You need to reach your documents quickly in times of crisis. And you must
back them up — you’ll come to appreciate this after some bitter experiences!
The Documents Folder
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The Documents folder contains files that you’ve created. It’s best to reserve this folder for information about the real world — such as accounts, letters or records. Files that contain material to enable you to do things ought to be kept in another folder called Resources.
Document Care
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Some applications, notably HyperCard and FileMaker Pro, automatically save your files for you. Unfortunately they save mistakes as well, replacing the previous file! So before starting work on a such file make sure that you duplicate it and work on a copy!
If your Mac crashes during a Save the file concerned will almost certainly be damaged beyond repair. Some applications create a Recoverable files or Rescued items folder in the Trash or in the System Folder. When you restart you may find a usable version of your file in one of these folders — hopefully!
Document Location
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The Mac has a habit of saving documents in the same folder as the application that created them — you could end up with all your files in the Applications folder! You can avoid this by using the General Controls control panel or by adding extra software:-
• If you select Documents Folder in the Documents section of General Controls all
files are saved in the Documents folder. Unfortunately all applications have to
follow this rule — this is only really adequate for beginners.
• Default Folder or Now SuperBoomerang control panels, let you to choose a
destination folder, either for individual applications or for all of them. The Open
and Save dialogs may provide a rebound to the last folder used by an application.
Subdividing the Documents Folder
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Here’s an example of how you can split up the Documents folder:-
≈ ‹ Documents
∆ ‹ Finance
∆ ‹ Letters
∆ ‹ Notes
∆ ‹ Pictures
∆ ‹ Places
∆ ‹ Records
As always, the folders are named according to function. If you find it inconvenient to have newly saved files in with these folders you can add an extra folder called New Files — use Default Folder or Now SuperBoomerang to direct applications to this folder instead.
For small amounts of information the subdividing folders may end up less than 1400 K in size. This is convenient for a daily backup onto floppy disk, either by simply dragging folders onto the backup disk or by means of a synchronisation utility such as File Assistant.
Adding More Folders
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  Having mastered Default Folder or SuperBoomerang you’ll soon need more folders,
otherwise the Documents folder will get too large to handle! As you introduce new
folders at the root level of your hard disk you should think carefully about some
sort of strategy for backups.
Here’s an example of a hard disk after extra folders have been added:-
∆ ‹ Applications
∆ ‹ Documents
∆ ‹ Information
∆ ‹ Macintosh Info
∆ ‹ Pending
∆ ‹ Resources
∆ € System Folder
∆ ‹ • Archive
The folders are:-
Applications
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Although you may have the Installer diskettes for your applications it’s still advisable to create a backup of this folder using MacTools, Norton Utilities or any similar backup utility. It takes a lot of time to reinstate all your applications in exactly the way you want them!
Documents
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A backup of this folder is essential. You should have a least two backups, preferably via different methods. For example you could backup each subdividing folder by copying them onto individual floppy disks AND backup the entire folder using a backup utility.
Information
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This folder is for read-only information that you don’t intend to alter. Such documents might include the World Factbook or History of Psychology. In all instances you’ll still have the original diskettes so this folder won’t need a backup.
You can divide this folder up as well. For example:-
≈ ‹ Information
∆ ‹ General
∆ ‹ History
∆ ‹ Languages
∆ ‹ Philosophy
∆ ‹ Religion
∆ ‹ Science
Macintosh Info
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This folder is for read-only information about your Mac. In most cases you won’t want to alter these files and you’ll still have the original diskettes. So this folder probably won’t need a backup.
You could divide it into two folders:-
≈ ‹ Macintosh Info
∆ ‹ Manuals
∆ ‹ Help
The Manuals folder contains information provided with Mac software and hardware. The Help folder can also contain files for panic situations! These might include desk accessories (DAs) such as KeyCaps, other documents showing keyboard shortcuts, MacErrors for indicating what an error number means, or even the Macintosh Memory Guide.
Pending
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This folder is not intended as a general dumping ground for all those difficult files! Its purpose is to provide an area for files in transit either to or from floppy disk. Since files shouldn’t spend much time in this folder it won’t need backup.
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If you use DropStuff or Expander (Aladdin) for compressing or expanding files respectively, you can select a preference in these applications to select a designated folder (the Pending folder in this case) for processed files, folders and archives.
Resources
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This folder is used for documents which enable you to do things on your Mac. Since these files usually take a long time to create you should provide a backup using backup utility.
This is where all the really awkward files go!
Here’s an example of how this folder can can be subdivided:-
≈ ‹ Resources
∆ ‹ Organiser Holiday Files
∆ ‹ Stationery
∆ ‹ • FaberFinder
∆ ‹ ◊ Chipmunk Basic
∆ ‹ ◊ CP Drivelight Icons
∆ ‹ ◊ Macro Editor
∆ ‹ ◊ ResEdit
∆ ‹ ◊ Scripting
∆ ‹ ◊ Mac Test Results
∆ ‹  Application Extensions
∆ ‹  Clip Art
∆ ‹  Fonts
∆ ‹  Icons
∆ ‹  Keyboards
The space, •, ◊ and prefixes sort the folders into the required order and put them into the following categories:-
Prefix Category
space For real documents
• Special
◊ Associated with applications, control panels or utilities
Ô£ø General resources
The Ô£ø folders can be used as follows:-
Folder Contents
Ô£ø Application Extensions Extra support files currently not in use
Ô£ø Clip Art PICTs or other useful image files for use in documents
Ô£ø Fonts Copies of modified font suitcases or font resources
Ô£ø Keyboards Keyboard resources not needed in the System file
System Folder
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If things go wrong you CAN always install a new System Folder using the Installer. But it’s a good idea to keep a copy of the folder as it stands so as to avoid the need to set it all up again. You can make a backup using a backup utility.
• Archive
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The name of this folder is prefixed purely to keep it at the bottom of the list! Since it contains useful (but old) information you should make a backup using a backup utility,
but only when new files are added to the folder.
Backing Up
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  Making a backup of documents seems a chore until, after once losing your data,
you’ll see it in a different light! And you must backup your Applications folder
— there’s no point having documents without any applications to open them!
The benefits of using removable media, such as an optical disk or diskettes can’t be overstated. Diskettes are cheap but you’ll need a lot of of them, whereas optical disks have a much greater capacity and are highly reliable. You really should keep at least one backup copy at a different location to the site of your Mac.
There are two methods of protecting files — file synchronisation and periodic backup.
File Synchronisation
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A file synchronisation utility, such as File Assistant, ensures that files contained within specific folders are updated automatically onto a second disk drive whenever you Save a file. The extra disk drive must be large enough for all the files you want to backup.
File Assistant can also be used to update folders on request (rather than automatically) and can synchronise folders between a hard disk and a diskette.
Periodic Backup
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This is the most common form of backup, although file synchronisation (see above) can also be used at the same time to provide an extra level of security.
For important files, such as your Documents folder, you should have two backups, preferably three. One set of these should be created in a different way from the other two!
Frequency of Backup
Most people use at least two sets of disks. The daily backup set is updated at the end of each day, the weekly backup set at the end of the week. Most backup utilities (see below) can automatically produce backups as instructed.
Backup by Copying
  Of course, the simplest way to backup a folder is to copy the whole thing onto
another drive. Unfortunately this isn’t without risks — any previous versions of
your files are replaced, even those not modified since the last backup.
If the process goes wrong, or if a new version of a file is corrupted, you may end up destroying some of your valuable information!
Backup by Copying with System Enhancements
Speed Copy, part of Speed Doubler (Connectix), is a useful system extension that introduces a Speed Replace process during copying. This intelligently replace any folders or files on the destination drive that have the same names as items on the source drive.
It looks at the modification date of each item and then copies only those items that you’ve recently updated. It also removes items within folders on the destination drive that match those recently removed from the source drive. Hence Speed Copy creates an exact replica of the source items on the destination drive. It works on any Mac, even though other parts of the Speed Doubler package require a 680x0 processor or better.
SpeedBoost, part of Aladdin Desktop Tools, is similar to Speed Copy but doesn’t delete any files on the destination drive. It can also perform an hierarchical merge of source and destination files. This gives extra backup security since the destination drive retains both deleted and modified files — this can be an advantage, if it’s not too confusing!
The benefits of these enhancements are threefold: copying is faster (since you only copy updated files), less drive fragmentation occurs (since less files are rewritten to disk) and there’s less risk of damaging unmodified files (these files are untouched).
Using a Backup Utility
A backup utility, such as Mac Tools or Norton Utilities, lets you backup onto any disk drive. You should keep a copy of the utility at a location away from the site of your Mac. This copy must be in uncompressed form — remember, you can’t recover any data without it!
Most utilities can automatically provide a backup at a specific time of day or day of the week, or even at startup or shutdown.
Choosing Files to Backup
A backup utility lets you to select which files or folders to backup in a particular setup. This setup is stored in a Setup file (usually in a folder together with other Setup files you’ve created) which can be recalled at a later date. Setup files also contain your chosen preferences, including the the type of backup.
Since the contents of your hard disk is continuously changing it’s best to select setup items that don’t change, such as the folders at the root level of your drive. A simple setup only requires you to select, for example, the Documents folder or Applications folder.
Types of Backup
There are several ways of backing up data — your choice is stored in a Setup file. Varieties of backup include:-
z Full
All of the selected files and folders are backed up onto the backup disk.
This is the safest backup method. It’s sometimes called a global backup.
z Update
This replaces those selected files and folders on the backup disk which
have changed since the last backup. There’s some risk of losing backups
altogether if something should go wrong in the process. If your backup
utility provides data compression you may not be able to use this
option. Some applications call this an incremental backup (see below).
z Differential
Backs up those selected files and folders that have changed since the
last Full backup. Only the original files created at Full backup and the
last updated versions are retained. The backup file will not expand
significantly after the first differential backup.
z Incremental
Backs up those selected files and folders which have changed since the
last backup. All of the original files created at Full backup and at all
subsequent incremental backups are retained. The backup file will
expand significantly at each stage of incremental backup. This
technique lets you recover all versions of a particular file — for this
reason it’s sometimes called the archival method.
Most utilities use a history file that keeps track of the various files and their editions. This can be used to restore data should you need to do so. Some utilities let you record the history file onto the backup disk (as well as the source drive) so that files can be recovered even if the history file gets deleted from the source drive.
Backup Options
Backup utilities may include the following options that are usually stored within the Setup file:-
z Data Compression
This is essential if you want to store any significant amount of material
on a diskette. The amount of space you’ll save depends on the files
themselves — applications don’t usually compress as well as documents.
· Compressed files can only be restored with the original backup utility.
z Password Protection
This lets you lock unauthorised users out of your backups. The data is
not modified — hence it doesn’t slow down the backup process.
z Encryption
By using a password the backup file is scrambled. This may take longer!
· Encrypted files can’t be recovered if you lose or forget your password.
General Hints
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If you’re unsure where to put an item that you’re dragging, you can drag it up to the menu bar — it will return to its original location.
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To copy the contents of a floppy disk into a folder simply drag the icon of the floppy disk into the folder or its window.
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In List View clicking anywhere on the line of an item, except on a folder’s triangle, will select the item.
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When creating a new folder in List View first click on an item that’s at the same level as where you want the new folder to be. If you make a new folder in List View its contents will also be in List View. If you create a New Folder on the Desktop its contents will be in View by Icon.
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Click boxes and radio buttons can usually be activated by clicking on their names. A control panel called Keys! lets you control click boxes and buttons from the keyboard.
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Even if a window doesn’t have a Size Box at the bottom right-hand corner it may be possible to resize the window using its corner.
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Save dialogs always show all items, although some may be greyed out. Open dialogs are more selective, but may show invisible items!
