is loaded, a configuration
can be chosen by pointing to the required configuration and
clicking the left button once to select, and again to execute.
Alternately, pressing the first letter of the required
configuration will move the cursor bar to the next configuration
that begins with this letter. When the highlight is on the
required configuration, pressing Enter will start the write/boot
sequence. Pressing Escape, or the right mouse button, or the left
mouse button while on the Close Button (top left of pick list
border) any time before pressing Enter, or the left mouse button,
will abort without writing anything and without booting the
computer.

While in the pick list, four hot keys are available to edit the
configurations (listed on the last line of the screen). Two hot
keys add new configurations to the end of the list: Alt A (Add a
new configuration) and Alt C (Copy the highlighted configuration
and modify). Alt E allows you to Edit an existing configuration,
and Alt D allows deletion of an existing configuration.

The REBOOT command can also be followed by any of the following
eight switches:

/H and /? (Help) both give a short description of REBOOT and
the switches available.

/N (No boot) informs REBOOT to write the configuration files
without booting, allowing you to boot with this different
configuration at a later time. This option should be used with
caution, subsequent use of REBOOT will use this configurations
cache flushing command and history updates, which may not be
consistant with the active items. See also /D.

/C (Cold Boot) forces a cold boot regardless of the installed
setting.

/W (Warm Boot) forces a warm boot regardless of the installed
setting.

/R (Return to Directory) will return you to your current
directory after the configuration change. This is performed by
temporarily appending three lines: Drive Name, CD Directory
Name, REBOOT /A XXXX (where XXXX is the chosen configuration)




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -10-


which changes to the appropriate drive and directory and
finally updates AUTOEXEC.BAT to remove these lines.

/A (Autoexec only) is a special command that only writes the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The main use for this switch is by /R.

/D (Down) causes REBOOT to write the selected configuration,
updating AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (if necessary), updates
the History file, and flushes the cache in readiness for
shutting off the computer (putting it down).

Note: the cache is not flushed if the /N or /A switches are used.


SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

REBOOT will perform the following sequence of events once the
configuration has been selected and the Enter key is pressed (or
if the configuration is given on the command line):

REBOOT.CFG is scanned for the chosen configuration.
If /A (Autoexec Only) is NOT given on the command line the
CONFIG.SYS is written.
The AUTOEXEC.BAT is written.
If /R is given on the command line then three lines are added to
the AUTOEXEC.BAT (Drive, CD Current Directory, REBOOT /A XXXX
where XXXX is the chosen configuration).
Active markers are updated in REBOOT.CFG (*'s replace #'s for
active config).
If /N (no boot) is NOT given on the command line, the following
are performed:
If a #Hist line is found in this configuration, the 4DOS
history is saved to the file name listed and duplicates are
removed.
If a #Flush line is found in this configuration, the disk
cache is flushed using this command.
If /D (Down) is NOT given on the command line, the following
are performed:
If DEC PCSA LAN resetting required (enabled in
installation), the LAN card is reset.
If /W is given on the command line, a Warm boot is
performed, if /C is given on the command line, a Cold boot
is performed, otherwise the PC is booted using the default
booting method selected with the installation option.


COMPANION PROGRAMS

Three companion programs should be included in this package:




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -11-


ACTIVE:

This is a program that reports the active configuration, and
various system information. It shows the operating system in
use, and the configuration name as listed in REBOOT.CFG. Any
Any description line included in REBOOT.CFG for this
configuration is displayed on the bottom line of the screen.
An errorlevel is returned dependent on the key pressed to
exit the program. The errorlevel returned is ascii value of
the uppercase of the key (Y = y = errorlevel 89).

BTIME:

This small program reads the current time and date from DOS
and writes it to the first line of REBOOT.CFG. This should
only be run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as its function is
to indicate the approximate time and date the computer was
last booted. CHKBOOT should be called before BTIME updates
the time in REBOOT.CFG. If the computer requires a program
to be run to set the DOS time, then BTIME should be run some
time after the timer program. Type "BTIME /?" (without the
quotes) for a short explanation of how to use BTIME.

CHKBOOT:

This program compares the current time and date against
the time and date set by BTIME in the REBOOT.CFG file and
returns an errorlevel dependent on conditions supplied on
the command line. CHKBOOT has five switches to control the
comparison of time and date:

/F (default) returns an errorlevel of 1 (true) if
this is the First boot of the day, or an
errorlevel of 0 (false) if not. This switch may
be omitted from the command line.

/A:HH:MM returns true if the current time is After
(greater than or equal to) the time given as
HH:MM.

/B:HH:MM returns true if the current time is Before
(less than) the time given as HH:MM.

/D:DDD returns true if the current day is DDD (i.e.
Mon, Tue, etc.), AND it is the first boot of
the day. Can be used for once a week bootup
procedures.

/M:NN returns true if the current day of the month is




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -12-


NN (i.e. 1 for the first of the month, 30 for
the 30th of the month, etc.), AND it is the
first boot of the day. Can be used for once a
month bootup procedures.

If an error occurs, then an errorlevel of 255 will be
returned. See the example REBOOT.CFG's for typical usage of
BTIME and CHKBOOT. Type "CHKBOOT /?" (without the quotes)
for a short explanation of how to use CHKBOOT.


TROUBLE-SHOOTING

REBOOT.CFG corruption:

If you are having trouble with REBOOT corrupting its REBOOT.CFG
file, there is a good chance you are using a disk cache that
delays writing to the disk. If so, there MUST be a #FLUSH command
in the REBOOT.CFG file that will flush or disable the cache. If
you are using a delayed write disk cache, and you have a #FLUSH
line, check that the cache program is either in the PATH, or the
full filename and path of the cache flush command is given (an
error should be displayed if the file cannot be found, but may
flash by so quickly that it is not noticed). See the example
#FLUSH commands in the example configurations.

Erratic Mouse Flashing:

Some mouse drivers are unable to react fast enough to flash the
mouse cursor on and off while still being active. The Logitech
mouse driver version 5.01 is known to cause some trouble in this
regard. Turn the mouse flashing option off if problems do occur,
then exit from REBOOT and restart.

Insufficent memory for editor:

REBOOT remains resident in memory while the editor is called. If
this error occurs, remove as many memory resident programs as
possible to free up sufficient memory for REBOOT and your
favourite editor.

Error - unable to load editor:

This error message is not the same as the last. If this error
occurs, it is probably because the editor has not been correctly
specified in the installation. Where possible, the full path and
file name should be supplied for REBOOT to find the editor.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -13-


Error - unable to create temporary file:

If this error message occurs, it may mean one of two things. The
most likely is that there is a TEMP environment variable defined
that is not pointing to a valid directory. The other possibility
is that there was a write error (hardware) when attempting to
create the file. The solution to the most common reason is to
either SET the TEMP environment variable to a valid
drive/directory, or remove the TEMP environment variable entirely
(SET TEMP=).

Error - unable to create REBOOT.TMP:

REBOOT attempts to create a file called REBOOT.TMP (a temporary
file that is merged back into REBOOT.CFG when you finish editing)
whenever you call the editor from within REBOOT. If this error
occurs, check to see that there is not another file of this name
in the directory pointed to by the TEMP environment variable, or
if no TEMP environment variable exists, the directory that
REBOOT.CFG resides in.

Error - unable to open REBOOT.CFG:

This error message may occur if the REBOOT.CFG file is not in a
directory specified by the DOS PATH. Another possibility is that
the REBOOT.CFG file has been marked Read Only. REBOOT requires
read/write access to the REBOOT.CFG, remove the Read Only
attribute.

Error - null #Name encountered:

This may occur if you manually edit the REBOOT.CFG file and enter
a #Name = line without actually specifying a name. The #Name is
required for each configuration, and each must be unique. At this
point in time, REBOOT will not detect duplicate names and display
both in the pick list, though only the first configuration will
be written if either of the configurations is chosen.

REBOOT may report other error messages, though those not covered
here should not occur unless some sort of hardware related
problem occurs (bad sectors on the hard disk, etc.). If an error
occurs that is not covered here that is not immediately obvious,
and you do not believe should have occurred, please send me a
copy of your REBOOT.CFG file, along with a note explaining the
conditions under which the error can be duplicated, to the
address noted above or via Fidonet Netmail to 3:690/643.5.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -14-


PROGRAM HISTORY

v1.61 : First public release (Public Domain). Keyboard only
operation.

v2.00 : Full mouse and keyboard user interface (scrollable menu
list with "elevator bar"). Windowed, mouse driven
configuration. Larger 4DOS history file can be handled
(4096 bytes maximum with no more than 2048 lines). Fixed
Bug where History was written even when disabled.

v2.11 : Changed handling of Disk Cache Flushing. The flush
command is no longer stored within the EXE file (allows
program to be compressed with LZEXE or similar after
configuration). Companion program ACTIVE.EXE included to
give easy identification of current configuration.

v2.12 : Bug fix for cache flush being indeterminate for
configurations without a #Flush line.

v2.13 : Bug fix for #Names longer than 20 characters causing
active markers to be removed. Fix for ACTIVE crashing
when no description.

v2.14 : Bug fix for command line entry of configuration name not
flushing cache.

v2.16 : Network compatibility increased. Bug fix for ACTIVE
returning incorrect 4DOS version.

v3.00 : Major rewrite of all programs. Optimised for speed and
size, added DOWN.EXE (replaces DOWN.BTM). Changed version
numbers of companion programs to same as REBOOT for
consistency.

v3.01 : Multiple History files allowed - #Hist command added.
Distributed as Shareware from this version on. Fixed Bug
concerning Logitech Mice.

v3.02 : Cold boot/Warm boot override command line switches added.
NOTE: COMMAND LINE SWITCHES CHANGED; /C now causes a Cold
boot override, /I (Install) replaces the previous /C
(Configure). Four new utility programs added: BTIME &
CHKBOOT (conditional booting utilities), TIMEBOOT and
TIMEDASK. Bug fix for MS-DOS 4.xx large partitions.
Rewritten DOWN to include multiple history files (which
was missed in the 3.01 release). Option included to reset
DEC PCSA LAN cards (not tested). ACTIVE modified to
include boot time and current time. COMPACT, REBOOT and




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -15-


DOWN modified to ignore case when removing duplicates
from history files.

v3.03 : Bug fix for monochrome screens losing entries from
display. Was supposed to have been fixed in last version
but was unfortunately left out.

v4.00 : Major rewrite of file input and output routines in all
programs (Speed has improved markedly). Editing of
configurations now available (using your own editor).
COMPACT handles files twice as large as previously.
Compacting algorithm reworked, now more than twice as
fast. Error handling improved, fixed lock up with some
user errors.

v4.01 : REGISTRATION CHANGED: once only payment for this version
and ALL subsequent versions (users already registered
need pay no extra money). BRAND program no longer needed
to register program (registration function now available
from install). All defaults and registration information
is now stored in config file, allowing EXE's to be
compressed with LZEXE/PKLITE etc. (also means subsequent
versions will be already setup with your colour selection
and registration). Bug fix for configuration files larger
than 8K having problems updating # and *. Alias allowed
for calling editor. Mouse selection of options on help
line now available. Option to turn flashing mouse cursor
on or off (now defaults to off, as some mouse drivers
have problems with flashing mouse cursor). TIMEBOOT
modified to allow for use during midnight rollover.

v4.02 : /R and /A switches added, /I switch removed. /R Returns
you to your current directory after rebooting with a new
configuration. /A writes the AUTOEXEC.BAT file only (used
by /R switch). The first 40 characters of the #Descr line
are now written to a 4DOS DESCRIPT.ION file.
Optimisations made to all utilities. Due to the size of
the ZIP file being rather large for international
distribution, some of the utilities previously
distributed with this package now distributed separately
(COMPACT, TIMEBOOT, TIMEDASK, SQZ.BTM) in a 4DOS/DOS
BATCH Utility Archive. Look for 4DDBU402.XXX (where XXX
is ZIP, LZH etc.). These are the files that do not
require REBOOT.CFG to be present to work. Bug fix for
registration option creating multiple copies of #Reg
line. /R switch added to DOWN program. As for REBOOT, /R
returns you to your current directory at next boot-up.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -16-


v5.00 : Complete replacement of all low level routines with
highly optimised assembler routines. User interface
reworked, modernised. Mouse routines completely
rewritten, allowing auto repeat on holding down mouse
button. Desqview compatibility added. /D (Down) switch
added, allows choice of configuration for next power up.
DOWN program removed (replaced by DOWN.BAT). This switch
was added to fix problems people were having with using
REBOOT /n to set the configuration to use at next switch
on, then using DOWN before switch off. This caused the
wrong history files to be updated, and possibly the wrong
cache flush command to be used. The asterisk (*) symbol
is now available as a synonym to the active
configuration. An example of the use of this feature is
as a replacement for the DOWN program:

REBOOT * /D

This will cause REBOOT to flush the cache and update the
history file but not write the AUTOEXEC.BAT or
CONFIG.SYS. Bug fix for first letter searching not
working. Bug fix for very occassional '#' characters
ending up in the wrong place for config files larger than
8K. Bug fix for DESCRIPT.ION file being written even if
one did not exist before. ALL temporary files written to
directory pointed to by TEMP environment variable if it
exists. New configurations are now checked for validity
before creation. Ability to create REBOOT.CFG (if it does
not exist) from within REBOOT. ACTIVE improved, with DOS
5.0 loaded, will inform whether DOS is loaded in HMA or
ROM.


ABOUT REBOOT

For those that are interested, the REBOOT suite was written using
Turbo Pascal 6.0 (no matter what anyone else says, this is the
best version yet!) and Turbo Assembler 2.0, with assistance from
Turbo Debugger and Turbo Profiler. The unit libraries were
written by Glenn Crouch and Peter Ogden. The author would like to
thank Glenn Crouch and Jason Cowie (beta tester extraordinaire)
for their patience and thoroughness in beta testing REBOOT and
its associated programs.




REBOOT v5.00 User Manual Page -17-


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

4DOS is copyright Rex Conn & J.P. Software.
MS-DOS is copyright Microsoft.
PC-DOS is copyright IBM.
PC-Cache is copyright Central Point Software Inc.
Hyperdisk is copyright Roger Cross.
QEMM and Desqview are copyright Quarterdeck Office Systems.
DEC and DEC PCSA are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
LZEXE is copyright Fabrice Bellard.
PKLite is copyright PKWare.
Turbo Pascal, Turbo Assembler, Turbo Debugger and Turbo Profiler
are copyright Borland International.

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