Status window
Once you have clicked on Start in the Options window, it closes
and is replaced by the status window. This window gives you
information about the backup operation, how it is progressing, and
any problems that occur. Clicking Menu over this window
produces a menu with one item, Stop, which acts the same as
clicking on the Stop button (11). Once the backup operation has
finished, closing this window and then clicking on the iconbar icon
will take you back to the options window, with the options chosen
for the backup still there.
- Source path
- Destination path
These are simply reminders of where the backup is coming from
and going to. They are exactly the same as those specified in the
options window.
- Backup type
This is a basic reminder of the settings in the options window.
Each letter or pair of letters stands for a setting which is switched
on:
S Selected items
I Ignored items
i Incremental:
l Last backup
o On/at specified date/time
O Only files of type...
B Write BackupDate
M Treat image files as:
f One file
d Directory
i Ignore completely
b Buffer size set
Image files will always be set to something, so this will never be
empty.
- Complete
This indicates approximately how much of the backup operation
has been completed as a percentage. It is calculated from the file
sizes of those files done and those files to go, and so may be
slightly out as regards the time taken to finish; for example, if the
backup consisted of one 100k file and 200 empty files, then as
soon as the 100k file had been backed up, Complete would show
100% while the backup would continue for some time doing all the
empty files.
- Doing disc ...
This displays the number of the current destination disc.
- ... of ~ ...
This displays the estimated total number of discs. This is worked
out in a similar way to Complete, and so may not be exact. Also, it
cannot anticipate what capacity discs you will be using, and as a
result may be slightly inaccurate. It is calculated using the mix of
disc capacities you have used so far, and so assumes that you will
be using the same mix until the end of the backup.
- Average compression
In the full version, this displays the average size of files after
compression as a percentage of their original size, but in this demo
compression is not available, and so it is always 100%.
- Time to finish
This displays a rough guess at the time that it will take to finish the
backup. As with Complete and Doing disc ..., this is an
approximate figure, and so may not be exact, or count down
precisely in seconds. For the first few files, you should ignore this
value as it will often be ludicrously high - this is simply due to
inaccuracies in timing, which are evened out after the first few
files.
- Currently doing
This shows the file or directory that is currently being backed up.
- Messages bar
This bar shows any other messages which are reported from the
backup. In the screenshot above it is displaying the compression
ratio for a particular file (this is irrelevant in this version, which
does not have compression). It can also be used to report errors
and tells you which files are too old to be backed up in an
incremental backup.
- Stop button
This button stops the backup completely. Generally if the backup
is stopped in this way then it will still be readable in the Entire
backup part of Restore, but obviously only up until the point it was
stopped.
- Pause button
This button pauses the backup. All disc activity stops, although
files are still left open. The word 'Pause' changes to 'Continue',
and so to carry on with the backup you must click on this icon
again.
Request window
This window gives you simple prompts such as 'Insert blank disc X
into drive Y' or 'Please wait, formatting disc.'. While it is on the
screen the backup is paused. If you click Menu over it, a menu is
produced which acts identically to the menu produced when Menu
is clicked over the status window.
Query window
This window asks you questions which mostly involve handling of
discs. A menu identical to that mentioned above is produced when
you click Menu over it.
There are a number of messages that can be given that need
explaining:
Disc is not blank - Erase contents?
This means there is some space free on the disc. If you click OK
the disc will be wiped, while if you click Cancel, the files will be
left as they are and the backup files added to them. This will
obviously means that you can get less data on a disc which is not
blank.
Disc is full - erase contents?
This is different from the above error, because it means the disc is
absolutely full, and there is not even room to create the backup file.
Clicking OK will wipe the disc, while Cancel will prompt you to
insert another disc.
Error: xxxxx. Do you want to continue using this disc?
This is used to report errors such as 'Disc is write-protected'.
Click OK to try again or Cancel to use another disc.
Error: xxxxx. Format disc?
This is used to report errors such as 'Disc not understood - has it
been formatted'. Click OK to format the disc or Cancel to use
another.
Go to the title page,
the demo index,
the backup index,
the options window section, or
the restore section.