Welcome to the Silent Partner Backup Screen Saver Version 1.50 for Windows 3.x Shareware version, One month (or so) trial Registering: $20 What is Silent Partner Backup Screen Saver? ------------------------------------------- The Silent Partner Backup is a utility for mirroring files on your workstation. The main reason I wrote this application was a constant need for a utility which could make plain mirror copies of some of the files on my system. I wanted the copies to be easy to retreeve when needed. The utility should not disturb me when I am using my workstation. I have experienced that the main threat to my computer system is neither hardware fault nor software failure. The single cause of 99% of lost data is me deleting files in a hurry, editing system-files on an experimental basis, installing everything I get my hands on without taking propper precautions, doing majore cleanups in my projects, an so on. And very often I notice the damage only seconds after it is done. What I needed was a kind of safety net for my files. So I came up with the solution of making a Windows Screensaver which does the work. Screensavers are (as their name points out) meant to save the screens from beeing damaged by blancking the screen or at least doing som motion on it while the system is not in use. This scheduling scheme suits my need perfectly. The mirroring job is done when I dont use the workstation. Besides, it will take place not long after I have left the computer, keeping the mirrored files nice and fresh. Quickstart guide ------------------- - Install the screensaver by running setup.exe. It will install the SPBACKUP.SCR and SPBACKUP.INI into your Windows directory. - Open Windows Control Panel, and select the Desctop config. The Silent Partner Backup should be the selected screensaver. If it is not, select it from the list. - To set up the backup, choose the Install button. In the 'Defaults' property page, set the default destination directory. Ex: C:\BACKUP - In the 'What to backup' propperty page, choose a directory you want to mirror by choosing the 'Add dir' button. Brows to a directory and select Ok. - Enter the files you want to mirror by entering filenames and wilcards in the combobox' editfield, and press the 'Add file' button. You can enter filenames like 'myfile.xxx' and you can also use wildcards like '*.doc' or 'file??.txt' etc. Several files can be etered separated by a blanc (' ') or a semicolon (';'). You can enter the files eather by pressing the 'Add file' button or pressing the ENTER key on the keyboard. - If you want to include subdirectories in the mirroring, check the 'Include subdirectories' checkbox. Se the section 'Where do the mirrored files go?' in this file for more information on the checkboxes. - Press the Ok button to save the setup. - To test the mirroring, press the 'Test' button in the control panel, and keep the mouse still. Which files are mirrored? ------------------------------------ We often work whith a lot of files. The usual way to organize all these files is to use the hierarkical nature of the filesystem and create directories related to the different kind of projects in which we store our files. I did not want to uppdate a list of files to mirror every time I made a new file. The Silent Partner Backup mirrors files on a directory basis. Just specify which directories to mirror and sit down and wait. Often, not all files in a directory is worth mirroring. Therefore for each directory entry it is possible to specify which files to copy by entring the name of the file or simply use wildcards like '*' and '?'. You can also specify whether to include subdirectories or not. For instance if you specify C:\ and includes subdirectories, all files on drive C: will be mirrored. If you tell Silent Partner Backup to mirror only *.TXT files, only your text-files will be mirrored. For each directory entry you can specify several files or file-selections. Where do the mirrored files go? ------------------------------------ As I said earlyer I wanted the mirrored files to be easy to locate and retreave. Silent Partner Backup stores the mirrored files in a user specified destination directory. The files are stored using their original name. Silent Partner Backup builds the complete directory structure of the mirrored files as a subdirectory under the destination directory (puh..!). The name of the drive is inserted as a directory before the mirrored file's path. What this means is that if the default destination directory is D:\BACKUP and a file to mirror is in C:\PROJECT\TEST\SRC\TEST.CPP then the file is placed in D:\BACKUP\C\PROJECT\TEST\SRC. You can specify not to include the drive name as a directory. This will place the same file in C:\BACKUP\PROJECT\TEST\SRC. You can also specify not to include the mirrored files directory. This will place the file directly in the destination directory (D:\BACKUP). For each mirrored directory it is possible to override the default destination directory. The destination directory can be located on any drive for instance a network drive which is backed up on tape regulary. When are the files mirrored? ------------------------------------ In Windows 3.x Control Panel is a utility for scheduling the screensavers. You can select the delay in minutes between the last keyboard or mouse event before the selected screensaver is executed. You have to experiment a little before you find a delay which suit your needs. A value between 10 and 60 minutes will probably be a good place to start. When the Silent Partner Backup is scheduled to run, it searches through the list of directories to mirror looking for files. It will only mirror the file if it is not previously mirrored or if it has a newer time stamp than a previously mirrored file. What about the screensaver part? ------------------------------------ Silent Partner Backup does no fancy screensaving. When it is executed it simply blancs the screen. While the mirroring is going on it displays a simple "what is going on" window. For the ones of you who likes fancy savers you can specify a previously installed screensaver to run after the mirroring is complete. For instance you can have the standard Mystify saver which ships with Windows to run. Do I know of any bugs or features? ------------------------------------ Well... yes, I do. Here is a list: - There is no helpfile yet. I will make one soon. - This version will NOT work propperly on Windows NT. I will make this happen in near future. It is not tested on Windows 95. I think it will run OK. - Don't include any of your destination directories in any of the directories to mirror. It will keep on adding the directories until Bill G. says: 'There is not enough space for your path in my system'. There is no loop-detection in this version of Silen Partner Backup. - The mirrored files is timestamped by the filesystem. If the destination directory is located on a fileserver and the time on the server does not correspond with the time on the workstation, the Silent Partner Backup will not be able to corectly determine whether to update the file or not. - It is not possible to interrupt the mirroring process by touching the keyboard or moving the mouse. Bugreport, comments and registering. ------------------------------------ This version of Silent Partner Backup is distributed as Shareware. It is not crippled in any way. You can freely use it for a month or so. If you find it usefull I suggest you fill out the registering form included and send it to the address below. Registering will cost you only $20 per installed copy and includes the right to use upgraded versions of the software. The registry form and the money can be sent to: Frank Mikalsen Utsikten 264 N-9018 Tromso Norway Bugreports, comments and suggestion can be sent to: frank@mikrosys.no Acknovledgements goes to: -------------------------- - Steve Saxon for his excellent Windows95 Style Propperty Sheets. A nice piece of code. Charity is on its way! - Herman Rodent, Microsoft Developer Network Technology Group for his article 'Writing a setup application for Windows in C' and the companion sample application. And if any doubt ---------------- SILENT PARTNER BACKUP SCREEN SAVER IS DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IN NO EVENT SHALL FRANK MIKALSEN BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, OR OTHER PROBLEM CAUSED BY USING THIS SOFTWARE. THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING SILENT PARTNER BACKUP SCREEN SAVER IS YOURS.