diff --git a/distrib/alpha/README.files b/distrib/alpha/README.files
index b7678dabecfa..ca71215dae81 100644
--- a/distrib/alpha/README.files
+++ b/distrib/alpha/README.files
@@ -1,45 +1,46 @@
-$NetBSD: README.files,v 1.8 1997/03/14 00:56:03 cgd Exp $
 
-README.files			This list.
+			Tape, CD, and Disk Images
 
-ported-software			A list of software ported to NetBSD/Alpha,
-				and patches to make software go.
+This release or snapshot contains two installation image types:
 
-Snapshots are organized by release.  Releases are numbered by year, month,
-and day, in directories with names of the form "YYMMDD".
+	installation/floppy/disk1of2
+	installation/floppy/disk2of2
 
-In each directory:
+and
+	installation/diskimage/cdhdtape
 
-CKSUMS				Checksums (generated with NetBSD's "cksum"
-				utility) of all files in this snapshot.
-MD5SUMS				MD5 message digests (generated with NetBSD's
-				"md5" utility) of all files in this snapshot.
-README_FIRST			Important last-minute notes about the snapshot.
-README				Installation notes; incomplete.
-STATUS				Status of NetBSD/Alpha, supported hardware list.
+Both image sets load the same installation kernel into memory and
+then make no further use of the source media. The general idea is
+to load a kernel with a pre-initialized memory filesystem of
+utilities and an installation program.
 
-bin/				Directory with binaries for this snapshot.
+The use of the floppy disk set should be obvious. The cdhdtape
+image can be written to a CD, hard drive, or tape and then booted
+from the SRM console.
 
-	bin.tar.gz		Everything on the disk image except /etc,
-				/usr/X11R6, /boot, and the kernel.
-	etc.tar.gz		/etc from the disk image.
-	netbsd.gz		Gzipped GENERIC kernel (also on disk image).
-	netbsd.gdb.gz		Gzipped GENERIC kernel w/debugging symbols.
-	diskimage.gz		Disk image for installation.
-	x11.tar.gz		/usr/X11R6 from the disk image.
+To copy the boot images to a magnetic disk under unix, the dd(1)
+command can be used:
 
-src/				Directory with sources for this snapshot.
+Floppy:
+	dd if=disk1of2 of=/dev/rfd0a bs=18k
+	(change floppies)
+	dd if=disk2of2 of=/dev/rfd0a bs=18k
 
-	X11R6-XF86-*-diffs.gz
-				Diffs from XFree86 (version indicated by
-				whatever matches that '*') used to make
-				the X11 binaries in the distribution.
-				X11 sources should be placed in
-				/usr/alphasrc/xc with a symlink pointing
-				from /usr/src/xc.  [May not be present
-				in all distributions.]
-	toolchain.tar.gz	Toolchain (gcc, gas, ld, etc.) sources
-				used to build the compiler toolchain.
-				Should be untarred into
-				/usr/alphasrc/toolchain with a symlink
-				pointing from /usr/src/toolchain.
+You can write the image to a hard drive too:
+
+	dd bs=18k if=cdhdtape of=/dev/rsd1c
+	dd bs=18k if=cdhdtape of=/dev/rsd1d (NetBSD/i386)
+
+For a tape, it is important to use a block size of 512, so:
+
+	dd bs=512 if=cdhdtape of=/dev/erst0	(NetBSD)
+	dd bs=512 if=cdhdtape of=/dev/rmt0h	(Digital Unix)
+
+Note that the bits on the installation media are only used when
+initially loaded. They can be written to a hard drive, loaded, and
+then overwritten during the installation with no conflict, or
+alternatively, the boot CD or tape can be removed and replaced with
+one containing the installation sets.
+
+The install notes from this directory subtree are present on the
+installation file system.