Diskcomp
In computing, diskcomp is a command used for comparing the complete contents of a floppy disk to another one.
01Overview
The command is used on DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, SISNE plus, IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. It is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 1 and later. Digital Research DR DOS 6.0 and Datalight ROM-DOS also include an implementation of the diskcomp command. The FreeDOS version was developed by Michal Meller.
The diskcomp command does not work with hard disk drives, CDs, network drives, Zip drives, or USB flash drives, etc. It also does not allow comparison from 3.5 inch drive to 5.25 inch drives, and vice versa. The source and target drive must be the same size.
02Examples
Compare floppy disks in drive A: and drive B:
diskcomp a: b:If the computer has only one floppy disk drive (in this case drive A:), it is still possible to compare two disks:
diskcomp a: a:The diskcomp command will prompt to insert each disk, as needed.
The software outputs "Compare OK" if no differences are found, and "Compare error on side [number], track [number]" upon detecting a difference.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Diskcomp”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- IBM PC DOS 1.0 screenshot.png by IBM + Microsoft + Whoop whoop pull up, Public domain
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