EASYBACK lets you compress a directory (with PKZIP) and copy it to a floppy just by clicking on an icon. Although the maximum size is 1.2 megs, using PKZIP instead of XCOPY saves a lot of floppies.

To use, copy EASYBACK.BAT to C:\BATCH then add it as a program item with FILE/NEW and label the icon MASTER.

For every directory you want to back up, make a copy of MASTER (CTR-drag). Label the new icon with the directroy name (FILE/PROPERTIES/DESCRIPTION). I made a special program group called BACKUP to hold all these icons.

EASYBACK.BAT includes two variable parameters. These must be listed on the COMMAND LINE of FILE/PROPERTIES with a space between them. Variable %1 is the path to (but not including) the directory you want to back up and %2 is the name of the directory. For example, to back up D:\WORKBOX\NOWBOOK (and all its sub-directories), the COMMAND LINE should read C:\BATCH\EASYBACK.BAT D:\WORKBOX NOWBOOK 

(Note the spaces--they must be included.)

Next you will need to customize EASYBACK.BAT to fit your system. Call it up with Notepad and find the section labeled :ZIP. The first two lines following this label are the path to your copy of PKZIP. If your PKZIP file is in C:\UTILITY, this section should read

:ZIP
C:
cd\utiilty

The third line of the :ZIP section contains the instructions for PKZIP. The -3 disables the 386 mode, -bE: sets the PKZIP temporary directory to drive E. The -upr instruction updates an existing zip file with new material and includes all subdirectories and path information. You will probably want to modify the -b instruction--the drive you use for temp files should have room enough for twice the size of the largest group of files you want to compress.

The only thing you need to do now is to prepare the floppy disks. Each disk must contain a file with the name FILENAME.TXT, where FILENAME is the same as the directory you are going to copy. This file is used to confirm that you are backing up to the correct disk. The filename is the only thing that is important, so the file doesn't have to contain any information. (If the directories are small, you can put more than one on a disk. Just put a filename.txt file on the disk for each directory.)

Now, when you decide it's time to back up NEWWORK\*.* you just click on the back up program group, click on the NEWWORK icon. You will be prompted to insert the NEWWORK disk into drive-A. Everything else is automatic and the result is a file called NEWWORK.ZIP that is updated to include your most recent files.