HDCopy
Encyclopedia
HDCopy is a disk image
application for floppy disk
s that runs in MS-DOS. It can copy a floppy on the fly, or by using archives with IMG
file extension that store the content of the disk with a proprietary (compressed) file format (whose first three bytes noted in hexadecimal will be FF 18 07, and its size will be anything).
It was written by Oliver Fromme and is distributed as cardware.
Do not confuse the HD in its name with hard disk. HD represents high density (floppy disks with capacity greater than 1.2 MB).
In the early 90s, when floppy diskettes for PCs were widely used, HDCopy was extremely popular in many places. Its usage started to decline as floppy disks became less widely used.
The last released version of HDCopy is 2.0a. There is also a version 3.0a developed later by a Chinese programmer, which is not to be confused with Fromme's version.
To use these images you may need to restore the image using HDCopy and then create a raw image of it using RawWrite, dd
, WinImage
, etc. You may also need to use a virtual floppy drive to emulate a floppy drive.
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
application for floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s that runs in MS-DOS. It can copy a floppy on the fly, or by using archives with IMG
IMG (file format)
The IMG file format is one of the following files:# A CD or DVD image file, essentially equivalent to an ISO file. On such a file, simply changing the extension from IMG to ISO can make it usable as the latter by most programs....
file extension that store the content of the disk with a proprietary (compressed) file format (whose first three bytes noted in hexadecimal will be FF 18 07, and its size will be anything).
It was written by Oliver Fromme and is distributed as cardware.
Do not confuse the HD in its name with hard disk. HD represents high density (floppy disks with capacity greater than 1.2 MB).
In the early 90s, when floppy diskettes for PCs were widely used, HDCopy was extremely popular in many places. Its usage started to decline as floppy disks became less widely used.
The last released version of HDCopy is 2.0a. There is also a version 3.0a developed later by a Chinese programmer, which is not to be confused with Fromme's version.
Features
The program can handle a large variety of non-standard formats and in many cases automatically recover bad sectors.To use these images you may need to restore the image using HDCopy and then create a raw image of it using RawWrite, dd
Dd (Unix)
In computing, dd is a common Unix program whose primary purpose is the low-level copying and conversion of raw data. According to the manual page for Version 7 Unix, it will "convert and copy a file". It is used to copy a specified number of bytes or blocks, performing on-the-fly byte order...
, WinImage
WinImage
WinImage is a disk imaging application for Microsoft Windows created by Gilles Vollant Software. Its features include creating, reading and editing disk images and also opening VMware and Microsoft Virtual PC hard disk images...
, etc. You may also need to use a virtual floppy drive to emulate a floppy drive.