SoftBackup is a very powerful but extremely inexpensive backup program. It has most of the features that the most expensive backup programs have and some they don't have. Most people find it an unusally easy program to learn and use. It can back up your hard disks, servers, shared network disks, and other disk volumes to tape, DAT, WORM, optical disks, removable hard disks, floppy diskettes, fixed hard disks, servers, or other shared volumes on a network. SoftBackup is designed for speed making it one of the fastest backup programs available.
WHY YOU NEED SOFTBACKUP:
The most reliable hard disks, servers, and other disk volumes can fail. If you do not have the files on them backed up to another another media, you will lose everything. Also, no matter how careful you are, sooner or later you will trash an important file by accident. With it backed up, you can always bring it back. Finally, when you run out of space on your hard disks or servers, you can make more space by archiving the material to tape or other backup media using SoftBackup. Storage on backup media is usually cheaper than buying more hard disk space and makes sense for seldom used material. SoftBackup can store even the largest files on any size backup media (even floppy diskettes) by automatically splitting the large files and folders on backup and automatically putting them back together on restore.
HOW TO USE SOFTBACKUP:
1. Double click on SoftBackup II application.
2. After it scans your SCSI bus for tape drives, it will present you with the Main Guide window.
3. Click on the graphic Backup button to set up your first backup.
4. Switch to File by File backup if the program has been set for Image backup.
5. Click on the Create Script button to create your first script.
6. Select items on the left to Add to Script on the right.
7. Save the script.
8. Select the script and click on the Now button to do a backup.
9. Put the mouse pointer over any button or other screen item you don't understand (a message describing the item will appear automatically in the text box at the bottom of most windows). Some windows have a help button that you can click on for additional information.
10. Pay for your copy of SoftBackup II by sending $35 (and sales tax of 7.75 percent if you are in California) to:
Diversified I/O
P.O. Box 230948
Encinitas, CA 92023
Look under the Shareware menu in SoftBackup for information on other ways to pay for the software or to print a registration/order form. If you provide your address, the latest version of the software and manual will be mailed to you. If you use the registration/order form, please include the date on it and the version of SoftBackup you have.
USING SOFTBACKUP ON A NETWORK:
Paying for SoftBackup allows you to use the software on only one machine. However, from that one machine you can back up an entire network of computers using just the one copy of SoftBackup. If you would rather make multiple copies of SoftBackup to use on each computer, each copy must be paid for. Print the order form under the Shareware menu in SoftBackup to pay for multiple licenses at $25 each.
SoftBackup II has built-in verification to insure backups are correct. It assumes backups are bad unless proven otherwise. At the end of a backup, it does a final verify check and if things don't look right it will declare a verify failure and cancel the backup. It will mention that most likely reason for the failure, a file or files changed during the backup. SoftBackup can handle files that are in use during a backup. It does this by skipping all files in use on remote volumes and local data files that might change (you are prompted for each one or optionally it logs their names to disk only). What SoftBackup can't handle are files that change status or size during the backup. So, it is best to do network backups when no one will be using the files being backed up. The verify failure message can also occur after a backup if there are certain problems with your tape or backup disk drive, the backup media is marginal, if your system is infected with a virus, or the copy of SoftBackup you have is corrupted.
SHARING SOFTBACKUP WITH OTHERS:
SoftBackup II is copyright (c) 1987-1994 by D-K Research, Inc. The shareware version may be freely copied and distributed provided it is not modified, not sold, and not corrupted. The shareware version of SoftBackup has special code in it to detect virus and other corruption. Shareware SoftBackup will not function if it detects any corruption in itself and will put up a virus/corruption warning message instead. If you do give the shareware version of SoftBackup to others, please copy the entire original compressed archive that includes this file. Copying the original archive will insure people receive our program with its original default settings. Please do not copy or distribute the non-shareware version of SoftBackup II, that does not have the Shareware menu. To do so is a copyright violation.
RECOMMENDED BACKUP METHOD:
1. It is best to disable screen savers and other background programs before doing a backup or restore, especially when backing up to tape.
2. Use File by File backup (use Image backup only when you must back up hidden files and other hidden information).
3. Build a script of the files, folders, and volumes you want to back up (including remote volumes, folders, and files, using System 7 file sharing or other network software).
4. Add a small known file to the end of the script.
5. After the backup, do a test restore of that last file.
6. Check the restored file and insure it's complete and correct (if the last file restores correctly, it is almost impossible for the rest of the backup to be bad).
7. Before erasing files from your hard disk or reformatting your hard disk, first make sure you have backed up everything on at least two separate sets of backup media.
ABOUT FLOPPY BACKUPS:
SoftBackup uses a special non-macintosh format on backup diskettes. This speeds up backups and fits more data on each diskette. If the diskettes are inserted other than during a restore of the backup, the Macintosh will say they are not Macintosh diskettes. The special format on the diskettes is a form of compression that often out performs compression methods used by other backup programs, in terms of backup speed and sometimes even the number of diskettes needed.
During a floppy backup, if an unformatted floppy is inserted, SoftBackup will format it and verify it before using it. If a diskette previously used for something other than a backup is inserted, SoftBackup will verify the sectors on it before asking you about it and then overwriting the high level format on it. Please note that SoftBackup is more picky about diskettes than System 7 Finder is and SoftBackup can reject a diskette that can be formatted and used as a regular non-backup diskette by the Finder. If SoftBackup rejects a diskette during a backup by putting up a message that says it is no good, just insert another diskette to continue (we recommend throwing the bad one away). If you happen to insert a diskette in the wrong floppy drive during a backup (not the one you started the backup on), SoftBackup will automatically spit the diskette back out. Just stick the diskette in the correct floppy drive and the backup will continue.
If you are overwriting a previously used set of backup diskettes, once you give approval to reuse the first diskette of the set, SoftBackup will automatically reuse each diskette after that without asking your permission to overwrite each one (if they are all part of the same previous backup). So, backups can go very quickly if you are overwriting a previous set of backup diskettes.
Each backup is entirely separate from previous backups. SoftBackup was designed on purpose not to have the ability to "update" previous floppy backups. That is an extremely dangerous backup method that could eventually result in a damaged unusable backup. With SoftBackup, you can do a full backup onto one set of backup diskettes and then incremental backups onto a separate set of backup diskettes (you can set a backup script to back up any files that have changed since a particular date). This way, no matter what happens, you still have the untouched and intact original full backup if needed. To do a full restore, first restore the full backup and then update it with all the incremental backups (or only the last incremental backup if you had it back up everything changed since the original full backup date). Thanks to SoftBackup's great speed when overwriting a previous set of backup diskettes, doing a full backup each time (on alternating sets of floppies) is a another fast method of doing backups that makes doing a full restore very simple.
PROGRAM FEATURES:
Support for all models of the Macintosh with a SCSI port. Unlike some backup programs, SoftBackup has a hardware independent design to greatly increase the chance the software will work with future Macintosh computers and operating systems, without the need for updating.
High speed backups by reading from disk while writing to tape and
fast restores by reading from tape while writing to disk (on most tape drives). On the faster Macintosh computers, on some tape drives, it is possible to reach and maintain the maximum possible backup speed (non-stop tape streaming).
In addition to tape, SoftBackup can also back up to file servers, network volumes, fixed hard disks, optical disks, removable hard disks, or to floppy diskettes.
Backups to floppies are speeded up by using a special non-Macintosh format on diskettes. This also allows more data to fit on each floppy.
Even when the backup media is a disk volume, backups are very fast, due to SoftBackup's ability to read and write multiple files at once.
Various verification steps are done during a backup, to insure that the backup is complete and correct, without slowing down the backup.
It has powerful scripting of just the volumes, folders, and files you want to backup, with a very easy to use point and click system for building scripts.
Each script entry can be set to backup always, if changed since the last backup, or if changed after a specified date. SoftBackup can be set to back up all files or just data files.
If a script entry is a folder or volume and it is set to back up only if changed, SoftBackup can be set to backup that entire folder or volume if any part has changed or it can be set to back up only the files that have changed. This unique optional feature of SoftBackup, can be used to make it easy to restore complete and intact folders or volumes, but still not back them up if they haven't changed.
Unlike most backup programs, SoftBackup can also make an entire block by block image backup of a hard disk volume (useful for backing up hidden files and other hidden information that cannot be restored safely except by restoring the entire volume at once).
Delayed backups can be set up (automatic launch from Finder, backup, and return to Finder), at specified dates and times. The delayed backups work under Finder, Multifinder, or System 7.
Script files can be launched from the desktop to do automated backups (by double clicking on a script file that is on the desktop).
Multiple backups can be added to the same tape or disk. A single backup can span multiple tapes or disks and in that case you are informed how many tapes or disks will be needed before the backup occurs.
There is no limit to the size of volumes that can be backed up. Multiple volumes can be backed up at once.
It can do file by file backups from any mounted volumes including hard disks, optical disks, file servers, and other network volumes. It is possible to backup an entire network at once, from one Macintosh, using System 7 file sharing. Only one copy of SoftBackup II is required to back up a network.
SoftBackup has the ability to restore just the desired parts of a volume or folder, from a file by file backup. The restores can be done to any volume or folder, not just back to the one the backup was made from. Access to a file or folder on a DAT tape is very fast, even if it is two gigabytes down the tape (it can reach any file on a DAT tape in about a minute or two).
SoftBackup creates tape directories on disk (if there is disk space) to make it much easier and faster to access file by file backups on tape. However, the program is designed to allow restores even if the directories on disk are missing or incomplete (they are automatically rebuilt as needed).
In addition to help buttons on most windows, the program also has a special feature called Cursor-Guide™. As the mouse pointer is moved over objects in a window, a message appears at the bottom of the window that describes whatever the mouse pointer is over (what a button does before you click on it, information about an item in a list, etc.). System 7 balloon help is available in the pull down menus.
SoftBackup II is System 7 compatible (including System 7.1 and System 7 Pro), 32 bit clean, 68040 cache compatible, and works with System 7 virtual memory. It can back up to mounted volumes while running under A/UX. It is compatible with SCSI Manager 4.3 in AV Macintosh computers. It works with System 6.0.5 or later.
See MacUser magazine, the September 1993 issue, pages 212 to 213, for a review of SoftBackup II (in a section called "Backup for the Rest of Us").
TAPE DRIVES SUPPORTED
The tape drive mechanisms SoftBackup II is designed to work with are:
(Note: drives that use these mechanisms are often sold under a different name)
DAT drives with 60/90 meter (120/180 minute) tapes:
1. ALPS (DD1000) 1.0/1.5 gigabyte DAT drive
2. Archive (PYTHON) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
3. Exabyte (4200) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
4. Exabyte (4200c) 3/5 gigabyte DAT drive
without compression:
1.2 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
1.9 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
with compression:
about 3 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
about 5 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
5. Gigatape 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
6. Hewlett Packard (35450A) 1.2 gigabyte DAT drive
7. Hewlett Packard (35470A) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
8. Hewlett Packard (35480A) 3/5 gigabyte DAT drive
without compression:
1.2 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
1.9 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
with compression:
about 3 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
about 5 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
9. R-Byte (RB100) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte 3.5 inch DAT drive
10. Sony (SDT-1000) 1.2 gigabyte DAT drive
11. Sony (SDT-1020) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
12. Sony (SDT-2000) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte 3.5 inch DAT drive
13. Sony (SDT-4000) 3/5 gigabyte DAT drive (not tested)
without compression:
1.2 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
1.9 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
with compression:
about 3 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
about 5 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
14. WangDAT (1300) 1.2/1.9 gigabyte DAT drive
15. WangDAT (2600) 3/5 gigabyte DAT drive
without compression:
1.2 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
1.9 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
with compression:
about 3 gigabytes on 60m (120 minute) tape
about 5 gigabytes on 90m (180 minute) tape
16. Wangtek (6130) 1.2 gigabyte DAT drive
(use high quality 60 or 90 meter, 120 or 180 minute, tapes with DAT drives)
We cannot guarantee our software will work with all revisions of each of the above tape drives. We optimize for the revision available at the time we add support for the drive. Usually, new revisions of the drive work with our software. SoftBackup II may work with some tape drives not listed above, especially some new models of DAT drives.
WORM DRIVES SUPPORTED:
Pioneer (DE-7001) 5.25 inch 300 megabyte (per side) WORM Drive
(use 512 byte per sector WORM disks)
FLOPPY DRIVES SUPPORTED:
Apple 400K internal or external floppy drive
Apple 800K internal or external floppy drive
Apple 1.44 megabyte internal or external floppy drive
any drive compatible with the above
OTHER DRIVES SUPPORTED:
SoftBackup II can back up to any mounted volume including:
fixed hard disk drives
removable hard disks
read/write optical disks
network servers
other network volumes
RECOMMENDED MACINTOSH SYSTEM SOFTWARE:
Plus and SE: 6.0.5 or later
Classic: 6.0.7 or later
Classic II: 7.0.1 or greater
Color Classic: 7.1 with System enabler 401
SE/30: 6.0.5 or later
LC: 6.0.7 or later
LC II: 7.0.1 or later
LC III: 7.1 with System enabler 003
LC 475: 7.1 with System enabler 065
LC 520: 7.1 with System enabler 403
IIsi: 6.0.7 or later
IIcx and IIci: 6.0.5 or later
IIvi and IIvx: 7.0.1 or later with System enabler 001
Centris 610: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Centris 650: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Centris and Quadra 660AV: 7.1 with System enabler 088
II and IIx: 6.0.5 or later
IIfx: 6.0.5 or later
Quadra 605: 7.1 with System enabler 065
Quadra 610: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Quadra 650: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Quadra 700: 7.0.1 or later
Quadra 800: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Quadra 840AV: 7.1 with System enabler 088
Quadra 900: 7.0.1 or later
Quadra 950: 7.0.1 or later
Performa 200: 7.0.1P
Performa 400, 405, 410, and 430: 7.0.1P or 7.1P
Performa 450: 7.1P
Performa 460, 466, and 467: 7.1P
Performa 475 and 476: 7.1P
Performa 550: 7.1P
Performa 600 and 660CD: 7.1P
Portable: 6.0.7
Backlit Portable: 6.0.7
PowerBook 100: 7.0.1 or later
PowerBook 140: 7.0.1 or later
PowerBook 145: 7.0.1 or later
PowerBook 145B: 7.1
PowerBook 160: 7.1 with System enabler 131 (formerly used enabler 111)
PowerBook 165: 7.1 with System enabler 131
PowerBook 165c: 7.1 with System enabler 131 (formerly used enabler 121)
PowerBook 170: 7.0.1 or later
PowerBook 180: 7.1 with System enabler 131 (formerly used enabler 111)
PowerBook 180c: 7.1 with System enabler 131
PowerBook Duo 210: 7.1 with PB Duo Enabler 1.0 (formerly used enabler 201)
PowerBook Duo 230: 7.1 with PB Duo Enabler 1.0 (formerly used enabler 201)
PowerBook Duo 250: 7.1 with PB Duo Enabler 1.0
PowerBook Duo 270c: 7.1 with PB Duo Enabler 1.0
Apple Workgroup Server 60: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Apple Workgroup Server 80: 7.1 with System enabler 040
Our software is hardware independent, so we expect it to work with future Macintosh computers and System Software, including PowerPC Macintosh computers.
System 7.0 users should upgrade to 7.0.1 or 7.1
System 7.0.1 users should install System 7 Tune-up 1.1.1 or upgrade to 7.1
System 7.1 users should install the latest System Update (currently 2.0.1)
FINAL NOTE:
Please be aware that no backup system in perfect. Backups can fail just like hard disks. Important files should be backed up to multiple sets of backup media, especially before erasing them from the hard disk. The more important the files, the more backup copies that should be made. Please do test restores, at least partial restores from files near the ends of the backups, before trusting or relying on your backup system. Even then be aware that failures can occur so always keep multiple backups of everything. For really important files, it is best to back them up on more than one type of backup media.
OTHER PRODUCTS MADE BY DIVERSIFIED I/O:
Diversified I/O also makes Hard Disk Utilities and Optical Disk Utilities for formatting and partitioning hard disks and read/write optical disks to use on the Macintosh.
