What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

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MagicFeather
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:41 am

What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#1 Post by MagicFeather » Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:52 am

Hi,

I was using Active@Killdisk for Dos from UBCD. So i saw my 2 harddisks and a FloppyDisk 0 with the name NwDsk340. I was searching on Google what NwDsk340 means, and i think it is the place where the extracted files from UBCD are. So my question is, where are those files? Are those files on my RAM?

Note: I Don't have a Floppy Drive in my computer.

I want to know if those files are gone if i restart my computer, can someone help my?

Thanx!

Icecube
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#2 Post by Icecube » Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:09 pm

I want to know if those files are gone if i restart my computer, can someone help my?
Yes, they will be gone.

Almost all DOS programs of UBCD start the FreeDOS image. This is a floppy image loaded in RAM with MEMDISK and gives you a floppy drive that can be accessed by DOS even if you don't have a real one.
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

MagicFeather
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:41 am

Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#3 Post by MagicFeather » Tue Jul 26, 2011 5:16 pm

Wow, thanks, you guys are fast!
Thanks for the support!

MagicFeather
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#4 Post by MagicFeather » Tue Jul 26, 2011 5:36 pm

O, forgot something.

Is it right to use "ctrl-alt-delete" to exit UBCD and the programs? I don't know if this is the best way to exit, i don't wanna harm my PC. So is this the best way to exit? (In DOS)

ady
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#5 Post by ady » Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:07 pm

MagicFeather wrote:O, forgot something.

Is it right to use "ctrl-alt-delete" to exit UBCD and the programs? I don't know if this is the best way to exit, i don't wanna harm my PC. So is this the best way to exit? (In DOS)
Some DOS-based programs included in UBCD will tell you to press <ctrl>+<alt>+<del>, and some others will give you some option or command to exit or terminate. Some programs will give you no option but to reset, restart or shutdown your system, and some will give you the possibility to exit the program to the DOS prompt.

Once in DOS (the DOS prompt in UBCD), you have some commands to restart or shutdown.

I currently don't remember exactly *all* the available commands. At the DOS prompt, among other commands you can type "menu" (without the quotation marks) to see some of the commands and programs. The command "help" might be interesting for you. The command "poweroff" (also included in the "menu") should shutdown the system (so take out your CD first).

MagicFeather
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#6 Post by MagicFeather » Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:27 am

Thanks :) But if i want to use ctrl alt delete in every program when it's finished, is this safe, and not harmful? Because the computer will restart in just 1 ms? Does it have negative sideeffects or not?

Thnx again :)

ady
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#7 Post by ady » Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:19 am

MagicFeather wrote:But if i want to use ctrl alt delete in every program when it's finished, is this safe, and not harmful? Because the computer will restart in just 1 ms? Does it have negative sideeffects or not?
Some programs may need a specific "exit" command to correctly close them. It is not that there would be a problem related to RAM, since you are resetting your system anyway.

The actual problem could come from specific tools that are expecting that "exit" command to actually perform the action they are supposed to perform. For example, some programs can receive several commands from the user, and the actual action is only performed when the final "exit" or the final "confirmation" is given. This is not the most frequent case, but since you are asking a general question, I am answering as general as I can.

You can try the "poweroff" command (and there is some "reset" or equivalent command I currently don't remember exactly, but it is there). Those commands may take you some seconds to type and execute, so we are not talking about a time consuming procedure.

Of course you are free to use whatever you want. I am just giving you the most general answer I can, according to your question.

You could also try/test UBCD*.ISO to boot some VM, instead of a real system, but not each and every tool included in UBCD will work in a VM.

MagicFeather
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#8 Post by MagicFeather » Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:11 pm

How can i know if i need to use a command? For exemple, i use Killdisk allot, i can find a exit button, and when i use is i get the message: thanks for using ect. Then nothing happens and just pressed cntrl alt delete.

So, how can i know if i need to use a command to close or not?

And was it the right way i did it with Killdisk?

Thanx again for the support :)

ady
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#9 Post by ady » Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:54 pm

I personally don't remember each and every step of every program included in UBCD.

I guess you should search for the instructions and/or docs at the original website of each program, like killdisk for example.

BTW, some of the programs are listed in the table at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com. Not all are, and the specific versions depend on the specific release of UBCD, but it's a start.

About other programs included in UBCD, they usually indicate the correct method, or you would know reading the appropriate documentation.

An example is the several FDisk-like programs, and almost all HDD-related tools. Once the task is completed, you either select the "exit" command from the program, or a message saying something like "press <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> to reset/restart". Or you could read something like "you can shutdown your system now".

The opposite case you would see when running BIOS-related tools. The message would be something like "do not reset / shutdown your system until the program finishes". Then you will get a message stating whether the program or procedure ended correctly, and only when specifically instructed you can shutdown your system using the power button (yes, the hardware manual method, not ctrl alt del). Otherwise, your BIOS might not work anymore (and it is not such a simple task to recover it).

Other DOS-based tools in UBCD will let you "exit" the program. Part of those may not be really finishing the program, but instead they are opening a temporal DOS prompt. Others are completely closing the program and returning to the main DOS prompt. Others give you both possibilities (like Volkov commander for example).

If you really completely "exit" a program (close and exit to the main DOS prompt and the program liberated the RAM it was using), then you can type "poweroff" for example. As I already mentioned, the "menu" command in the DOS prompt of UBCD gives you many possibilities, including the "poweroff" command. Use the “help” command too.

You will find more answers by actually trying UBCD in a VM. If you try it on a real system, then be aware that some (almost all) tools included in UBCD require some knowledge from the user, or you could make more harm than good. Always read the docs before using the tools included in UBCD, and ask if in any doubt BEFORE the actual procedure.

MagicFeather
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Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#10 Post by MagicFeather » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:49 am

Thanks for your time!
I take your advice :)

KillDisk did say, thanks for using our program when i pressed on the exit button. But i didn't say anything about you can turn off your system, or ctrl alt delete. But i think i did it right. :)

Thanks again!

br10149bl
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Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:04 pm

Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#11 Post by br10149bl » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:03 pm

Since UBCD is a primarily a DOS environment, as long as the hard drive is not being accessed CTRL-ALT-DEL can be used to reboot or the computer can be shut off without damage to the PC. Even those utilities that boot a Linux environment will not cause damage to UBCD since the utilities are booted from an image and not a live system.

The reason Windows and Linux machines need to be shutdown properly is that they are running multiple programs at the same time and may be accessing the HD which could cause damage to files if turned off.

ady
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2010 5:26 am

Re: What is: Floppy Disk 0 NwDsk340?

#12 Post by ady » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:19 pm

br10149bl wrote:Since UBCD is a primarily a DOS environment, as long as the hard drive is not being accessed CTRL-ALT-DEL can be used to reboot or the computer can be shut off without damage to the PC. Even those utilities that boot a Linux environment will not cause damage to UBCD since the utilities are booted from an image and not a live system.

The reason Windows and Linux machines need to be shutdown properly is that they are running multiple programs at the same time and may be accessing the HD which could cause damage to files if turned off.
I respectfully disagree. First, UBCD has not only DOS-based tools. Other tools included in UBCD are based on other OSs.

For those other tools, you can't really know what happens if you simply press <ctrl>+<alt>+<del>. It is correct that UBCD itself runs as live (or equivalent), but in most cases you are performing some action on your hardware (HDD, BIOS...). While UBCD itself won't be damaged, your hardware could.

You don't want to exit any cloning tool in the wrong way. Some cloning tools in UBCD are Linux-based and some work under a proprietary OS. You MUST follow their instructions, including to exit the program.

For any password-related tool goes the same (and users are usually not following the complete procedure and then they ask why the password was not deleted or recovered).

Any partitioning and/or formatting tool MUST be finished correctly. While "some" of those could be ended by <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> (and only when all the actions are really completed), some of them should not. The "exit" function is not "decorative".

I could mention more examples, but you got the idea.

One additional factor to consider is "electronics". While in most cases you can reboot and continue with your work, sometimes the task involves troubleshooting a system. In some cases, the RAM can remain "charged", so for some troubleshooting tasks the recommended step is to completely shutdown the system and leave it some minutes powered off, to let the RAM completely discharged.

But the opposite is also true. There are some cases where you should not power down your system, and others where you shouldn't even reset it.

So, since we are talking as a general rule, saying that you may use <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> is not correct. Sure, there are "some" cases where you could/might, and others where the program you just ran says you should, but that does not mean that pressing <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> is "always safe" or "the correct procedure" as a general rule.

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