Backups aren't done on a regular basis because it's time consuming and people tend to be optimistic until it's too late.

Grandfather, father, son:

This refers to three continuously alternating backups. How you store the backups makes no difference. CD burners, tape, ZIP drive, or diskettes all should be done in three's.

I have had to use all three sets of backups to restore a hard drive when using diskettes because different disks age at different times and each set had one or more unreadable diskettes in them. It happens and tape can be even worse.

Arrange your files into separate partitions:

New systems are configured with one huge C: drive. This is a mistake and very unprofessional of whoever set up your system. A disaster waiting to happen and not the most efficient (read fastest) setup either.

Reduce the monotony by using separate partitions and keep the system files in one partition and data files in another. A separate partition for the virtual memory swap file for Windows is a way to avoid fragmentation of the hard drive and the mistake of backing up the swap file. I've done it a few times myself. For a system using any version of Windows the minimum would be C: for system files, D: to hold the virtual memory swap file, and E: for changing data files and %TEMP% files that should be deleted before making any backups.

Once you have three backups of the system partition you only need to make new backups of the C: drive if you reconfigure your system files by installing new applications or just decide to tweak it a bit. With only the changing data files to backup the amount of time won't overwhelm you.

Backup to what?:

First the don'ts.

Do not just copy your directories to the same hard drive and consider that a backup. If the FAT (File Allocation Table) is scrambled either by a mistake or a virus your so-called backup is gone along with the original. Keeping a second copy for convenience when uninstalls fail is not a bad idea but it's not really a backup.

Do not backup your files to some orphaned magnetic media that requires your computer to function. Your computer or the special drive to read the media may die leaving you with unreadable magnetic media. This happens most frequently with tape drives.

Do not depend on XCOPY.EXE to make backups. It has a few bugs like not wanting to copy empty directories or hidden files. I know newer versions have added some of this but get a real backup program written to do backups. There are applications for this purpose that won't skip any files or directories.

The sturdiest and cheapest backups are to CD writers. Good but not many older 16 BIT OS systems have these installed.

The next best option is to have four identical hard drives and install them one at a time as the second hard drive in your system then backup to that, remove it and replace it with the next identical drive. With all the gigabyte drives out there the older/smaller drives are very cheap. The added bonus is this is fast and can do the entire backup unattended. You don't need to watch it, just run it.

If this sounds like too much trouble, the next best option is to install a second hard drive as large or larger than your first (main) hard drive and backup to that as many times as the drive can manage and overwrite the oldest version each time giving you a sort of grandfather, father, son backup system.

If none of the above is doable then you only have tape or diskettes to make your backups. If you have the empty space on your hard drive using RAR or JAR with the `solid archive' option turned on will make the backup files smaller in size but both archivers are slow in my opinion.

As an absolute minimal effort backup your system files. The root directory ( C:\), the DOS directory and any utility directories. If you use W3x the 16 BIT Windows then also backup C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM. You'll be glad you did some dark and dreary day when your hard drive is trashed.

• Hard Drive Maintenance / tweaking
  
  
• CHKDSK.EXE ©  or SCANDISK.EXE ©  - should be run before ANY defrag is used. Good defrag software will stop and force you to do this so why not just do it?
• Batch File Cleanup - Remove unwanted temporary files before a defrag with this batch file to automate the process for you.
  
  
• Defraggers
  
  
  • Shareware/Freeware
  • DOG.EXE © - Uses a configuration file where what files/directories go first/last can be specified by the user. This can be very specific or general in whatever way the user wants it to be. (Microsoft didn't have this until W98 defragger)
  • SDEFRAG.EXE - Free download of DRDOS v7.03 gets you SDEFRAG and a CHKDSK, no scandisk - sorry.
    
    
  • Commerical © - worth mentioning if you can find them?
  • DEFRAG.EXE - MSDOS © - Included with v6.22 of MSDOS. This clone of PCTools COMPRESS seems to be a good and reasonably fast defragger. If you have this utility with your version of DOS I would recommend using it.
  • COMPRESS.EXE © - One of the PCTOOLS utilities. This is the one I used with v2.11 to v3.3 MSDOS and PCDOS. The defrag included with newer versions of DOS (by Symantec) seem to work in a similar fashion. I wanted a defragger that continuously updated the FAT (File Allocation Table) in the event of a power failure or some other catastrophic event while my FAT table was being manipulated. Paranoid? YES!!
  • VOPT.EXE © - Was the premier defragger ($99) and now it's back in a W9x version. Fast if you can find older versions for DOS.
  
  
  
• Low Level Format and Partitioners
  
  
  • Shareware / Freeware
  • AEFDISK.ZIP - More options than Microsoft's Fdisk
  • DELPART.ZIP - Microsoft's Partition Remover
  • RANISH - Easier to use than Fdisk. CVT, also at the homepage, will convert FAT16 to FAT32
  • FIPS - Split or add FAT16/32 partitions non-destructively in the extended partition. . A veteran DOS utility that's been updated (v2.0, 5-98) to handle FAT32. GNU GPL, source included.
    
    
  • Commerical © - worth the cost if you can find them.
  • Partition Magic © - Split or add partions non-destructively.
  • SpinRite © - Low level MFM RLL ESDI drives non-destructively and reclaim bad clusters. Steve Gibson has become more widely known for his efforts, lately, to stop spyware in shareware applications.
  
  
  
• UNDELETE.EXE - Free FTP download from Microsoft (written by Central Point Software) for W95 users but I have tested it here with my v6.22 and it works. Remember that FAT32 drives on W9x and up use long filenames. I haven't tried this one in a W9x dosbox but I'm guessing it will work? For DOS v2.x and 3.x I have used the undelete and the directory sort utility from Norton's DOS Utilities package.
• UNDELETE.EXE - Free download of DRDOS v7.03 and you also have your UNDELETE utility. DRDOS just sounds better and better as you read these pages, doesn't it?