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Backing up your hard drive need not be boring if you use the latest version of Diamond Back from HiSoft.
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Hard drives can be wonderful things. Massive storage coupled with fast access times can revolutionize the way you work with your ST. They can be a curse as well as a blessing though. If a fault occurs and you lose the contents, it's devastating. If you've ever lost data from a floppy, think how much worse it feels with even a small 20MB drive. With large drives becoming more affordable, the need for a sensible backup routine is obvious.
Diamond Back 3 from HiSoft is the latest version of their best-selling backup utility. More than a small update from DB2, it's gone through a major redesign — everything from the way it looks to its core routines has been souped up. DB3 goes a long way towards making a repetitive job a joy to do.
DB3's interface has gone through a major overhaul. Gone are the cryptic option boxes of previous versions, with everything now 100% GEM controlled using a clear and attractive design. While the manual has a good "quickstart" guide, the program is so friendly you won't need it after your first few tries. We can't stress how much nicer to use this makes DB3. If you've seen the older version, just look at the screenshots for comparison!
Backups can be made to standard 720K floppies, and high density drives are supported too. If you're lucky enough to own a second HD, a removable SyQuest drive, a Floptical Drive or a SCSI tape streamer, DB3 recognizes all of these as valid backup devices. Backups to SyQuest mechanisms can be split across as many cartridges as you need, and the whole process is way faster than copying files from the Desktop.
DB3 lets you configure your backups as much as you like, with separate logfiles kept for each backup you do. You can choose to split files across disks or use an intelligent system to fit files onto a disk to save space. Files can be compressed, and a vast improvement in v3 lets you tell DB3 not to squeeze files with certain extensions. All common archive formats like ZIP and LZH are supported, and compression is so fast you won't notice it happening.
As well as standard file backups, DB3 supports GEM Image backups and a raw data format for foreign formats such as Spectre GCR. Image backups use an intelligent system which only stores sectors containing data.
Restoring backups is brilliantly simple. Any or all backed up files can be selected, and choosing a single file to restore is as easy as clicking on the name in the Restore screen.
Diamond Back 3 is lightning fast, very stable and an absolute joy to use. No other backup tool comes even close to the speed and power provided here. The support for non-floppy devices alone makes it a winner. If you're using another backup program, take a good look at this. If you're not backing up, do it now before the unthinkable happens.
FRANK CHARLTON
Highs • A doddle to use • Full multi-tasking compatibility
Lows • None!
What else? Diamond Back, 2.51 HiSoft £29.95