FORMAT Overwrites Compressed Volume File on Floppy Disk (103529)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22
This article was previously published under Q103529

SYMPTOMS

This information applies to both Microsoft DoubleSpace and Microsoft DriveSpace. For MS-DOS 6.22, use DRVSPACE in place of DBLSPACE for commands and filenames.

When you format a floppy disk, DoubleSpace may fail to give you the following error message:
You must use "DBLSPACE /FORMAT <drive>:" to format that drive
As a result, you have a freshly formatted non-DoubleSpace-compressed disk.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if you access an uncompressed floppy disk (for example, DIR A:), remove the uncompressed floppy, insert a compressed floppy, and attempt to format it. In this situation, the DoubleSpace Automount code is never called, and the DoubleSpace-compressed floppy disk is not mounted.

NOTE: This problem may also occur if the Automount feature has been disabled.

RESOLUTION

If you have already formatted a DoubleSpace-compressed floppy disk, recompress the disk with the DBLSPACE /COMPRESS command.

To prevent this problem, access the DoubleSpace-compressed floppy disks before formatting them. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line:

a:
format a:

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/22/1999
Keywords:KB103529
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.