Incremental Backups

To do an incremental backup, select `Daily Incremental' or `Cleanup Incremental' under the `File' menu. These work much the same as a full backup except that you won't be asked for a backup folder name; The Vault uses the same name that was used for the most recent full backup. In the case of all but the first daily incremental and a cleanup incremental, you also will not be asked for the name of the incremental backup set since the same name will be used as in the previous incremental. Instead, The Vault will instruct you to insert the same disk that was last used by the previous incremental backup. However, you can always choose to write to a different incremental set by inserting the desired disk and then clicking on `Proceed' when informed that the disk is not the expected one.

The `Use Archive Bit' option is useful for incremental backups. TOS version 1.4 or newer will set the `archive' bit on a file whenever it is modified. This includes modifying a file with a database and any time a file is created. A file which is moved by copying and then deleting the old file will have its archive bit set, too.

Normally, The Vault does not back up according to how the archive bit is set, but does clear the bit when it backs up a file. When the `Use Archive Bit' flag in the `Options' menu is set, The Vault will back up files with the archive bit set and new files when doing an incremental backup. If a file it backs up would not have been backed up without the `Use Archive Bit' flag, The Vault also changes its date so it would have been. This way, it will be backed up on subsequent Cleanup Incrementals.

Note that this option is not available with TOS 1.0 or TOS 1.2. To tell if you have TOS 1.4 or later, select `Desktop Info' from the `Desk' menu while using the desktop. If you have a color monitor, you will see a ``rainbow'' floating across the Atari logo. In any case, there will be a long string of copyright dates, the latest which should be 1989 or later.