CompuServe Thread

Cross Dos (a commercial program) is probably the best around. There is a PD/freeware/shareware (don't know which) program which I think is called "MessDOS" that also will copy to and from IBM format disks. I would expect that it is in one of the libraries here on CIS.

Graeme, Disk-2-Disk will write and read from disks for the Commodore 1541/1571 drives. DOS-2-DOS, also from Central Coast Software, will read and write MS-DOS disks. It works well. Another alternative, and one which I like much better, is CrossDOS. It costs about $20-25 mail order, and will let you mount your drives as both Amiga and MS-DOS drives at the same time, using different names for the two systems. Example: My internal drive is mounted as DF0: for Amiga disks, and at the same time, as MF0: for MS-DOS disks. If I give a command using DF0: the drive accepts only Amiga format. If I remove the Amiga disk and put in an MS_DOS disk, and give a command specifying MF0:, it reads and writes only the MS-DOS format. You can mount all of your floppies this way with your program, letting you copy Amiga disks to MS-DOS and vice versa, or keep a disk available for each system, or whatever your need. There is a freely distributable program in our libraries, I think called MSDOS2.??? that works in a fashion much like CrossDOS, but I have had excellent results with the commercial program, and have heard of many having problems with the freely distributable one. It might be worth a try for you, though. You should locate it quickly using the file finder and a keyword of MSDOS or MS-DOS or maybe even MSH or MESSYDOS. It gets all those names from time to time. Betty

I don't know of any PC program that will read Amiga disks, but CrossDOS works great reading PC 720K disks on the Amiga. For awhile I was downloading Amiga files from Compuserve on my Mac Plus, copying them to my '386 PC using the Copy II Option Board (reads Mac disks on the IBM) and reading the PC disks on the Amiga using CrossDOS. Dos-to-Dos requires that you use their shell while reading/writing the PC disks. CrossDOS mounts an AmigaDOS device to read/write them, so you can read them from ANY Amiga program! (like UtiliMaster, DirMaster, SID, etc.). There's anotehr CrossDOS like program called MSH that's supposed to be similar but no one I know has gotten it to work reliably. (CrossDOS also works well with the IBemulator). There's a shareware trial version of CrossDOS you can download (possibly from here) that will read but no write PC disks. Registration is $49.95 I believe. I got mine at one of the local Amiga dealers for that price.