Computer System Operation

Frequent saving to disk, using your software is the first step. Also, do not reboot your computer while working on a file. Always exit to DOS at the end of the day. You will see the main menu.

Remember that computers are just mechanical devices. It is only a question of when they will eventually ear out. Therefore we are using a system of backing up so that we remember the old saying:

Don't have all your eggs in one basket.

Don't have all your files on one disk.

We will have a copy on each machine. Working on a network is like working on a standalone, but you have the ability to share the drives of other computers. Because each drive has a letter, and the letter C: is already used for your own hard disk, we can use different letters. The letters assigned to disk drives are actually arbitrary, but it is common for floppy disks to be labeled A: or B: and the hard disk to be labeled C:. With Windows 95, your own C: could just as easily be labeled D: so we have chosen easy to remember letters to stand for the different hard disks. One hard disk can also be labeled with two letters, such as C: and F:

The Drive Letters could be, for example:

F: Financial machine Accounting
     OWP data
     Q & A data & docs

I: Ivanna's - Production

J: Joanne's
     ACT data, docs, reports, etc

If the main machine does not work properly, we can still work from individual machines.

This makes all the machines contain the same data, but only for the software specified. See the BACK-ALL.BAT file for a list. This should be done at the end of the day

It uses the BAC utility from

BACopy (C) 1985, Dickinson Associates Inc. It works like the copy command but only copies files which need to be copied, those files with the most recent date and time stamp. This saves time and ensures that recent work is not overstricken by older versions of the same file.

If all is the same between two different drives, you will see a message

No Files Needed to be BACopied

You could run it a few times just to be safe. It doesn't hurt to run it twice.

If you see any unusual messages, call CIC. If all is backed up it will run through the whole list without requiring a keystroke until it says:

rem All Backed Up

Press any key to continue...

Then it goes back to the Main Menu

It might be due to insufficient disk space, so archive and delete old files.

More files can be added to the Back-All list.

We suggest you keep the machines running, but turn off the monitors. Computers do not use much electricity.

But they should be shut down before: