Multibooter

Good news: Windows 98, in regard to encryption, is NOT an unsafe operating system when multibooting Win98/WinXP. DriveCrypt v3.03b runs fine under Win98 and does not have a shutdown issue, in contrast to subsequent versions. It is possible to create Scramdisk-formatted container files under Win98 with ScramDisk v3.01r3c and access them with DriveCrypt 3.03b under both Win98 and WinXP. ScramDisk for Linux http://sd4l.sourceforge.net/ should also be able to work with Scramdisk container files created under Win98, although I haven't tried yet. The Scramdisk container format seems to be the only open source format which can be accessed under Win98, WinXP and Linux. I have worked under both Win98SE and WinXP (mounting, unmounting, reading, writing and pulling the plug in the middle of my work) with a stand-alone application (InfoSelect 3) plus data, both contained in the same mounted container file, with no issues up to now DriveCrypt 3.03b DriveCrypt 3.03b is not open software, but rather difficult to obtain commercial software. DriveCrypt v3.03b can create container files only in its own proprietary .DCV container format, but it can also mount, dismount, read and write to Scramdisk container files. In other words, to work under DriveCrypt 3.03b with a Scramdisk container file, you first have to create an empty container file with another software (i.e. with ScramDisk v3.01r3c under Win98, with ScramDisk NT v3.02A under WinXP or with SD4L ScramDisk for Linux. A screenshot of the window to create a ScramDisk container under Linux is here http://sourceforge.net/dbimage.php?id=213282 ). DriveCrypt 3.03b did not have an issue with Norton Disk Doctor, except that a container file must be unmounted before checking the drive letter on which the container file is physically located. DriveCrypt 3.03b also had no problem working with container files located on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette. The system hung, however, when I tried to defrag under Win98 with VoptXP v7.22 the virtual encrypted partition X:, mounted via a Scramdisk file on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette; I still have to check into this. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.2.621, last signature update 4-Jul-2011, 2 days ago, checks Ok X: (the virtual encrypted partition, mounted from a Scramdisk container file located on the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette) and J: (the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette). The attached screen shot was made under Win98SE. Unnamed (X:) in the left pane is a mounted Scramdisk container file, located on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette. The Scramdisk container file was created with ScramDisk v3.01r3c under Win98. Below it is (K:), another mounted container file, but in E4M format, with its special icon (the E4M software has a shutdown issue under Win98SE, so I had to reject it). In the right pane is Udf_201(J:), which is the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette with the Scramdisk container file. The E4M container file was located on H:, a FAT32 partition of the internal HDD. I have added ScramDisk v3.01r3c and DriveCrypt v3.03b to the Toolbox in posting #1.

I have substantially expanded my preceding posting. Shutdown problem of encrypted virtual disk software under Windows 98SE TrueCrypt 1.0 [2-Feb-2004] and E4M v2.02a [[around 18-Nov-2000] have an unresolved shutdown problem under Win98SE. DriveCrypt v4.60 has also a shutdown problem, which can be resolved with the following workaround: Before shutting down, run a desktop shortcut, e.g. named "Clear drive X:" [X: is the encrypted virtual disk], to a DOS window, which has the following entries in the Program tab: Cmd line: E:\Windows\COMMAND\CHKDSK.EXE X: Working: E:\Windows\COMMAND Close on exit is selected I would speculate that the shutdown problem occurs under Win98SE, NOT under Win98FE, although I haven't tried. "[older v2.02h of] ScramDisk has an option to "Allow fast shutdown", in which the user can shutdown/reboot their computer while one or more ScramDisk volumes are still mounted. Some users have reported problems with using this option with Windows 98 Second Edition (for example, some users with Abit motherboards have reported their systems reboot instead of shutting down, other users have reported that their systems hang at the "Windows is shutting down" screen); this is due to a known problem with this particular version of Windows that Microsoft acknowledge; it is not due to a fault with ScramDisk. Microsoft has apparently released a patch to try and fix this (do a search at the Microsoft WWW site for "Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown"), but this does not seems to rectify the this issue with ScramDisk. This anomoly also has also been reported to affect E4M as well. Users with this version of Windows may simply prefer to disable this option on ScramDisk. Aman [pseudonym of the author of ScramDisk] also suggested that v3 of ScramDisk should not suffer from this problem as it may use another method of reading ScramDisk volume files; although this is not yet certain. " http://otfedb.sdean12.org/cgi-bin/pub_review.cgi?SYSTEM_ID=12 So the author of ScramDisk 3 changed his program as a work around to a MS Win98SE shutdown problem. I would speculate that all other Win98SE-compatible encrypted virtual disk programs have the unresolved MS shutdown problem under Win98SE. TrueCrypt v1.0 [initial Win98-compatible release of 2-Feb-2000] does NOT have a shutdown issue under WinXP SP2. TrueCrypt would be the first choice as encrypted virtual drive software, because it is open source, like Scramdisk, but has a stronger encryption (Blowfish 448-bit), even if it is not compatible with the special UDF software on an LS-120 diskette: "Operation Satyagraha. In July 2008, several TrueCrypt-secured hard drives were seized from a Brazilian banker Daniel Dantas, who was suspected of financial crimes. The Brazilian National Institute of Criminology (INC) tried for five months (without success) to obtain access to TrueCrypt-protected disks owned by the banker, after which they enlisted the help of the FBI. The FBI used dictionary attacks against Dantas' disks for over 12 months, but were still unable to decrypt them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt quoted from http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/28/brazil_banker_crypto_lock_out/ , the very interesting latter link adds: "In the UK, Dantas would be compelled to reveal his passphrase under threat of imprisonment, but no such law exists in Brazil." Successful hiding might be better than successful encryption, in some places. Sept-11? TrueCrypt v1.0 does not include the AES256 encryption algorithm. most famously used by Julian Assange http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange in the file insurance.aes256, only Blowfish 448-bit, CAST 128-bit, IDEA 128-bit and Triple-DES 168-bit. "AES was announced by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...on November 26, 2001... [10 years later] In November 2010 Endre Bangerter, David Gullasch and Stephan Krenn published a paper which described a practical approach to a "near real time" recovery of secret keys from AES-128" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard The date "November 26, 2001" is very close to Sept-11, and I don't believe in coincidences. Sam Simpson: "... 13 Nov 01. Well, it's a sad day, but I'm transferring ownership of scramdisk.clara.net to Securstar. Latest revisions of Scramdisk executables etc have been mirrored here... Thanks all for your support and I look forward to seeing you in alt.security.pgp soon! ... it's far more likely that someone will torture you to obtain your passphrase rather than try brute forcing. People that can't torture you (e.g. the FBI, apparently!) would install a key logger or similar ... Q: Are you worried that terrorists will use Scramdisk to hide their actions? A: A hard question to answer! ... The gut reaction after the World Trade Center terrorism was that cryptography was used to plan and execute these crimes and should therefore be banned. ... Q: Who are Sam, Aman and Shaun? A:Sam Simpson is the author of the current website (www.samsimpson.com), Shaun is the author of the main Scramdisk code. Aman is a pseudonym that Shaun used originally to ensure any adverse publicity caused by supporting freedom and privacy didn't affect his work or family life. ... I am keen to stress that I am not involved in any way with the commercial venture. I continue to strongly support the existing Scramdisk program. I am also keen to stress that I do not support in any way shape or form the move to a closed source implementation." http://web.archive.org/web/20080123131324/http://www.samsimpson.com/cryptography/scramdisk/ Again, the date "13 Nov 01" is very close to Sept-11, and I don't believe in coincidences. Compare Maybe the Win98SE experts in this forum can resolve this specific shutdown issue.

A flood of container formats Encrypted virtual disks remind me of the days of CP/M, before DOS, when each computer manufacturer had one or more CP/M floppy disk formats, each specific to a particular computer model. I would guess that there are 50 or more different container formats for encrypted files, each specific to a particular encrypted virtual disk software http://otfedb.sdean12.org Under CP/M there existed a driver program called Uniform, which permitted the access on a virtual drive, e.g. D: (the "Uniform drive"), of may be a 100 differently formatted CP/M diskettes in drive A: Here TrueCrypt as an example, from http://cyberside.net.ee/truecrypt/VersionHistory.txt "1.0a February 3, 2004 Removed features: * TrueCrypt no longer supports Windows 98/ME. 1.0 February 2, 2004 Note: TrueCrypt 1.0 is based on E4M (Encryption for the Masses).... Removed features: * E4M and SFS volumes [i.e. E4M and SFS container formats] are no longer supported. * DES cipher removed." Multi-booting with encrypted virtual disks A. Multi-booting with Scramdisk container format This is a big problem. I need to access the same container file under both Win98SE and WinXP. To access container files in the Scramdisk container format under WinXP I would need the commercial ScramDisk NT (v3.02A) of Nov.2000. A very good review of ScramDisk NT is at http://otfedb.sdean12.org/cgi-bin/pub_review.cgi?SYSTEM_ID=320 ScramDiskNT v3.02A was apparently succeeded in 2002 by DriveCrypt (v3.03b) http://otfedb.sdean12.org/cgi-bin/pub_factsheet.cgi?SYSTEM_ID=94 (i.e. post-Sept-11) No idea where to get ScramDisk NT v3.02A nowadays. As a potential temporary work-around I was able to mount a Scramdisk container file, created by Scramdisk under Win98SE, with DriveCrypt v4.60 under Win98SE. Since DriveCrypt also runs under WinXP, I should be able to mount a Scramdisk container with DriveCrypt under WinXP, although I haven't tried it yet. DriveCrypt, however, is not my first choice since it is not open source. It is a major issue of Windows 98SE that there is apparently NO other encrypted virtual drive software for Win98SE which works and which is open source, besides ScramDisk v3.01r3c. What's the use of encrypted information under Win98 if I can't access the information under WinXP, and vice versa? Is Win98SE an insecure operating system because it lacks good encrypted virtual drive software? I have tested the other open source program E4M v2.02A under Win98SE, it has the shutdown problem. An excellent summary of encrypted virtual drive software for Win9x is at http://otfedb.sdean12.org/cgi-bin/list_by_os_with_feature.cgi?OSFAM_REF=MSWIN9X B. Multi-booting with TrueCrypt container format TrueCrypt 1.0 under WinXP can open TrueCrypt container files created with TrueCrypt 1.0 under Win98. Unfortunately TrueCrypt 1.0 has the shutdown problem under Win98SE.

Scramdisk v3.01r3c This ancient virtual encrypted disk software is of 20-Jun-2000. It can be downloaded from http://web.archive.org/web/20080123131324/http://www.samsimpson.com/cryptography/scramdisk/sd/sd301r3c.zip'>http://web.archive.org/web/20080123131324/http://www.samsimpson.com/cryptography/scramdisk/sd/sd301r3c.zip A description page is at http://web.archive.org/web/20080123131324/http://www.samsimpson.com/cryptography/scramdisk/ Here more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScramDisk and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_disk_encryption_software Scramdisk v3.01r3c runs fine under Win98: - It has no shutdown issue (TrueCrypt 1.0, in contrast, has a shutdown issue, causing a free space error on the HDD) - It runs fine with Norton Disk Doctor (Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02, in contrast, has an issue with Norton Disk Doctor, it cannot check the drive on which the encrypted container file is physically located) - NDD and ScanDisk can actually check a mounted encrypted container file, even if the container file is located on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette - VoptXP v7.22 can defrag Ok the FAT16 formatted encrypted virtual drive X:, whose container file is located on the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette - it runs fine when the encrypted container file is located on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette, i.e. no compatibility issue with the special UDF software - it is open source freeware, i.e. no chance for backdoors Good general first impression: very stable Win98 software which probably won't cause any headaches. On the downside, Scramdisk v3.01r3c: - uses weaker/older encryption methods (e.g. Blowfish 256 bit, TrueCrypt 1.0 has Blowfish 448-bit) - the program window is not resizeable I am not sure yet how the .svl encrypted container files created by ScramDisk v3.01r3c under Win98 can be accessed under WinXP. The ability to access Scramdisk container files under Linux is interesting http://sd4l.sourceforge.net/ The attached screen shot shows the Explorer-style window of Scramdisk v3.01. In the right pane "Udf_201 (J:)" is the UDF 2.01 formatted LS-120 diskette, displayed as File system: "UDF" and Type: "Removable" [Win98 My Computer in contrast displays "3 1/2 Floppy (J:)" and Type: "3 1/2 Inch Floppy Disk"!]. The mounted container file is located on this LS-120 diskette. The mounted partition "Unnamed (X:)" in the left pane is formatted FAT16, displayed as "FAT".

TrueCrypt 1.0 TrueCrypt v1.0 of 2-Feb-2004 is the only build of TrueCrypt which runs under Win98/ME. It was replaced with v1.0a 1 day later, without the Win98/ME functionality. There has been a lack of clarity about its copyright status http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt The respectable Internet Archive has made v1.0 and its source code available for download at "www.archive.org/details/TruecryptV1.0" since 18-Dec-2007. Any interested parties apparently have not objected to it for over 3 years. TrueCrypt v1.0 is a virtual encrypted disk program with several interesting features when compared to Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02: - TrueCrypt initially formats a mounted volume with random data, so that it is impossible to identify a file as a TrueCrypt container ("Plausible Deniability") - TrueCrypt v1.0 is open source, no backdoors. Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02 is proprietary, so there is no absolute certainty about no backdoors - TrueCrypt not only works with mounted container files, but can also work with encrypted partitions - very good documentation Shutdown problem of TrueCrypt v1.0 TrueCrypt v1.0 has a serious shutdown issue, which was already noted in Sep-2005, without a solution: "I've been using TrueCrypt 1.0 on my Win98SE system, and it works fine, except that if I run TrueCrypt, my system hangs on both Shutdown and Restart in DOS mode. But it will Restart." http://www.windowskb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/windows-98/31131/How-to-terminate-a-driver Shutting down Win98 when TrueCrypt 1.0 had been run and a virtual encrypted drive had been mounted (even if it was later dismounted) causes a slight corruption of the HDD (free space error): a ) Start -> Shut Down -> Shut down: the system does not shut down completely, but hangs eventually with a blinking cursor on a black screen. You can shut down only by powering off the computer b ) Start -> Shut Down -> Restart: appears to restart Ok, but the HDD is actually slightly corrupted after restart When running Norton Disk Doctor on the next reboot I always got an error message when checking partition E: "The boot area on this drive contains invalid information about the drive's free space. Windows may report the drive's free space incorrectly or slowly. Would you like to correct this error?" E:\ on my system is the Windows drive [WinDir, WinBootDir and HostWinBootDrv are set to E in msdos.sys] and also the install-to partition of TrueCrypt. Attempts at resolving the shutdown problem of TrueCrypt v1.0 under Win98 I have tried successively the following, but was unable to resolve the shutdown problem: 1) I put the encrypted container file, e.g. TC2.tc, into the path set by autoexec.bat, e.g. into E:\Windows\ 2) Control Panel -> System -> Performance tab -> File System -> Troubleshooting tab: I selected Disable write-behind caching for all drives 3) I ran the Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement 004756us8.exe 4) I installed KernelEx v4.5.1 5) I installed the Q260067 - Mapped Drives Shutdown patch 6) I installed the IFSMGR.VXD fix (see section CACHE WRITE DELAY, http://www.mdgx.com/newtip21.htm) The shutdown problem of TrueCrypt 1.0 reminds me somehow of the shutdown problem of the nVidia Geforce driver v82.16. Any suggestions? Given that the source code of TrueCrypt 1.0 is open, maybe the solution could be a shutdown patch? Any volunteers? BTW, TrueCrypt 1.0 does mount encrypted container files from a normal FAT16-formatted LS-120 diskette, but not from a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette. In contrast to Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02, TrueCrypt 1.0 is not compatible with the special UDF software, e.g. when a volume X: is dismounted in TrueCrypt a blue screen results: " A fatal exception 0E has occurred at (address) in VXD <UDF driver>..." and the system will freeze after a few more clicks. This incompatibility may give cause to suspect additional incompatibilities with other programs, although in my initial testing TrueCrypt 1.0 worked fine, except for the shutdown issue.

Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02 I have tried out Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02 Trial http://download.cnet.com/Encrypted-Disk/3000-2092_4-74125.html It does install Ok under plain vanilla Win98SE, and also runs Ok under Win98, although there are: - shutdown issues with still-open/mounted media, for which I may possibly find a workaround - unexplained corruption issues of the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette, probably caused by the buggy special UDF software handling the LS-120 diskette Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.02 Trial works Ok under Win98SE with UDF formatted LS-120 diskettes. The screen shot contains the properties sheets of - J: is a UDF 2.01 formatted LS-120 diskette (120MB). On this LS-120 diskette there are 2 encrypted drive image files, DISK1_80MB_FAT32.ED and DISK2_20MB_FAT16.ED and 14.1MB free UDF space - X: is a FAT32 formatted encrypted disk drive (80MB), from the mounted file DISK1_80MB_FAT32 on J:(UDF formatted) - Z: is a FAT16 formatted encrypted disk drive (20MB), from the mounted file DISK2_20MB_FAT32 on J: (UDF formatted) "Partitioning" UDF media I created the 2 files DISK1_80MB_FAT32.ED and DISK2_20MB_FAT16.ED first on the internal HDD. I then de-selected edautomount and edtray, of Paragon Encrypted Disk, in StartUp Organizer and then rebooted, so that Paragon Encrypted Disk would not be loaded at startup. Now, without edautomount interfering and tracking .ed files, I copied these 2 files to the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette. I then selected edautomount and edtray in StartUp Organizer and rebooted again. This was in effect the "partitioning" of a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette. The UDF file system in theory does not have/allow any partitions. After rebooting, I mounted X: and Z: with Paragon Encrypted Disk. In Device Manager -> Disk drives -> Paragon Image Drive -> Settings tab, I selected "Removable", so that there are fewer blue screen/shut down issues with Paragon Encrypted Disk when files are open or an application, e.g. MS Word 2000, is still active. During some preliminary testing, MS Word 2000 seemed to work on the FAT16/FAT32 encrypted partitions/virtual disks on the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette, but there are issues: When I tried to overwrite an existing file with Save under MS Word 2000, I got the following Word error bubble: "Word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error. (Z:\Copy (2) of word2000_test1.doc)". The file, however, could be saved under a different name with "Save As" by MS Word 2000. I am not sure whether issues arising during my experimentation are caused by Paragon Encrypted Disk or by the special UDF software. I had not encountered this and the blue screen/shutdown issue with the Imation SuperDisk Secured v2.2 NA software. I had tried Paragon Encrypted Disk during my initial experimentation because Paragon generally makes good software. Which other encrypted disk software is worth while being tested on a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette?

Paragon Encrypted Disk 4.0 I have tried out Paragon Encrypted Disk 4.0 http://www.encrypted-disk.com/ It has nice features, e.g.Blowfish 448-Bit key, but I rejected it under Windows 98 with an LS-120 drive, even if Windows 98/ME are listed under its system requirements: - installation on plain-vanilla Win98SE hangs with error msg: "Unhandled Exception. Error Number 0x8000FFF. Description: Unexpected Failure. Setup will now terminate" - it installs Ok under WinSE with KernelEx v4.5.1 - if the encrypted disk file, e.g. disk1.ed, is on a regular FAT16 formatted LS-120 disk, writing to the mounted encrypted disk (e.g. X:) takes ages, e.g. 5 minutes for a 3MB file. - when a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette is in the LS-120 drive, Paragon Encrypted Disk 4.0 causes the system to become very unstable, blue screens, hung system etc. - I was not able to create an encrypted disk file, e.g. Disk2.ed, on the UDF formatted LS-120 diskette, just blue screens and a frozen system I will eventually try the older Paragon Encrypted Disk 3.0 http://download.cnet.com/Encrypted-Disk/3000-2092_4-74125.html Maybe it were just the changes for Vista which caused v4.0 to become unstable under Win98.

LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskette formatted in a version of UDF higher than 1.02 [esoteric] When an LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskette is formatted not as UDF 1.02, but in a higher version, e.g. UDF 2.01, the Secured Diskette will be invisible under Win98 and WinXP, unless some special software has set the specific version of UDF to ON. In the absence of such a special software, for example, when clicking on the Lock icon in the System Tray to mount the virtual encrypted drive X:, the following error msg is displayed: "SECURED. Secured only operates on SuperDisk secured diskettes. Please make sure that you have a valid SuperDisk Secured diskette in the drive and try again." In other words, the Imation Secured Disk software cannot detect the UDF 2.01 formatted LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskette. Also, in the absence of such a special UDF software, when double-clicking in My Computer on the drive letter containing the UDF 2.01 formatted SuperDisk Secured diskette (e.g. J:), an error msg is displayed: "Windows Explorer. The disk in drive J is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" Use of UDF formatted LS-120 diskettes to hide data? To an investigator in a hurry a UDF formatted LS-120 diskette may appear as a bad or blank diskette, especially if it's manually marked as bad or unformatted. But with the right tools and knowhow it shouldn't be difficult to get to the content on such diskettes, especially since the Imation Secured software, of 1998, uses only Blowfish 64 bit. Eventually I will experiment with Paragon Encrypted Disk 4.0, maybe it works with UDF-formatted LS-120 diskettes. The UDF file system is accessible under many different operating systems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Disk_Format , so before making a statement about the usefulness of UDF formatted LS-120 diskettes to hide data, all these different operating systems would have to be checked for their ability to read/write UDF-formatted LS-120 disks. Some operating system may be able to access UDF, but may not have drivers to access LS-120 drives/diskettes.

Working with the UDF formatted LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskette [esoteric] Immediately after the password is accepted, the drive letter of the virtual encrypted disk drive, here X:, appears in My Computer. Interestingly, it is displayed in My Computer as "5 1/4 Floppy (X:)" with a 5 1/4 floppy drive icon. It was displayed also once as "Removable Disk (X:)", no idea how that was done. Note: The physical LS-120 diskette has the drive letter J:, while the virtual encrypted disk drive has its own drive letter X:. The virtual encrypted disk drive X: is like a pointer to the folder J:\ENCRYPTED FILES\. For better understanding: the virtual encrypted disk drive X: contains the de-crypted/readable files of J:\ENCRYPTED FILES\, while the physical LS-120 diskette drive J: contains the en-crypted files. UDF formatted virtual encrypted disk drive: The Properties sheet of the virtual encrypted disk drive X displays as File system also UDF, and Free space is available because this special software is active. The Properties sheet of the encrypted drive X: has also a Secured tab. The content of the encrypted virtual drive is displayed in the window "5 1/4 Floppy (X)". Note the file ~WRL0002.tmp is a temporary work file created by Microsoft Word 2000 on the virtual encrypted drive, while MS Word 2000 was open with the file word2000_test1.doc loaded from the virtual encrypted drive. The file jpeg.jpg from the virtual encrypted drive was pasted into Word 2000. Word 2000 seems to work without issues with files on the virtual encrypted drive. Very easy to use. The window "3 1/2 Floppy (J:)" displays the modification date "6/19/11" for the Imation folder copied under Win98 to the UDF-quick-formatted clone of a virgin LS-120 Secured diskette. The modification date on the original virgin Secured diskette was "7/6/98". To finish working with the UDF formatted virtual encrypted disk drive X: one has just to double-click on the Lock icon in the System Tray.

Mounting the UDF formatted LS-120 Superdisk Secured Diskette [esoteric] - click on the Lock icon in the System Tray, loaded at Win98 startup when SuperDisk Secured v2.2 NA is installed - the window Imation SuperDisk Secured Diskette comes up, prompting for the password to access the content of the folder ENCRYPTED FILES on the LS-120 diskette Note: The UDF formatted LS-120 Secured Diskette is displayed in My Computer as "3 1/2 Floppy (J:)". No drive letter X: (for the virtual encrypted drive) is displayed in My Computer until the correct password is entered.

UDF formatted LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskettes [esoteric] The original LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskettes are formatted FAT16. They can be converted to UDF as follows: - full-format with SuperWriter v2.03 an LS-120 diskette - transfer with GRDuw the image of a virgin LS-120 SuperDisk Secured Diskette onto the LS-120 diskette freshly formatted to FAT16 (GRDuw cannot write onto UDF formatted LS-120 disks) - quick format this LS-120 disk with some special software to UDF - under this special software copy the folder \Imation\ of an already initialized [i.e. password already set] LS-120 Secured Diskette to the UDF-quick-formatted LS-120 disk - reboot, and voilá, a UDF formatted SuperDisk Secured Diskette is in the LS-120 drive: The UDF formatted LS-120 Secured Diskette has theType "3 1/2 Inch Floppy disk", the File system is displayed as UDF and there is Free space because this special software permits writing to the UDF volume. Also notice the Secured tab, which was added by the Imation SuperDisk Secured v2.2 NA software.

UDF formatted LS-120 disks [esoteric] UDF formatted LS-120 disks are readable under Windows 98 just like FAT16 media. UDF formatted LS-120 disks, however, are read-only. Windows 98 Explorer displays them as having 0 bytes free space The files on UDF formatted LS-120 disks have file attributes like under FAT16, only the media (=the LS-120 disk) is read-only, and therefore the files cannot be modified or deleted. .exe infector viruses cannot infect .exe files stored on UDF 1.02 formatted media. Under WinXP SP2, however, when you double-click on a UDF formatted LS-120 disk, you just get the error message: "Disk is not formatted. The disk in drive A; is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" So what is visible under Win98, is invisible under WinXP. Only UDF 1.02 formatted LS-120 disks are visible under Win98. If an LS-120 disk is formatted in a higher version of UDF, it is invisible to both Win98 and WinXP, only with the help of the software which creates the UDF 1.50+ formatted LS-120 disk can the disk be accessed. The preceding is also the case for UDF formatted floppy disks (720kB and 1.44MB). UDF formatted 720kB and 1.44MB floppies can be formatted and written to only in LS-120 drives, with some special software, although there is another software which can create images of UDF formatted 720kB/1.44MB floppies and restore from the image file on a regular floppy drive. I am not aware of software which can create an image of a UDF formatted LS-120 disk and restore it to another LS-120 disk. Below is, for example, a screenshot of what the forensic software WinHex v12.8-SR 10 under Win98 sees of a UDF formatted LS-120 disk with easily readable content: zilch. It even displays the 120MB LS-120 disk as 481MB.

moved, is now posting #1 22-Jul-2011

Thanks dencorso. The LS-120 drive is recognized under Win98 as Floppy Disk 0 and I made an image of a good LS-120 disk. Unfortunately when I tried to transfer the .whx image to the bulk-erased LS-120 disk I got the following message: "Only the full version allows to write sectors to the disk". What is the last/best version of WinHex to run under Win98SE? The version in your link was v12.8 SR-10

Thanks for the info about WinHex, in that link above: "I bought WinHex for making duplicates of my only bootable removable LS 12o Disk (Drive: Matsus***a). But when I clone the bootable disk via image file and backup on a new LS 120 floppy it doesn't boot. What could be wrong ? Is WinHex supporting that format at all ? Is there any other solution for producing a bootable LS 120 disk known. ?... Meanwhile, I found out that it works." So WinHex is definitely worth trying out. What is the last/best version which works under Win98? On their product description page http://www.winhex.com/winhex/index-m.html is stated: "Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7, 32 Bit/64 Bit .... Earlier versions are available to licensed users on request." GRDuw v4.1.17 can create under Win98 a .ima image file from a bootable LS-120 disk and can write the image back Ok to another LS-120 disk (i.e. forensic cloning or archiving of LS-120 disks). I just tested such a cloned LS-120 disk created from a bootable .ima LS-120 image, and the cloned bootable LS-120 disk booted fine. BTW, to create a bootable LS-120 disk I use under Win98 the "FormatUtility for SuperDisk", which gets installed as a part of SuperWriter32 v2.03, and select "Copy System files". GRDuw v4.1.17 cannot create a good bootable disk under Win98 when one selects in the Format tab -> "Make disk bootable".

The only LS-120 drive I have easily accessible is the one in the bootable left-bay of my 11-year-old Inspiron 7500 laptop, my other LS-120s are packed away in boxes. Unfortunately the Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 of the Inspiron does not allow to change the settings of this LS-120 drive. Actually it comes up at POST already as "ATAPI Removable Drive LS-120 Slim3 00 UHD Floppy", and it is possible to boot from an LS-120 disk.

Ghost v11.0.2 under Win98 (at least the graphical GUI) displays as source drives only the hard disk, no removable disks.

Hi dencorso,We seem to have similar ideas at the same time. I have just finished creating an image of a good blank LS-120 floppy with GRDuw v4.1.17 (saved as .ima, .dcf and .dim [GRDuw's own format]). Unfortunately, when I tried to restore under Win98 the image onto the bulk-erased floppy I got the following messages: Error on Track 0, Head 0 = Access denied: disk error or drive is not ready This disk is not usable due to surface errors Failed Not sure whether WinHex would do any better, I did not see LS-120 in its product description

No. Under MS-DOS 7.1:Anadisk does not see/display drive J:, which is the drive-letter assigned to the LS-120 drive as a 120MB drive. Only A: is displayed/selectable, which is the drive letter of the LS-120 drive as a regular 720/1440kB floppy drive fdformat J: t963 h8 n32 d512 b49 produces the following messages: Drive 1 is physical 1: High-Density, 80 Tracks, 18/Sectors/track BIOS double-step support: AT-like Heads must be 1 or 2 fdformat has no corresponding parameter for "SectorFat=241"

I just tried to format under DOS 6.22 the bulk-erased LS-120 disk with FMTLS120 and with the Format command, but neither worked. I had speculated about a different handling of the media descriptor byte by these 2 programs under DOS6 and Win98 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140060Maybe the missing/de-gaussed media descriptor byte is the cause that the various formatting programs don't work, without it they don't know whether they should format a 720/1440 kB floppy or a 120MB LS-120 disk. The file Fmtdata.ini in the install-to of SuperWriter32 indicates the following for LS-120 disks: [FormatUHD] Default = 1 MediaType = 49 Display = 3.5Inch,120MB,512Byte/Sector DataFile = uhddata.bin Cylinders = 963 Heads = 8 ByteSector = 512 SectorTrack = 32 BootSector = 1 Fat = 2 SectorFat = 241 Entry = 512 ByteEntry = 32 GRDuw under Win98 is in a perpetual loop trying to establish the Media Type. The MS Format command comes back with the error message: "Unable to write BOOT". Is there a program which can just write track 0 to the LS-120 disk, according to the above specifications, maybe with parameters? Or is there a program which can save track 0 of a good LS-120 disk, and then write track 0 from that file to the bulk-erased disk?

Thanks dencorso, SHCDX33E.COM works fine with SR_ASPI.SYS, a DVD containing lower-case filenames could now be accessed under DOS. I will replace MSCDEX with SHCDX33E.COM in the boot configurations on my computers.

I have used FMTLS120.exe (Portuguese version) to low-level format an Ok LS-120 disk, low-level formatting completed Ok after 39 minutes. Yes, but the original US version of FMTLS120.EXE extracted from sp9090.exe was not able to format the bulk-erased LS-120 disk either. After 20 minutes of low-level formatting (i.e. somewhere in the middle) the green drive access lights of the LS-120 drive turned off and the system was hung. I would speculate that FMTLS120.exe does not work properly with newer LS-120 drives. The file modification date of FMTLS120.exe is 18-Mar-1998, the copyright notice states 1996. According to Scott Mueller's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 14th ed, 2003" p.678, the LS-120 drives were re-designed in the mid-1999. Only the model with the PCMCIA interface continued to use the old design. Maybe FTMLS120.EXE of 1996 needs the old pre-1999 LS-120 models and has issues with the re-designed post-1999 models. I do have an external Imation SuperDisk LS-120 drive with the PCMCIA interface, Model No. SD-PCMCIA-A. I do have the DOS driver and instructions for it, but I haven't used/installed it under DOS yet, just under Win98. But that's another project which will have to wait. Under DOS this LS-120 PCMCIA drive most likely requires also a driver to recognize the PCMCIA port (e.g. SystemSoft Card Wizard). I have been using the System Soft DOS drivers with my Adaptec 1460 SCSI PCMCIA card, to low-level format Iomega Jaz disks with SCSIutil.exe under DOS 6/7, low-level formatting of the Iomega Jaz disks is not possible under Win98. The PCMCIA driver for the LS-120 drive can be downloaded from http://download.driverguide.com/driver/LS-120+PCMCIA+Driver/Imation/d131806.html but one should completely restore the system after running the driverguide.com riskware/toolbar downloader. Also, maybe FMTLS120.EXE works Ok under old DOS 6.22, or I should try to use the driver file CPQLS120.SYS, also contained in sp9090.exe BTW, Bigelow's book "Troubleshooting, Maintaining and Repairing PCs", 4th ed. 2000, on pp.806-812 contains extensive trouble-shooting tips about the LS-120. For example on p.809, "Symptom 21-35: You cannot read or format LS-120 media: ... This is also a known problem on some platforms that use the FMTLS120.EXE utility included with the Imation LS-120 SuperDisk drive. Do not use this utility. Remove it from the system... The media formatted with the FMTLS120 utility may now be corrupt or unrecoverable." Here the preliminary conclusion: Bulk erasing a LS-120 disk destroys the LS-120 disk. Maybe this conclusion can be revised when it can be established that FMTLS120.EXE low-level formats Ok bulk-erased LS-120 disks with an old and slow PCMCIA drive (440 kB/s vs 1100 kB/s of the ATA drive, half the disk rotational speed, 720rpm vs 1440 rpm).

Hi dencorso,It did work! Universal Extractor 1.61 couldn't extract the .exe, but then I renamed DATA.Z to DATA.CAB, and the Universal Extractor extracted FMTLS120.EXE fine. FMTLS120.EXE is v1.00, is in Portuguese and seems to run fine under US DOS 7.1. When it asks "Quer continuar? (S/N)" one has to enter "Y". Its screen displays the following text, translated from Portuguese: "Low-level format utility for 120MB disks in LS-120 drives. Formatting a disk takes about 40 minutes. Disks with sectors with errors can take much longer." Maybe the English version of FMTLS120.EXE is contained in the .exe part which I couldn't extract. To run, I just entered under DOS 7.1: FMTLS120 J: [J: is the drive letter of the LS-120 drive, A: is used to address the drive when a regular 1.44MB floppy disk is in the drive]. Unfortunately, the low-level format of the bulk-erased LS-120 disk seems to have hung after about 40 minutes, the drive lights are off, but the drive continues to spin. I'll post further results in a little while.

Bulk erasing LS-120 floppies After having bulk erased regular 1.44MB floppies with this Bulk Tape Eraser, and successfully reformatted the floppies, I proceeded to bulk erase a 120MB LS-120 floppy disk. Unfortunately I was not able to re-format it again I have 4 formatting tools for LS-120 disks: 1) GRDuw v4.1.17, after trying for a long time, terminated with the message "Unrecognized Media", with a black screen in between. BTW WinImage cannot format LS-120 disks. 2) MS Format (right-click on A: in My Computer) eventually displays the err msg: "Windows detected a problem in the area of the disk where the system files were being copied". 3) The Matsh**ta DOS driver, which allows to format a LS-120 disk with the DOS Format command under DOS 7.1. This DOS driver can be downloaded via webarchive/Imation from http://web.archive.org/web/20060114060921/http://www.imation.com/support/drivers/SuperDisk_IDEkit1_Driver_vers1.EXE This driver version seems to be the most recent one and works Ok under DOS 7.1. It consists of Atapimgr.sys (13,545 bytes, 27-Jul-1998, is ATAPI Device Manager Version 2.04.000) and of Mkels120.sys (14,540 bytes, 5-Aug-1998, is SuperDisk Device Driver Version 2.01 for ASPI). Unfortunately, when I tried to format the bulk-erased LS-120 floppy under DOS, I got the error msg: "Unable to write BOOT" and formatting terminated. BTW, drivers and format utilities for LS-120 drives (USB, ATAPI and parallel) can be downloaded here: http://web.archive.org/web/20060114060921/http://www.imation.com/support/products/superdisk_drivers.html It's a little treasure. A LS-120 drive is a must for anybody who has old 1.44MB floppies which may have become unreadable with a regular floppy drive. I was able to archive many otherwise unreadable floppies with a LS-120 drive. 4) SuperWriter32 v.2.03, which installs 2 programs, SuperWriter32 (to write 32MB of data on a regular 1.44MB floppy, with an LS-240 drive) and the SuperDisk FormatUtility for Windows98/ WindowsMe v1.50. It contains the most recent version of Mkelsfmt.exe [17-Feb-2001] which I could find. Also, this program is specifically for Win98/ME, while all other earlier versions of the SuperDisk FormatUtility seem to be for Win95. SuperWriter32 v.2.03 can be downloaded from https://p3.support.panasonic.co.jp/p3/EokpControl;jsessionid=2765AFBF30224277FD16BC06EDA6D5DC.sc-ap16-1?&sid=835039aeb6f2601eb4c14f25979c1c0f&event=AE0001&fid=17647 and the referring page is http://panasonic.jp/support/p3/st_others/download/index.html Unfortunately SuperWriter32 v.2.03 could not format the bulk-erased LS-120 disk either. In the window FormatUtility for SuperDisk the drop down window Capacity was blank, nothing could be selected, and then "Error message. Failed formatting. This disk type is different from it you want. Please set a correct type disk" Bulk-erased LS-120 floppies apparently need a low-level formatting/initialization, before formatting with one of the above tools. There is possibly such a low-level formatting program with the name FMTLS120.EXE contained in the installers sp9090.exe http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=US&swItem=PSG_I8053-21039&mode=4&idx=2 and sp9101.exe ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp9001-9500/sp9101.exe FMTLS120.EXE was mentioned in http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447626+1306135730046+28353475&threadId=162751 Low-level formatting of LS-120 disks may be useful, several of my disks have all on a sudden become bad, especially after my experiments with formating as UDF. Maybe existing LS-120 disks need some refreshing, the last LS-120 disks were produced in 2003, and they are getting scarcer, especially new ones. I don't know how to extract FMTLS120.EXE from sp9101.exe and sp9090.exe The installer just stops in the middle of the installation. Any HELP?

Files from driverguide.com can now be obtained only with a downloader, which is identified by Kaspersky as riskware and installs a toolbar in Firefox and Internet Explorer.SR_ASPI.SYS can be extracted from 58x_dos.exe, which can be downloaded directly from http://panasonic.jp/com/int_drive/archive/driver/58x_dos.exe The referring Panasonic download page is http://panasonic.jp/com/int_drive/support/info_dd2.html Excellent generic DVD/CD-ROM driver for DOS with the /C35 switch. It's part of my config.sys when booting into DOS. One problem of SR_ASPI.SYS is, however, that it canNOT access files on a DVD under DOS if the filenames contain lower case, although the file and directory names are displayed Ok. So when creating a DVD for DOS, e.g. with UltraISO, one should de-select "Allow lower case"