BACKING UP FILES A copy of important system and data files is essential to aid in disaster recovery.

There are two main types of backups, FULL and INCREMENTAL. A full backup is where a copy is made of all files, whilst an incremental backup is where a copy is made of changed files only. MSDOS keeps an attribute associated with each file. This attribute has the following characteristics,
system file hidden file read only modified part of MSDOS or an application does not appear in a directory command list prevents writing to the file, or deleting it is set when the file is written to

The MSDOS command attrib is used to change file attributes. !f there are only a few files to backup, then use the copy or xcopy command. The "copy command has the advantage of saving directories also. #owever, if there are a large number of files which need to be backed up, then the backup command should be used. This command allows you to
$ backup directories and sub$directories $ backup selected files $ add files to a backup disk previously created

%iles backed up in this way cannot be accessed on the disk using standard commands. The command restore must be used to recover the file before it can be used.

&A'()* is used to archive files from one drive to another. !t is standard practice to save all the files on disk to floppy at regular intervals. This process is called backing up +or archiving, the hard disk. &ackup accepts the following options.
&A'()* source destination -options. The important options are /S /M /D0date copies subdirectories copies modified files copies files after a specific date

The destination drive +or diskettes, M)ST be formatted before issuing the command. 1ou would normally create ample data diskettes using the format command before backing up the hard drive. The following command would archive the entire hard disk onto pre$formatted floppy diskettes.
&A'()* '023.3 A0 /S

4hen backup is run, it displays the message

!nsert backup diskette 56 in drive A0 4A78!89: %iles in the target drive A02 root directory will be erased *ress any key to continue . . .

4hen a key is pressed, backup begins copying the files to the specified disk. The backup se;uence ends when the specified files have been written to disk, or when the process is aborted by pressing 'T7<$' or 'T7<$&7=A(. Two files are created on the diskette, &A'()*.556 and 'O8T7O<.556. The files are stored in the backup file, and the file paths are stored in the control file. The label of the diskette is changed to &A'()* 556. !f more than one diskette is re;uired, a prompt is displayed to insert the second backup disk, and it will contain the files &A'()*.55>, 'O8T7O<.55> and be assigned a volume label of &A'()* 55>.

i!t" 1ou can use the filenames on the disk to make sure the diskettes are stored in the correct order.

Backi!# up se$ecte% &i$es Often, backups are done as incrementals. &ackup provides for backing up files of specific types +e"tension or filename,, of a certain date, or modified files. The following command backs up all ;uattro pro work files +e"tension .w;6, on drive '0 to floppy diskettes mounted in drive A0
backup c023.w;6 a0 /s

The following command backs up modified files only to backup diskettes in drive A0
backup c023.3 a0 /s /m

The following command backs up files which have been modified on or after %ebruary 6?th 6??@.
backup c023.3 a0 /d05>$6?$?@

The following command adds to the backup files on the diskette in drive A0 +does not erase the previous backup files, all files in the specified directory.
backup c02work2Aoe23.3 a0 /a

Restori!# &i$es a!% 'irectories 4hen files are lost, and you have previously backed them up, the backup copy can be retrieved using the restore command. The REST(RE command works opposite to that of &ackup. 7estore accepts the following options.
7=STO7= source destination -options. The important options are /S /* copies subdirectories prompt issued before file restored

The following command would restore the entire hard disk from a backup set of floppy diskettes.
7=STO7= A0 '023.3 /S

The following command restores all .w;6 files in all sub$directories to drive '0
restore a0 c023.w;6 /s

The following command restores the single file c02work2Aoe2vital.t"t from the backup file on drive a0
restore a0 c02work2Aoe2vital.t"t

)ie*i!# t+e $ist o& backup &i$es 1ou can view a list of the backup files on the current backup diskette by using the /d option to the restore command. The synta" is the same, in that you muist specify as source and destination drive, though no files are actually restored.
restore a0 c0 /d

Reco,eri!# &i$es &ro- %e&ecti,e %isks The reco,er program is used to attempt recovery of a corrupted file on a diskette. 7ecover tries to recover as much information as possible, but may not recover all the file. !nformation stored in defective sectors will not be recovered. Defective sectors are marked as bad so they cannot be reallocated by MSDOS for future use.
recover import.t"t

7ecovered files are stored in the root directory and numbers the recovered files se;uentially, beginning with %!<=5556.7='