Contents
MinuteMan Data Backup

         MinuteMan Data Backup

         For Windows 95/98/NT4

•	About

•	Features

•	Quick How to

•	Legal Agreement

•	Install and Unistall

•	Backup

•	Restore

•	AutoBackup

•	MinuteChild

•	Zipping backups

•	MinuteMan Extras

•	Trouble Shooting

•	FAQ

•	Registration


MinuteMan Extras

MinuteScout:

Features:

MinuteScout is one of MinuteMan Data backup extras.

MinuteScout is made to backup critical work in progress, it will

repeat backups per interval minutes set.

A message pops up, (optional seconds) before backup commences.

It is suggested to close data that is being backed up before

backup commences.

Note: MinuteScout might not be able to backup some application

that are running and can't be accessed.

Select Zip or not to zip backup.

Memorizes backup settings.

Select from many zip options.

Rotary backup.

Backup by file date.

Network supported.

Backup locally from one drive to another, to and from a

Network drive, from one Network Drive to another.

----------------------------------------

AttriBat:

Features:

If you  restore a backup from MS-DOS, then files that

have the Read-Only, Hidden and System attributes will

not be restored from backup unless you set their attributes

to Normal.

That is also true if you use a DOS unzipping software, they have switches

to restore Hidden, Read Only and System but will not overwrite a

Read-Only file or folder.

AttriBat.exe will search the hard drive for files and folders that have

Read-Only, Hidden and System attributes and make 2 batch files

AtNorm.bat(name optional) and AtRest.bat(name optional) :

1) Run AtNorm.bat will set all Read Only, Hidden and

System attributes to Normal.

Then restore from backup or manipulate files and folders in MS-DOS.

AttriBat will also make restore batch files to restore using Pkunzip.exe

Click Help\Help in AttriBat for more.

2) When done, run AtRest.bat it will restore all files and folders attributes

to their original attributes.

The batch files have to be made in Windows and should be stored in the

root directory C. Or store them in the backup drive.

Pkunzip.exe has to be in the same folder they are in.

TIP Have AttriBat make  AtNorm.bat and AtRest.bat in the root directory

C all the time, a day will come that you might need them.

AttriBat is much faster than using the MS-DOS Attrib command while

in MS-DOS plus it restores files attributes.

----------------------------------------

LFN Backup and Restore

Features

LFN stands for Long File Name. Since DOS doesn't recognize

long file names and if you loose long file names then your computer

could get in serious trouble that could require you to uninstall

every program that you have and reinstall it. Or could corrupt

the registry with no way to restore.

Unless you know the LFN for every SFN (short file name), which

is impossible to know, because:

Let us say that you have two directories named in long file names,

"Program Files" and "Program Storage", the short file names name

for both would be Progra~1, unless they are in the same directory

then they will be called Progra~1 and Progra~2.

Its impossible to guess what the original Long file name is unless

you have a backup that have stored both DOS SFN and Windows LFN

of each file and directory, also knows what the original path, then it can

be restored from backup to the original path by renaming the SFN to LFN.

You could loose LFN in many ways in Win95/98 or NT, running in Real

DOS mode or you have restored backup from DOS, are common

ways to loose LFN. Or Windows got corrupted and you had to copy

your personal data to another drive from DOS so you can format the

hard drive.

Drive Info:

There are two Drive Info, one for Win95 that partitions drives less

than 2 GB called Drive Info and the other for Win95/98 that recognizes

partitions larger than 2 GB called Drive Info B+.

Click Options\Drive Info  or Options\Drive Info B+ to get hard drives

free and used spaces.

Displays up to 12 partitions once opened. Select from the combo box to

display each drive in more details.


  About

MinuteMan Data Backup

For Windows 95/98/NT

Copyright © 1997/98. All Rights Reserved.

Theodore Fattaleh author, programmer and publisher.

All Program Names are Registered Trademarks of their

Respective Owner.

http://www.mslm.com

My Email addresses:

twf@flash.net

2000@msn.com

2000ted@compuserve.com


Features

Backup locally from one drive to another, to and from a

Network drive, from one Network Drive to another.

Select not to zip or zip backups.

Zip up to 2 Gegabytes in size.

Backup to any removable media such as Zip, Jaz drive or Floppy.

Incremental Zip to removable disk.

Directories and subdirectories or full drive backup.

Include or exclude files or subdirectories in zipped

backups, encryption and many other zip options.

Backup by files date or by days passed.

Rotary backup.

Option to update zip files rather than recreating them,

it is a time saver, backups are made 5 to 10 times faster.

Progress bar displaying zipping action.

MinuteMan will zip and backup without giving any errors.

The Zipping feature in Minuteman is an advanced state of the art

multi directory compression agent, it will compress multi directories

and maintain every file path, with many zip options.

The last four backups can be used as a Scheduler to run other programs

instead of backups, feature can be used only if Timed Backup or Manual

is selected.

Select Timed backups, Startup backups or Manual.

MinuteMan uses MinuteChild that uses less resources to monitor

Timed backups,  Startup backups and executes scheduling without

opening MinuteMan.

AttriBat.exe makes batch files that sets all files and folders attributes to

normal so a restore from DOS can be possible, then resets attributes

after done restoring from backup.

MinuteMan will log all backup activities to a log file.

Log file is renamed to Logold.txt every seven days or if log file

becomes larger than 50 KB.

MinuteMan Extras

Please read the MinuteMan Extras section in this help file.

MinuteScout is made to backup critical work in progress, it will

repeat backups per interval minutes set.

LFN Backup and Restore, long file names backup and restore.

AttriBat, files and folders attribute manager.

Drive Info: Click Options\Drive Info to get hard drives free and used spaces.

SHAREWARE

MinuteMan most features gets disabled after 30 runs, the Restore

section stays functional.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips.

Click Help\Get Started, to help you get started.


Quick How to

SELECT and configure Source and Destination paths:

Local computer:

Click the Browse button.

Browse and select the directory or file to be

backed up. (be sure yellow folder is opened

or the file highlighted.)

Then double click the appropriate window under

Source on the main form.

Double click the window that has the wildcards

\*.* to remove it, it has to be blank if you are backing

up a file.

Do the same with Destination path, be sure to

give the destination zip file a name or remove

the name if you are not using zipping.

If zipping, suggest to change the default zip backup name.

e.g. instead backup1.zip, name it: Notes.zip,

C_drive.zip, Windows.zip or Misc.zip.

Backup will not commence unless the Add check

box is selected.

Drive Label or Volume: If you are backing regularly on a same

removable disk, such as Zip disk. To avoid backing up to the wrong disk,

make the backup to a unique folder in the Zip disk. MinuteMan

will not backup if it can't find the folder.

Network computer:

Click the Browse button.

Enter computer name and drive of the computer

you are backing to or from. Once entered,

click the Network button to connect to the Network

Drive.

Follow instructions above to transfer path.

e.g. transferred path:

\\Computer Name\Drive\Directory

\\Joe\C\Backup

Or select the mapped drive and it will automatically connect to the

Network computer restrieving the UNC path from the mapped drive.

Don't click Disc Net button, unless you are having

network connectivity problems or want to disconnect

from the other computer drive.

Click Local to browse back into your computer.

Timed Backup:

Click SetTime to set Autobackup days and time.

If you are using Timed backup then Timed Backup

has to be selected from the main form in order to add

time and days to backup.

Select backup days then double click the appropriate

window in the main form under Days.

Select the backup time, and double click the appropriate

window under Time in the main form.

To clear the windows that has days or time, double click them when

the SetTime dialog box is hidden.

Click Options\Add to Startup.

Startup Backup: To do Startup backups, Startup Backup has

to be selected in the main form.

It backs up on Startup if:

The latest backup is older than the Interval time assigned.

Click SetTime to set Autobackup days and time.

Select the Interval hours from the Interval window,

1 to 999 hours (999 is about 40 days), and double click the

appropriate window on the main form under Interval.

Note: Time settings under Time will be ignored.

Click Options\Add to Startup.

----------------------------

Once all backups are configured, be sure to double check the Source

and Destination paths selected, then select the Check box under Add,

backup will not commence unless the Check box is selected.

Click Exit, if you selected Timed Backup then MinuteChild should popup

automatically, once you open the Main program then BackChild

closes automatically.

Select from many zip options by clicking the Zip Option

button.

If path Source or destination are configured wrong then Minuteman will

turn these controls of that backup to red color and will not do backup

unless you reconfigure the paths and click the Reset button.

To Restore Zipped backups, click the Restore+ button,

click any of the buttons B1 to B14 to transfer backup path then once you are

sure the correct paths are transferred, click the Restore Zipped backup button.

The 14 backups if zipped will be saved into default names Backup1.zip,

Backup2.zip, Backup3.zip so on......... to Backup14.zip. Be sure to rename

backup names if you changed the source but destination is still the same.

Example: I backed up C:\Mynotes to F:\Backup1.zip, but in few days or weeks

I no longer backup C:\MyNotes but I backup C:\ImpNotes but the destination

is still F:\Backup1.zip, that's when you should  rename the Backup1.zip

if old backup still exist in F:\, otherwise the two backups will get mixed together.

Better rename backups from MinuteMan default names, e.g.  Mynotes.zip.

To view or extract some files from Zipped files or backups, click Options\View

Zipped backups.

You can zip other data than the scheduled backups, click

Options\Zip and Unzip and Incremental zip.

To do Scheduling, click the Scheduling button and select the

Check box Sched 1 through Sched 4.

Works only if you are using Timed backups or Manual backups.

Scheduling is different than Timed or Startup backups,

its a Task scheduler that runs other programs.

Click Options\View Log to view backups log file.

Log file is renamed Logold.txt every seven days or if log file

becomes larger than 50 KB.

Remember that double clicking and clicking is how to edit windows

or get information.

Double click the Backup date to get information about the backup.

Double click the little Window next to the Zip check box to view

Zip options applied for that backup.

Please read through the Zipping section of this help file.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the control titles located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips

or tips in the Status Bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


Legal Agreement

MinuteMan has have been thoroughly tested, and it has constantly been

successful in completing its design specifications of data backup.

NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES

In no event shall the publisher, the author, nor their suppliers be liable

for any damages whatsoever {Including, without limitation, damages for loss

of business profits, business

interruption, loss of business information,  or any other pecuniary loss)

arising out of the use of, or inability to use this product, even if being

advised of the possibility of such damages.

Although some state jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation

of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation

still apply to you. It is your responsibility to read this help file and the

Readme.txt before installing.


Install, Reinstall and Uninstall

INSTALLATION:

Before  MinuteMan Data Backup will run, you must install the VB5run kit,

either included with this download, or download at:

http://www.mslm.com/free.htm

The shareware version does have the VB5run included in the download.

Unzip and place minman.zip into a temporary folder, double click

Setup.exe,  and select the desired drive and path. Then click the

Install button.

MinuteMan does not make any modifications or entries to the

W95/98/NT Registry,  nor  to any W95/98/NT System files. It will simply make

the new MinuteMan Data Backup directories, and copy the necessary  files into

the appropriate directories, while adding a MinuteMan Shortcut to  the Start menu.

Shareware Pkunzip.exe by Pkware is copied to the root directory C when you

install MinuteMan if one doesn't exist. Licensed Pkunzip.exe distributed to

registered customers.

Setup troubleshooting:

If you have problems installing  MinuteMan Data Backup, that

may happen because you  don't have some of the DLLs up to

date, download and install  the VB5run2 with the OCX update.

You may need to reinstall the VB5run twice.

http://www.mslm.com/free.htm

If you have a command line in the Autoexec.bat  to  delete

W95/98/NT temporary files in the C:\Windows\Temp upon startup then

when installing the VB5run update, it will not take affect if it prompts

you to restart computer because the computer DLLs are out dated.

Remove the line from the Autoexec.bat when you are installing

programs that requires a reboot.

It is recommended to empty the Windows\Temp folder and Windows\Recent

if you selected to install from the Zip file.

None English:  If MinuteMan is installed in a none English W95/98/NT, it

should make all shortcuts to the Startup Folder and Start Menu, if it didn't

then there is something wrong with the installation.

REINSTALL:

Available only with the registered version.

When reinstalling, don't delete the previous {older} MinuteMan directory,

nor the MinuteMan.exe. Merely selecting the "Reinstall" command,

it will update and replace all files and recreate any missing folders, while

keeping your previous {old} configuration safely intact.

Take care  to see that the correct path to the previous installation is shown

in the path window

UNINSTALL:

Shareware Version:

To uninstall the full version, go to the Control Panel\Add Remove

Programs, scroll down to MinMan and click the Add\Remove button.

Registered Version:

To remove {uninstall} MinuteMan correctly, simply delete

the entire  MinuteMan directory.

And if they exist, delete the shortcuts found in

C:\Windows\Startmenu\Programs, and n

C:\Windows\Startmenu\Programs\Startup\MinuteChild.lnk

It is recommended to keep the VB5run update because it will work with

other VB 5.0 applications that call for it. But if for some reason you

need to remove it, go to the Control Panel\Add Remove Programs

and select to uninstall the VB5run2 update.

Multi Installation:

In order to be able to backup more than 14 backups available, you can

install MinuteMan in more than one directory and have more

instances of MinuteMan, rename Shortcuts in the Start Menu and the

Startup Folders, but can't use Timed or Startup backups on all of them.

SHAREWARE

MinuteMan most features gets disabled after 30 runs, the Restore

section stays functional.


Backup

SELECT and configure Source and Destination paths:

Local computer:

Click the Browse button.

Browse and select the directory or file to be

backed up. (be sure yellow folder is opened

or the file highlighted.)

Then double click the appropriate window under

Source on the main form.

Double click the window that has the wildcards

\*.* to remove it, it has to be blank if you

are backing up a file.

Do the same with Destination path, be sure to

give the destination zip file a name or remove

the name if you are not using zipping.

Suggest to change the default zip backup name.

e.g. instead backup1.zip, name it: Notes.zip,

C_drive.zip, Windows.zip or Misc.zip.

Backup will not commence unless the Add check

box is selected.

Network computer:

Click the Browse button.

Enter computer name and drive of the computer

you are backing to or from. Once entered,

click the Network button to connect to the Network Drive.

Follow instructions as above To transfer path.

Once transfered e.g.

\\Computer Name\Drive\Directory

\\Joe\C\Backup

Or select the mapped drive and it will automatically connect to the

Network computer restrieving the UNC path from the mapped drive.

Don't click Disc Net button, unless you have Network connectivity

problems or want to disconnect from the other computer drive.

Click Local to browse back into your computer.

Permissions has to be set by the Administrator in order to copy to

or from a Network drive.

Drive Label or Volume: If you are backing regularly on a same

removable disk, such as Zip disk. To avoid backing up to the wrong disk,

make the backup to a unique folder in the Zip disk. MinuteMan

will not backup if it can't find the folder.

ERROR MESSAGES:

If path Source or destination are configured wrong then Minuteman will

turn these controls of that backup to red color and will not do that backup

unless you reconfigure the paths and click the Reset button.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Error messages appear under the Lat Backup window

in place of the backup date stamp.

File orFolder: Under File Or Folder select the wildcards (*.*) for

folder, double click it to remove it if backing up a file.

Source Path: Source path can't be found.

If you have a the zip file name in the destination path and the Zip

check box is not selected then you will get the Path ERROR displayed

in the Backup Date window.

Network ERROR: Same as Path ERROR except the path can't be

found in the NETWORK drive or permissions not set.

Zipname ERROR: That means you didn't give the zip backup a name

or extension.

Zipping Error: That means an error occured while backing up mostly

because:

- Data is opened and MinuteMan is unable to access files being backed up.

- Running out of space.

- You have excluded every thing in the Exclude option and there is nothing

  to backup.

- You didn't exclude the Registry and profile files in WinNT while backing

  up the WinNT directory.

- Unable to read a corrupted file.

Time ERROR: That means the time you selected is entered wrong.

Password ERROR: Means you have selected for the zip file to be

encrypted but you didn't enter a password.

If you are backing up a drive then Source should be C:, don't enter C:\.

Network path example:

\\Computer name\Drive\

\\Jones\C\Folder Name

Don't use mapped drive name, use actual drive letter on the Network

computer.

Or select the mapped drive and it will automatically connect to the

Network computer restrieving the UNC path from the mapped drive.

You can zip more backups than the pre configured backups, click

Options\Zip and Unzip and Incremental zip.

MinuteMan Extras

LFN Backup and Restore:

Long File Names backup and restore. Use it to backup Long File

Names in case you had to restore from DOS.

AttriBat

If you  restore a backup from MS-DOS, then files that

have the Read-Only, Hidden and System attributes will

not be restored from backup unless you set their attributes

to Normal.

MinuteScout:

MinuteScout is one of MinuteMan Data backup extras.

MinuteScout is made to backup critical work in progress, it will

repeat backups per interval minutes set.

Might not work on some programs if they are opened and can't be

accessed.

Remember that double clicking and clicking is how to edit windows

or get information.

Double click the Backup date to get information about the backup.

Double click the the little Window next to the Zip check box to view

Zip options applied for that backup.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the control titles located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.


MinuteChild

MinuteChild

MinuteChild(MinChild.exe) shortcut has to be added to the Startup

folder to run  Timed or Startup backups, it is added automatically

when you select Timed or Startup backups.

MinuteChild is used because it uses less resources to monitor

timed backups or start at Startups.

MinuteChild does three functions:

1) If you are using Timed backup, then MinuteChild monitors

scheduled backups, once time is up, it will open MinuteMan

and will close itself, when backup is done and you exit MinuteMan

it will open MinuteChild and close itself.

120 seconds delay is set in MinuteChild before it opens up MinuteMan,

another 10 seconds delay is set before MinuteMan will execute backups.

You can change the 120 seconds in MinuteChild.

The delay is used to avoid instant backups upon Windows startup,

because it could clash with other programs such as antivirus, also

the computer needs few seconds to settle down.

2) If you are using Startup backup, upon Startup MinuteChild is executed

and it will check if any backups are due.

If any due then it will open MinuteMan after the set delay and will

close itself.

If none due then it will close itself.

Note: Unlike Timed Backup, MinuteMan will not open MinuteChild when

you close it, but it will check if any backups are due next time you start

the computer

Once MinuteMan is opened, it will prompt you to whether to commence

backup or not.

3) If MinuteMan Scheduling feature is used then MinuteChild will execute

schedules without opening MinuteMan.

Click the Scheduling button and configure it to run tasks to run other

programs.

Scheduling can be used in both Timed and Manual backups.

Don't let the Scheduler confuse you, the feature is to run other

programs(3rd party) at certain times.

It has nothing to do with MinuteMan auto backup.

It is an added feature, if you are using Timed backups and Minutechild

is running in the background then MinuteChild will run tasks for you too.


Restore

To restore from Windows

Click the Restore+ button.

There click B1, B2, B3 through B14 to transfer backup paths,

Click Restore Zipped backup and it will decompress data

and restore to where it was backed up.

Enter password if zip backup was encrypted.

WARNING:

If you have selected the Check box in the Zip Options not to

save the name of the first directory, then when you select to unzip

and restore from a Zipped backup, it will NOT create the first directory.

But if you didn't select it then it will create the first directory,

so if you are unzipping to a temporary directory then be sure

that there is nothing in the Temp directory, otherwise it will get

mixed up with the files and directories in the Temp directory.

Example: Let us say that you backed up C:\MyNotes directory,

and you have selected the check box in the Zip Options, not to save

the first directory name "No Dir Name", when you restore to C:\Mynotes

directory then it will over write all files and directories, but it will not create the

C:\MyNotes directory.

So if you want to unzip the backup to C:\Temp, then be sure that C:\Temp

is completely empty, otherwise it will get mixed up with files in C:\Temp.

But if you have NOT selected the check box then it will make

Mynotes directory, and it will unzip to another directory called Mynotes.

Suggest that you practice with zip unzip feature and get familiarized

with it before backing up your important data.

LFN Backup and Restore:

Long File Names backup and restore, use it to backup Long File

Names in case you had to restore from DOS.

To restore from DOS

Registered owners of MinuteMan get a registered and licensed copy

of Pkunzip.exe.

Shareware version of MinuteMan get a Shareware version of Pkunzip.exe.

AttriBat

If you  restore a backup from MS-DOS, then files that

have the Read-Only, Hidden and System attributes will

not be restored from backup unless you set their attributes

to Normal.

That is also true if you use any DOS unzip software, they have the

switches to restore Hidden, Read Only and System but will not overwrite

a Read-Only file or folder.

AttriBat.exe will search the hard drive for files and folders that have

Read-Only, Hidden and System attributes and make 2 batch files

AtNorm.bat(name optional) and AtRest.bat(name optional) :

1) Run AtNorm.bat to set all Read Only, Hidden and

System attributes to Normal.

AttriBat will also make restore batch files to restore using Pkunzip.exe

Click Help\Help in AttriBat for more.

Then restore from backup or manipulate all files and folders in MS-DOS.

2) When done, run AtRest.bat it will restore all files and folders attributes

to their original attributes.

These batch files has to be made in Windows and should be stored in the

root directory C. Or store them in the backup drive.

You should keep AtNorm.bat and AtRest.bat in the root directory

C all the time, a day will come that you might need them.

Example on how to use Pkunzip.exe:

(Remember AttriBat will make the basic Pkunzip restore batch

file for you)

1)

Pkunzip -d  D:\Backup\test.zip C:\Temp

This will extract Test.zip from D:\Backup to C:\Temp, the

-d stands for extracting zip files, directories and subdirectories.

2)

Pkunzip -do  D:\Backup\test.zip C:\Temp

The added o switch to the -d switch, extracts and copies without prompting.

3)

Pkunzip -do  D:\Backup\test.zip C:\Temp -sPassword

This will extract all files without prompting, the -sPassword is,

-s used to decrypt an encrypted zip backup and the Password is the

password word used, case sensitive.

4)

Pkunzip -do  D:\Backup\test.zip C:\Temp -sPassword -t

-t switch added here, this tests your zip file without extracting

to be sure backup is all OK.

5)

Pkunzip -do  A:\Backup\test.zip -$ C:\Temp

This will restore incremental backups from a removable media.

6) (Made by AttriBat)

Pkunzip -Jhsr C:\Windows.ZIP C:\Windows -do

It will extract Windows.zip to the Windows directory,

-Jhsr (J is upper case) stands for, extract all files with

Hidden, Read-Only and System files.

-do The d stands for recurse and the o stands to overwrite without

prompting.

Pkunzip doesn't overwrite Read-Only files or folders, use AttriBat

to set all files and folders attributes to normal before restoring,

then restore files and folders attributes.

Pkunzip has the following command line options:

-c[m]             extract files to Console [with More]

-d                restore/create Directory structure stored in .ZIP file

-e[c|d|e|n|p|r|s] Extract files.  Sort by [CRC | Date | Extension | Name

                   | Percentage | Reverse | Size]

-f                Freshen files in destination directory

-j|J<h,r,s>       mask|don't mask <Hidden/System/Readonly> files

(def.=jhrs)

-n                extract only Newer files

-o                Overwrite previously existing files

-p[a/b][c][#]     extract to Printer [Asc mode,Bin mode,Com port] [port #]

-q                Enable ANSI comments

-s[pwd]           Decrypt with password [If no pwd is given, prompt for

pwd]

-t                Test .ZIP file integrity

-v[b][r][m][t]    View .ZIP [Brief][Reverse][More][Technical] sort by [CRC|

  [c,d,e,n,o,p,s] Date|Extension|Name|natural

Order(default)|Percentage|Size]

-x<filespec>      eXclude file(s) from extraction

-$                Restore volume label on destination drive

-@listfile        Generate list file

Type Pkunzip at the Command prompt to view above switches.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


Auto Backup

There are two ways to auto backup:

Timed Backup:

If you are using Timed backup then Timed Backup

has to be selected from the main form in order to add

time and days to backups.

Click the SetTime button to select auto backup days and time.

Select backup days then double click the appropriate

window in the main form under Days.

Select the backup time, and double click the appropriate

window under Time in the main form.

If you are using Long time Format (e.g. 17:30:03) then the AM/PM

will be blank.

Once done, from menu click Options\Add to Startup.

To clear the windows that has days or time, double click them when

the SetTime dialog box is hidden.

Startup Backup: To do Startup backups, Startup Backup has

to be selected in the main form.

It backs upon Startup if:

The latest backup is older than the Interval time assigned.

Click the SetTime button to set Autobackup days and time.

Select the Interval hours from the Interval window,

1 to 999 hours (999 is about 40 days), and double click the

appropriate window in the main form under Interval.

Once done, from menu click Options\Add to Startup.

All entered time settings will be ignored.

Add To Startup:

Click Options\Add to Startup.

That will add MinuteChild to the Startup folder, have to be

done if you have selected Timed or Startup backups.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


Compression
Compression (Zipping)

Zip Options:

NOTES:

a) *.swp *.tmp and *.gid *.cnt *.chk and MinuteMan Zip Temp folder

    are already excluded.

    (*.swp are Win95/NT swapfile)(*.cnt and *.gid are help temps)

    (*.chk are lost clusters files saved by Scandisk)

b) Hidden, system and read only files are zipped by default.

c) Directories and Subdirectories are zipped by default.

    Select No Subdir if you want to backup only files.

d) File directory and subdirectories path are saved by default.

e) The Check box under Zip is selected by default.

f)  If you are backing up the Windows directory then it is very important

    to exclude the Temp, Temporary Internet Files, History and Cache.

End notes

***********

1) If you selected No Dir name, Don't save the first directory name,

then  it will not create the first directory when unzipping, so if

you are unzipping to a temporary directory then be sure that there

is nothing in the  Temp directory, otherwise it will get mixed up with

the files and directories in the Temp directory.

Recommended to be used on large backups so when you unzip

it will replace and overwrite the complete backed up directory.

Example: Let us say that you backed up C:\MyNotes directory,

and you have selected the check box in the Zip Options under

No Dir name, when you restore to C:\MyNotes directory then

it will overwrite all files and directories, but it will not create the

C:\MyNotes directory.

So if you want to unzip the backup to C:\Temp, then be sure that C:\Temp

is completely empty, otherwise it will get mixed up with files in C:\Temp.

Suggest that you practice with zip unzip feature and get familiarized

with it before backing up your important data.

2) If you selected No Subdir, Not to zip Subdirectories then it will zip

only the files in that directory but none of the subdirectories.

3) Exclude and Include:

You can exclude or include zipping files and subdirectories example:

*.hlp readme.* C:\Temp\*.* C:\MyData\OldData\*.*

Notice the one space between each item selected.

It will exclude all files with the extension  *.hlp  space, all files that are named

readme.*  space, subdirectory  C:\Temp\*.*  space,  C:\MyData\OldData\*.*

Be careful here, if you use the Include then only those files and folders are

backed up, and files that are in the Exclude will be excluded from the Included

list. Make a test Run.

But if you have the Include window blank and you added items to the

Exclude then it will backup the whole directory except the files and

subdirectories that are added to Exclude.

MinuteMan will automatically detect if items added to Include and exclude.

Items have to be entered very accurately, again:

.*.hlp^readme.*^C:\Temp\*.*^C:\MyData\OldData\*.*.

. No spaces at all.

^ One space only.

Include Example:  If you want everything backed up then leave the Include

window empty(blank). But if you want to select few subdirectories but exclude

some files then follow the example below.

Let us say you have C:\MyData folder and has many

subdirectories and files in it, but you want to backup only

C:\MyData\TodayData\*.*  and  C:\MyData\YesterdayData\*.* but you don't

want files that has the .exe extension or any files called  scratch.txt.

In the Include Window add:

C:\MyData\TodayData\*.* C:\MyData\YesterdayData\*.*

in the Exclude window add:

*.exe Scratch.*

Notice the one space between each item selected.

This will backup the directories

C:\MyData\TodayData\*.* C:\MyData\YesterdayData\*.* only but will not

backup any files inside these two subdirectories with the .exe extension

or with any files called Scratch.

Include is little hard to figure out, use it to backup selected files or Subdirectories

of a large directory. e.g. Backup all *.bmp files in the C:\ drive.

Or all the *.doc files in Program files or Microsoft Office.

Or all the *.doc *.xls *.wk3 *.ppt in Program files.

Exclude Example: Exclude is simple, be sure to leave the Include Window

empty(blank) and add the files and subdirectories that you don't want to be

included in the backup.

*.hlp readme.* C:\Temp\*.* C:\MyData\OldData\*.*

NOTE 1:

On some computers, if you are Including subdirectories with long file names

and there is a space in the name, e.g. C:\Yesterday Data\*.* then you may

need to add quotations marks around the item, e.g. "C:\Yesterday Data\*.*"

NOTE 2:

If you selected the Include then you can't select the

"Don't save first directory  name" No Dir Name option.

4) Backup by file date or by days:

Select (Mon Day Year) in the scroll bars of files dates to be zipped,

once selected, double click the window below it to transfer date.

It backs up files with the date entered and newer.

e.g. 062598, that is June 25, 1998, It will backup files dated Jun 25, 1998

and newer only.

Backup by days: It will always backup files by days old and newer.

e.g: You want to backup files that are 7 days old and newer, scroll to

7 and double click the date window, it will calculate the date minus 7 days,

it will recalculate and updates window before commencing each backup.

If today's date is Nov 19, 1998, once transferred the date window will

be 111298-7.

If you don't want to backup by days then the date should be six figures

only 062598, otherwise it will backup by the days selected on the right

side of the hyphen.

5) Zip Temp Path:

When zipping, it needs a temporary directory to create and make the

zip file, the Temp folder used in MinuteMan is the subdirectory Temp in

the MinuteMan directory where it is installed, you can change the Temp

path any where you see suitable.

Its already pre excluded from being zipped.

6) Update only:

It is a time saver, backups are done about ten times faster.

If selected, first time backup will take the required time to zip,

but the next time you zip it updates the backup replacing older

files with newer ones and adds files.

But doesn't replace newer files with older ones, be careful here again.

Let us say you replaced bad new files with old good files in your original data,

when you backup then the new files in the backup will not be replaced

with the old good files. Better start a new backup or delete the new bad files

in the backup too.

7) Encryption:

Click Password and type in a password, select the check box under

Encrypt on the backup you want encrypted. Same password used

for all backups.

You can use different password in the Manual zip feature when you

click Options\Zip, Unzip and incremintal zipping.

Be sure to write the password down because it will be also encrypted

and invisible. If you forget the password then send us an Email.

8) Rotary:

Uses the Rotary backup method.

Select Rotary backup, every time you backup, oldest backup get deleted,

older backups gets renamed and new backup gets created.

e.g. Before new Backup1.zip gets created,

2_Backup1.zip gets deleted,

1_Backup1.zip renamed to 2_Backup1.zip,

Backup1.zip renamed to 1_Backup1.zip,

a new Backup1.zip gets created.

So backup 2_Backup1.zip is the oldest and

Backup1.zip is the newest.

9) Don't Silent Zip:

Don't Silent Zip is selected by default now, deslect it when every

thing is running normal and you are familiar with MinuteMan.

Select  if you want backup NOT to be silent, which means you will

prompted for errors.

Also displays progressbar if you selected not to zip backup.

Should not be selected if you want backup to be automatic.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


TroubleShooting

If button becomes red colored then the backup path configuration

is wrong, click Reset Er to restore to original color.

Backup will not commence if button color is red.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Error messages appear under the Lat Backup window

in place of the backup date stamp.

File orFolder: Under File Or Folder select the wildcards (*.*) for

folder, double click it to remove it if backing up a file.

Source Path: Source path can't be found.

If you have a the zip file name in the destination path and the Zip

check box is not selected then you will get the Path ERROR displayed

in the Backup Date window.

Network ERROR: Same as Path ERROR except the path can't be

found in the NETWORK drive or permissions not set.

Zipname ERROR: That means you didn't give the zip backup a name

or extension.

Zipping Error: That means an error occured while backing up mostly

because:

- Data is opened and MinuteMan is unable to access files being backed up.

- Running out of space.

- You have excluded every thing in the Exclude option and there is nothing

  to backup.

- You didn't exclude the Registry and profile files in WinNT while backing

  up the WinNT directory.

- Unable to read a corrupted file.

Time ERROR: That means the time you selected is entered wrong.

Password ERROR: Means you have selected for the zip file to be

encrypted but you didn't enter a password.

If you are backing up a drive then Source should be C:, don't enter C:\.

Network path example:

\\Computer name\Drive\

\\Jones\C\Folder Name

Don't use mapped drive name, use actual drive letter on the Network

computer.

Setup errors:  If you have a command line in the Autoexec.bat  to  delete

Win95 temporary files in the C:\Windows\Temp upon startup then

when installing the VB5run update, it will not take affect if it prompts

you to restart computer because the computer DLLs are out dated.

Remove the line from the Autoexec.bat when you are installing

programs that requires a reboot.

Regarding Exit, and .dat files:

On Exit MinuteMan feeds back all the information into:

Files with .dat extension in the MinuteMan directory.

Should  any of the dat get corrupted then MinuteMan will not start,

copy  all .dat files to a temporary directory, delete all .dat files in the

MinuteMan directory then add them back one at a time to see which

is the corrupted one. If you just delete them then you will loose all

configuration settings and have to enter the registration code again.

MinuteMan creates new .dat files if none are found, so when you do

move back the .dat files as explained above, you need to over write

those already there.

In normal use, you should have no problem with the DAT files.

If MinuteMan becomes slow starting, open it and delete all .dat

files in the MinuteMan directory, then close MinuteMan. Backup

the .dat files before deleting.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Please do not move, change, or open any of the MinuteMan files Nor open

any folders named  "Date1.txt" through Date14.txt. These files are used

to check the date/time stamp when backup was made. If you should make

changes on any of those files, the information will be changed and will

reflect the wrong  date/time stamp.

If you should double click any of the .dat files in the MinuteMan folder,

and you selected to open it with Notepad, it's icon may change to an

Notepad icon. how do I restore it?

If that happens, backup the Registry FIRST, then open Windows Explorer,

selecting View\Options\File types. Scroll down, highlight  the "Dat file"

and click the "Remove" button.

Be very careful while in the File types dialog, don't delete other files

unless you know what you are doing.

None English:  If MinuteMan is installed in a non English Win95, it should

make all shortcuts to the Startup Folder and Start Menu, if it didn't then

there is something wrong with the installation.

Downloading, unzipping and installing:

Sometimes, when you unzip a download and install it from the zipping

software, the zipping software doesn't clean behind it and delete the

temp folder it created in the Windows\Temp folder.

If you get wierd error messages, close all applications and empty the

Windows\Temp folder, if you still get error messages then delete the

contents of thw Windows\Recent folder.

Click the red ? mark to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


FAQ

Q) How do you recommend to backup the whole boot drive ?

A) Backup the C drive and exclude the Windows directory,

    then do another backup to the Windows directory and subdirectories only

    (see note).

    Be sure to backup Long File names using LFN Backup and restore

    because if you restore from DOS then you are going to loose Long File

    names.

    If you have to restore then restore the Windows directory only from DOS,

    start computer then restore LFN from LFN backup, then restore the

    C drive.

    You may need to restore the registry again from DOS, ERS is a good

    System files backup and restore program and is a must have.

    http://www.mslm.com

    After backing up, run AttriBat to make restore batch files.

    Before restoring from MS-DOS run AtNorm.bat, than run

    AtRest.bat after the restoration, it will reset files attributes to their

    original attributes. To Access AttriBat click

    Options\Make DOS Restore Batch Files.

    Note: In WinNT, you can't backup the registry files and NTuser.dat

    files, be sure to exclude them from being backed up

    ERS NT, does registry and NTuser.dat files backup on FAT systems

    only. http://www.mslm.com/ersnt.htm

Q) My Source and Destination path are configured right but

     I still get Path Error?

A) Be sure you have the window next to Source \*.* selected

    if backing up a folder and deselected if backing up a file only,

    also if Zipping backup, be sure the Zip file name and extension

    is there.

Q) How do I clear the Time and Mode windows?

A) Double click them while the Browse dialog box is hidden.

Q) The Source and Path Windows are too short, how can I

     view the paths in full?

A) Click the Date Stamp window of that backup, longer windows

    and more details will show in the Status bar at the bottom of

    MinuteMan.

Q) How can I view my selected Zip options, Include and Exclude

     items without opening the Zip Options dialog ?

A)  Next to the zip check boxes, there is a little Window.

     A star will show if Zip Options are selected for that backup,

     click the little window to view selected zip options for that backup

     in the Status bar.

Q) How can I get more help in MinuteMan?

A) There is many ways to get more help in MinuteMan.

    1) ToolTips, some of the controls have ToolTips, bring the

        mouse pointer to the control and a Tool tip should pop up.

    2) Read the bottom of this page.

    3) Click Help\Get started.

    4) Click the red question mark button in the Browse dialog box

        for Step by step instructions.

    5) In Zip Options, open the Drop down menus for examples,

        reminders and instructions.

Q) How long can I use MinuteMan as a shareware?

A) MinuteMan most features gets disabled after thirty trials.

Q) I forgot my Zipping password, how can I get my password.

A) Send us an Email.

Q) I don't understand what is the Scheduler option?

A) You can run other programs with the scheduler, rather than

    wasting resources and using other Schedulers to run tasks.

Q) When I try to install MinuteMan, I get error message that there

     is no free hard disk space, while I am sure there is plenty of

     hard disk space?

A) Sometimes, when you unzip a download and install it from the

     zipping software, the zipping software doesn't clean behind it

     and delete the temp folder it created in the Windows\Temp folder.

     If you get wierd error messages, close all applications and empty

     the Windows\Temp folder, if you still get error messages then

     delete the contents of thw Windows\Recent folder.

     Be sure to empty the Recycle Ben.

Q) Does MinuteMan able to backup on Tape and CDRs ?

A) If the CDR has the Direct CD feature then MInuteMan can

    backup to the CDRs if Direct CD is enabled and is running.

    (Direct CD is a feature that allows to copy and delete to a CDR

    like you would to any drive in the Windows Explorer, but limited

    by having to have the Direct CD software enabling the feature on

    each CDR and on each startup).

Q) I selected to backup one file only, but MinuteMan backed up all

    similar files in the same directory?

A) Be sure to select "No SubDir" in Zip Options.

FAQ will get larger when you start asking more questions.

Click the red ? button to explain controls in the Status bar

at the bottom of MinuteMan forms, click again to remove feature.

Bring the mouse pointer over the  Controls located at the top

and the far right of the MinuteMan program to read Tooltips or

tips in the Status bar.

Click The Date Stamp Window to view backup detail in status bar.

Click the little window next to the Zip check box to view Zip Options in detail.


Registration

Support shareware, please pay the low registration fee.

(Shipping not included).

MinuteMan most features gets disabled after thirty trials.

Pricing:

MinuteMan $25 US$ that is single user

2 to 9 licenses @ $22

10 to 24 licenses @ $20

24 to 50 licenses @ $17

50 to 100 licenses @ $15

Contact us for over 100 licenses.

Government, schools, colleges and large institutes contact publisher

and non profit organizations for special pricing.

Shipping and handling:(applies only if you can't download software)

US $6 Within USA and Canada, one time mailing.

US $8 all other countries, one time mailing.

Credit Card: Credit cards are processed through a high security,

reputable Credit Card processing agency, linked from MinuteMan homepage

http://www.mslm.com

Checks made from outside the US has to say "Payable to a US bank" on it.

If you pay by check, cashiers check or money order, please make them

payable to:

Theodore Fattaleh

1834 S Bentley Av. #202

West Los Angeles, CA 90025

USA

http://www.mslm.com  same as        http://www.multisyslaunch.com

Email addresses are.(If you get returned mail, please try a

different address.)

My Email addresses are:

2000@msn.com

twf@flash.net

2000ted@compuserve.com

Upon registration, you get the disabled functions of MinuteMan enabled.

E-mail support: Updated version notifications of MinuteMan, and other

news will be sent via E-mail to our subscriber list.

Name:___________________________________

Your real name exactly as you want it to appear in the About

Window, for technical reasons initials cannot be accepted.

Address:__________________________________

             __________________________________

             __________________________________

             __________________________________

Your E-mail address: _______________________

IMPORTANT: If you don't hear from us in a few days, be sure to send

an E-mail, because a few folks mistakenly send a wrong E-mail address.