MTOOLS

By | 2007-05-02

Mtools is a public domain collection of tools to allow Unix systems to manipulate MS-DOS files: read, write, and move around files on an MS-DOS filesystem

Mtools are typically used to manipulate FAT formatted floppy disks. Each program attempts to emulate the MS-DOS equivalent command, these are different from Windows NT/2000 commands.

Mtools is sufficient to give access to MS-DOS filesystems. For instance, commands such as `mdir a:” work on the `a:” floppy without any preliminary mounting or initialization (assuming the default `/etc/mtools.conf” works on your machine). With mtools, one can change floppies too without unmounting and mounting.

MTOOLS Programs

floppydfloppy daemon to run on your X server box
floppyd_installtestsmall utility to check for the presence of floppyd
mattribchange MS-DOS file attribute flags
mbadblockstests a floppy disk, and marks the bad blocks in the FAT
mcatsame as cat. Only useful with floppyd.
mcdchange MS-DOS directory
mcopycopy MS-DOS files to/from Unix
mdeldelete an MS-DOS file
mdeltreerecursively delete an MS-DOS directory
mdirdisplay an MS-DOS directory
mdulist space occupied by directory and its contents
mformatadd an MS-DOS filesystem to a low-level formatted floppy disk
minfoget information about an MS-DOS filesystem.
mlabelmake an MS-DOS volume label
mkmanifestmakes a list of short name equivalents
mmdmake an MS-DOS subdirectory
mmountmount an MS-DOS disk
mpartitioncreate an MS-DOS as a partition
mrdremove an MS-DOS subdirectory
mmovemove or rename an MS-DOS file or subdirectory
mrenrename an existing MS-DOS file
mshowfatshows the FAT map of a file
mtoolstesttests and displays the configuration
mtypedisplay contents of an MS-DOS file
mzipzip disk specific commands
xcopyrecursively copy a dos directory into another

Equivalent Windows XP commands:

In the same way that `mtools” are DOS/Windows commands ported to run under UNIX, most UNIX commands have been ported to run under NT.

A very limited selection of POSIX tools are included in the NT resource kits, more can be found on the net.

Be aware that most UNIX commands running on Windows are case sensitive.

Author: dwirch

Derek Wirch is a seasoned IT professional with an impressive career dating back to 1986. He brings a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience that is invaluable to those embarking on their journey in the tech industry.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.