DiskSalv 4

Dave Haynie's time-honored solution for when your Amiga's disks are a bit under the weather

Augh!! You put HOURS into that report, and now your Amiga can't seem to read the disk! Or that animation that took weeks to render has kicked the big bit bucket! What are you to do?!

Well, first you soundly reprimand yourself for not backing up your data (tsk tsk tsk!); but since all that won't bring back your work, and you really do want it back, there is an answer. And that answer bears the name DiskSalv.

Dave Haynie's legacy in the Amiga community stretches far and wide, but certainly one for which many of us users have thanked him over the years is his wonderful disk utilities program, DiskSalv. It has seen a number of versions, and the latest comes to us with a fully graphical interface (nicely style guide-compliant). It is now offered as a true commercial program from IAM (Intangible Assets Manufacturing) for about $35 U.S.

Although generally considered a "disk recovery program," DiskSalv has a number of capabilities. In all, it includes 7 modes:

• Salvage: The default option; this will do everything it can to recover anything that might have a dream of being recovered, far gone as it may seem.
• Undelete: Many people don't realize it, but when a disk operating system deletes a file, rather than actually expunge the bits from the disk like an exterminator after cockroaches, it simply marks the space previously occupied by the file as usable. Therefore, if you hurry and try before DOS uses it again for some other file, you can usually get it back. This probably should be part of the OS, but DiskSalv provides that ability.
• Repair: This tries to fix things that are readable to DiskSalv, but not to the very picky (with good reason) AmigaDOS.
• Unformat: "Oh darn, lookey what I did. Formatted the dag blamed disk!" This goes right along with the "Undelete" prodedure outlined above. A full format of a disk will wipe out anything that's there. Sorry. But a quick format (which you may see if you use the AmigaDOS disk formatting program) really does nothing but tell DOS that the disk is empty. Not so. DiskSalv will save the day.
• Check: The "try before you buy" of disk salvaging. The program tells you that sometimes you might want to do this before trying to Repair a disk, as Repairing might actually have detrimental effects, depending on what you're doing. This will give you a good idea what to do next.
• Backup: No need to curse yourself ever again for not backing up data! Here's an easy way to do it.
• Cleanup: Remember how AmigaDOS doesn't actually grind up, toss out, and sweep up after old files? Using this option, DiskSalv will find files in various states of deletion (who cares if it's in the dictionary or not) and get rid of the trash. It will speed up disk performance, especially under DiskSalv itself. One other thing: Cleanup is NOT to be run before Undelete ;-).

Aside from repairing disks, DiskSalv can also provide a wealth of information about your devices.

Wondering about your filesystem? DiskSalv probably supports it: OFS, FFS, DC, International, You Name It. Also featured is AFS for all fans of alternative (filesystems). It is also capable of making a "Best Guess" if you aren't sure, if the disk is in really bad shape, or if you enjoy making software do really interesting things.

I mentioned that this version of DiskSalv includes a GUI. Well, it's more than just a couple of 3D gadgets. The program has various small pictures to illustrate your current mode, and there is a whole array of 3D image button gadgets. On running, the program displays a nice opening graphic, and the About... menu item does as well. I might also point out that what few bugs I've found seem to be associated simply with rendering the graphic imagery in various screenmodes...nothing major. I would also point out that the apparently homemade 3D image gadgets invert using some of the lower colors of the palette, resulting in a somewhat odd effect in screens with more than 4 colors. Nothing major, though.

Oh, and I might also point out that DiskSalv features a very comprehensive context-sensitive online AmigaGuide help system. That's always a BIG plus in my book. The help file doubles as the program's documentation, so you can browse through a whole assortment of descriptions, ideas, texts, and other various information on a wide variety of subjects, including why DiskDoctor never really made it, if you remember those days. I must have spent about half an hour reading through the help file when I first got the program. If you're into Amiga history or information, it's good reading.

I will recommend outright that anybody with an Amiga should have this program. It has many great capabilities, and I know from experience that there are many times when I wish I had had it. It would have saved a greate deal of trouble. In the future, though, it will be here in times of disk-trouble. If the magnetic bits of data once again scatter themselves a-sprawl and asunder through my Amiga's file system, I'll be sure to entrust the grand DOS-Covenant to DiskSalv Version 4. Unless a new version comes out before then.

In all seriousness, though...it's a big pain when data gets garbled, and it's good to have something that will endeavor tirelessly to save it for you. And then it will allow you to back it up in the future so such things no longer occur...

I might also propose that future versions of Amiga OS include DiskSalv or a version thereof (?). A good OS is one that helps the user.

One final note: the program comes in a small package, wrapped in a paper covering, since the documentation is disk-based. And there is a short, but very telling message on the packaging. I'm sure all Amiga users of today can identify with it. Let's just say it exemplifies the immense frustration and consternation one can experience in trying to figure out just who owns the Amiga, did own it, and shall own it, and what they intend to do with it. It's easy to get confused. 'Tis a bittersweet world.