DOCUMENTATION FOR WPS BACKUP v1.25
----------------------------------

*** The only update in this version is to cover situations in
which any of the files to be backed up has got the HIDDEN
attribute bit turned on.


INTRODUCTION
------------
Although OS/2 is a wonderful operating system, it is far from
perfect, and it is not as crash-proof as some would have us
believe. In addition, many activities (for example, installing
drivers for new devices or even simply changing screen drivers)
are fraught. Many users, including myself have had to go through
the process of reinstalling OS/2, as a result of something going
wrong when changing screen drivers. Re-installation itself is
relatively painless (if you are doing it from a supported CD-ROM).
However the pain of losing all your weeks and months of
customisation of the OS/2 Desktop and Work Place Shell (WPS) is
much more significant.

What this package does is to provide a very simple way of backing
up and restoring your OS/2 Desktop and WPS settings. The executables
can be run either with command line parameters (each of them only
takes 2 parameters) or in an interactive mode. Both of the
executables are run from an OS/2 command prompt.


NOTE: This program has only been tested on OS/2 v2.1. It should work
also for later versions, but may not work with earlier versions.


INSTALLATION
------------
The package consists of the following files;

1. WPS-BACK.EXE - executable to back up the WPS and Desktop
2. WPS-REST.EXE - executable to restore the back up
3. README.DOC - this file

There is no special produre for installation. Just copy the files
WPS-BACK.EXE and WPS-REST.EXE into a directory which is in your
OS/2 program path.


--------------
| BACKING UP |
--------------

The back up is processed by running WPS-BACK.EXE.

The best method of performing the back up is to run WPS-BACK.EXE
when the WPS is not active. There are 2 ways of achieving this.

Either;

1. Booting from an OS/2 boot floppy (this is tedious and time
consuming),

or

2. Adding the line "CALL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE" as the LAST line in your
CONFIG.SYS file. This opens up a full screen OS/2 session upon
boot up. From there you can run WPS-BACK.EXE and also perform
any other maintainance duties before typing "EXIT", which will
then cause the boot up into the WPS to be completed.

This is the easiest method, and is advisable, even if you are not
using this package at all.

However, you can still run WPS-BACK.EXE (but not WPS-REST.EXE) from
your OS/2 Desktop, by creating a WPS program object for it.

WPS-BACK.EXE takes 2 parameters (there is an optional 3rd parameter
for non-English language versions of OS/2 v2.1);

1. Your OS/2 boot drive
2. The floppy disk drive that you want to back up to.


Thus the syntax is;

WPS-BACK [os2 desktop directory]


Examples;

WPS-BACK D: A: (backs up from drive D: to drive A:)
WPS-BACK C: A: (backs up from drive C: to drive A:)

WPS-BACK C: A: C:\OS2_!SYS (backs up from drive C: to drive A:)
(the OS/2 Desktop directory is not)
(called "C:\DESKTOP", but "C:\OS2_!SYS")

That is it!

If you run WPS-BACK without any parameter (or with less than 2
parameters) the program goes into an interactive mode, and asks
you for your OS/2 boot drive, and the target drive. You can stop
at these stages, by just pressing ENTER.


For safety's sake, you are given 1 chance to stop the back up
process, by pressing CTRL-Break. WPS-BACK then does some checking,
and finally starts the backing up.

When the back up has started (if you run it from the Desktop) you
can start to do other things, and it will run in the background.


* NOTE: the 3rd parameter is only needed if your OS/2 Deskop
directory is NOT called "\DESKTOP". This is the case with some
non-English language versions of OS/2, and it is also the case
with OS/2 v2.0.

If in doubt, just run WPS-BACK.EXE with no parameter, and the
interactive process will ask you all the necessary questions.

If you are using an English language version of OS/2 v2.1 then
the 3rd parameter is NOT needed (if you supply it, it will just
be ignored).


WHAT IS BACKED UP?
------------------
The following are backed up;

1. The \Desktop directory on the OS/2 boot drive
2. OS2.INI
3. OS2SYS.INI
4. CONFIG.SYS
5. AUTOEXEC.BAT (if it exists)
6. STARTUP.CMD (if it exists)

If you have Win-OS/2 installed, you will have to back up your
Win-OS/2 INI files manually.

-------------
| RESTORING |
-------------

The restoration of a backup that has been carried out with
WPS-BACK is processed by running WPS-REST.EXE.


NOTES:
-----
1. WPS-REST.EXE *must* be run after booting from an OS/2 boot floppy.
Please note this point. Do NOT attempt to run WPS-REST.EXE when
the WPS is active. I cannot guarantee what will happen if anyone
tried this.

2. It is advised that you run CHKDSK on your OS/2 boot drive before
running WPS-REST.EXE. This will give CHKDSK the opportunity to
correct any disk errors, and will increase the chance of a
successful restore.

3. You should make copies of your current CONFIG.SYS, OS2.INI and
OS2SYS.INI files, before running WPS-REST.EXE.
This will allow you to restore your old setup in case you wish
to do so.


Like WPS-BACK.EXE, WPS-REST.EXE is run with 2 parameters;

1. Your OS/2 boot drive
2. The floppy disk drive that you want to back up to.


Thus the syntax is;

WPS-REST [os2 desktop directory]


Examples;

WPS-REST A: D: (restores from drive A: to drive D:)
WPS-REST A: C: (restores from drive A: to drive C:)

WPS-REST A: C: C:\OS2_!SYS (restores from drive A: to drive C:)
(the OS/2 Desktop directory is not)
(called "C:\DESKTOP", but "C:\OS2_!SYS")

That is it! (hopefully).


If WPS-REST.EXE is run without any parameters, it goes into an
interactive mode.


* NOTE: the 3rd parameter is only needed if your OS/2 Deskop
directory is NOT called "\DESKTOP". This is the case with some
non-English language versions of OS/2, and it is also the case
with OS/2 v2.0.

If in doubt, just run WPS-REST.EXE with no parameter, and the
interactive process will ask you all the necessary questions.

If you are using an English language version of OS/2 v2.1 then
the 3rd parameter is NOT needed (if you supply it, it will just
be ignored).


* NOTES *
---------
When the restore process begins, it first of all renames your
\DESKTOP directory to \OLDDESK1. If \OLDDESK1 already exists on
your OS/2 boot drive, the the \DESKTOP directory will be renamed
to \OLDDESK2. This is just a precaution in case you wish to go back
to what you had before.

If both \OLDDESK1 and \OLDDESK2 exist on your OS/2 boot drive, then
WPS-REST.EXE will stop. You will then have to remove one of them
yourself.

Your old configuration files are backed up, with a ".OLD" extension.

After the \DESKTOP directory has been renamed, the restore process
begins in earnest.


WHAT IS RESTORED?
------------------
The following are restored;

1. The \Desktop directory on the OS/2 boot drive
2. OS2.INI
3. OS2SYS.INI
4. CONFIG.SYS
5. AUTOEXEC.BAT (if it exists)
6. STARTUP.CMD (if it exists)


After all this, your old WPS and Desktop settings will hopefully
have been restored. You can then reboot, and watch.

That's all folks!


LICENSE
-------

This package is supplied as FREEWARE. You can do with it as you
please, as long as nothing in it is modified, and this documentation
is supplied with it.

FEEDBACK
--------
I am interested to know how well this package works for you. If it
saves your life, you can buy me some palm wine 🙂 If it kills you,
then I have gone to Timbuktu, and will not be back for a while.

COMPILER
--------
For all who are interested, the programs in this package are 16-bit
character mode OS/2 executables, and were developed with Borland
Pascal 7.0, and the OS/2 patch for it produced by c't magazine.

DISCLAIMER
----------
These programs were written for my own use, and they work well for
me. They have been thoroughly tested in simulated conditions, and
have been used to restore my Desktop and WPS in real situations
twice. However, your mileage may vary and I cannot guarantee
anything. Hence, the following disclaimer.

THE PROGRAMS WPS-BACK.EXE AND WPS-REST.EXE ARE SUPPLIED "AS IS", AND
WITHOUT ANY GUARANTEES WHATSOEVER. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR
ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, WHETHER DIRECT OR INDIRECT, PHYSICAL, FINANCIAL,
EMOTIONAL, MARITAL, MENTAL, SOCIAL, OR OTHERWISE, THAT MAY RESULT
FROM THE USE, OR THE PURPORTED USE OF ANY PROGRAM IN THIS PACKAGE
FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

IF THESE TERMS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, THEN YOU HAVE NO LICENSE
TO USE THIS PACKAGE AT ALL, AND YOU SHOULD DELETE THE PROGRAMS FROM
YOUR DISKS IMMEDIATELY.


-------------------------------------------
(c)1994,
Dr. A. Olowofoyeku,
Keele University
England.

e-mail: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------