Contents
MinuteMan Data Backup

         MinuteMan Data Backup

         For Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000

•	About

•	Features

•	Get Started

•	Legal Agreement

•	Install and Unistall

•	Backup

•	Restore

•	AutoBackup

•	MinuteChild

•	Zip Options

•	Menus, Buttons and Columns

•	MinuteMan Extras

•	Trouble Shooting

•	FAQ

•	Backup hints

•	Registration


About

MinuteMan Data Backup Suite

MinZip  &  MinSelfex

For Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000

Copyright © 1997/98/99/00. All Rights Reserved.

Theodore Fattaleh author, programmer and publisher.

All Program Names are Registered Trademarks of their

Respective Owner.

http://www.mslm.com

Email addresses:

twf@flash.net

2000@msn.com

2000ted@csi.com


Features

MinuteMan Data Backup

For Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000

Configure and save up to 60 backup configuration.

Select Timed backups, Startup backups or manual backups.

MinuteMan uses MinuteChild which uses less resources to monitor

Timed backups or check backups on Windows Startups.

Option to add unlimited task scheduling to MinuteChild.

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

Backup to CD-R or CD-RW if the if "Direct CD" feature is enabled and

can be accessed as any drive.

Incremental Zip (spanning) to removable media.

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.

Option to Skip locked files.

Directories and subdirectories or full drive backup.

Include or exclude files or subdirectories.

Backup by files date or by days passed.

Rotary backup.

Encryption and many other zip options.

Backup log, click Tools\View Backup log.

Backups are made 5 to 10 times faster with the zip Update option.

Progress bar displaying zipping action.

MinuteMan will zip and backup without errors.

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

multi directory 32 bit compression agent, it will compress multi

directories and maintain every file path, with many zip options.

MinuteMan Extras

Please read the MinuteMan Extras section in this help file.

MinZip 32 bit zipping and unzipping software with above

zip options and option to save configuration.

MinSelfEx 32 bit self extracting EXE packager with option to split

the self extracting EXE to a size of your choice.

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.

AttriBat 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.

It also makes Pkunzip.exe restore batch file.

MinuteMan has a license to include Pkunzip.exe, copy of the license

included in the MinuteMan software.

Drive Info: Click Tools\Drive Info to read hard drives free and used space.

SHAREWARE

MinuteMan most features gets disabled after 30 runs, the Restore

section stays functional.

MinZip runs with all functions but with a nag screen after zipping

or unzipping.

Bring the mouse pointer over the Controls located at the top

to read Tooltips.

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

Click on the Question mark located at the far top right corner,

bring mouse pointer to any of the controls to show popup help.


Get Started

Local computer

Click the "Browse" button, or right click any of the cells under

Source and select from menu.

Browse and select the directory or file to be backed up.

(be sure yellow folder is opened or the file highlighted, this

will show selected path in the upper text box.)

Click on the desired cell under "Source", then click the "Transfer"

button to transfer path to selected cell.

Right click the window that has the wildcards \*.* to clear it,

it has to be blank if you are backing up a file.

Do the same with Destination path, give the destination a zip

file name with zip extension or remove the name if you are

not using zipping.

Backup will not commence unless the "Add" check box is selected.

(Press the Enter key to change cell Select mode to Edit mode).

Please read the Zip Options about Zip Options.

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.

Suggest to do the same on Network drives in case the physical drive

got changed without being told.

Network computer

Network computer path has to be in UNC format using the actual

physical drive letter name.

If you know the physical drive letter name then 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.

Enter password and use ID if applicable.

Follow instructions above on how to transfer path.

If you don't know the physical drive letter name then select the mapped

drive from the Drive selector and it will automatically retrieve the UNC path

and connect to the Network computer drive.

e.g. transferred path:

\\Computer Name\Drive\Shared Directory

\\joe\C\Backup

Enter USER ID and Password if share requires them.

You need to re-enter USER ID and Password for each backup

Source and/or Destination in the main form, click the Network

menu option (it will be grayed if Source or Destination is not a

Network drive).

Passwords will be saved, hidden and encrypted.

Timed Backup:

Click the "Set Time" button or double click any of the cells under

"Backup Time" to set auto backup days and time.

Select backup days then click the "Days" button to transfer

selected days to the cell under "Days or Interval".

Select the backup time then click the "Time" button to transfer

selected time under "Backup Time".

To clear the windows that has days or time, right click cell and

select Clear, or click Edit\Clear.

Click Options\Add to Startup, then select the Timed check box on

the main form after done making configuration.

Startup Backup:

Click the "Set Time" button or double click any of the cells under

"Days or Interval" to set auto backup interval hours.

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

Interval button to transfer selected hours.

It will check all backups time on Windows startups and will open MinuteMan

if any of the backups interval hours has passed.

Click Options\Add to Startup, then select the Startup check box on

the main form after done making configuration.

Note: Time settings under Time will be ignored.

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

Once all backups are configured, double check your work, test configuration

using the "Check" button, then select the Check box under Add, backup will

not commence unless the "Add" check boxes are selected.

If path Source or destination are configured wrong then MinuteMan will

turn the Add check box of that backup to red color and will not do backup

on the failed backup unless you reconfigure the path, re-select the "Add"

check box and click the Reset button.

Select the Timed or Startup backup and click the Exit button, if Timed Backup

were selected then MinuteChild should popup automatically to monitor backup

time.

Click the Hide button, to hide it.

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

To Restore Zipped backups or extract files from backup, click on any backup cell

and click the Restore button, MinZip will popup,

click View Zip to select and restore files only or click the Unzip button

to restore the whole backup.

You may need to reconfigure the Destination, depending on whether

you selected to recurse backup or not and whether you selected

to save the first directory name or not.(Explained in the Zip Options section)

Click the Password button and enter password if zip backup was encrypted.

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

Click the Options menu and select "MinZip and Incremental zip", for

incremental(spanning) zipping or to zip other data than the scheduled backups.

Click Options\View Log to view backups log file.

Remember right click and select from menu to Edit cells.

Or select the appropriate button at the top.

Bring the mouse pointer over the control(buttons and check boxes)

located at the top, or the column headers to read Tooltips.

(Press the Enter key to change cell Select mode to Edit mode).

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

Click on the Question mark located at the far top right corner,

bring mouse pointer to any of the controls to show popup help.


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:

Double click self extracting minman.exe and select to extract files to a

temporary folder, then double click Setup.exe and select the desired drive

and path and install it.

MinuteMan does not make any modifications to the W95/98/ME/NT/2000 Registry

other than registering the DLLs and OCXs, nor to any W95/98/ME/NT/2000 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

Shortcuts to  the Start menu.

If one doesn't exist shareware Pkunzip.exe by Pkware is copied to the root

directory C when you install MinuteMan . Licensed Pkunzip.exe distributed to

registered customers.

Find Pkware license to include Pkunzip.exe with MinuteMan in the download.

Pkunzip.exe is used to restore from MS-DOS only, MinuteMan uses state

of the art 32bit compression DLLs and OCXs.

Setup troubleshooting:

If you have a command line in the Autoexec.bat to delete W95/98/ME

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

installing minman.exe, the installation 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.

None English:  If MinuteMan is installed in a none English W95/98/ME/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:

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

nor any MinuteMan files.

Merely download about 400 KB version and select the "Reinstall" button,

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 setup path window

UNINSTALL:

To uninstall MinuteMan:

Don't use any third party programs or Windows to uninstall MinuteMan.

Open the MinuteMan directory and double click the Remove.exe,

Click and run the first button "Remove MinZip From the Context Menu", then

click and run the second button "Remove MinSelfEx From the Context Menu",

lastly click and run the "Remove MinuteMan"

This will unregister all MinuteMan DLLs, OCXs and remove them but will

not remove shared Windows DLLs and OCXs that were installed with

MinuteMan.

Multi Installation:

If you want to be able to backup more than 60 backups, or more than

one person uses the same computer and would like to have their own

MinuteMan, then 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, you can use only one Timed backup if multi installations.

SHAREWARE

MinuteMan most features gets disabled after 30 runs.

MinZip doesn't expire and stays fully functional with a nag screen.

MinSelfEx doesn't expire and stays fully functional.


Backup

SELECT and configure Source and Destination paths

Local computer

Click the "Browse" button, or right click any of the cells under

Source.

Browse and select the directory or file to be backed up.

(be sure yellow folder is opened or the file highlighted, this

will show selected path in the upper text box.)

Click on the desired cell under "Source", then click the "Transfer"

button to transfer path to selected cell.

Right click the window that has the wildcards \*.* to clear it,

it has to be blank if you are backing up a file.

Do the same with Destination path, give the destination a zip

file name with zip extension or remove the name if you are

not using zipping.

Backup will not commence unless the "Add" check box in the first column

is selected.

(Press the Enter key to change cell Select mode to Edit mode).

Please read the Zip Options about many MinuteMan

Zip Options.

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.

Suggest to do the same on Network drives in case the physical drive

got changed without being told.

Network computer

Network computer path better be in UNC format using the actual

physical drive letter name.

If you know the physical drive letter name then 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 on how to transfer path.

If you don't know the physical drive letter name then select the mapped

drive from the Drive selector and it will automatically retrieve the UNC path

and connect to the Network computer drive.

e.g. transferred path:

\\Computer Name\Drive\Shared Directory

\\joe\C\Backup

Enter USER ID and Password if share requires them.

You need to re-enter USER ID and Password for each backup

Source and/or Destination in the main form, click the Network

menu option (it will be grayed if Source or Destination is not a

Network drive).

Passwords will be saved, hidden and encrypted.

Incremental Zipping

Click Tools\MinZip and Incremental zip, for incremental(spanning)

zipping or to zip other data than the scheduled backups.

Click Options\View Log to view backup log file.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Once all backups are configured, double check your work, test

configuration using the "Check" button.

Backup will not commence unless the Check box under "Add" has

been selected.

If path Source or destination are configured wrong then MinuteMan will

turn the Add check box of that backup to red color and will not do the

backup.

Reconfigure paths, re-select the Add check box and click the

Reset button.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Error messages appear in the Last Backup cells, in place of the

backup date stamp.

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

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

Source Path: Source path can't be found, check source path.

Be sure you don't have a back slash at the end, because the

wildcards already have a backslash.

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

Destination Path: Check destination path, be sure you don't have a

backslash at the end if not zipping, and you do have a valid zip

file name with the .zip extension if zipping.

Be sure the Zip check box is selected if zipping and deselected if

not zipping.

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

or extension and you do have the Zip check box selected.

Zipping Error: That means an error occurred 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.

- The date or days in the "Zip By File Date" leaves nothing to zip because

  there is no files with the selected date.

- You didn't exclude the Registry directory and the Profiles directory in

  WinNT if backing up the WinNT directory.

- Unable to read a corrupted file.

- Some files are in use and can't be accessed to be backed up.

  Select the option to "Skip Locked Files that are in use" if you don't if

  files are being used.

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.

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

found in the NETWORK drive, permissions not set, computer is

turned off.

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 convert it to the

UNC path.

Remember that double clicking and right clicking is another way

to edit cells.

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

to read Tooltips or tips in the Status Bar.

MinuteMan Extras

MinZip 32 bit zipping and unzipping software, has the same zip

options as MinuteMan and option to save configuration.

Also have the Incremental(spanning) zip to multi disk feature.

Please read MinZip help.

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.

Please read LFN help.

AttriBat

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

have the Read-Only attributes will not be restored from backup

unless you set their attributes to Normal.

Please read AttriBat help.

MinuteScout:

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.

Please read MinScout help.

Remember that double click, right click and click the Edit menu is

how to edit cells, also press the "Enter" key to change editable cells

from Select mode to Edit mode.

Bring the mouse pointer over the control(buttons and check boxes)

located at the top, or the column headers to read Tooltips.

(Press the Enter key to change editable cell Select mode to Edit mode).

Please read "Backup Hints" section in this help file.


Restore

Restore From Within Windows

Please read the Backup section on how to backup data, drive and

the Windows directory.

To Restore Zipped backups or extract files, click on any of the

backup cells and click the Restore button, MinZip will popup.

Click "View Zip" in MinZip so you can select and restore files only

or click the "Unzip" button to restore the whole backup.

You may need to reconfigure Destination, depending on whether

you selected to recurse backup or not and whether you selected

to save the first directory name or not.

Click the Password button and enter password if zip backup were

encrypted.

If you have selected the Check box 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.(Explained in the Zip Options)

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 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.

But if you did NOT select 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.

It is recommended not to select the "No Dir Name" option, but when you

restore C:\MyNotes then restore it to C: instead of restoring it to C:\MyNotes.

To restore from MS-DOS

It is hard to remember all Pkunzip.exe switches, so MinuteMan will

make the restore batch for you.

Click Tools\Make DOS Restore Batch File with AttriBat.

Note: AttriBat restore batch files restore recursed backups only.

Let us say that you want to make a restore batch file for the Windows

directory. Whether you selected the option "No Dir Name" or not.

The restore batch file should look like this:

Pkunzip -Jhsr C:\WinBack.zip C:\ -do

notice it is restoring to the C drive and not to C:\Windows,

if you restore to C:\Windows then the Windows directory will end up

with two Windows directories C:\Windows\Windows.

Another example, let us say that you want to make a restore batch file

for the C:\Windows\System directory.

The restore batch file should look like this:

Pkunzip -Jhsr C:\SysBack.zip C:\ -do

Registered owners of MinuteMan get a registered and licensed copy

of Pkunzip.exe, to be used with MinuteMan only.

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

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 or lost Long File names.

Find LFN in the StartMenu\Programs\MinuteMan.

AttriBat

Find AttriBat in the StartMenu\Programs\MinuteMan or click

Tools\Make DOS Restore Batch File with AttriBat.

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

Read-Only 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 selected drive or directory for files and folders that

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

to set all files and folder attributes to Normal, then restores from zipped

backup, then restores files and folders attributes.

The backup restore batch files are:

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

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

will set all files and folders attributes to Normal, then executes AtRest.bat

which will restore from zipped backup then restore all files and folders 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 or directory.

Pkunzip.exe, Attrib.exe and Choice.com have to be in the same directory

where the batch files are stored.

You should always 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 a 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 -o 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.

If password is "joe" for example then it will be

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

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)

Note: AttriBat restore batch files restore recursed backups only.

Pkunzip -Jhsr C:\Windows.zip C:\ -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 in C to view above switches.


Auto Backup

There are two ways to do auto backup

Timed Backup:

Click the Set Time button or right click any of the cells under

Backup Time to set auto backup days and time.

Select backup days then click the Days button to transfer

selected days to the cell under "Days or Interval".

Select the backup time then click the Time button to transfer

selected time under "Backup Time".

To clear the windows that has days or time, right click cell and

select Clear, or click Edit\Clear.

After done making configuration, click Options\Add to Startup,

then select the "Timed" check box on the main form.

To backup once every two weeks, once a month or once every two

months. Select appropriate check box and select the day and

time for the backup to commence, click the transfer key to

transfer configuration.

Startup Backup:

Click the SetTime button or right click any of the cells under

Days or Interval to set auto backup interval hours.

Select 1 to 999 hours (999 hours are about 40 days), and click the

Interval button to transfer selected interval hours.

After done making configuration, click Options\Add to Startup,

then select the Startup check box on  the main form. This will

make a MinChild shortcut in the Startup folder.

It will check all backups time on Windows startups and will open

MinuteMan if any of the backups interval hours have passed.

Note: Time settings under Time will be ignored.

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

Select Timed or Startup backup and click the Exit button.

If Timed Backup were selected then MinuteChild should popup

automatically to monitor backup time. Click the Hide button, to hide it.

If Startup backup were selected then MinChild will popup on windows

startups, check if any backups are due, opens MinuteMan if any due

then closes itself.


MinuteChild

MinuteChild

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

folder in order to monitor and run Timed or Startup backups,

it will be added automatically when you select "Timed" or "Startup"

backups.

MinuteChild is used because it uses less resources to monitor

timed backups and puts less load on Windows Startups.

MinuteChild

    Monitors Timed backup if "Timed" backup is selected or

    executes MinuteMan on startups if "Startup" backup is selected.

    Also can be used as a Task Scheduler to run tasks other than

    MinuteMan.

    Also can be used as an alarm to remind you.

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

MinuteChild with the Task Scheduler:

MinuteChild is divided in two windows, upper and lower.

Lower Window:

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

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

will close itself.

A message will popup and stay up for 15 seconds, which can by

passed to resume backup or stop timer.

There, you can select to delay backups by one day or delay backup

by minutes desired.

When backup is done and exit MinuteMan it will open MinuteChild

and close itself.

A 120 seconds(optional) delay is set in MinuteChild before it opens

MinuteMan if backup is due when starting up computer.

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.

You can change the 120 seconds delay in MinuteChild by simply

changing the 120 seconds display.

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

will check if any backups are due.

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

close itself.

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

with backup or not.

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

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

the computer.

Upper Windows:

Upper half runs unlimited tasks. Please click Help\Help in

MinuteChild to read on how to run the Task Scheduler.


Zip Options

Below are zip options explanations that you should get familiarized with.

NOTES:

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

    are already excluded.

    (*.swp are Win95/NT swapfile)(*.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 backing up the WinNT directory, then be sure to exclude the

   Registry directory C:\WinNT\System32\Config\*.* and the

   Profiles directory C:\WinNT\Profiles\*.dat.

   In Win2000 the Profiles directory has been moved to

   C:\Documents and Settings, so Exclude

   C:\Documents and Settings\*.dat

   Because these files are locked by WinNT/2000 and can't be

   copied or manipulated in the Windows environment.

   Note: The Profiles directory name differs in other langauges.

g) The Include option is a bit confusing for some users, please read the

    Include option very carefully because it has limited functions.

End notes

1) No Dir name:

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.

Recommend 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:\Windows directory,

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

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

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

C:\Windows directory.

Suggest that you practice with zip unzip feature and get familiarized

with it before backing up your important data.

It is recommended not to select the "No Dir Name" option, but when you

restore C:\Windows then restore it to C: instead of resoring it to C:\Windows.

2) No Subdir:

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:\OldData\*.* "C:\Program Files\*.*"

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 C:\Temp\*.* space C:\OldData\*.* space "C:\Program Files\*.*"

You have to surround paths with spaces in between with quotes such as in

"C:\Program Files\*.*"

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.

Important: If you Exclude or Include *.hlp for example then all

files with extension .hlp will be Excluded or Included, but if

if you Exclude or Include C:\MyData\OldData\*.hlp then all files

with extension .hlp in the OldData directory will be Excluded or

Included.

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:\OldData\*.*^"C:\Program Files\*.*".

. No spaces at all.

^ One space only.

" Quotes have to surround paths with spaces in between.

Include Example:

Include has limited features, it will backup selected files and folders only

and any files and folders in the Exclude will be excluded from the files and

folders in the Include.

If you want everything backed up then leave the Include cell empty(blank).

But if you want to select few subdirectories and exclude

some files from them then follow the example below.

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

subdirectories and files, but you want to backup only

C:\MyData\TodayData\*.*  and  "C:\MyData\Yesterday Data\*.*" but you don't

want files that have 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.

You have to surround paths with spaces in between with quotes such as in

"C:\MyData\Yesterday Data\*.*"

This will backup the directories

C:\MyData\TodayData\*.* C:\MyData\Yesterday Data\*.* 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 cell

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 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 old:

Click the "Zip By File Date" button or double click cell.

Select (Month Day Year) from the scroll bars of the files dates to be zipped,

once selected, click the transfer button 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 old: 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 or type

7 and click the transfer button, it will calculate today's date minus 7 days,

it will recalculate and update 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, MinuteMan needs a temporary directory to create and

make the zip file, default is subdirectory Temp in the MinuteMan directory,

you can change the Temp path any where you see suitable.

Click Options\Set Zipping Temp path.

If you are making large backups then be sure to have at least 20% of the

zip backup size free hard disk space.

Or you can use the option to make MinuteMan dynamically set the

zip temp directory, it will select the drive that has the most free space,

that if you are not backing that drive otherwise it will select

the second drive that has the most free hard disk space.

e.g. Computer has three drives or partitions, D drive has the most free

space so it will select, but if you are backing up the D drive then it will

select another drive with the most free hard disk space, it will warn you

if the free space is not adequate.

6) Update only:

Update Only 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.

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 newer

bad files in the backup.

7) Encryption:

Click Option\Zipping 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\MinZip and Incremental 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.

If more than one person in your company or home uses the same

computer and needs to have different passwords then either install

another MinuteMan in another directory or let us know so we will add

Profiles to MinuteMan.

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 Backup.zip gets created,

Backup_2.zip gets deleted,

Backup_1.zip renamed to Backup_.zip,

Backup.zip renamed to Backup_1.zip,

a new Backup.zip gets created.

So backup Backup_2.zip is the oldest and Backup.zip is the newest.

Click Options\Set Number of Rotary backups, you can set them

between 2 and 7.

9) Silent Zip:

"Don't Silent Zip" option is selected by default, de-select it only when every

thing is running normal and you are familiar with MinuteMan.

Selecting NOT to be silent means you will prompted for errors,

otherwise errors will be logged under the Backup Time in place of

the backup time.

Click Options\Silent Zipping to silent backups.

Click Options\Don't Silent Zipping not to silent backups.


Menus And Buttons

Menus, Buttons And Columns

Starting at the top left, below find explanations of menus, buttons and columns.

Menus

File

  Cancel

    Exit Minuteman without saving changes made on backup configuration.

  Save And Exit

    Exit MinuteMan and save changes made on backups configuration.

Tools

  MinZip and Incremental Zipping

    Opens MinZip, where you can make incremental zipping(spanning).

  Make Self Extracting EXE

    Opens MinSelEx, a self extracting EXE packager and splitter.

  Make DOS Restore Batch file with AttriBat

    Please read the Restore section or MinuteMan Extras about AttriBat.

  Repair Damaged Zip file

    Browse to repair a damaged zip file, it will reconstruct a damaged zip file.

  View Backups Log

    Views backup log for the past 14 days if log size is smaller than 10 KB.

    Or views backup log if log is under 15 KB but less than 14 days old.

  View Old Backups Log

    It saves old backup log in oldlog.txt.

  Open Backup Directory or Open Source Directory

    Click on any Source cell to open the directory or drive you are backing up.

    Click on any Destination cell to open the directory or drive you are saving

    backup in.

  Drive Info

    New Drive Info works on all Win95/98/NT/2000.

  Delay Backups By:

   You can delay backup by any amount of time you wish.

   WARNING Delays set close to midnight would cancel backup if delay time

   passes midnight.

  Don't Backup today

   You can also cancel today's backups.

   Today cancelled backups end at 12:00 Midnight Backups will resume to

   normal after 12:00 midnight.

Options

  Add To Startup & Remove From startup

    Add or remove from the Startup folder, use for Timed Backup, Startup

    backups and Task Scheduling.

  Set Zipping Temp path

    Zipping needs a temporary folder to do the work, it is recommended to

    set this option and use the drive that has the most free space.

  Zipping Password

    If you want to encrypt backups then enter a password, same password

    used on all backups, backup gets encrypted if the "Encrypt" check box

    for the backup is selected.

    In another words, you have the choice which backup you want encrypted

    by selecting the Encrypt check box.

  Silent zipping

    If you want backups to be silent and you don't want to be prompted with

    error messages. Use it for un-atended backups so other backups will continue.

  Set Number of Rotary Backups

   You can specify the number of rotary backups if Rotary is selected.

  Change Selected Row Highlight Color

    By default, when backup is selected it is highlighted with light light blue.

    You can change it to light blue or none.

  Save Cell width settings

    You can customize the "Source", "Destination", "Include" and "Exclude"

    cell  width. Slide column divider at the very top (spread header).

  Show Right Row Header

    Select to show right numbered headers to show backup numbers on the right.

  Close MinuteMan after backups

    It will close MinuteMan 30 seconds after all selected Backups are done.

  Skip locked files that are in use

    It will skip files that are in use. Recommended to be used on the WinNT

    windows directory backups or better Exclude files that are locked.

Edit

    Depending on which cell is selected, each cell has special Edit menu

    which replaces the Edit menu when clicking cell.

    You can right click cells and a popup Edit menu will popup, instead of using

     the Edit menu.

  Copy

    Copies to editable cells only.

  Paste

    Pastes to editable cells only.(Paste means, copy the clipboard to selected

    cell)

  Cut

    Cuts from editable cells only.(Cut means, delete and copy to clipboard where

    you can paste it in another cell or another place).

  Clear

    Clears text from editable cells.

  Browse

    Opens appropriate browse dialog for each cell.

Help

  Help

    This help file.

  Get Started

    It will view a MinuteMan model with hints and instructions.

  About

    With most software, About displays the name of the company or programmer,

    program version and who the software is registered to.

  Registration information

    Registration form if you want to buy MinuteMan and send money by mail

    or to know prices, otherwise please buy on-line.

    http://www.mslm.com

  Register

    Registration codes are sent to you after you purchase MinuteMan, that is

    the place to enter registration number and name.

Buttons

Browse

  Browse to select Source and Destination file, folder or drive.

  Also to select Exclude and Include.

Set Time

  If using Timed or Startup backups, click to set Time and Days for Timed backups

  or interval hours for Startup backups.

Zip by file date

  Click to backup files by their date or by how many days old.

Reset Error

  Click to remove the red on backups that are configured wrong, backup will

  not commence unless the red is removed and the "Add" check box re-selected.

Save

  Save your work while configuring backups so you don't loose it in case

  the computer freezes or an un-expected error happen to MinuteMan.

Exit

  Saves your work and exits, click File\Cancel if you don't want to save changes.

Backup

  Select a backup by clicking backup row and click the Backup button to backup

  manually. It will not backup if the "Add" check box is not selected or if the "Add"

  cell color is red.

Backup All

  It will make all backups that have the "Add" check box selected and not red colored.

Restore

  Will open MinZip and transfers backup Source and Destination paths to MinZip where

  you can unzip it using MinZip.

Clear Row

  It will clear selected row completely.

Check Config

  It will do an initial backup configuration check and show results.

 Columns

Excell like spread sheet used to place MinuteMan Backup configurations.

Six simple words you need to know:

Spread is the whole spread sheet where backup configuration are saved.

Column is the vertical column of the spread.

Row is the horizontal row.

Cell is a grid, referred to by Column and Row number.

  Row 5 Col 4 means the fifth row from the top and fourth column from the left.

  MinuteMan will know which cell is selected when you click a cell by its row

  and column number. Top and left Headers referred to as Row 0 Col 0.

Header is the title of each column at the very top colored in gray, also the

  title or number of each row at the very left.

Bring the mouse pointer to column top Header (top of spread) to display ToolTip

explaining the column function.

Use the triangular Arrows to scroll spread left/right, Up/Down five columns or

rows at a time.

Starting from the left column below find explanations of each column.

Add

  Has to be selected for backup to commence.

Source

  Enter backup Source path. right click any of the source cells and select from menu

  or click the Browse button to select Source path.

File or Folder

  It have to have the wild cards \*.* if backing up a folder or drive, and has to be

  blank if backing a file. Double click or right click to change it.

Destination

  Enter backup Destination path. Double click any of the Destination cells or click

  the Browse button to select Destination path and zip file name if zipping.

Days or Interval

  Enter backup days if using Timed backups or interval hours if using Startup

  backups. You can double click or right click and select Browse to set days or

  interval hours instead of clicking the "Set Time" button.

Backup Time

  If using Timed backup enter the time you wish backup to commence.

  You can double click or right click cell to set backup time instead of clicking the

  "Set Time" button.

Last Backup

  Views backup date or error message if backup failed. This cell is not editable.

Zip

  Has to be selected if zipping backups.

No Sub Dir

  Select if you wish to backup all files to be backed up in a directory but none of

  the subdirectory.

  This option used when zipping only.

No Dir Name

  Use to backup large directories such as the Windows directory, so when restoring

  it will restore without remaking the Windows directory. The feature makes the

  Include feature useless, so it is better not to use it. Better restore to C:\ instead

  of C:\Windows so it will overwrite the Windows directory, otherwise it will create

  another Windows directory in the Windows directory if the No Dir Name is not used.

  This option used when zipping only.

Encrypt

  If you have entered a password by clicking Options\Zipping Password then you can

  select which backup you want encrypted.

  This option used when zipping only.

Update

  Select to update backup rather than re-zipping it, it will replace old files with newer

  files but doesn't replace new files with old ones. Also doesn't remove deleted files.

  Can't use Update with Rotate.

  This option used when zipping only.

Rotate

  It rotates backups in three rotary backups, before backing up it will delete the oldest

  backup, rename the second backup to 2_Mydata.zip, rename last backup to

  1_MyData.zip then makes a new fresh backup MyData.zip.

  Considering MyData.zip is the name of the backup.

  Can't use Update with Rotate.

  This option used when zipping only.

Zip By File Date

  Double click this cell or click the "Zip By File Date" Button, to backup files by their

  date or by how many days old.

  This option used when zipping only.

Exclude Files and Folders

  You can Exclude Files and folders from being backed up. Example:

  C:\olddata\*.* Notes.txt *.txt     note the space in between.

  Double click any of the source cells or click the Browse button to select files and folders.

  This option used when zipping only.

Include Files And Folders

  You can Include Files and folders to be backed up. Example:

  C:\Newdata\*.* Statement.doc *.xls     note the space in between.

  Double click any of the source cells or click the Browse button to select files and folders.

  When adding items to the Include then the Exclude becomes limited to exclude

  files and folders that are in the Include.

  This option used when zipping only.

T

  If using timed backup then it is used by MinuteMan to show if backup for that day

  has been done or not. Right click to clear.

Directory Size

  The size of the directory being backed up in MB.

Zip File Size

  The size of the zipped backup in MB.


MinuteMan Extras

MinZip

32 bit zipping and unzipping software.

MinZip has most of the zipping options that MinuteMan has.

In the Windows Explorer, select and Right click files/folders and

select Add To MinZip from context menu.

Click File\Associate MinZip with .zip files to associate MinZip

with .zip files.

Once associated, MinZip will open any file with the .zip extension

when double clicked.

Please read MinZip help for more instructions.

MinSelfEx

32 bit self extracting EXE packager and splitter.

Once associated, right click any zip file and select "Make MinSelfEx EXE"

from the context menu.

Option to split the self extracting EXE to a size of your choice.

MinuteScout

Features:

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. Otherwise select the option to bypass locked

files.

Select Zip or not to zip backup.

Saves 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:

Find AttriBat in the StartMenu\Programs\MinuteMan or click

Tools\Make DOS Restore Batch File with AttriBat.

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

Read-Only 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 selected drive or directory for files and folders that

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

to set all files and folder attributes to Normal, then restores from zipped

backup, then restores files and folders attributes.

The backup restore batch files are:

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

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

will set all files and folders attributes to Normal, then executes AtRest.bat

which will restore from zipped backup then restore all files and folders attributes.

Note: AttriBat restore batch files restore recursed backups only.

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 or directory.

Pkunzip.exe, Attrib.exe and Choice.com have to be in the same directory

where the batch files are stored.

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

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

LFN Backup and Restore

Features

LFN stands for Long File Name(recognized from within

a 32bit windows environment such as Win95/98/NT).

MS-DOS recognizes 8.3 file format only.

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 SFN for both would be

Progra~1, unless they are both 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 MS-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

MS-DOS mode, you have restored backup from MS-DOS, or Windows

got corrupted and you had to copy your personal data to another drive

from MS-DOS so you can format the hard drive, are common ways

to loose LFN.

There were incidents that many sectors in a hard drive got damaged and

Windows couldn't be started, but were able to copy important data

to another hard drive from MS-DOS.

Over heated hard drive is a common cause to loose many sectors

at one time.

Drive Info

New Drive Info works on all Win95/98/ME/NT/2000.

Click Options\Drive Info to read hard drives free and used space.

Once opened displays up to 12 partitions. Select from the combo box to

display each drive in more details.


TroubleShooting

MinuteMan has an option to skip locked files but if you are backing up

then you want all files to be backed up.

The following could get an error zipping if you didn't select to skip locked

files:

Backing up Win NT/2000 registry files, exclude the registry and the profile

directories from being backed up, because these files are in use, locked

up and can't be copied.

Other:

Not enough free space for Windows Virtual memory and MinuteMan

zipping Temp directory.

Corrupted files, run Windows Scandisk to remove these files.

Antivirus programs are getting more aggressive these days in

controlling Windows behavior, antivirus programs are a must

have but they have problems too, they make computing miserable,

slow and stay in the way in main Windows activities, mainly when

running Scandisk, Defrag or backup.

Select an antivirus program that can be easily disabled and

not so slow and aggressive.

If an AntiVirus program is set to be too sensitive to direct file

manipulations such as those performed by MinuteMan then you will

see errors.

Also some Anti-Virus Programs will lock files so MinuteMan can't

zip them or unzip from them.

The Anti-Virus programs can interfere because they are to slow

in testing files that MinuteMan needs to update.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Once all backups are configured, double check your work, test

configuration using the "Check" button.

Backup will not commence unless the Check box under "Add" has

been selected.

If path Source or destination are configured wrong then MinuteMan will

turn the Add check box of that backup to red color and will not do the

backup.

Reconfigure paths, re-select the Add check box and click the

Reset button.

ERROR MESSAGES:

Error messages appear in the Last Backup cells, in place of the

backup date stamp.

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

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

Source Path: Source path can't be found, check source path.

Be sure you don't have a back slash at the end, because the

wildcards already have a backslash.

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

Destination Path: Check destination path, be sure you don't have a

backslash at the end if not zipping, and you do have a valid zip

file name with the .zip extension if zipping.

Be sure the Zip check box is selected if zipping and deselected if

not zipping.

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

or extension and you do have the Zip check box selected.

Zipping Error: That means an error occurred 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.

- The date or days in the "Zip By File Date" leaves nothing to zip because

  there is no files with the selected date.

- You didn't exclude the Registry directory and the Profiles directory in

  WinNT if backing up the WinNT directory.

- Unable to read a corrupted file.

- Some files are in use and can't be accessed to be backed up.

  Select the option to "Skip Locked Files that are in use" if you don't if

  files are being used.

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.

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

found in the NETWORK drive, permissions not set, computer is

turned off.

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 convert it to the

UNC path.

Remember that double clicking and right clicking is another way

to edit cells.

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

to read Tooltips or tips in the Status Bar.

Other

MMdata.ss3:

MMdata.ss3 is the file that contains all backup configuration.

If you notice that MinuteMan configurations are running properly

then MMdata.ss3 could be corrupted.

You have to close MinutMan and delete this MMdata.ss3.

You will loose all configurations entered and have to start all over.

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 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.

You may loose some of the menu options doing so.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Please do not move, change, delete or open any of the MinuteMan files.

Many of these files are used as markers.

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 weird error messages, close all applications and empty the

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

contents of the Windows\Recent folder.

To clean the Windows\Recent, click

Start\Settings\TaskBar and StartMenu,

click the Start Menu Programs tab and click the Clear button.

If you have problem downloading then:

If you are using Internet Explorer, empty Internet Temp files.

Open Internet Explorer

Click View\Internet Options and click the "Delete Files" button.


FAQ

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

A) Backup the C drive and exclude the Windows directory

    and Program Files,  then do seperate backups to the Windows

    directory Program Files.

    (see note).

    Be sure to backup Windows 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/ers98.htm

    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

    ERS 2000 http://www.mslm.com/ers2000.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 Days windows?

A) Right click cells and select Clear, or click Edit\Clear.

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

     view the paths in full?

A) Put the mouse pointer in the division line at the top and slide it

    to make it wider. Then click Options\Save Cell width settings.

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

A) MinuteMan most features gets disabled after thirty trials

    MinZip stays operational with a nag message.

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 weird error messages, close all applications and empty

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

     delete the contents of the Windows\Recent folder.

     Be sure to empty the Recycle Ben.

     Also don't use third party software to do the installation for you.

Q) Is 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 the Direct CD feature 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).

Q) I opened the .dat files in the MinuteMan folder and I selected to open

    it with Notepad, it's icon changed to a Notepad icon. how do I restore it?

A) Backup the Registry first, then open the Windows Explorer,

    select 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.

FAQ will get larger when you start asking more questions.


Backup Hints

In the past hard drives were very expensive and there were no such

things as CD-RW and ZIP drives.

Now there is CD-RWs, 200 MB floppies, Zip and Jaz drives and what

even better, hard drives are getting very cheap in price, much more

reliable and faster than any removable media to store backups.

If you need fast and instant data backup then backing up to a hard drive

regularly is the best way to go. You can buy what is called a mobile rack,

where you can slide a hard drive in and out of the computer just like

any removable car radio. Easier done if you have a SCSI computer

where you don't have to edit the BIOS.

If your data is important to you then one method of backup is not enough.

As a programmer I use four methods of backups to backup my work,

if I loose my work then that will be the end of me programming, it will

be a disaster for me if I loose one day's work or even one hour's work.

I backup to a Network hard drive.

I backup a local hard drive.

I backup to CD-R.

Plus I have another hard drive that I send small backups to it all day long,

on hourly basis or when I ever think I need a backup. I give them names

such as minm05041.zip, minm is MinuteMan, 05 is May, 04 the fourth and the

1 means it is the first backup of the day. I add the year if I want these backups

to stay, but these are my daily backups in case I started a bad idea and want

to go back.

In case of fire or theft I save CD-R backups in another locations.

Following these rules will never put me in a position to regret that I

didn't do my duty to myself or my company.

How should I backup the operating system and the hard drive ?

Don't backup the windows directory along with the rest of the hard drive,

do them separately. Because all you need is the few files in the root

directory C and the Windows directory to get the computer started.

Configure a backup to backup the whole hard drive but exclude the

Windows directory.

Configure another backup to backup the Windows directory only.

When restoring, restore the Windows backup from MS-DOS

but restore the rest of the hard drive from within Windows.

When you restore from within Windows, you don't loose the long

file names and don't have to worry if files are Hidden or Read Only

because MinZip will find Hidden files and over write Read Only files.

Windows NT 4.0 and Win 2000 Operating System

Exclude the registry and the profile directories from being backed up,

because these files are in use, locked up and can't be copied.

NT emergency recovery is not an easy task to do.

If you use Win NT FAT then invest in

ERS NT, Emergency Recovery System, to do backup and restore

for the registry, profiles and boot files also it has a Windows directory

backup that can be restored from Windows or a boot disk.

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

Discounts available if you buy ERS NT and MinuteMan.

For Win 2000

http://www.mslm.com/ers2000.htm

The recommended method for for NTFS is to install another Win NT

using a  FAT partition in another directory (e.g. WinNTr) so you will be

able to boot into it and be able to do backup and restore on the main

Win NT system files, etc. You need to install MinuteMan in the WinNTr

directory while booted into it so you will be able to do backup and restore

from it.

Windows 95/98 Operating System

Unlike Win NT, you can backup the whole Windows directory from

within Windows but you have to have to close all other applications.

Use AttriBat to make restore batch and manage Hidden, Read Only

and System files attributes.

But don't waste your time and try to re-invent the wheel to have an

emergency recovery, invest in

ERS 98, Emergency Recovery System,  it does system files backup,

Startup files backup, Vital files backup,  backup main Windows directories,

and make a boot disk with ready to go tested batch files.

All you have to do is type one or two words in MS-DOS and windows

gets restored from backup.

http://www.mslm.com/ers98.htm

Discounts available if you buy ERS 98 and MinuteMan.

Hardware failure

There are instances that hard drive sectors gets damaged mostly

from over heating, by miss-handling or could be defective.

When you loose few sectors at one time then check the power

supply fan and other fans, be sure all running OK. Put your hand

on the hard drive, it should be hardly warm, if you feel little heat

then the hard drive is getting over heated.

There is no point staying without computer waiting for the drive

to get fixed, this one hard drive kept getting send back to the

manufacturer for six months.

Buy another one and make it a slave, copy as much data as you

can from the bad hard drive, plus you have all the backups that

you made to restore from.

Don't think that you can put three hard drives, one CD-ROM,

one CD-R, a Network card, Multimedia card, Zip drive, a modem,

two floppy drives, maybe a DVD in one computer. Adding more

fans adds more trouble. Computer Power supply are not designed

to handle so many hardware, buying a big tower is not going to

save your problem.

They just start making computers with dual power supplies and

extra fans.

Until then, if you have so many hardware then invest in a hard drive

rack, where you can move couple hard drives and the CD-R or the DVD

to it.

Don't say one large hard drive is all I need, this is like putting all your

money in one bank. Instead of buying a 7 GB, buy two 3.5 MB.

Instead of buying 14 GB, buy one 7 MB and two 3.5 MB.

Yes, SCSI is a must have to handle so much hardware, IDE will not

do it for you.

If you put your computer on the floor or little above the floor then

remove computer when vacuuming the carpet, the magnetic field

generated from the vacuum cleaner could damage your computer

or make it loose data. Don't use mini vacuum cleaners to vacuum

the inside and around your computer either.

If you want to clean inside of your computer then turn it off,

buy air cans that are used to clean cameras, blow little air in there

to blow away the dust. Wait few minutes until the computer

dries out because some of these air cans put out little moisture.

Blow the outside of the computer.

Putting small amount of rug shampoo from cans or glass cleaner on

a rag is a good way to clean the outside of the computer.

If you spill a drink on the computer, then turn it off instantly,

dry it out and wait until it gets dried out, hope it will start again.

Don't use drills to drill holes in your computer.

Don't place pins, nails, coins drinks on top of the computer.


Registration

Support shareware, please pay the low registration fee.

(Download from the internet prices. CD-ROM is extra).

MinuteMan gets disabled after thirty trials.

MinManZip stays enabled with a nag message.

Pricing in USD $:

1 single license  is $40. (to be used on one computer only)

2 to 9 licenses @ $35 each.

10 to 24 licenses @ $30 each.

24 to 50 licenses @ $25 each.

50 to 100 licenses @ $20 each.

Contact us for over 100 licenses.

Government, schools, colleges, large institutes and non profit

organizations contact publisher for special pricing if over 5 licenses

or server.

MinuteMan on CD-ROM includes shipping and handling:

USD $11 Within USA and Canada, one time mailing.

USD $13 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

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

2000@msn.com

twf@flash.net

2000ted@compuserve.com

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

E-mail support: Major version update 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.