Microsoft KB Archive/72132

= BACKUP Fails When Writing Log File to Unformatted Disk =

Article ID: 72132

Article Last Modified on 11/23/1999

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q72132



SUMMARY
The BACKUP command in MS-DOS version 5.0 does not work correctly when the destination disk is unformatted and you try to write a log file to that unformatted disk.



MORE INFORMATION
BACKUP appears to be trying to write the log file to the destination disk before formatting the disk. For example, the following command results in an error if the disk in the destination drive is unformatted:

backup c:\dos5\*.exe a: /f:360 /l:a:\backup.txt

The disk in drive A spins for a short time, at which point the following message is displayed:

General failure error reading drive A

Abort, Retry, Fail?

Choosing each of the three options produces different behavior:

 Choosing Abort causes the program to be successfully aborted. Choosing Retry causes the error to be repeated. Choosing Fail results in BACKUP asking for a disk to be inserted into drive A and produces the following message:

WARNING! Files in target drive A:

A:\ root directory will be erased

Press any key to continue. ..

After a key is pressed, the FORMAT command is invoked, and the disk is successfully formatted. The following message then appears:

***Backing up files to drive A:***

Diskette Number: 01

It is quickly followed by the message:

Error opening logfile

At this point, the BACKUP program terminates and the DOS prompt appears. The disk in Drive A has no files and contains a label of &quot;BACKUP 001&quot;.

Additional query words: 5.00

Keywords: KB72132

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