You can use MacUpdate to do background copying, thus freeing up the Finder to launch and run other applications, navigate through directories, or even copy more files! Just run MacUpdate and specify in the source directory list the folder that you want to copy. In the destination directory list, specify where you want to copy the source folder to. Start the synchronization process, and then click in a Finder Window to get back to the Finder and continue working. MacUpdate does not "hog" the CPU like some other background applications. You should see very good response time, regardless of which application you are working with while MacUpdate is "doing its thing" in the background. If you are copying to an EMPTY folder or volume (as opposed to updating an existing, older copy), be sure that the "Create Files" option is on in the "How to Synchronize" dialog.
Back-Up Bliss!
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MacUpdate ONLY copies the files that have CHANGED to your backup volume, not wasting time by copying files that have remain unchanged since the last backup operation. Every day or week or however long you feel is prudent between your backups, run MacUpdate to back up the folders that have files in them that you may have modified. If you are lucky enough to be able to backup your ENTIRE volume to some other volume (SyQuest, Other Hard Drive, Network Server), this is very easy: just choose the backup volume as the destination, and the volume to be backed-up as the source. MacUpdate will search on both volumes to make the destination be a "mirror-image" of the source. If you can only backup to floppies, you'll still choose the floppy volume as the destination, but you will have to choose a specific source folder to backup to the floppy. It is very unlikely that your entire Hard Disk will fit onto one floppy! Of course, be sure the folder you are backing up is small enough to fit on the floppy. For example, typically, I organize all the source code files for a programming project I am working on in one folder. This single folder is usually around 800K, and has about 150 files in it. Over the course of a day, I may make changes to maybe 25% of the files. If I backed-up my project folder using the Finder, it would have to take extra time, copying those other 75% of the files that didn't even change! What I do is use the same floppy for my project folder every day. At the end of each day, I run MacUpdate, and it copys all of the files that have changed. In other words, it updates the floppy, which has "yesterday's" files on it so it now has "today's" files.
Synchronicity, or, Being in Two Places at Once!
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If you work on a single project on multiple Macs, you always want to be sure you are working on the latest versions of the files for the project. Using the Finder to do this resuted in: at the end of the day at the office, copy the folder to a floppy, take the floppy home, copy the folder to your personal Mac, work on the files that night. The next day, copy the folder to the floppy, take it back to work, and copy the folder from the floppy back to the office Mac. With MacUpdate, you'll still have to carry the floppy to and from the two Macs (unless you are lucky enough to have a network connection of some sort). The time savings comes from the fact that ONLY the files that have changed are copied, plus you can keep working without seriously long delays while the copying is taking place. If you specify the "Create Files" and "Delete Files" options, your two project folders on two different Macs will ALWAYS be identical.
Network Magic!
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Make file changes on a server Mac for a network, and voìla! Each Mac on your network can have a copy of these latest changes. To do this, run copies of MacUpdate on each client Mac as the startup application. Specify the server's folder where file changes take place as the source, and the client folder as the destination. Remember to configure MacUpdate on EACH Mac for "Auto-Synchronization on Startup". If your server's files change often, consider the "Daily Update Time", and "Update Every X Hours" options. Also, be sure to check the server's volume as "Auto-Mount on Startup" from within the Chooser.
Let's Outlaw Disorganization!
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Hierarchical organization is a MUST for any succesful backup plan. If your programs and files are intermingled all over your desktop, MacUpdate or any other backup program will probably not be of much use to you for selectively backing up your files. Check out the "optimum design" below:
In the example above, I could back up my whole Applications Folder to a SyQuest drive, easily, in one step, with MacUpdate. Just as easily, I could back up any of My Projects folders (Project1 - Project 4) that I changed during the day to a floppy disk at the end of the day. Finally, I could keep only the latest movies available over the network in My Movies folder. Doesn't this sort of organization just plain make sense?
