home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Floppyshop 2
/
Floppyshop - 2.zip
/
Floppyshop - 2.iso
/
diskmags
/
0022-3.564
/
dmg-0142
/
programs
/
hardup.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1997-04-16
|
6KB
|
130 lines
HardUp: Hard Disk Backup Utility
--------------------------------
First a little lore, there is an old saying that goes
something like, "The more important your data is, the more likely
you are to lose it". Last week I proved that to be true. An
almighty, and inexplicable OS cock up resulted in my working
partion to be 80% trashed. Naturally in the two weeks since my
last backup I had done a lot of important programming; I cried all
the way to the pub. The only reason why I had not taken more
frequent backups was due to the lack of a simple to use PD backup
utility. Hence 'HardUp' rose from the ashes of my mangled FAT.
Getting started
---------------
HardUp works in any screen mode, just double-click on
HARDUP.PRG and wait until it loads. Firstly, before you make any
attempt to back anything up you need to tell HardUp a few simple
things about your hardware...
1) Set the 'Drive A is' parameter under the 'Options' menu to
the size of your drive 'A'.
2) Set the 'Drive B is' parameter in the same way. If you don't
have a drive 'B', just ignore this option.
3) Set the 'Backup to' option to the drive or drives that you
wish to backup to. If you have 2 drives, and they are both
the same size, backing up to both drives will result in less
disk swaps.
4) The 'Misc.' options are for squeezing that extra bit of speed
out of the backup. If you understand what 'Interleave' means
then set it to the best value, otherwise values of 1 or 6 are
recommended. Write verifying is best left on unless you are
using branded disks with a good quality disk drive, or you
eat three Shredded Wheat for breakfast.
5) If you are going to be backing up from only one drive most of
the time, then you might as well set the 'Source drive'
option now.
OK, now you've done that, go to the 'File' menu and select the
'Save' option from the 'Setup' sub-menu. The settings that you
have just set will be saved to disk, and auto-loaded each time
that you load HardUp.
Backing up a drive
------------------
Just select the 'Backup' option from the 'Options' menu. You
will be presented with a dialogue informing you how many disks
will be required for the backup, and how many sectors need to be
backed up from the hard disk (HardUp only backs up the used
sectors). You should now find the required number of disks and
clearly label them from 1 to the total number.
HardUp requires its disks to be formatted in a special way,
and will refuse to use disks formatted from the desktop. Each time
the backup asks you to insert a new disk, you get the opportunity
to initialise it. Once a disk has been initialised once, it need
never be initialised again unless you change your settings and
decide to use it in a drive of different capacity. If you prefer,
you may initialise your backup disks all in one go by selecting
the 'Initialise' option from the 'Options' menu.
During the backup you will be prompted to do all the
necessary disk swaps, and you get a running countdown of the
sectors left to backup. Once the backup is complete, write protect
your floppies and put them somewhere safe. If your data is
particularly valuable, it would be wise to store them off site:
fire does not care whether you put the disks in that cupboard over
the other side of the room along with last month's Playboy.
Finally, do not try and open one of your backup disks from
the desktop: At best you will see garbage, at worst the ST will
crash in a big way.
Restoring a drive
-----------------
OK, so the Grim Reaper has visited your hard disk and had his
merry way with it, now what do you do ? Well, suppress your tears,
retrieve your stack of backup disks (you did make that backup last
night, didn't you ?) and load HardUp. Just select the 'Restore'
Option from the 'Options' menu. In order for HardUp to determine
some information about the backup, it will ask you to insert any
disk from your stack of backup disks into the drive - it makes
sense to insert disk 1, as this is the one that it will ask you to
insert next.
The restoration process is very simple, you are prompted to
do all the necessary disk swaps. You should realise that when you
made the backup, HardUp stored the information about your disk
drive configuration on the backup disks and it will use this
configuration to restore your mangled data.
Interrogating a backup disk
---------------------------
If you have a backup disk, and want to know what's on it,
then just shove it in a disk drive and select the 'Interrogate'
option from the 'Options' menu. The disk drive will be examined by
HardUp, and the information gleaned will be presented to you. This
includes the disk number, total disks, time & date of the backup,
and backup comment. The 'Unique ID' number is used by HardUp
during the restoration of data to ensure that you don't put the
correct disk number, but from a different backup in the drive:
that would be a disastrous move.
Disclaimer
----------
Whilst every possible measure has been taken to ensure that
'HardUp' performs as documented above, the author cannot be held
responsible for any losses, material or financial, that may arise
from the use or misuse of 'HardUp'. You use this program entirely
at your own risk.
Shareware
---------
HardUp is shareware. That means that you may copy and distribute
the program without charge, provided that...
1. No profit is made from the distribution/copying
2. This unedited documentation accompanies all copies made
3. If you should find this program useful then you are obliged
to register your support to the author by sending a
registration fee of £15 to the address below. This will earn
you a copy of the latest version and a laser printed manual.
Andrew Brown
2 Ullswater Drive
Wetherby
West Yorkshire
LS22 4YF