
        Instructions on how to use the Automatic Backup procedures:

You access the program through 'GO.BAT',  not through 'PROGRAM.EXE'.   This 
'GO.BAT' file will perform the backup automatically outside of the  program 
once you indicate your preference for a backup upon exiting the program.

Adopt  a  strategy for your backup  disks.   A  simple  two-disk,  rotating 
procedure will save you grief later if you experience a hard drive crash.  

Format two disks and label them 'Backup 1' and 'Backup 2'.   Place a write-
protect tab on 'Backup 2' and put that disk into your software vault.   Use 
the other disk, 'Backup 1', for your routine automatic backups.  

Place the current backup disk into drive A.   When you exit the program, it 
will ask you if you want to back it up.  At this point, enter a '1' without 
an  'Enter'  to show acceptance.   The next screen will then display  'A:'.  
Press  the 'Enter' key to accept that value.   At this point,  the  program 
will  drop you into your subdirectory,  and the 'GO.BAT' file will  perform 
the backup.

Let's  say that you backup the data on January 15.   the  backup  procedure 
will create this file:

                             0115ACS.ARC

The '01' stands for the month,  while '15' shows the day.  In this way, the 
backup files will not overwrite each other on the backup disk.   When full, 
the  backup  procedure  will tell you that 'for some  reason,  the  program 
cannot  copy  over the file to the disk.'  At this point,  place  a  write-
protect  tab  onto backup #1,  format a second disk,  label  it  'Collector 
Backup #2',  use it until full, then swap the write-protect tab with Backup 
#1, reformat #1, and use it from scratch.

By  doing this,  you will always be alternating back and forth between  the 
two backup disks as each becomes full.

Backup  your data frequently,  every two or three hours of new data  entry.  
You  do  not have to check the backup disk to see if it is  becoming  full. 
Once full, the backup procedure will show a message on the screen that 'for 
some reason the procedure cannot copy the file over to the disk.'  When you 
see that message, then you know the disk is full.
    
You  could make a mental note that the backup disk WITHOUT a  write-protect 
tab  is the 'Production Backup Disk'.   As it becomes full,  place a write-
protect tab on that disk and put it into the software vault.  Take the disk 
that had the write-protect tab and remove it.   Then reformat that disk and 
begin  using  it as the 'Production Backup Disk'.   You need not  keep  any 
elaborate lists of what data is on which disk.   As long as you see a  disk 
WITH  a  write  protect-tab,  you will know that this one  belongs  in  the 
software vault.   The disk WITHOUT the write-protect tab is the 'Production 
Backup Disk'.  



The data, by the way, is squeezed together on each date on which you make a 
backup.   If,  for example,  you backed up data on September 15, 1986, then 
you  would observe this file on your backup disk:   0915ACS.ARC.   The '09' 
reflects the month of the backup, while the '15' shows you the date.  'ACS' 
is my company name,  while 'ARC' shows that this is an Archive  file.   The 
program  does  not perform an incremental backup.   Every 'ARC' file  is  a 
self-contained  image  of  ALL the program's data on that  date.   Why  are 
multiple  backups necessary?   Experience has shown that when a hard  drive 
goes down,  its' controller is often bad PRIOR to the last backup.  If this 
happens,  the  most  recent backup may be corrupted and you would  then  be 
forced to use the backup prior to that one.  

                     Retrieving your data later:
                                                                           
All  of  your  data  files will be saved  into  one  archive file  and date 
'stamped'   to   help   you  later in  determining which  of  the  archives  
has  the most  recent data.    Let's say,  for example,  that the data  for 
today was stored in this file:   

                            A:1109ACS.ARC              
                                                                           
The    first   two  letters  stand for the month,    while  the  last   two 
identify    the    date during the month on which this backup   was   made.  
Let's   say that you see  '0804ACS.ARC' on your data  disk.    This   means 
month '8',  day '4', or August 4.  If you saw '1123ACS.ARC',  this file was  
created  on month '11',    day '23',  or   December   23rd.     The purpose  
for  this  numbering  scheme is so that you  can   have  multiple  back  up 
files on one disk,   space permitting,  and yet tell at a  glance which  is 
the most recent one. 
                                                                           
                  Retrieving your data in the presence of
                              'NEW1REAL.BAT' 

If  you  observe 'NEW1REAL.BAT' in your subdirectory,  then  execute  these 
commands:          

   NEW1REAL    <=========== you type this, follow by 'Enter'
   ARCE A:0520ACS.ARC  /R   <======== you type this, followed by 'Enter'
                              [you adjust the '0520' portion for the
                               actual date: '05' is May, '20' is 20th day]

This  will take all of your data from the most recent backup and restore it 
to your hard drive. 

Execute  'GO'   from your subdirectory.   The program will again  lead  you 
through  the  installation process.    The 'NEW1REAL' command  you  entered 
earlier  has  forced  the program to reinstall.   Once you go  through  the 
installation menus again, the program will ask you to reboot or restart the 
system.   At this point,  ignore that restart message and invoke 'GO'  from 
the  subdirectory.   You should be greeted as a Registered User.   If  not, 
repeat  this  entire  process  ONCE.  If  you  are  still  not  greeted  as 
Registered, then call me.


                                                                           
                  Retrieving your data in the absence of
                              'NEW1REAL.BAT'

If you cannot observe 'NEW1REAL.BAT' in your subdirectory,  then delete all 
files  ending  in 'NTX' and 'MEM' files with these commands:

   DEL *.NTX   <=========== you type this, follow by 'Enter'
   DEL *.MEM   <=========== you type this, follow by 'Enter'
   ARCE A:0520ACS.ARC  /R   <======== you type this, followed by 'Enter
                              [you adjust the '0520' portion for the
                               actual date: '05' is May, '20' is 20th day]

This  will take all of your data from the most recent backup and restore it 
to your hard drive. 

Execute  'GO'   from your subdirectory.   The program will again  lead  you 
through  the installation process.    The 'DEL *.MEM' command  you  entered 
earlier  has  forced  the program to reinstall.   Once you go  through  the 
installation menus again, the program will ask you to reboot or restart the 
system.   At this point,  ignore that restart message and invoke 'GO'  from 
the  subdirectory.   You should be greeted as a Registered User.   If  not, 
repeat  this  entire  process  ONCE.  If  you  are  still  not  greeted  as 
Registered, then call me.




                 Alternate methods of backing up the data:

In the event that your floppy is full and will not hold any more data,  you 
have another option.  In \COLLECT.ACS you should observe these two files: 

                              CRISIS-A.BAT
                              CRISIS-B.BAT

Note  that 'CRISIS-A' backs up one half of your files to one floppy,  while 
'CRISIS-B' does the other half to a second one.

You would enter these commands:
       
                          CRISIS-A  {======= you enter this
                          CRISIS-B  {======= you enter this


Make  sure if you use the 'CRISIS-A'/'CRISIS-B' methodology,  that you have 
matched sets of disks for the backups and that you rotate them in sets.

Later  on,  if you wish to bring this data back into  \COLLECT.ACS,  you  would 
enter these commands:

                          NEW1REAL  {======= you enter this
                          ARCE A:CRISIS-A /R  {======= you enter this
                          ARCE A:CRISIS-B /R  {======= you enter this
       

Another  method  exists to backup your data.  Though slower  than  'CRISIS-
A/'CRISIS-B', it places twice the data into each backup.

In \COLLECT.ACS, you should observe this file: 
       
                                 BIGBU.BAT
         
'BIGBU' creates a 'big-backup' of your data onto one disk.

To create this 'big-backup', you enter this command:

                      BIGBU   {======= you enter this


Once invoked, 'BIGBU.BAT' creates this file onto floppy A:

                                BIG-BU.LZH

This  single  file contains all data from the program.   

                                                                           
         Retrieving data later from BIG-BU.LZH  in the presence of
                              'NEW1REAL.BAT' 

To retrieve data from BIG-BU.LZH  in the presence of 'NEW1REAL.BAT', please 
enter the following commands in your subdirectory:

    NEW1REAL        <========= you type these commands, followed by 'Enter
    LHARC E /CH A:BIG-BU       [overwrite all files, as asked]
    GO
                                                                           





         Retrieving data later from BIG-BU.LZH  in the absence of
                              'NEW1REAL.BAT' 

To retrieve data from BIG-BU.LZH  in the absence of 'NEW1REAL.BAT', please 
enter the following commands in your subdirectory:

    DEL *.NTX   <=========== you type this, follow by 'Enter'
    DEL *.MEM   <=========== you type this, follow by 'Enter'
    LHARC E /CH A:BIG-BU       [overwrite all files, as asked]
    GO







                   Alternate backups within the program:

You can execute these and other alternate backups from within the program.  
From the Main Program Menu, please enter '5' for Other Options.  Once there, 
please observe selection 'D':


                              D) Disk Backups


After you have selected 'D', you will see the Alternate Backup Options Menu.  
As you enter 'H' for Help, you will be then able to read about all of the 
alternates available at this menu.



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