Re: cp Fat16 -> Fat32 : bug or a feature ?

[Andrew Clausen]

Hi Ekkard :-)

Ekkard Gerlach wrote:
> I'm using 1.2.14 because it was marked as a stable
> version. The following bug or feature is fixed
> by applying "sys c:":
> 
> Copy a Win95-Fat16 partition to a second harddisk
> to a Fat32-Partition. Win95 will not start until
> you boot from Win95 start floppydisk and reinstall
> system with
> 
>       a:\> sys c:
> 
> I've copied the Win95-Partition two times on different
> hardware an different harddisks.
> 
> A bug ? A feature ? Already fixed in later versions ?

It has been properly documented, and you get appropriate
warning messages now.

The problem is: Windows uses two different boot loaders,
one for FAT12/FAT16 and one for FAT32.  If we were to fix
this problem, we would have to write our own free
replacement, and I think other things are more important
right now.  However, I'm accepting patches!

Also, since I've done extensive reverse engineering of the
Microsoft boot code, I probably shouldn't write a free
replacement, because Microsoft might try to sue me, or
something (they might claim it's a deriviate work, and
therefore requires a licence).  However, I would be willing
to answer any questions about how to write such code.  I
have documented how it works, in the doc/FAT file.

Thanks,
Andrew Clausen