diskcopy is a command used on a number of operating systems for copying the complete contents of a diskette (floppy disk) to another diskette. It operates on a track-by-track basis, duplicating the entire disk rather than copying individual files.
Overview
The command was originally written for MS-DOS in August 1982 and has been implemented across numerous operating systems, including MS-DOS, IBM PC DOS, DR DOS, FlexOS, FreeDOS, AmigaDOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows. The MS-DOS version was written in x86 assembly language and is available from MS-DOS version 2 and later.
Usage
The basic syntax is:
diskcopy source_drive: destination_drive:
For example, to copy the complete contents of a diskette in drive A to a diskette in drive B:
diskcopy a: b:
If a system has only one diskette drive, diskcopy can be invoked with just the source drive; the program reads the source diskette track by track into memory and then prompts the user to insert the destination diskette.
Options
Common switches include:
/1— Copies only the first side of the diskette, even if the target diskette is double-sided./V— Verifies that the source data was copied correctly onto the destination drive; this option slows down the copying process./M— Forces diskcopy to use only conventional memory for temporary storage.
Limitations
Diskcopy does not work with hard disk drives, CDs, network drives, Zip drives, or USB drives. It also does not allow copying between 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch drives; the source and target drives must be of the same size and format.
Availability
The command was included in versions of MS-DOS (version 2 and later), Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It is not included in Windows 10 or Windows 11. FreeDOS also includes an implementation of the command, developed by Imre Leber and licensed under the GNU GPL 2. The original MS-DOS source code has been released under the MIT license.
