I need to read a disk in the floppy drive byte by byte, non MS format.  What
api calls are
used to do this?  From what I've read, it should be possible to open the
drive as a device.  I'm using createfile and readfile, but
I'm probably not using the correct parameters.  I'm on an NT 4.0 server.

Can anyone help?

You can use the API but CreateFile has a lot of arguments that will take you
a bit to sort through.

Why can't you just open the file in binary mode and read it into a Byte
array, or read a byte at a time?

I don't know what you mean by MS format but I can't see any reason you
couldn't read the file from VB.

--
Jonathan Wood
SoftCircuits Programming
http://www.softcircuits.com

The disk is formatted in something other than the  normal PC format, what
I've called the MS format.  What I need to do is open the whole device and
read what's on the disk, not just open a file.  If there is a file there
it's defined using something other than FAT.  I get a disk not formatted
message when I try to look at it with Explorer or something like that.

I've done some reading on the createfile and the examples show how to read a
physical drive, but not a floppy.  So far I haven't been able to figure out
what I need to do.

Consider reading KB article Q138434 [
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q138/4/34.asp ].  It talks
about reading individual sectors from a CDROM, but there should be no
difference between it and a floppy (except you won't need to do media
locking, VirtualAlloc, VirtualFree, and you'll use a different path to A: or
B:).  Unfortunately for you, it is in C code, but it still will remain very
similar for VB since they are Win32 APIs.

--
Howard Henry Schlunder
 Winamp is currently playing:
 sarah mclachlan--possession-112k

I've managed to use GetdiskFreeSpace to calculate number of bytes to read
and CreateFile to open the A:\ drive.  Now I'm having trouble allocating
memory with VirtualAlloc.

Does anyone know what the constant values are for MEM_COMMIT, MEM_RESERVE,
and PAGE_READWRITE?

When the following lines execute lpSector = 0 and ReadFile causes an error
that shuts down VB.

lpSector = VirtualAlloc(ByVal 0&, BytesToRead, MEM_COMMIT Or MEM_RESERVE,
PAGE_READWRITE)

fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, lpSector, BytesToRead, lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)

Anyone have any ideas what to do next?

Thanks

By all means, don't even touch VirtualAlloc.  VB can do memory allocation
for you safely and in a much simpler manner.  Just:

Dim LotsOBytes() As Byte

and then after you know how many bytes to read (which you seem to be getting
from GetdiskFreeSpace), you do a:

ReDim LotsOBytes(BytesToRead-1)

That will initialize your buffer which can be sent to ReadFile.

--
Howard Henry Schlunder
 Winamp is currently playing:
 tears for fears--shout

fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), BytesToRead, lBytesRead, 0)

So what's wrong with this line of code?

When it executes it throws a DR Watson error and then shuts VB down.  How do
I trap this error so I can look at it?

There is nothing wrong with that line of code.  Could you show all of your
code for doing this, including the API declarations?

--
Howard Henry Schlunder
 Winamp is currently playing:
 no doubt--you can do it

Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
Const CREATE_ALWAYS = 2
Const CREATE_NEW = 1
Const OPEN_ALWAYS = 4
Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
Const TRUNCATE_EXISTING = 5
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE = &H20
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN = &H2
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY = &H1
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM = &H4
Const FILE_FLAG_DELETE_ON_CLOSE = &H4000000
Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
Const FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED = &H40000000
Const FILE_FLAG_POSIX_SEMANTICS = &H1000000
Const FILE_FLAG_RANDOM_ACCESS = &H10000000
Const FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN = &H8000000
Const FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH = &H80000000

Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
    lowpart As Long
    highpart As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA"
(ByVal lpFileName As String, _
                                                                       ByVal
dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
                                                                       ByVal
dwShareMode As Long, _

lpSecurityAttributes As Any, _
                                                                       ByVal
dwCreationDisposition As Long, _
                                                                       ByVal
dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, _
                                                                       ByVal
hTemplateFile As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, _
                                                  lpBuffer As Any, _
                                                  ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead
As Long, _
                                                  ByVal lpNumberOfBytesRead
As Long, _
                                                  ByVal lpOverlapped As
Long) As Long

Private Declare Function GetLastError Lib "kernel32" () As Long

Private Declare Function VirtualAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpAddress As
Any, _
                                                      ByVal iSize As Long, _
                                                      ByVal iAllocType As
Long, _
                                                      ByVal iflProtect As
Long) As Long

Private Declare Function VirtualFree Lib "kernel32" Alias "VirtualFreeA" _
                                                  (ByVal lpAddress As Long,
_
                                                   ByVal iSize As Long, _
                                                   ByVal iAllocType As Long)

Private Declare Function GetDiskFreeSpace Lib "kernel32" Alias
"GetDiskFreeSpaceA" _
                                                  (ByVal lpRootPathName As
String, _
                                                  iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER,
_
                                                  iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER, _
                                                  iFreeCluster As
LARGE_INTEGER, _
                                                  iTotalClusters As
LARGE_INTEGER) As Long

Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double

    'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double

    Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double

    If Lo < 0 Then
        dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo
    Else
        dblLo = Lo
    End If

    If Hi < 0 Then
        dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi
    Else
        dblHi = Hi
    End If

    CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32

End Function

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Dim fHandle As Long
Dim fSuccess As Long
Dim BytesToRead As Long
Dim lBytesRead As Long
Dim errTemp As Long

Dim iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER
Dim iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER
Dim iFreeClusters As LARGE_INTEGER
Dim iTotalClusters As LARGE_INTEGER

Dim dbSectors As Double
Dim dbBytes As Double
Dim dbFreeClusters As Double
Dim dbTotalClusters As Double

Dim Result As Boolean

'Get the disk information
Result = GetDiskFreeSpace("A:", iSectors, iBytes, _
                          iFreeClusters, iTotalClusters)

'Convert the return values from LARGE_INTEGER to doubles
dbSectors = CLargeInt(iSectors.lowpart, iSectors.highpart)
dbBytes = CLargeInt(iBytes.lowpart, iBytes.highpart)
dbFreeClusters = CLargeInt(iFreeClusters.lowpart, iFreeClusters.highpart)
dbTotalClusters = CLargeInt(iTotalClusters.lowpart, iTotalClusters.highpart)

BytesToRead = dbSectors * dbBytes

'Create File Handle
fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
                        GENERIC_READ, _
                        FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
                        ByVal 0&, _
                        OPEN_EXISTING, _
                        0&, 0&)

Dim mybuff() As Byte
ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)

'Blows up right here!!!!!!!!!
fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
                    BytesToRead, lBytesRead, 0)

errTemp = GetLastError()

End Sub

Wow, there are a lot of things wrong with that.  Specifically what is causing your crash is the improper ReadFile API declaration.  That last two parrameters must be passed ByRef, not ByVal.  Aside from that, the GetFreeDiskSpace API declaration is wrong.  It almost fits the GetFreeDiskSpaceEx API's declaration.  In any event, those free space API calls don't even give you the number you are looking for.  In the KB article they were using a custom made GetDriveGeometry function.  I reimplemented it here in Visual Basic's Command1_Click sub.  I got rid of several things that didn't work or weren't needed.  The following is the end result and indeed, I was able to read a raw unformatted floppy (a Linux boot disk) and save an image of it to my hard disk.  

Option Explicit

Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
Const IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY = &H70000

Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
    lowpart As Long
    highpart As Long
End Type
Private Type DISK_GEOMETRY
  Cylinders As LARGE_INTEGER
  MediaType As Long
  TracksPerCylinder As Long
  SectorsPerTrack As Long
  BytesPerSector As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA" (ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal dwShareMode As Long, lpSecurityAttributes As Any, ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Long, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, ByVal hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function DeviceIoControl Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hDevice As Long, ByVal dwIoControlCode As Long, lpInBuffer As Any, ByVal nInBufferSize As Long, lpOutBuffer As Any, ByVal nOutBufferSize As Long, lpBytesReturned As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Long, lpNumberOfBytesRead As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Dim fHandle As Long
Dim fSuccess As Long
Dim BytesToRead As Long
Dim lBytesRead As Long
Dim VolumeGeometry As DISK_GEOMETRY
Dim mybuff() As Byte

'Create File Handle
fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
                        GENERIC_READ, _
                        FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
                        ByVal 0&, _
                        OPEN_EXISTING, _
                        FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL Or FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, 0&)

'Obtain the Volume Geometries
Call DeviceIoControl(fHandle, IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY, 0, 0, VolumeGeometry, LenB(VolumeGeometry), lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)
'Calculate the total number of bytes on this volume
BytesToRead = VolumeGeometry.Cylinders.lowpart * VolumeGeometry.TracksPerCylinder * VolumeGeometry.SectorsPerTrack * VolumeGeometry.BytesPerSector
'Initialize our buffer to store the volume data
ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)

'Read the raw shiznits from the floppy
fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
                    BytesToRead, lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)

If fSuccess Then
  'Truncate our buffer of all the unread bytes on the end
  ReDim Preserve mybuff(0 To lBytesRead - 1)

  'Write all that floppy data to our hard disk for later usage
  Open "C:\FloppyImage.dat" For Binary As #1
  Put #1, , mybuff
  Close #1
End If

'Clean up after ourselves
Call CloseHandle(fHandle)

End Sub

Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
    'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
    Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
    If Lo < 0 Then dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo Else dblLo = Lo
    If Hi < 0 Then dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi Else dblHi = Hi
    CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
End Function

--
Howard Henry Schlunder
 Winamp is currently playing:
 Mariah Carey - Anytime You Need A Friend

read more »

Thank you very much!!!!

  Wow, there are a lot of things wrong with that.  Specifically what is causing your crash is the improper ReadFile API declaration.  That last two parrameters must be passed ByRef, not ByVal.  Aside from that, the GetFreeDiskSpace API declaration is wrong.  It almost fits the GetFreeDiskSpaceEx API's declaration.  In any event, those free space API calls don't even give you the number you are looking for.  In the KB article they were using a custom made GetDriveGeometry function.  I reimplemented it here in Visual Basic's Command1_Click sub.  I got rid of several things that didn't work or weren't needed.  The following is the end result and indeed, I was able to read a raw unformatted floppy (a Linux boot disk) and save an image of it to my hard disk.  

  Option Explicit

  Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
  Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
  Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
  Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
  Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
  Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
  Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
  Const IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY = &H70000

  Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
      lowpart As Long
      highpart As Long
  End Type
  Private Type DISK_GEOMETRY
    Cylinders As LARGE_INTEGER
    MediaType As Long
    TracksPerCylinder As Long
    SectorsPerTrack As Long
    BytesPerSector As Long
  End Type

  Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA" (ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal dwShareMode As Long, lpSecurityAttributes As Any, ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Long, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, ByVal hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
  Private Declare Function DeviceIoControl Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hDevice As Long, ByVal dwIoControlCode As Long, lpInBuffer As Any, ByVal nInBufferSize As Long, lpOutBuffer As Any, ByVal nOutBufferSize As Long, lpBytesReturned As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
  Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Long, lpNumberOfBytesRead As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
  Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

  Private Sub Command1_Click()

  Dim fHandle As Long
  Dim fSuccess As Long
  Dim BytesToRead As Long
  Dim lBytesRead As Long
  Dim VolumeGeometry As DISK_GEOMETRY
  Dim mybuff() As Byte

  'Create File Handle
  fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
                          GENERIC_READ, _
                          FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
                          ByVal 0&, _
                          OPEN_EXISTING, _
                          FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL Or FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, 0&)

  'Obtain the Volume Geometries
  Call DeviceIoControl(fHandle, IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY, 0, 0, VolumeGeometry, LenB(VolumeGeometry), lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)
  'Calculate the total number of bytes on this volume
  BytesToRead = VolumeGeometry.Cylinders.lowpart * VolumeGeometry.TracksPerCylinder * VolumeGeometry.SectorsPerTrack * VolumeGeometry.BytesPerSector
  'Initialize our buffer to store the volume data
  ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)

  'Read the raw shiznits from the floppy
  fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
                      BytesToRead, lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)

  If fSuccess Then
    'Truncate our buffer of all the unread bytes on the end
    ReDim Preserve mybuff(0 To lBytesRead - 1)

    'Write all that floppy data to our hard disk for later usage
    Open "C:\FloppyImage.dat" For Binary As #1
    Put #1, , mybuff
    Close #1
  End If

  'Clean up after ourselves
  Call CloseHandle(fHandle)

  End Sub

  Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
      'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
      Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
      If Lo < 0 Then dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo Else dblLo = Lo
      If Hi < 0 Then dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi Else dblHi = Hi
      CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
  End Function

  --
  Howard Henry Schlunder
   Winamp is currently playing:
   Mariah Carey - Anytime You Need A Friend

  > Option Explicit
  >
  > Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
  > Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
  > Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
  > Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
  > Const CREATE_ALWAYS = 2
  > Const CREATE_NEW = 1
  > Const OPEN_ALWAYS = 4
  > Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
  > Const TRUNCATE_EXISTING = 5
  > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE = &H20
  > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN = &H2
  > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
  > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY = &H1
  > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM = &H4
  > Const FILE_FLAG_DELETE_ON_CLOSE = &H4000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED = &H40000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_POSIX_SEMANTICS = &H1000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_RANDOM_ACCESS = &H10000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN = &H8000000
  > Const FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH = &H80000000
  >
  >
  > Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
  >     lowpart As Long
  >     highpart As Long
  > End Type
  >
  > Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA"
  > (ByVal lpFileName As String, _
  >                                                                        ByVal
  > dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
  >                                                                        ByVal
  > dwShareMode As Long, _
  >
  > lpSecurityAttributes As Any, _
  >                                                                        ByVal
  > dwCreationDisposition As Long, _
  >                                                                        ByVal
  > dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, _
  >                                                                        ByVal
  > hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
  >
  >
  >
  >
  > Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, _
  >                                                   lpBuffer As Any, _
  >                                                   ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead
  > As Long, _
  >                                                   ByVal lpNumberOfBytesRead
  > As Long, _
  >                                                   ByVal lpOverlapped As
  > Long) As Long
  >
  >
  >
  > Private Declare Function GetLastError Lib "kernel32" () As Long
  >
  > Private Declare Function VirtualAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpAddress As
  > Any, _
  >                                                       ByVal iSize As Long, _
  >                                                       ByVal iAllocType As
  > Long, _
  >                                                       ByVal iflProtect As
  > Long) As Long
  >
  > Private Declare Function VirtualFree Lib "kernel32" Alias "VirtualFreeA" _
  >                                                   (ByVal lpAddress As Long,
  > _
  >                                                    ByVal iSize As Long, _
  >                                                    ByVal iAllocType As Long)
  >
  >
  >
  > Private Declare Function GetDiskFreeSpace Lib "kernel32" Alias
  > "GetDiskFreeSpaceA" _
  >                                                   (ByVal lpRootPathName As
  > String, _
  >                                                   iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER,
  > _
  >                                                   iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER, _
  >                                                   iFreeCluster As
  > LARGE_INTEGER, _
  >                                                   iTotalClusters As
  > LARGE_INTEGER) As Long
  >
  > Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
  >
  >     'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
  >
  >     Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
  >
  >     If Lo < 0 Then
  >         dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo
  >     Else
  >         dblLo = Lo
  >     End If
  >
  >     If Hi < 0 Then
  >         dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi
  >     Else
  >         dblHi = Hi
  >     End If
  >
  >     CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
  >
  > End Function
  >
  >
  > Private Sub Command1_Click()
  >
  > Dim fHandle As Long
  > Dim fSuccess As Long
  > Dim BytesToRead As Long
  > Dim lBytesRead As Long
  > Dim errTemp As Long
  >
  > Dim iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER
  > Dim iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER
  > Dim iFreeClusters As LARGE_INTEGER
  > Dim iTotalClusters As LARGE_INTEGER
  >
  >
  > Dim dbSectors As Double
  > Dim dbBytes As Double
  > Dim dbFreeClusters As Double
  > Dim dbTotalClusters As Double
  >
  > Dim Result As Boolean
  >
  > 'Get the disk information
  > Result = GetDiskFreeSpace("A:", iSectors, iBytes, _
  >                           iFreeClusters, iTotalClusters)
  >
  >
  > 'Convert the return values from LARGE_INTEGER to doubles
  > dbSectors = CLargeInt(iSectors.lowpart, iSectors.highpart)
  > dbBytes = CLargeInt(iBytes.lowpart, iBytes.highpart)
  > dbFreeClusters = CLargeInt(iFreeClusters.lowpart, iFreeClusters.highpart)
  > dbTotalClusters = CLargeInt(iTotalClusters.lowpart, iTotalClusters.highpart)
  >
  >
  > BytesToRead = dbSectors * dbBytes
  >
  >
  > 'Create File Handle
  > fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
  >                         GENERIC_READ, _
  >                         FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
  >                         ByVal 0&, _
  >                         OPEN_EXISTING, _
  >                         0&, 0&)
  >
  >
  > Dim mybuff() As Byte
  > ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)
  >
  > 'Blows up right here!!!!!!!!!
  > fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
  >                     BytesToRead, lBytesRead, 0)
  >
  >
  > errTemp = GetLastError()
  >
  > End Sub
  >


  > >
  > > There is nothing wrong with
...

read more »

I have another question.

Ultimately, I'm trying to read the disk so that I create a copy of it on another disk.  Would it be possible to save this image as a file and then use it to make other disks?   Actually I know it's possible, I'm asking what might be the best way?

Is it a matter of opening the floppy opening the file and then using the writefile function to transfer the image?  At least that's the way I would approach it.

What do you think?

Thank again for all your help.

  Thank you very much!!!!

    Wow, there are a lot of things wrong with that.  Specifically what is causing your crash is the improper ReadFile API declaration.  That last two parrameters must be passed ByRef, not ByVal.  Aside from that, the GetFreeDiskSpace API declaration is wrong.  It almost fits the GetFreeDiskSpaceEx API's declaration.  In any event, those free space API calls don't even give you the number you are looking for.  In the KB article they were using a custom made GetDriveGeometry function.  I reimplemented it here in Visual Basic's Command1_Click sub.  I got rid of several things that didn't work or weren't needed.  The following is the end result and indeed, I was able to read a raw unformatted floppy (a Linux boot disk) and save an image of it to my hard disk.  

    Option Explicit

    Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
    Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
    Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
    Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
    Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
    Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
    Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
    Const IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY = &H70000

    Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
        lowpart As Long
        highpart As Long
    End Type
    Private Type DISK_GEOMETRY
      Cylinders As LARGE_INTEGER
      MediaType As Long
      TracksPerCylinder As Long
      SectorsPerTrack As Long
      BytesPerSector As Long
    End Type

    Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA" (ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal dwShareMode As Long, lpSecurityAttributes As Any, ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Long, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, ByVal hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
    Private Declare Function DeviceIoControl Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hDevice As Long, ByVal dwIoControlCode As Long, lpInBuffer As Any, ByVal nInBufferSize As Long, lpOutBuffer As Any, ByVal nOutBufferSize As Long, lpBytesReturned As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
    Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Long, lpNumberOfBytesRead As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
    Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long

    Private Sub Command1_Click()

    Dim fHandle As Long
    Dim fSuccess As Long
    Dim BytesToRead As Long
    Dim lBytesRead As Long
    Dim VolumeGeometry As DISK_GEOMETRY
    Dim mybuff() As Byte

    'Create File Handle
    fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
                            GENERIC_READ, _
                            FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
                            ByVal 0&, _
                            OPEN_EXISTING, _
                            FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL Or FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, 0&)

    'Obtain the Volume Geometries
    Call DeviceIoControl(fHandle, IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY, 0, 0, VolumeGeometry, LenB(VolumeGeometry), lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)
    'Calculate the total number of bytes on this volume
    BytesToRead = VolumeGeometry.Cylinders.lowpart * VolumeGeometry.TracksPerCylinder * VolumeGeometry.SectorsPerTrack * VolumeGeometry.BytesPerSector
    'Initialize our buffer to store the volume data
    ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)

    'Read the raw shiznits from the floppy
    fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
                        BytesToRead, lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)

    If fSuccess Then
      'Truncate our buffer of all the unread bytes on the end
      ReDim Preserve mybuff(0 To lBytesRead - 1)

      'Write all that floppy data to our hard disk for later usage
      Open "C:\FloppyImage.dat" For Binary As #1
      Put #1, , mybuff
      Close #1
    End If

    'Clean up after ourselves
    Call CloseHandle(fHandle)

    End Sub

    Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
        'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
        Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
        If Lo < 0 Then dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo Else dblLo = Lo
        If Hi < 0 Then dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi Else dblHi = Hi
        CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
    End Function

    --
    Howard Henry Schlunder
     Winamp is currently playing:
     Mariah Carey - Anytime You Need A Friend

    > Option Explicit
    >
    > Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
    > Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
    > Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
    > Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
    > Const CREATE_ALWAYS = 2
    > Const CREATE_NEW = 1
    > Const OPEN_ALWAYS = 4
    > Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
    > Const TRUNCATE_EXISTING = 5
    > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE = &H20
    > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN = &H2
    > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
    > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY = &H1
    > Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM = &H4
    > Const FILE_FLAG_DELETE_ON_CLOSE = &H4000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED = &H40000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_POSIX_SEMANTICS = &H1000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_RANDOM_ACCESS = &H10000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN = &H8000000
    > Const FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH = &H80000000
    >
    >
    > Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
    >     lowpart As Long
    >     highpart As Long
    > End Type
    >
    > Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA"
    > (ByVal lpFileName As String, _
    >                                                                        ByVal
    > dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
    >                                                                        ByVal
    > dwShareMode As Long, _
    >
    > lpSecurityAttributes As Any, _
    >                                                                        ByVal
    > dwCreationDisposition As Long, _
    >                                                                        ByVal
    > dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, _
    >                                                                        ByVal
    > hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long, _
    >                                                   lpBuffer As Any, _
    >                                                   ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead
    > As Long, _
    >                                                   ByVal lpNumberOfBytesRead
    > As Long, _
    >                                                   ByVal lpOverlapped As
    > Long) As Long
    >
    >
    >
    > Private Declare Function GetLastError Lib "kernel32" () As Long
    >
    > Private Declare Function VirtualAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpAddress As
    > Any, _
    >                                                       ByVal iSize As Long, _
    >                                                       ByVal iAllocType As
    > Long, _
    >                                                       ByVal iflProtect As
    > Long) As Long
    >
    > Private Declare Function VirtualFree Lib "kernel32" Alias "VirtualFreeA" _
    >                                                   (ByVal lpAddress As Long,
    > _
    >                                                    ByVal iSize As Long, _
    >                                                    ByVal iAllocType As Long)
    >
    >
    >
    > Private Declare Function GetDiskFreeSpace Lib "kernel32" Alias
    > "GetDiskFreeSpaceA" _
    >                                                   (ByVal lpRootPathName As
    > String, _
    >                                                   iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER,
    > _
    >                                                   iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER, _
    >                                                   iFreeCluster As
    > LARGE_INTEGER, _
    >                                                   iTotalClusters As
    > LARGE_INTEGER) As Long
    >
    > Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
    >
    >     'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
    >
    >     Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
    >
    >     If Lo < 0 Then
    >         dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo
    >     Else
    >         dblLo = Lo
    >     End If
    >
    >     If Hi < 0 Then
    >         dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi
    >     Else
    >         dblHi = Hi
    >     End If
    >
    >     CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
    >
    > End Function
    >
    >
    > Private Sub Command1_Click()
    >
    > Dim fHandle As Long
    > Dim fSuccess As Long
    > Dim BytesToRead As Long
    > Dim lBytesRead As Long
    > Dim errTemp As Long
    >
    > Dim iSectors As LARGE_INTEGER
    > Dim iBytes As LARGE_INTEGER
    > Dim iFreeClusters As LARGE_INTEGER
    > Dim iTotalClusters As LARGE_INTEGER
    >
    >
    > Dim dbSectors As Double
    > Dim dbBytes As Double
    > Dim dbFreeClusters As Double
    > Dim dbTotalClusters As Double
    >
    > Dim Result As Boolean
    >
    > 'Get the disk information
    > Result = GetDiskFreeSpace("A:", iSectors, iBytes, _
    >                           iFreeClusters, iTotalClusters)
    >
    >
    > 'Convert the return values from LARGE_INTEGER to doubles
    > dbSectors = CLargeInt(iSectors.lowpart,
...

read more »

-----------------------------------
Monte Hansen
http://KillerVB.com

Please respond to the newsgroups
-----------------------------------

I have another question.

Ultimately, I'm trying to read the disk so that I create a copy of it on
another disk.  Would it be possible to save this image as a file and then
use it to make other disks?   Actually I know it's possible, I'm asking what
might be the best way?

Is it a matter of opening the floppy opening the file and then using the
writefile function to transfer the image?  At least that's the way I would
approach it.

What do you think?

Thank again for all your help.

Thank you very much!!!!


Wow, there are a lot of things wrong with that.  Specifically what is
causing your crash is the improper ReadFile API declaration.  That last two
parrameters must be passed ByRef, not ByVal.  Aside from that, the
GetFreeDiskSpace API declaration is wrong.  It almost fits the
GetFreeDiskSpaceEx API's declaration.  In any event, those free space API
calls don't even give you the number you are looking for.  In the KB article
they were using a custom made GetDriveGeometry function.  I reimplemented it
here in Visual Basic's Command1_Click sub.  I got rid of several things that
didn't work or weren't needed.  The following is the end result and indeed,
I was able to read a raw unformatted floppy (a Linux boot disk) and save an
image of it to my hard disk.

Option Explicit

Const GENERIC_READ = &H80000000
Const GENERIC_WRITE = &H40000000
Const FILE_SHARE_READ = &H1
Const FILE_SHARE_WRITE = &H2
Const OPEN_EXISTING = 3
Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = &H80
Const FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING = &H20000000
Const IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY = &H70000

Private Type LARGE_INTEGER
    lowpart As Long
    highpart As Long
End Type
Private Type DISK_GEOMETRY
  Cylinders As LARGE_INTEGER
  MediaType As Long
  TracksPerCylinder As Long
  SectorsPerTrack As Long
  BytesPerSector As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CreateFileA"
(ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal
dwShareMode As Long, lpSecurityAttributes As Any, ByVal
dwCreationDisposition As Long, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Long, ByVal
hTemplateFile As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function DeviceIoControl Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hDevice As
Long, ByVal dwIoControlCode As Long, lpInBuffer As Any, ByVal nInBufferSize
As Long, lpOutBuffer As Any, ByVal nOutBufferSize As Long, lpBytesReturned
As Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
Private Declare Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hFile As Long,
lpBuffer As Any, ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Long, lpNumberOfBytesRead As
Long, lpOverlapped As Any) As Long
Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject As Long)
As Long

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Dim fHandle As Long
Dim fSuccess As Long
Dim BytesToRead As Long
Dim lBytesRead As Long
Dim VolumeGeometry As DISK_GEOMETRY
Dim mybuff() As Byte

'Create File Handle
fHandle = CreateFile("\\.\" & "A:", _
                        GENERIC_READ, _
                        FILE_SHARE_READ Or FILE_SHARE_WRITE, _
                        ByVal 0&, _
                        OPEN_EXISTING, _
                        FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL Or FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, 0&)

'Obtain the Volume Geometries
Call DeviceIoControl(fHandle, IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY, 0, 0,
VolumeGeometry, LenB(VolumeGeometry), lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)
'Calculate the total number of bytes on this volume
BytesToRead = VolumeGeometry.Cylinders.lowpart *
VolumeGeometry.TracksPerCylinder * VolumeGeometry.SectorsPerTrack *
VolumeGeometry.BytesPerSector
'Initialize our buffer to store the volume data
ReDim mybuff(BytesToRead - 1)

'Read the raw shiznits from the floppy
fSuccess = ReadFile(fHandle, mybuff(0), _
                    BytesToRead, lBytesRead, ByVal 0&)

If fSuccess Then
  'Truncate our buffer of all the unread bytes on the end
  ReDim Preserve mybuff(0 To lBytesRead - 1)

  'Write all that floppy data to our hard disk for later usage
  Open "C:\FloppyImage.dat" For Binary As #1
  Put #1, , mybuff
  Close #1
End If

'Clean up after ourselves
Call CloseHandle(fHandle)

End Sub

Private Function CLargeInt(Lo As Long, Hi As Long) As Double
    'This function converts the LARGE_INTEGER data type to a double
    Dim dblLo As Double, dblHi As Double
    If Lo < 0 Then dblLo = 2 ^ 32 + Lo Else dblLo = Lo
    If Hi < 0 Then dblHi = 2 ^ 32 + Hi Else dblHi = Hi
    CLargeInt = dblLo + dblHi * 2 ^ 32
End Function

--
Howard Henry Schlunder
 Winamp is currently playing:
 Mariah Carey - Anytime You Need A Friend

read more »

Thanks