



                                   What Tape Back-up?
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                                   What Tape Back-up?

                      Tape Rotation Tracking & Back-up Controller

                 (c) 1991, 1992 by Angel Babudro, all rights reserved.





          I.    DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    1

          II.   COPYRIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    1

          III.  LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    1

          IV.   TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME) . . . . . . . . . . .    1
                Official Distribution Bulletin Boards . . . . . . . . . .    2

          V.    GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    2

          VI.   FILE LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    3

          VII.  WHY USE WTB?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    3

          VIII. What Tape Back-up? COMMAND LINE OPTIONS . . . . . . . . .    3
                A. Specifying the Number of Tape Sets . . . . . . . . . .    4
                B. Specifying a Range of Hard Disk Drives . . . . . . . .    4
                   1. With disk statistics (/D) . . . . . . . . . . . . .    4
                   2. Without disk statistics (/N)  . . . . . . . . . . .    4
                C. Using Other Tape Software (/T) . . . . . . . . . . . .    5
                D. Backing-up Modified Files Only (/M)  . . . . . . . . .    5
                E. Appending to the End of a Tape (/A)  . . . . . . . . .    5
                F. Command-line Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    5

          IX.   USING What Tape Back-up?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6
                A. Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6
                B. Cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6
                C. Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6
                D. Set-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6
                E. Selecting Tape Sets  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    7

          X.    REGISTERING What Tape Back-up?  . . . . . . . . . . . . .    8







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                                   What Tape Back-up?
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          I.    DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

                By  using this  software and  documentation ("WTB")  you  must
          accept this disclaimer of warranty:

                WTB is provided "as is" without any warranties or  conditions,
          expressed  or  implied,   including,  but  not  limited  to,   those
          concerning  merchantability and  fitness for  a particular  purpose.
          By  using  WTB,  you  are  expressly  releasing  the  author,  Angel
          Babudro, from any liability resulting from  the use of this software
          and documentation.   You must assume the  entire risk of  using WML.
          Please test and supervise WML thoroughly before relying on it.


          II.   COPYRIGHT

                WTB is  owned and  copyright (c)  1989-1992 by  Angel Babudro,
          all rights reserved.   You may only use and/or distribute WTB  under
          the License terms below.


          III.  LICENSE

                1.   WTB  is  being distributed  as  Freeware.   There  is  no
          registration fee  and you  are licensed to  use it for  an unlimited
          time.

                2. You may keep as  many backup copies of WTB as you wish  and
          you may  run WTB simultaneously  on as many  computers as you  like.
          You  are granted the right to share WTB with  others, as long as you
          distribute the original  files exactly  as you  received them,  with
          all associated files included.

                3. Under  no circumstances may you  charge any  fee or receive
          any  other form  of  consideration  for distributing  the WTB  files
          without express  written consent  from the  copyright holder,  Angel
          Babudro, other  than to  charge a  fee of  not more  than US$6  (six
          dollars) for the media and/or service of distribution.


          IV.   TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME)

                Gripes,  moans,  wails,  throes,  and  throngs  are   promptly
          rejected, but all other types of  communications & modest crowds are
          graciously accepted (and thank goodness for that!).

                I  can be  reached  via  mail or  BBS.   The  BBSs below  have
          current versions of all of my software and I will get messages  left
          there for me.  Unless you are in  dire straits, please write  rather
          than telephone with questions about WTB - my  business is selling my

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                                   What Tape Back-up?
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          time so  it's hard on  my future to  give it away  for free; if  you
          must phone  then  please  be  kind &  send  a  little green  my  way
          (perhaps by registering one of my  other software packages, such  as
          What Mailing List?).  Thank you for your understanding.
          __________________

                Angel   Babudro,  "Organic   Computer  Wizardry",  PO Box 132,
                Paonia, CO 81428 USA
                (303) 527-6756 Monday-Friday 10am-6pm Mountain Time

                Official Distribution Bulletin Boards

                On bulletin  boards I  use the  first name  "Angelo" since  it
          avoids gender confusion.   Scan for the  file name WJS*.* to  locate
          the latest  version of  WJS.   All six  of my software  packages are
          free downloads on these systems:

          East Coast        Excalibur, Central NY (315) 736-3792 USR Dual
                            My  software can  be FREQed  from this  board  via
                            RBBS  Net  address  A:954/401,  FIDO  Net  address
                            1:26501, or ICN Net 91:315/101.

          West Coast        Researcher's, So Cal (805) 949-8151 USR Dual
                            Conference #136  is OrganicSftwr  - enter  "J;136"
                            before   downloading,   browsing  for   topics  of
                            interest, and/or leaving messages to me.

                My software  can also be found  on many of  the nations larger
          bulletin boards, such as Exec-PC and Channel 1.


          V.    GENERAL

                What  Tape Back-up?  (WTB) helps  you manage  sets of  back-up
          tapes for multiple  hard disk partitions.   It might  be helpful  to
          use WTB with a  single partition (C:), but it's when you've got more
          of those  suckers out  there that it  really shines.   I've got  six
          partitions, C: through H:, and I used to  hate backing them up  one-
          by-one or  trying to  develop a  batch file  that was  sophisticated
          enough  to  handle  every  twist  I  dreamed  up  (like  my rotating
          verification idea).  So I wrote WTB.

                WTB  is provided  with the  commands  for  CMS Jumbo  2.5, CMS
          Jumbo  2.54, and  Mountain 5.x  software.   If  you have  other tape
          software you can  configure WTB to work  with it quite  easily using
          an ASCII text editor or just about any word processor that can  edit
          ASCII text.

               To use WTB you will need:

               * PC with MS/PC-DOS 3.3 or higher

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                                   What Tape Back-up?
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               * About 256k of  free memory (the more the better,  since most
                 tape  software  will  use  it  as  a  buffer  to  speed   up
                 operations).
               * Monochrome or colour monitor
               * A tape drive
               * CMS Jumbo 2.5x  or Mountain 5.x tape software or  some other
                 tape software which can be controlled via batch

               WTB  stores  your  configuration  within  the  executable  file
          WTB.EXE.   In order  to do  this, WTB.EXE  must remain  in its  full
          size,  unmodified by  such things  as  LZEXE  (which is  otherwise a
          wonderful product) or PKLite (a similar product).


          VI.  FILE LIST

               The following  files comprise the  complete What Tape  Back-up?
          package:

               * WTB.EXE -- the executable (programme) file
               * WTB.WP -- WordPerfect document file
               * WTB.TXT -- ASCII document file
               * WTB.CMD - tape software command file
               * FKEY.LST -- a support file
               * ORDER.FRM -- order form for all of my products
               * FILE_ID.DIZ &  DESC.SDI --  Description files  for BBSs.   You
                 can delete these from your hard  disk, but please  distribute
                 them with any copies of WTB you share


          VII. WHY USE WTB?

               I wrote  What Tape  Back-up? as a  way to manage  and track  my
                        ___________________
          sets  of  back-up  tapes.   Although most  tape  software (including
          Mountain  and CMS) have  an automatic  scheduling feature, this does
          not help  in tracking which tape  was last used,  the dates of  each
          back-up, and  whether or not the  tapes were  verified for accuracy.
          Besides this, I believe  that making it simple helps to get it done.
          I'd've sooner  cared to  stub my  toe than  remember manual  back-up
          procedures for 200Mb of grey matter in electronic form...

               What Tape Back-up?  makes things simple.   Set it up  once, put
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          it in your computer's menu, and run once a  day or whenever you feel
          you need a back-up tape.


          VIII.     What Tape Back-up? COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

               To use  WTB with  default values  just type,  "wtb" at  the DOS
          prompt.   In a  few seconds  three windows  will appear:   One  with

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          statistics about  your disk drives (the  Disk Window), another  with
          statistics about  your back-up  tape set  (the Tape  Window), and  a
          third with information on how the  current back-up will be performed
          (the Back-up Window).

                    Note:   I refer  to "sets"  of tapes  because many people,
               like myself, use  more than one tape  per back-up.  I  strongly
               recommend  using at least  three sets  of back-up  tapes.  This
               way if  the worst  possible case  happens --  your system  goes
               down will making a back-up  -- you will have  other tape copies
               from which to retrieve your data.

               WTB has the following command-line syntax:

                      WTB [#oftapes] [/Dxy] [/Nxy] [/T] [/A] [/M]

                    Note:   DOS command-line options  are NOT case  sensitive.
               You can use upper- or lower-case letters as you wish.

               A. Specifying the Number of Tape Sets

               If you use more than one set of  tapes to back-up (use at least
          three sets  of tapes!)  use the  command "WTB  x" where  "x" is  the
          number of  tapes you use.   For example, "WTB  4" would manage  four
          sets of tapes.

               B. Specifying a Range of Hard Disk Drives

                    1. With disk statistics (/D)

                    You may only  want to back-up a certain range of hard disk
               drives rather than all of  your drives.  Say,  for example, you
               have hard disk  drives C: through J: and  a CD-ROM as drive  H:
               You will only  want to back-up  C: through  J: since  H: is  in
               little  danger of  being lost.    To do  this, use  the  "/Dxy"
               option where  "x"  and "y"  are the  first and  last drives  to
               back-up to  tape.  For example,  "/Dcj" will  back-up drives C:
               through J:

                    2. Without disk statistics (/N)

                    You may wish to bypass the  Disk Window, especially if you
               have a large system (such as a network)  with a large number of
               logical drive letters or ridiculously large amounts of  storage
               (if so,  I'm jealous!).  To turn the drive  statistics off, use
               the /N option followed by the  first and last (contiguous) disk
               drive letters  you wish to  back-up.  For example,  if you have
               drives C: through J: on your system and you want to bypass  the
               Disk Window, use, "WTB /Ncj".


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               C. Using Other Tape Software (/T)

                    You may  wish to bypass the  tape back-up  function of WTB
               and use it only  to display disk statistics  and prompt for the
               tape  to use.  If you already have a batch file that works well
               you might choose this route.

                    Use  "WTB /T" and WTB will end after the tape selection is
               made, passing  the Tape Set Number  to DOS  via the ERRORLEVEL.
               This way you can have a batch file  which calls WTB then checks
               the errorlevel to see which tape set  to use (if errorlevel  ==
               2, that means to use set 2, etc.).

               D. Backing-up Modified Files Only (/M)

                    The default back-up mode for WTB  is a full back-up of all
               drives.   Periodically you may wish  to only  back-up the files
               which have changed since your last  full back-up since this  is
               normally  much faster  than doing a  full back-up.   To do this
               use the /M  command.  For  example, "WTB /dcj /m"  will back-up
               only the files that have  changed on drives C: through J: since
               the last time a full back-up was made.

               E. Appending to the End of a Tape (/A)

                    Normally WTB will over-write  the data on the tape(s) with
               the new back-up information since locating  the end of tape  is
               such a  time-consuming process.  If  you don't  have many tapes
               or your tape drive  is faster than  mine at finding the end  of
               top, you can  append the new information to  the end of a  tape
               use the "/A"  option.   For example, "WTB  /M /A" will  back-up
               modified files only and put  the information at the  end of the
               tape.

               F. Command-line Examples

                    To illustrate use of the options,  let's say you have disk
               drives C:  through R:, you don't  want the  system to calculate
               statistics on all 16  drives, you use 5  sets of back-up  tapes
               (one for  each day of  the week), and  you use something  other
               than CMS or Mountain software.  In your batch file do this:

                    WTB 5 /ncr /t
                    if errorlevel 99 goto end
                    if errorlevel 5 goto TapeSet5
                    if errorlevel 4 goto TapeSet4
                    ...etc...




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                                   What Tape Back-up?
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                    Note:   An errorlevel of  99 indicates that  "Cancel"
               was selected  from  the WTB  menu  or  that a  tape  error
               occurred.

                    Or, let's say you have drives  C: through R: but only want
               to back-up  C: through F:, you  want hard  disk statistics, you
               use  5  sets of  tapes,  and  you have  CMS  or  Mountain  tape
               software.  Just use:

                    WTB 5 /dcf

               and WTB will perform the complete back-up for you.


          IX.  USING What Tape Back-up?

               Once  you enter the  command "WTB"  along with any command-line
          options,  several  windows  will  open  showing  you  the  operating
          environment and a  menu of options  at the  top of the screen.   You
          can press the  highlighted (first) letter  for each option or  use a
          mouse to select the options.

               A. Go

                    This option begins the back-up as specified.

               B. Cancel

                    This cancels the back-up and returns you to DOS.

               C. Verify

                    This toggles the verify flag on and  off.  When verify  is
               "on"  the  tape(s)  will  be  verified  after  the  back-up  is
               complete.  When "off" only a back-up will be done.

                    Because  verifying a  tape  doubles the  back-up  time,  I
               found it more convenient (and virtually  as safe) to verify  my
               tapes on  a rotating basis.  If  you use four tapes (like I am)
               and you verify tape #1, then tape #4  will next be scheduled to
               be verified, then tape  #3, then #2, then  #1, then back to #4.
               This way all  tapes are verified on a  regular basis.  I  found
               that by  saving time  this  way  I was  less tempted  to  avoid
               verifying at all (or even, heaven forbid, backing-up at all!).

               D. Set-up

                    The set-up  screen defines how WTB  will operate.   To set
               an  item, move the  cursor (using  the keyboard  arrow keys) to
               the item you want to change then press F3.

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                    When you  press F3 on the Tape Software field  you will be
               presented with  a  menu of  choices.    These choices  are  the
               software packages  which are in the  WTB.CMD file.   WTB.CMD is
               an  ASCII file which  you can  look at and  edit yourself using
               any  ASCII text  editor.   I  have  put commands  in there  for
               Mountain 5.x  and  Jumbo 2.5  & 2.54  software  -  if you  have
               someting else,  just look  inside the file for  instructions on
               how to add your tape's commands.

                    The second field is the type of tape  you use.  WTB really
               doesn't need to know this except  for predicting how many tapes
               you  will  need  for  the  back-up.    This  prediction  is not
               accurate  if  you  use  compression  (such  as  with  the Jumbo
               software) which can double amount of information crunched  onto
               a tape.   In  any case, just  press F3  to get a  list of  tape
               types and select the type you will be using.

                    The  next item  is the  number of  tape sets  you will  be
               using.    You  use  a  tape  drive  in  case  of  some  far-off
               unforeseen  disaster  that  may  never  happen,  and  the  most
               expensive piece was the tape  drive.  Splurge and  get at least
               three  sets  of tapes  -  you  might  be  really  glad you  did
               someday.   I have  seven sets  and I actually have  gone back a
               couple of back-ups to retrieve a  file that somehow got  erased
               from my hard disk.   You may be  just as grateful  for multiple
               tape sets someday!

                    Finally  is the field  for the  back-up method.   WTB does
               not yet use this  field.  I  have not had the encouragement  to
               develop this  feature to completion  (exactly zero people  have
               contacted me  with comments about  WTB; maybe  I'm just writing
               to myself?...)  Anyhow,  the idea of  this field is to let  you
               decide HOW you want to rotate your  tapes: in a linear  fashion
               (#1, #2,  #3, etc.  then  back to  #1,  #2,  etc.) or  using  a
               Father/Son/Grandfather scheme which uses ten tapes to give  you
               a  three-month back-up  history (four  daily tapes  for  Monday
               through Thursday, four Friday tapes, and two month-end tapes).

               E. Selecting Tape Sets

                    In  the Tape Window you  will see an arrow pointing to the
               tape set  to be  used (this  is, of  course, a  recommendation,
               since you are the  one who must put  the proper tape(s)  in the
               drive!).   WTB recommends the tape  set following  the last set
               used  (which is normally the  oldest set).  In  other words, it
               rotates the back-up tapes.

                    If  you want to  use a  different tape set,  use the arrow
               keys to move the pointer between the available tape sets.


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                                   What Tape Back-up?
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          X.   REGISTERING What Tape Back-up?

               I am  not asking  for any  money for the  registration of  WTB.
          This is my way  of giving back to all  the authors who  have donated
          their  labour to  the  public  domain.    Letters  of  appreciation,
          suggestions, or criticism are always welcome.  If  you would like to
          support me look  at ORDER.FRM for other  software from which I  _am_
          hoping to derive some financial reward  (use "type order.frm >  prn"
          to print it).










































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