Replacement Utilities for MS-DOS FORMAT (81283)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 1.x
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 2.11
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22
This article was previously published under Q81283 SUMMARY
Third-party utilities, such as Norton Utilities by Symantec and PC
Tools by Central Point Software, give you the option of choosing an
alternative method of formatting hard disks and floppy disks.
These utilities rename the FORMAT utility that comes with MS-DOS. If
you are using one of these third-party utilities and you invoke the
FORMAT command, you are probably formatting with that third-party
utility.
To use the MS-DOS FORMAT utility, change to the MS-DOS directory and
use the XXFORMAT or FORMAT! command.
MORE INFORMATION
Both Norton Utilities version 6.0 and PC Tools version 7.0 open a
graphical dialog box that gives you formatting options, in contrast to
MS-DOS, where options are text based. Other utilities and versions of these
products may or may not produce graphical dialog boxes, but the messages
displayed differ from those that MS-DOS displays.
Norton Utilities renames the MS-DOS FORMAT utility to XXFORMAT.*., and
PC Tools changes the name to FORMAT!.*. For example, if your version
of MS-DOS has a FORMAT.EXE file, it is renamed to XXFORMAT.EXE or
FORMAT!.EXE; if you have a FORMAT.COM file, it is renamed to XXFORMAT.COM
or FORMAT!.COM.)
If you want all future FORMAT commands to be the MS-DOS version of
FORMAT, you can rename it to FORMAT.* from its present name, or
retrieve it from the original MS-DOS floppy disk set. Microsoft also
recommends that the MS-DOS directory be placed in the path before any
other utility, or the alternative (third-party) FORMAT utility may be
inadvertently used.
If PC Tools is installed after Norton Utilities, PC Tools also renames the
FORMAT utility associated with Norton Utilities, and any other FORMAT
program on the hard drive(s) to FORMAT!.*.
The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of
Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these
products' performance or reliability.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/12/2003 |
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| Keywords: | KB81283 |
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