Designing a scandisk tye utility

[amit]

hello,
I need to design a scandisk type utility in c. which will check the
disk, the directory structure, FAT for errors nd correct them.....

can u please tell me how to proceed...
do i hv to use the int13h or r there other ways too...??

Thanks....

[Richard Heathfield]

amit said:

hello,
I need to design a scandisk type utility in c. which will check the
disk, the directory structure, FAT for errors nd correct them.....

can u please tell me how to proceed...
do i hv to use the int13h or r there other ways too...??

The answer to your question depends entirely on the
operating-system-specific extensions your implementation
makes available to you, which in turn depend on your platform.

I suggest you ask in one of these newsgroups for further advice:

comp.os.program mer.ms-windows.win32
comp.unix.progr ammer
comp.os.msdos.p rogrammer
comp.os.linux.d evelopment.apps

or something of that kind.

--
Richard Heathfield
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29/7/1999
http://www.cpax.org.uk
email: rjh at above domain (but drop the www, obviously)

[Ancient_Hacker]

amit wrote:

hello,
I need to design a scandisk type utility in c. which will check the
disk, the directory structure, FAT for errors nd correct them.....

can u please tell me how to proceed...
do i hv to use the int13h or r there other ways too...??

Thanks....

HI, others will tell you, correctly, that while C is just about the
perfect language for this kind of programming, this isnt the right
newsgroup for this kind of discussion.

BTW a few suggestions:

(1) There already are a big slew of programs that do this, including
many free ones, not to mention ones you get for free with the OS:
CHKDSK, and SCANDISK.

(2) These kind of programs are very hard to get right. The first 333
times you try to do this you're likely to make the disk worse than it
originally was. Plus it's hard to tell if you've repaired things
correctly. I wouldnt try to write this unless I had say, six months
of free time and a very high tolerance for frustration.
(3) Most newer computers are using more advanced file systems than
the old MSOS FAT fie syste. For example NTFS. These are much harder
to fix.
Sorry for the disappointing news, but that's the way it is.

[CBFalconer]

Richard Heathfield wrote:

amit said:

>I need to design a scandisk type utility in c. which will check the
disk, the directory structure, FAT for errors nd correct them.....

can u please tell me how to proceed...
do i hv to use the int13h or r there other ways too...??

The answer to your question depends entirely on the
operating-system-specific extensions your implementation
makes available to you, which in turn depend on your platform.

I suggest you ask in one of these newsgroups for further advice:

comp.os.program mer.ms-windows.win32
comp.unix.progr ammer
comp.os.msdos.p rogrammer
comp.os.linux.d evelopment.apps

or something of that kind.

He also needs to learn how to open and to terminate sentences,
spell 'you', 'I', 'have', 'are'.

--
"The mere formulation of a problem is far more often essential
than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical
or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities,
to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative
imagination and and marks real advances in science."
-- Albert Einstein

[s12e9888]

amit wrote:

hello,
I need to design a scandisk type utility in c. which will check the
disk, the directory structure, FAT for errors nd correct them.....

can u please tell me how to proceed...
do i hv to use the int13h or r there other ways too...??

Thanks....

This depends entirely on the API provided by the operating system,
(BIOS interrupts in case of DOS, Raw disk read APIs in case of Windows
and /dev/*** in case of Linux etc.). Also anything beyond FAT and FAT16
may be difficult to check. If it's a personal project then IMHO, you
should take up something else. If you're still determined to go ahead
then lookup the source code for the Linux fsck program, (specifically
fsck.vfat). In anycase ask further Non-ISO C questions in appropriate
software/system specific groups.