Backup Again Copyright (C) Moose O'Malley, ------------ September 2007. +===========================================================+ | T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S | +===========================================================+ | * Introduction | * Why I wrote this program ? | * Installing and Using this Program | * File Exists in Multiple Places | * ZIP File Settings | * Backup ZIP File Names | * Uninstalling this Program | * Glossary of Terms | * The Future | * Freeware Information | * Warranty | * Amendment History | * Contacting the Program's Author +===========================================================+ Introduction : -------------- Backup Again is for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, etc. This program is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. See "Freeware Information" below. Backup Again is a program that makes backing up your files a breeze. More specifically, Backup Again allows you to : - specify the directories to backup, - specify whether you want to backup each directory or each directory and each of their sub-directories, - specify whether you want to backup all files, or just those modified after a certain date, and then you simply press the "Backup and ZIP" button and all files are backed-up and compressed into a single ZIP file which is automatically named according to the current date / time. With Backup Again, backing up your data need never get you down !! Developed using 32-bit Delphi. This program will **NOT** run under Windows 3.x (even with Win32 installed). Why I wrote this program ? --------------------------- I wrote this program because, well, let's face it, Backing Up your files is a chore. No-one I know backs up their files as often as they should. Even I admit that, and I keep regulkar backups of backups in many different locations. However, what would happen if your PC was stolen, or your harddrive crashed, or your PC suffered a virus attack ? Yes, that's right, all of your years of hard work could be gone in an instant. Even if you kept regular monthly or weekly backups, you could still end up facing many hours of lost work. Imagine just losing a day or an hours worth of work ?? When the data is gone, the chances are it is too late to do anything about it - unless you have a very recent backup. With Backup Again, backing up your data need never get you down !! ;) Simply, specify a few settings and click the button and backup again works out what to backup and does the job. When the process is finished, you could then copy the backup ZIP file to a floppy disk, or burn it onto a CD, or copy it to another harddrive, or back it up of a network drive, or email it to yourself at work or home, or upload it to a secure web site, etc. Once you have the Backup ZIP file, you can easily make as many copies of it as you like in as many locations that are available to you. Installing and Using this Program : ----------------------------------- To use this program, unzip the contents of the ZIP file to a directory - such as c:\Backup_Again\ - and run the executable file : Backup_Again.EXE. If you want the program to run automatically when Windows starts up, then select this option under the "File" menu in the program. If you would like to be able to run this program by clicking on an icon in the Windows Start Menu, or on the Desktop, etc then you can use the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the program's File menu. When the program is running, you can use the buttons provided to add or remove data directories, do the backups, etc. In addition, you can simply drag and drop directories from Windows Explorer to add these to the list of directories to backup. You can also specify where to store the backup ZIP files. On the "Settings" tab, you can also choose to : - Backup All files, or just backup files that have been modified since a certain date / time. - Backup files from just the selected directories, or you could backup the files from each selected directories and all of their sub-directories. - Keep a log file of processing. Once you are happy with these settings, simply press the "Backup and ZIP Files" button, and the backup will proceed. Once completed, you will informed how many files were backed up. File Exists in Multiple Places : -------------------------------- If you have a file that exists in multiple places, then these can be a pain to backup manually. For example, if you had a file with the same name in : c:\My Documents\ { Your main harddrive } d:\My Documents\ { A removable drive you use at work and home } and that this file had been modified in each location since the last backup date / time. If you were backing up both of these directories at once to the same ZIP file, then you could have problems - because ZIP files do not contain the drive where the file came from. So, which version of the file is placed in the ZIP file ? The only way to determine which is the most recent version of the file is to compare the last modified dates / times. And, this is exactly what Backup Again does behind the scenes. And, this ensures that the latest versions of all files are backed up. Alternatively, if you want to synchronise all files in multiple directories, then you could use my File Synchroniser program. (Also available on my web page). ZIP File Settings : ------------------- The following settings are used when ZIP'ing files : - Full directory paths are stored for each file - All files are compressed at Maximum compression. Backup ZIP File Names : ----------------------- Backup ZIP file names are automatically allocated by the program, depending on the current date / time, and the settings you specify. For example, if you choose to backup all files of any age, then the Backup ZIP file will be called, something like : Backup_2003-03-26_12-59.zip which indicates that the date and time of the backup were 26-March-2003, at 12:59 PM. i.e. this is when I pressed the "Backup and ZIP" button. N.B. This file name looks strange - especially with a semi-colon ";" separating the hours and minutes, but that is because you cannot use colons ":" in PC file names. However, if you choose to backup all files modified after 19-March-2003 at 1:00 AM, then the Backup ZIP file will be called, something like : Backup_2003-03-19_01-00__to__2003-03-26_12-59.zip which indicates that it contains all files modified between the date you specified above and the current date and time. i.e. all files modified 19-March-2003, at 1:00 PM, and the date / time that the "Backup and ZIP" button was pressed, which in this example is 26-March-2003, at 12:59 PM. So, why did I make the program automatically allocate the name of the backup ZIP file ?? Well, it ensures that the name is meaningful and clear. And, it means that if you sort your backups directory in alphabetical order, that you will see the files in increasing order of backup date or the last modified date of the files the ZIP files contain. Uninstalling this Program : --------------------------- At the present time, there is No Uninstall function. If you ever want to delete the program from your computer, then : 1. Exit the program, and delete it from wherever you installed it on your harddrive. Before doing this however : - If you have selected / enabled the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option (under the File menu), then you should ensure that this option is not checked / enabled (which you can easily do by re-selecting the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option from under the File menu). - If you have used any of the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the File menu, then you should use the "Delete All Shortcuts" option under the File menu to remove these from your system. Simple as that ! The Future : ------------ In the future, many improvements could be made to this program, such as : - More Backup options : * the ability to password protect backups, * the ability to encrypt backups, * the ability to split backup ZIP files into more conveniently sized chunks, instead of having one big ZIP file. * the ability to name the Backup ZIP file yourself, instead of having the program do it automatically for you. - Add in the ability to choose your own log file's name, and/or append processing results to existing log files. - Ability to specify which file types to process. e.g. you might like to process Word Documents, and similar files, or, you might not want to backup ZIP files or EXE files, etc. - Command Line Mode - to automate backups from the command line. - Auto-Backup mode - so that your PC automatically backs up selected directories whenever Windows starts-up and/or shuts-down. - Anything else ? If you would like any of these improvements, or would like to suggest more, please email me and let me know. How much more work I do on this program depends entirely on what support I get, how many people use the program, etc. Freeware Information : ----------------------- This is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. However, if you find the program useful, then please consider making a PayPal donation to support my efforts. (To make a donation, please run the program and select the "About" option under the Help menu, and then click the PayPal link on the "About" screen). Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know. Amendment History : ------------------- Vers Date Description 1.0 26-Mar-2003 First Public Release. (59,064 lines of code / comments.) 1.1f 3-Sep-2007 This program is now FREEWARE - see "Freeware Information" above. If this program was not downloaded from my Home Page, then it is possibly an old version. The latest version of this program is available from my WEB page - see below. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://move.to/moose ____________________________________________________