In article <1992Aug14.125003.28405@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> rwb@Turing.ORG (Robert W. Bingler) writes:
quoted text
>       Can anyone tell me just how safe it is to use mtools on my 130 meg
>dos partition?

I'd say "quite".

I don't know of any major bugs in the current version(s) of Mtools.
However, there are a few possibilities to make your MS-DOS FS
inconsistent:

  - using an incorrect FAT type: Mtools complains if it detects that your
    choice may be wrong, but you can override that. Writing with the wrong
    FAT type is a reliable way to create many interesting inconsistencies
    that CHKDSK will just love to destructively fix (and possibly hang
    itself in the process).
  - you can interrupt Mtools by sending it a HUP signal or by sending it
    more than one ^C, etc. This may leave your FS in an inconsistent
    state. CHKDSK should be able to fix this. (This is the same situation
    as hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del or Reset while a program is running in MS-DOS.)
  - if more than one Mtool writes to the same MS-DOS FS at the same time,
    you also get some nice inconsistencies. CHKDSK may be able to fix
    them.

Having said this, let me add, that if you're aware of those problems, it's
easy to avoid them. I've used Mtools many times and it hasn't ever done
anything unhealthy to my files.

- Werner
-- 
   _________________________________________________________________________
  / Werner Almesberger, ETH Zuerich, CH      almesber@nessie.cs.id.ethz.ch /
 / IFW A44  Tel. +41 1 254 7213                 almesberger@rzvax.ethz.ch /
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