NEWS.TXT

News:


Future changes planned for Version 1.1:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO-DO:          Add international language support. 


Future changes planned before Version 1.1:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO-DO:          Investigate the possibility of resetting the boot sector
                bytes 510 and 511 to 0x00 instead of filling the boot
                boot sector(s) with 0xf6 when creating a partition.  This
                would make a file system easier to repair if a drive was
                accidentally fdisked.

TO-DO:          Test and possibly replace the Determine_Drive_Letter()
                function with a simpler, contributed replacement function.

Current Version:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.01    Due to the danger of the /CLEAR and /CLEARALL commands,
                the drive number is now a required parameter with these two
                commands.  If the drive number is not entered, the program
                will abort.  If the program aborts, an error level 9 is
                returned.

                The program will now abort if a size >0 is not specified
                when using the /PRI, /PRIO, /LOG, LOGO, and /EXT commands.
                If the program aborts, an error level 9 is returned.

                Added the CHECKEXTRA option to the fdisk.ini file.  By
                disabling this feature, Free FDISK will no longer check
                for an extra cylinder of drive space past the reported
                end of the drive.  This option was added to accomodate
                hard drives with a flaw in the firmware and defaults to ON.

Version History:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.01    * Not a Public Release
Pre 1
                Fixed a bug that resulted in FAT32 partitions being formatted
                at a former partition size and not at the current partition
                size.  This was due to the backup boot sector not being
                cleared when the drive was repartitioned.

                Fixed many "one-off" bugs in the Determine_Free_Space()
                function.

                Modified the partition creation functions to more
                aggressively utilize all of the space on a hard disk.

Version 1.0     Fixed a bug that resulted in option 5, on the main menu, not
                being displayed if a second drive is being emulated.
                
                Fixed a bug that created partitions that were larger than the
                allowed size, for the partition type.

                Fixed a bug that resulted in an incorrect size, of an
                emulated drive, being displayed when the version <= 6.

                Fixed a bug that displayed an incorrect maximum available
                space if 4 GB FAT 16 partition support was enabled.

Version 1.0     Added the ALLOW_4GB_FAT16 statement to the fdisk.ini file.
Release         Setting this to TRUE allows 4GB FAT16 partitions to be
Candidate 2     created.

                Changed the FD VERSION to default to W95.  This brings Free
                FDISK up to date with the latest FreeDOS kernel without FAT32.

                Added 77-79 as QNX partition types. 

                Renamed the part.ini file to fdiskpt.ini.

                Added an /XO command line option, to allow you to
                run the Interactive User Interface with extended options
                without having to modify the environment or the fdisk.ini
                file.

                Added an /MONO command line option that allows the user to
                run Free FDISK in monochrome mode without having to modify
                the environment or the fdisk.ini file.

                Modified the command line support such that multiple switches
                can be used before the Interactive User Interface is started.

                Added the /XO and /MONO options to the online help screens.               

                Changed the disk drive letter determination code such that
                the first active partition is assigned as C: drive.

                Changed the code that determines the hard disk parameters
                such that it first determines the number of hard drives
                available and only scans up to that number.  If an error
                is encountered, it will stop scanning hard disks.  This
                should fix a problem that has been reported where some
                BIOS's do not always report an error if a hard drive doesn't
                exist.

                Added a /CLEARALL command line option that replaces the
                /CLEAR option.  The /CLEARALL option clears the entire
                MBR/Partition Table sector.

                The /CLEAR option now only removes the partition tables.  It
                leaves the MBR intact.

                Changed the online help to reflect the changes to /CLEAR and
                addition of /CLEARALL

                Fixed some bugs in the command-line processing system.

                The /MODIFY command-line command will now modify partitions
                in the extended partition table...it should have done this
                before; but, it didn't.

                The hidden partitions, with the hide/unhide functions are
                now located starting at an offset of 0x10.

                Removed the FDISK hidden partition types from the fdiskpt.ini
                file.

                The list partition types screen now displays "Press Any Key
                to continue" in order to continue listing partition types.

                The "/?" command-line function, without the /nopause switch,
                no longer accesses the hard drives.

Version 1.0 	Fixed several "one-off" type bugs that resulted in partition
Release		table errors.
Candidate 1
		Fixed a problem that resulted in a "syntax error" message
		being displayed when the drive number is entered on the
		command line.

                Empty partition table slots no longer have values in the 
                head and sector fields, on LBA drives.

                Fixed the sizing problem for FAT12 partitions.

	        Add documentation for the /MOVE and /SWAP commands to the
		help screens.

                Fixed the bug that sometimes causes a divide by 0 error, when 
                attempting to delete a non-dos partition, in the extended
                partition table.

                Minor bug fixes.

                Debugging code and functions can now be excluded, when 
                compiling Free FDISK.  See the main.h file, for details.
                This release has been compiled without debugging code.

Version 0.99B   Added the /MOVE:<source_partition#>,<dest_partition#>
		command.  This command moves the partition information from
		one slot to another, in the primary partition table.

                Added the /SWAP:<partition#>,<partition#> command.  This
		command exchanges the partition information between 2 slots,
		in the primary partition table.

                Fixed a bug that prevented the last command, in the command
		line, from being processed under some circumstances.

                Removed the Calculate_Partition_Ending_Cylinder() function.  
                Partitions are now created by the number of cylinders in
		order to simplify calculations.

                Added a function to compute the number of cylinders in a
		given space.  (long Number_Of_Cylinders(unsigned long size);  )

                Tweaked the Determine_Free_Space() function in order to fine 
                tune the computed space available in the primary partition
                table.  

                The bug that caused tiny, 1 cylinder long, free spaces on the
                hard disk has been fixed as a result of the above 2 changes.

                Some clean-up of the source code.

                Simplified the pdiskio.c library so that it is easier to add
                to other programs.

                Minor user interface changes.

Version 0.99A   Fixed a bug that returned a syntax error when trying to 
                delete partitions from the command line, under some 
                circumstances.

                Fixed a bug which allowed only FAT16 partitions to be 
                displayed in the extended partition, while using the /INFO
                command.

                Now properly displays values for hard drives over 64GB in 
                size.

                Changed source files to .C extensions.

                Cleaned up source code.

                With the exception of pdiskio.c, the source code has been
                broken up into sections less than 64kb in size.

                Modified the makefile, sent to me by Jim Hall, to work with
                my compiler and the changes I make made to the source code
                modules.  If you have Borland Turbo C++ 3.0, you can now
                compile Free FDISK my typing "make all" from the command
                line.

                Changed the default for SET_ANY_ACT to TRUE. 

Version 0.99    Fixed a minor bug that computed the size of an LBA accessed
                hard disk to be slightly larger than what it actually is.

                If drive C: is located in the extended partition table it is
                now possible to delete it.

                Changed the default VERSION to W98.

                Minor changes to the information flags displayed at the top
                of the screen when XO=ON.

                Added an information flag (when XO=ON) to indicate whether
                the partition lookup table is internal or external.

                Added an EIPTLT option to the fdisk.ini file to allow a user
                to select whether or not the Enhanced Internal Partition
                Type Lookup Table is desired.  The Enhanced Internal
                Partition Lookup Table will be added for the next release
                of Free FDISK.

Version 0.99    Removed the automatic version checking code including the 
Release         AUTO_VER and the VERSION_CHK statements in the fdisk.ini
Candidate 1     file.

                Modified the Get_Hard_Drive_Parameters() function to correct
                the bug that caused Free FDISK to obtain incorrect hard
                disk geometry information on some PC's.

                Added the capability to set the FLAG_SECTOR value, in the
                fdisk.ini file, to 0 to disable the sector flagging feature.

                If the FLAG_SECTOR value, in the fdisk.ini file, is set to 
                256 then the last sector in the first cylinder will be used 
                as the flag sector.

                Fixed a bug that caused the program to enter an infinite
                loop while reading the environment.

Version 0.98    Re-added all the command line functions listed in the help.txt
Final Release   file.

                Added the capability to process multiple command line arguments
                with the limit of 20 switches and the drive number on a command
                line.  
                  i.e.  "fdisk 2 /clear /pri:20 /spec:18 /pri:100 /ext:100,100
                        /log:20 /log:20 /log:50,100 /log:100,100"  Works with
                        drive 2, clears the partition table, creates a 20MB
                        diagnostic partition, creates a 100MB FAT partition, 
                        creates an extended partition that uses up the rest of the
                        available space, creates 2 20MB logical drives, creates a
                        logical drive that uses 50% of the available space left in
                        the extended partition, and creates a logical drive that
                        uses up the rest of the space in the extended partition.
                  Note:  Only one drive can be modified per command line. 
                        
                Added the "D_CMD_ARG" debugging function to the fdisk.ini to
                help debug the command line functions. 

                Updated the help screens.

                If the command-line functions are used, the drive number no
                longer has to be the second argument on the command line.  The
                drive number (if used) can now be anywhere on the line.  If no
                drive number is entered, Free FDISK defaults to the first hard
                disk.

                Removed the remains of the old command line parsing code.

                Modified the flag functions such that each flag has 64 different
                possible values.  The error levels returned by /testflag has
                also changed as follows:
                  20             Flag is not set to tested value
                  21             Flag is set to tested value
                  30-94          Flag value + 30.
                The syntax of used for the /testflag function determines whether
                a "true or false" (error levels 21 and 20) type response or an
                actual flag value (error levels 30-94) is returned. 

                Fixed a bug that requires that the delete key needs pressed
                before "M" is pressed, at the main menu, if "A" has been 
                previously pressed...and vice versa.  The was only a problem
                when "XO" was enabled in the fdisk.ini file.

                If LBA partitions are detected on the hard disk and the
                VERSION emulation is not set to support the partition type(s)
                detected, Free FDISK displays a screen asking if the user wants
                the VERSION changed appropriately for this session.  If the
                VERSION is not changed to support LBA, LBA partitions exist,
                and a partition is created drive corruption may result.  

                Added the AUTO_VER statement to the fdisk.ini file.  If AUTO_VER
                is set to "ON", LBA partitions are found on a hard disk, and the
                VERSION set does not support LBA, Free FDISK will automatically 
                increase the VERSION to W95 to support LBA partition types.  If
                AUTO_VER is set to "OFF", and the above conditions apply, the
                user will be asked if Free FDISK can change the VERSION.

                Added the VERSION_CHK statement to the fdisk.ini file.  If this
                statement is set to "ON" then Free FDISK will check for LBA
                partitions on the drive and (depending upon the setting for
                AUTO_VER) attempt to determine whether the VERSION should be
                changed to W95.  If the VERSION_CHK statement is set to "OFF"
                then Free FDISK will use the VERSION set in the fdisk.ini file,
                the VERSION set in the environment, or the default VERSION
                setting.

                Fixed a bug that, on some computers, displayed option 5 on the
                main menu when there was only one hard disk.

                Further modularized the source code to allow the easy re-use of
                the interrupt 0x13 functions (including LBA support) and the 
                partition table accessing functions.

                Added a header file, for each code module, to simplify source
                code maintenance.

                Added the capability to force the total C/H/S values for a hard
                disk by adding the values to the fdisk.ini file.  See the 
                documentation in the fdisk.in file for details.

                Minor changes to the interactive user interface.

Version 0.98    Added code to pre-enter default values when creating  
Pre 2           partitions.
        
                Now checks for the LANG= setting in the environment.  At this
                time, the program does not make use of this setting.

                Now displays the Free FDISK version number when VERSION=FD
                in the fdisk.ini file.

                Re-Wrote the command-line parsing routine.  Some commands still
                have to be added.  Please see the help.txt file for details.
                The descriptions of command-line options displayed when the
                help screens are displayed are currently incorrect and will
                be corrected in the final release of version 0.98.

                Many command-line options have been changed--all command-line
                options now have a uniform structure.

                Fixed a bug that occasionally caused Free FDISK to terminate
                stating that there is a problem with a line of the part.ini
                file when no problem exists.  

                "TRUE" and "FALSE" can be used in place of "ON" and "OFF"
                in the fdisk.ini file or in the environment settings.

                Re-added support for the D_LBA option in the fdisk.ini file.  This
                option will assist in the debugging of problems that appear to be
                related to interrupt 0x13 extension issues.

                Added the capability to delete non-dos partitions in the
                extended partition table.  This option has to be enabled in 
                the fdisk.ini file by setting the DEL_ND_LOG option to 
                TRUE.  It also is available if Free FDISK is used in the
                extended options mode.
 
                Added an optional option to abort Free FDISK without saving
                changes if the user changes his or her mind.  This has to be
                enabled in the fdisk.ini file.  It also appears if Free FDISK
                is used in the extended options mode.

                Fixed a bug that incorrectly read the volume label of FAT32 
                partitions from the same location as FAT12/16 partitions.

                Adjusted the user interface for the modification of 
                partitions, when using "extended options," so that it is more 
                user friendly.

                Added all MBR handling functions to the interactive user
                interface when XO is set to ON in the fdisk.ini file.

                Created an option to list all possible partition ID codes
                and descriptions while in the partition modification screen
                when Free FDISK is in extended options mode.       

                Changed the Clear_Screen() function to code written by
                Ralf Quint.  

                Changed the Determine_Color_Video_Support() function to code
                written by Ralf Quint.

                Added a COLOR statement to the fdisk.ini file.  This allows
                users some capability to change the screen colors.

                Minor bug fixes.

                Added the SET_ANY_ACT statement to the fdisk.ini file.  This
                setting overrides the partition type checking, that is
                performed when the user tries to set a partition active, with
                the result being that the user can make any primary partition
                active.  The default for this option is FALSE.  If Free
                FDISK is executed in extended options mode then this option 
                defaults to TRUE.   

                Fixed a bug that prevented some DOS partition types from
                being set active.

                Added the capability to modify the attributes of the logical
                drives in the extended partition when using the "extended
                options."

                Added support for the /PRIO switch.  This command forces
                Free FDISK to create FAT-16 partitions from the command 
                prompt.  This switch only applies if the fdisk.ini file
                has the VERSION set to W95B or W98.

                Added support to scan the environment for configuration 
                settings.  The configuration settings in the environment
                are the same as those in the fdisk.ini file, except that 
                "FFD_" is placed before the environment settings, and debugging
                options are not supported.  
                i.e.  SET FFD_VERSION=W95B
                Note:  The configuration settings set in the environment
                will override the settings in the fdisk.ini file. 

                Removed all destructive partition resizing capability.

Version 0.98    Fixed a bug that resulted in the partitions overlapping in 
Pre 1           the primary partition table, by one cylinder, under certain
                circumstances.
                
                Fixed an obscure bug in the Determine_Free_Space() function
                that, in very rare cases, would result in overlapping
                partitions when creating partitions.

                3rd Re-write of the function that computes the ending 
                cylinder of a partition when a partition is created.

                Tested and works under MS-Windows 98 2nd Edition.

                Added support for LBA partitions and hard drives > 8.2GB.
                
                Floating point emulation is now compiled in the code in 
                order to utilize numbers up to 64 bits in size.

                Increased some variable sizes so they can handle values
                that are computed with larger capacity hard disks.

                Non-DOS partitions are now displayed in the extended
                partition table.

                Now allows the user to enter partition sizes with up to 5
                digits, when creating partitions or logical drives, if
                VERSION is set equal to W95, W95B, or W98 in the fdisk.ini
                file.

                Added a D_Read_S option in the fdisk.ini file.  If this
                option is set to "ON" the partition table area of the
                sectors that are read will also be displayed to the screen.

                Fixed many misc. minor bugs and made some minor user
                interface changes.

                Added a "FD" version that is set in the fdisk.ini file with
                "VERSION=FD."  This version defaults to version 6 with the
                exception that "FreeDOS" is displayed in place of
                "Free FDISK."

                Made adjustments of partition sizing algorithms to ensure
                that the partition attributes comply with PowerQuest's
                Partition Magic 5.0.

                Fixed a bug that allowed the user, while using the 
                interactive setup, to attempt to create another primary
                partition when 4 primary partitions already exist.  Also,
                users can no longer attempt to create primary partitions
                when there is not any space available.

                Fixed a bug that allowed the user, while using the
                interactive setup, to attempt to create logical drives
                when there is not any space available.
 
                From the interactive setup, no longer allows the user to
                create more than one extended partition.

                Changed the messages displayed when exiting Free FDISK if
                changes to any partitions were made.

                The "Delete Primary DOS Partition" screen is no longer 
                accessable if there are not any primary partitions. 

                Removed functionality for the D_LBA statement in the
                fdisk.ini file.  (Wasn't really used.)

                Combined all the screen clearing routines into 
                the Clear_Screen() function.  

                The source code has now been divided up into smaller
                fragments in order for the code to exceed the 64k in size.

                Shortened many of the long variable names in the source code.

Version 0.97    The drive numbering for the "/PRI" command now starts with 1.
Final Release
                Removed the skeleton for 64 bit math.  It is not needed until
                hard disks exceed 128GB in size.

                Added the "/SETFLAG [drive# flag#]", 
                "/TESTFLAG [drive# flag#]", and "/CLEARFLAG [drive# flag#]"      
                commands.  Up to 64 flags can be set, tested, and cleared...
                the range for flag# is 1 to 64.  If drive# and flag# are not
                used then the default drive# is 1 and the default flag# is 1.

                Fixed a bug that incorrectly displayed the description
                field in the "/DUMP" function.

                Added code to prevent more than 1024 cylinders from being
                utilized to create partitions unless int 0x13 extensions
                are being used.  (In the case of LBA, the cylinders, heads,
                and sectors are irrelevant.)

                When VERSION is set to 4, the user can no longer delete
                Non-DOS partitions from the interactive setup.

                Added more code to support interrupt 0x13 extensions.

                Added a "FLAG_SECTOR" setting to the fdisk.ini file.  This
                setting allows the user to adjust to which sector the flags
                are stored.  This may be useful if a special MBR is used
                that has multiple sectors.  The default value is 2.

                Fixed a bug that incorrectly displayed FAT32 and LBA 
                partition types as Non-DOS under some circumstances.  These
                partition types are now displayed correctly when the 
                appropriate VERSION is set in the fdisk.ini file.

                Added code to display drive letters for LBA partition types
                when the proper VERSION is set in the fdisk.ini file.

                Minor user interface changes.

                When a partition is created, the first sector on that 
                partition is now filled with 0xf6.

Version 0.97    Re-added support for the part.ini file.  The file was
Pre 5           formally named "part.dat."

                The part.ini file was re-formatted to work with Free FDISK 
                versions >=0.97 Pre 5.
                
                Removed all dynamically allocated variables.  Because of this
                change, error level 6 is now unassigned.

                Added the "Free" and "Usage" information to the "/STATUS"
                screen and the "Change current fixed disk drive" menu.
                
                Fixed a bug that would allow FAT16 partitions larger than 
                2048 MB to be created if Free FDISK was emulating W95B or W98 
                and the user answered "N" to large disk support.

                Fixed a bug that would create FAT32 partitions smaller than
                2048 MB and larger than 512 MB even if the user did not want
                FAT32 partitions.

                If more logical drives exist than can be displayed in a 
                single column, in options 4 or 5, then a second column is
                created on the screen to display the remaining logical drives.

                No longer allows the user to create a logical drive past Z:.
        
                Re-added support, in the "/N" command line option,
                for the creation of partitions by percentage of free
                disk space.
        
                Added a D_LBA statement in the fdisk.ini file for debugging
                all functions that have been written specifically for LBA
                support.  

                Added the "/X" command line switch.  This will force Free
                FDISK to not create LBA partitions.
                
                Updated the help screens to reflect all the new and/or changed
                commands.

                Added a "/NOPAUSE" switch to the "/?" switch to allow Free 
                FDISK to scroll the help screens without pausing.  This
                allows the help screens to easilly be re-directed to a file.

                Created a small internal partition type lookup table in the
                event that the part.ini file is not available.

                Misc. minor bug fixes.

                If there aren't any hard disks and a disk is not emulated,
                Free FDISK will terminate with an error.  Error level 6 is
                now assigned as "No hard drive present."

                Re-added the "/D" command line option.  (Does not, at this
                time, delete logical drives in the extended partition.)

                Updated the "help.txt" file.

                Added a message to inform the user if a command line function
                was attempted that is not implemented at this time.  Returns
                errorlevel 10.

Version 0.97    Users can no longer try to set partitions active in the 
Pre 4           interactive user interface if the only partition available
                to set active is set active.
                
                Corrected the bug that allows non-existant partitions
                to be set active in the interactive setup.

                The message that no partitions are startable no longer 
                appears if there aren't any partitions on the hard drive.

                Now Free FDISK no longer tries to display partition 
                information if there aren't any partitions, instead it 
                displays "No partitions defined."

                Now asks the users to confirm deletion of a logical drive.

                General "look and feel" changes.

                Re-added all the extended options support.        
                
                When extended options support is enabled Free FDISK will
                now allow a user to destructively re-size a partition. 

                Re-added the "/I" and the "/DUMP" command line options.

                The error levels returned from executing Free FDISK have
                been organized as follows:
                  0    Normal program completion, no errors
                  1    Syntax error
                  3    Error in the fdisk.ini file
                  4    Error in the part.dat file
                  5    Non-existant hard disk
                  6    Buffer allocation failure
                  7    Hard disk is already partitioned.  (This is only
                       returned if the "/A" function is used and there are
                       already partitions other than a Compaq Diagnostic
                       Partition on the hard disk.)
                  8    Error reading from or writing to the boot.mbr file.
                  9    Miscellaneous error. It is best to examine
                       the output printed to the screen from Free FDISK to
                       determine the exact cause of the problem.
                  20   Flag has been set (see /SETFLAG, /TESTFLAG, and
                       /CLEARFLAG for details)
                  21   Flag has not been set (see errorlevel 20, above)

                Added a D_PATH statement in the fdisk.ini file to display
                the path of the program.  

                Now searches the directory Free FDISK is located in for 
                the fdisk.ini, part.dat, and boot.mbr files before the
                PATH in the environment is searched.

                Fixed some minor misc. bugs and added some error trapping
                to the interactive user interface.
        
                Added confirmation questions for deletion of partitions.

                Re-added support for FAT-32 partitions.

Version 0.97    Now checks for the existence of interrupt 0x13 extensions if
Pre 3           VERSION is set to at least W95 in the fdisk.ini file.  Does
                not, at this time, make use of interrupt 0x13 extensions.

                Has a debugging option added to emulate a 6.2 GB hard disk.
                See the fdisk.ini file for details.

                Thanks go to John Price for assisting me in fixing a bug
                that prevented larger drive sizes of sub 8.2 GB drives from
                being computed properly.

                Added the skeleton of a function to do 64 bit math for 
                future support of hard drives greater than 8.2GB.

                Re-added the "/N" function.  Creating partitions by 
                percentage is not yet supported at the command line, though.

                Re-added code to create partitions by percentage of disk
                space.
                
                Fixed a bug that caused incorrect calculations of free
                areas on the hard disk.  The bug was caused because 
                unsigned variables are always considered positive values 
                when compared with each other using > and < operators.

                Fixed a bug that caused incorrect calculations of the
                locations of free space in the extended partition.

                After an extended partition is created the program now
                will go straight to the user interface for creating
                logical drives.

                The user interface for creating logical drives will
                loop until all the available space is used or the 
                user exists back to the menu.

                Re-added the "/A" command line function and support for
                automatic drive partitioning.

                Added a REBOOT setting in the fdisk.ini file.  If this
                is set to ON and changes were made to a hard disk, then the 
                system will reboot upon exiting the program.  The default 
                setting is off because I do not like programs automatically
                rebooting my system...but somebody may like this feature.

                Added a "/REBOOT" command line function to allow Free FDISK
                to cold start a PC.  

Version 0.97    Re-added the "/AMBR", "/CMBR", "/M", "/MBR", "/RMBR", and 
Pre 2           "/SMBR" command line options.

                Created the "/ACTIVATE drive# partition#" command to set a 
                partition active from the command line.  This will replace
                part of the functionallity of the "/T" function.

                Created the "/DEACTIVATE [drive#]" command to completely 
                clear all of the active flags on a physical drive.  This
                replaces part of the functionallity of the "/T" function.

                Fixed a bug that would corrupt the master boot code when
                writing the partition tables to a hard disk.

                Fixed a bug that would write an incorrect number of sectors
                for the partition size in the extended partition tables.

                Fixed a bug that prevented the last partition table for the 
                last logical drive on the disk from being written.

                Added the menu functions to create and delete logical drives.

                Added code in the Input() function to handle the keyboard 
                entry of a single character.

                Removed some global variables that are no longer in use.

                Cleaned up or removed some of the left over dead source code 
                remaining from version 0.96.

                Added some code to prevent users from performing illegal
                operations while using the interactive setup.  (i.e.  Trying
                to delete a non-existant Extended DOS Partition.)  Other
                illegal operations may still be possible at this time.

                Added code to handle logical drives in the extended 
                partition.
                
                Fixed a bug that incorrectly calculated the relative sector
                fields in the partition table for primary partitions that
                do not start at Cyl. 0, Head 1, Sect. 1.

                Fixed a few other misc. bugs.
                
                Volume labels, file system types, and drive letters are
                now displayed for the logical drives.

                Made a couple of minor "look and feel" changes.

Version 0.97    The menuing system has been completely re-written.  Some
Pre 1           screens are still "rough" and screens pertaining to
                adding or deleting logical drives have yet to be written.

                Partition table information is now stored in a large
                structural array that is loaded upon running the
                program.  Upon exiting the program, only the drives that
                have changes made to are written to.

                New functions to create and delete primary partition have 
                been written.

                A new function has been added that determines the
                locations and sizes of the largest available free space.

                Built-in debugging functions have been added, see the
                fdisk.ini file for details.  These functions are 
                enabled and disabled in the fdisk.ini file.

                The program can now be run in a "read only" mode.  This
                mode is enabled by setting WRITE=OFF in the fdisk.ini 
                file.  If WRITE=OFF is set, then debugging information
                is displayed that indicates what would have been written
                to the disk if WRITE was set to ON.  

                Volume labels, file system types, and drive letters are
                now displayed for the primary partitions.

                The BeOS file system type has been added to the part.dat 
                file.

                The fdisk.ini file now has a VERSION= setting that
                controls what version of MS-FDISK this program emulates.
                The default is version 6.

                The program now checks what filename was used to
                execute it.  When the help screen is displayed, it will
                now use its filename on the syntax screen.  (i.e.  If
                Free FDISK has a filename of "FFDISK.EXE" then the 
                syntax screen will display FFDISK.

                There is now a LABEL= option in the fdisk.ini file.  
                When LABEL=ON, the words "Free FDISK" are displayed   
                vertically on the right-hand side of the screen.  This
                feature has been added to help avoid confusion between
                Free FDISK and other versions of FDISK.

                Currently, only the "/PRI", "/EXT", "/STATUS", "/C", "/L", 
                and "/?" command line functions are available.

                A new input routine has been created to make it easier
                to program the menuing system with a uniform method
                of obtaining input from the keyboard.

                Please see the bugs.txt file for information on what
                functions do not yet work.

Version 0.97    MAJOR RE-WRITE

                Approximately 95% of the code has been re-written or
                modified do to a serious bug discovered in versions
                0.96 and prior.  This bug would cause partitions to
                be created that overlap other partitions under 
                certain, very specific, circumstances.  Because
                this bug was due to a design flaw in the partitioning
                strategy used by older versions, it was determined that
                it would be easier to re-write the program.  

                Version 0.97 will consist of several "Pre" versions 
                that do not have all the features in version 0.96.  All
                the "Pre" versions will gradually have features added 
                until all the features of version 0.96 exist in the 
                final version of Free FDISK 0.97.

Version 0.96    Now de-allocates the buffers any time the program exits back
                to DOS. 

                Compressed the executable with APACK, by Joergen Ibsen.  As
                a consequence, the executable is now about 70% smaller.

                Added a command-line parsing routine to handle certain     
                command-line options that can be in any order.

                Added the following command-line switches for MS FDISK
                compatibility:  /ACTOK, /PRI, /EXT

                Added the /XO function that allows "eXtended Options" while
                using the menu system.
                  Extended Options that have been added thus far:
                    1.  Allows more than one Primary DOS partition.
                    2.  Partitions can be "hidden" from DOS.
                    3.  The partition ID byte can be modified.

                Added code to automatically write the MBR if the drive has
                never been partitioned.

                Added a routine in the menuing system to warn the user if a
                primary partition is not active on the first drive.

                For the purpose of hiding partitions from DOS I have added the
                following partition types to the part.dat file:
                Type:        Description:
                141          FreeDOS hidden DOS-12 partition
                144          FreeDOS hidden DOS-16 < 32MB partition
                145          FreeDOS hidden Extended partition
                146          FreeDOS hidden DOS-16 > 32MB partition
                151          FreeDOS hidden FAT32 partition
                152          FreeDOS hidden FAT32 PRI LBA partition
                154          FreeDOS hidden FAT16 PRI LBA partition
                155          FreeDOS hidden FAT16 Extended LBA partition

                Primary DOS partitions are now deleted on a "last first"
                basis if more than one Primary DOS partition exists.

                Modified the descriptions for FAT partitions listed in the 
                part.dat file to help avoid confusion between partition
                types.

                Adjusted size computation equations to increase the accuracy
                of the reported sizes of the partitions.

                Fixed a bug that caused the wrong partitions to be displayed
                as active under certain circumstances when a "fdisk /dump" or
                a "fdisk /status" is issued.

                Now only asks if you want to use large disk support in the
                interactive setup if you enter fdisk /lds

                Free FDISK now has a better description of large disk support
                on the screen where the "large disk support" question is 
                asked.

                Added support for an optional fdisk.ini file to allow some 
                frequently used command line options to be saved.  View and
                modify the fdisk.ini file with your favorite text editor
                for details.  If the fdisk.ini file is not found then fdisk
                will use it's default settings.  Any options on the command
                line will override the fdisk.ini settings, if applicable.

                Added the capability to search the path as defined in the 
                environment to find the part.dat, fdisk.ini, and boot.mbr
                files.

Version 0.95    Fixed the bug that prevented FAT12 partitions from having
                the proper upper limit of 15MB.

Version 0.94A   Fixed a bug that prevented FAT32 partitions larger than 2GB
                from being created while using the command line.

Version 0.94    Made a few minor "look and feel" changes to the interactive
                setup.  The physical drive being modified should now be 
                displayed on almost all of the screens.

                Added a routine that automatically creates a Primary DOS
                Partition and sets the partition active in the interactive
                setup.

                Added a routine that asks you if want to create Logical DOS 
                Drives after you create an Extended DOS Partition.

                Added a routine that asks you if you want to create an Extended
                DOS partition if there is space on the hard disk after you have
                created a Primary DOS Partition.

                Added a routine that asks you if you want to create another 
                Logical DOS Drive in the Extended partition if more than 10MB
                10MB is available.

Version 0.93    Added code to limit FAT-32 non-LBA partitions to over 512MB.

                Added the following commands for MS FDISK command line
                compatibility:  /STATUS, /CMBR

                Added code to show the space available on the drive or
                in the extended partition when adding partitions or logical
                drives.

                Now only allows partions that exist to be set active in the
                "interactive setup."

                Partition listings now have the partition numbers highlighted,
                where applicable.

                Fixed a bug preventing FAT32 partitions larger than 2048MB
                from being created while using the "interactive setup."

                The partition creation screens in the interactive setup now 
                have brief instructions on what type of number to enter for 
                the size of the partition you want to create.

Version 0.92    Added FAT-32 support without support for the int 0x13
                extensions.  If large disk support is selected from the
                "interactive setup" then FDISK will create non-int 0x13
                extension FAT-32 partitions.  FDISK will delete all
                primary partitions and logical drives supported by W95 OSR2's
                FDISK.  Support for the creation of int 0x13 extension type
                partitions will come later.

                Updated the "part.dat" file to provide better descriptions
                of FAT-32 and LBA FAT-16 partitions.

                Updated the program's internal partition type lookup table
                to include FAT-32 and LBA FAT-16 partitions.

Version 0.91    Added the "fdisk /mono" switch to accomodate users with 
                monochrome monitors.

                Added code to detect if the BIOS video setting is set to
                monochrome.  If the BIOS video setting is set to monochrome
                then the menus will not have any boldfaced text.

                Added an "fdisk /mono" entry to the help routine and changed
                the reference to the "boot.bin" file to "boot.mbr" to reflect
                the name change as of version 0.9.

Version 0.9     Added support to allow automatic partitioning of an empty 
                drive if it has a Compaq Diagnostic Partition.

                Changed the name of the alternate bootloader file from
                boot.bin to boot.mbr to prevent incompatibilities with
                other software.
 
                If there is only one hard drive, option 5 is no longer 
                displayed in the menu.

                Changed the look and feel of almost all of the menus.

                Set the compiler to compile for a small memory model and
                changed the method of allocating the 
                partition_lookup_table_buffer for a total size reduction in 
                the executable of 20,116 bytes.
 
                Combined the Menu routines for creating primary and extended
                DOS partitions.

Version 0.8     Added the "fdisk /dump" to dump all partition information 
                from all hard disks to the screen.  This dump can be
                re-directed to a file by using standard re-direction
                commands.  (i.e. "fdisk /dump > filename.ext")  This 
                function can be used to aid in future debugging. 

                Added error trapping to prevent the user from trying to 
                change to a non-existant hard disk via option 5 in the
                main menu.

                Added code to make the error trapping system while working
                through the menus "friendlier."  The user is no longer 
                kicked out to the DOS prompt.
 
                The problem with partitions being incompatible with 
                other partitioning utilities has been fixed.  

                Code has been added to allow the deletion of a partition
                by the partitions type of primary or extended.  This
                additional functionality works from both the menu system
                as well as the command line.

                Changed the look and feel of some of the menus.

                Trapped bad entries when selecting the hard drive to FDISK
                from the menuing system.

                The "set active partition" function inside the menu system
                no longer displays the extended partition table.

                The [ESC] key now backs out of most menu based functions.

                The program no longer limits the user to a maximum of 4
                hard drives.  This could be useful if SCSI drives are 
                connected to the PC.

                Found and fixed a mapping problem when creating the 2nd
                logical drive in the extended partition.
         
                Fixed a bug when creating logical drives by percentage.
                
                Created an automated partitioning routine (/a drive#) that
                will automatically partition an empty drive and set the
                primary partition active.  Support for a Compaq Diagnostic
                Partition is planned.  This routine will also create an
                extended partition on logical drives if space permits.

Version 0.71    Thanks go to John Price for instructing me on how to modify
                the 2 non-8086 compliant sections of assembly language to
                make them compliant.  Finally allows the program to run
                on a 8086 or a 8088.  (Unfortunately, I do not have such
                a PC to test this on.)

Version 0.7     Found and removed a section of dead code.  

                Removed some of the less common partition types from the 
                built-in lookup table and added error trapping for unknown
                partition types.  

                Added code to load the part.dat file into a buffer instead
                of constantly loading it from the disk when needed.  (This
                will speed up access from a floppy disk.)

                Removed the header file mem.h because it was unused.
 
                Added code to display the reboot message only if changes 
                were made to the partition tables or MBR.

                Modified the help routine and added code to only display
                one screenful of information at a time.

                Found and fixed one more bug that created the "null pointer
                error" message.  I hope this is the last null pointer error.

                Added code to allow the user to change the partition type
                of primary partitions.

                Fixed a problem with the ending head location of logical 
                partitions.

                Made modifications to percentage calculations when creating
                partitions to create the partitions based upon the percentage
                of free space available. 

                Added code to allow the user to create partitions of types
                other than DOS.

                Removed size limit when creating extended partitions by using
                the menu system.

                Fixed the bug that caused the "extended partition exists" 
                error after deleting an extended partition and trying
                to create another extended partition while using the menu
                system.

Version 0.6     Added functionality to allow the program to get the listing
                of partition types from an easily maintainable text file
                called "part.dat"  If the program does not detect the
                partiton data file, it will revert to using its internal
                partition lookup table.  I would recommend only using the
                lookup file when running Free FDISK from the hard drive.
                If Free FDISK is ran from a floppy disk with the partition
                data file, it runs much slower due to accessing the
                partition data file.

                Added code to allow the user to load a different boot loader
                into the MBR.  This boot loader is stored in a file named 
                "BOOT.BIN"

                Added code to allow the user to save the boot code from the
                MBR into a "BOOT.BIN" file.

                Fixed a bug that prevented logical drives from being created
                by percentage when using the menus.

Version 0.5     Finally allows the user to create logical drives in
                the extended partition.

                Changed the location of the "type of size calculations"
                in the code.  

                Allows you to delete logical partitions; but, only in the
                reverse order in which they were created.
                
                Fixed the bug that prevented MS-DOS's FDISK from creating
                logical drives in the extended partition.

                Thanks go to Phil Brutsche for fixing the bugs that were
                creating the "null pointer error" messages.
              
                Modified the code to start and end partitions on cylinder
                boundries.

                Added the command "fdisk [/rmbr drive#]" to remove the boot
                loader from the first sector of the hard disk and still
                preserve the primary partition table. 

                Fixed a bug that allowed a partition to extend beyond its
                boundries.

                Added code to display the available drives and their sizes.

                When displaying the partition information of a drive, the
                program now displays the total hard disk size.

Version 0.4     Added code to trap the "null pointer error" messages.
                There still are a few possible combinations that will
                result in this message, though.

                Partitions are now correctly created when creating
                their size by the percentage of the total hard disk
                space.
                
                Fdisk /mbr no longer writes the MS-DOS version of the
                boot loader.  I used the boot loader from BOOTEASY
                that I found on a FreeBSD distribution.  For more 
                information, please see the file bloader.txt

Version 0.3     Added menus.
              
                Removed the requirement of entering the drive number
                when typing "FDISK /I" or FDISK /MBR".  Without the
                drive number, both functions will default to the first
                hard disk.  Of course, you can still enter the drive
                number for drives other than the first.

                Added code to prevent the entry of partition sizes over
                2 Gig.

Version 0.2     Not a Public Release

                Added functions to toggle the active partition,
                delete a partition, and create the boot loader
                code.

                Found and corrected a bug preventing the exended
                partition from being displayed. 

Version 0.1     Not a Public Release

                Basic functionality--the program clears partition
                tables, displays contents of the partition tables,
                and creates primary partitions.  It lacks a menu,
                does not create the boot code, and does not create
                extended partitions or logical drives.  It also 
                does not yet have any error trapping to prevent a
                user from trying to create a drive over 2 Gig.


