Q Back in 1995, I used the MS-DOS 6.22 backup utility to archive important files onto floppies. Now I need those files, but the Windows 98 backup program can't restore them. Any ideas?

A Luckily, the DOS 6.22 backup program, MSBackup, is available for free at ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/MSLFILES/msback.exe. You will also find it on our cover CD.

Once you've got MSBackup installed and configured (the program runs only in DOS compatibility mode), you have to restore the catalogue. At the main menu, select Restore-Catalog-Retrieve and then your floppy drive. Click OK. Insert the last floppy of your backup set and select Continue.

If you don't have the last floppy, or if there is a problem with the floppy and MSBackup can't retrieve the catalogue from it, select Rebuild rather than Retrieve. MSBackup will recreate a catalogue as best it can from the information on all of the surviving floppies.

When the catalogue has been retrieved or rebuilt, select OK, then Load. Click Select Files and then pick the files you wish to restore. Be careful about restoring anything to the Windows folder or to its subfolders. You may overwrite a file whose particular version you need.

Select Start Restore. Follow the prompts for feeding your floppies to the program one at a time. When it's done, click OK, then Quit to return to Windows. You should now have your files.