Express Assist 8.0 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - Express Assist

1. Where should I save the Backup File?
   Express Assist 8 will make a backup on most media available on your computer. This includes diskettes, removable disk drives, fixed disk drives, CD-R / CD-RW devices, and networked drives.
   
   Diskettes - While diskettes may be used, they are far from ideal. The capacity of a diskette is quite limited. However Express Assist 8 will allow the backup to 'span' multiple diskettes. In our experience, diskettes fail more often than other media. It appears as if the failure is directly related to the importance of the data on the diskette.
   
   Removable Drives - Removable drives are typified by the venerable Iomega "ZIP" drive. They are much larger capacity and typically more reliable than diskettes.
   
   CD-R and CD-RW Devices - Most modern PC's include a CD-R drive. The media is inexpensive and quite reliable. See the notes "" for further information.
   
   Networked Drives - If you have multiple PC's you may also save the backup to a drive on another machine. We recommend that you create a mapped drive to the remote machine for this purpose.
   
   Regardless of the media chosen, we recommend that you try to use media which is large enough to accomodate the backup file in it's entirety if possible. This is not mandatory but it does make operations much easier.
   
   
2. Can I save directly to a CD or CD-RW disk?
   The Express Assist 8 - backup file can be saved to a CD-R or CD-RW disk. Direct saving to CD-R & CD-RW disks is supported as long as the disks have been pre formatted to accept direct file writes. You will need to have some type of CD software installed on your system that makes your CD-R drive act as a standard drive. We suggest Adaptec/Roxio DirectCD. Most CD writeable devices come packaged with software of this type. Spanning of CD-R & CD-RW disks is also supported and has been successfully tested with v2.5d+ of Adaptec/Roxio DirectCD.
   
   When using "Direct CD" you MUST wait until Direct CD has control of the drive before starting the backup. Unless specifically disabled, Direct CD will display a window to tell you that it is "Ready". Wait until you see this window.
   
   Windows XP Users Note: Windows XP includes built-in functionality to use CD media as a destination to write files to within Windows Explorer. This functionality is only included for Windows Explorer. This does not allow other applications such as Express Assist to write to the CD. Direct write software is still required to allow other applications to write to CD, such as the software mentioned above.
   
   If you do not have the direct write software, you can still save the backup file to the CD by:
   
   1. Make a backup to some temporary location on your hard drive (say c:\MyBackup ).
   
   2. Copy the completed backup file to the CD using the software supplied with the CD drive.
   
   
3. How often should I do a backup?
   The following are recommended:
   
   Regular Backup - Make a backup regularly. You never know when you will need one. eazy-Backup includes a reminder function for just this purpose.
   
   Cycle the Backup - If you use re-recordable media (e.g., a zip disk) do not rely on one backup disk. Use a set of backup disks. For example, use three sets (labelled A, B, C). Make a backup on set A , then on set B, and then on set C. Restart again using set A, then B, etc. This way, if the media goes bad (not impossible at all), you still have the prior backup available.
   
   Use CD if possible - CD's are inexpensive and, if handled properly, very reliable.
   
   Keep the Backup Safe - The backup file (or at least one copy from a set) should be kept away from the computer, preferable off site. A backup disk that is in the computer that is stolen is not very much good.