msbackup MS-DOS Command

Type: External (6.0 and later)

Syntax:

MSBACKUP [setup_file][/BW|/LCD|/MDA]

Purpose: Used to backup or restore one or more files from one disk to another.

Discussion

With MS-DOS, Microsoft provides MSBACKUP for MS-DOS as well as for Windows. You determine if one or the other (or both) will be available by the choices you make during MS-DOS Setup. The discussion below relates only to backup for MS-DOS.

NOTE:
You can only run MSBACKUP from a hard disk, not a floppy disk. MSBACKUP allows you to back up all files on a disk or only files that have changed since your last backup. You can also schedule backups to be performed automatically on a regular basis. When MSBACKUP is used to back up your files, a backup catalog is created. This catalog contains information such as backed-up disk`s directory structure, the names, sizes, and attributes of the directories and files that were selected, the total number of files, backup date, etc.). If you want to restore one or more files, you can do so easily by loading the backup catalog and selecting the files to be restored from the backup set. Setup_file specifies the setup file that is to be used to define the files to be backed up as well as the type of backup you want MSBACKUP to perform. The setup file is created when you save program settings and make file selections. You must give setup files the SET extension. If a setup file is not specified, MSBACKUP will use the DEFAULT.SET file.

Options

/BW – Starts MSBACKUP using a black-and-white color scheme. /LCD – Starts MSBACKUP using a video mode compatible with laptop computers. /MDA – Starts MSBACKUP using a monochrome display adapter.

Example

If you want to load a setup file named MONTHLY.SET that you have created to define a monthly backup procedure, enter,

msbackup monthly