This Siren package really does offer you quite a lot for your money. There's a sector map and editor if you want to mess around at the byte level, a directory editor if you've got a spot of unerasing or file protection to do, and a pair of header readers for the hackers amongst you. If you're scared of CP/M you might enjoy the file transfer and disc copier routines, while speed freaks will appreciate the high speed formatter. All of these (and a few more besides) are called up from a central menu, and on-screen help is available if you need it. This tends to be useful if a little terse, and contains stern warnings not to infringe copyright on all the appropriate routines. If Siren are keen to discourage you from copying other people's software unfairly, they make absolutely certain you can't mess around with theirs. The various Master Disc routines can all recognise their disc, and refuse to work on it! The routines are generally well thought out and work quite satisfactorily. My main grumble would be that abandoning a routine half way through can be extremely difficult. Also, one or two routines aren't quite as well error-trapped as they might be. Notable among these is the disc copier IMAGE which doesn't check to see that there's a disc in the drive before starting to function.
AA#9 |