Roy's Selective File Archiver

and you have chosen to archive your files on to Disk F:\.

The following archived files and sub-directories might be created:

and all other files with the specified extensions similarly archived.

You can then simply compress the entire archive folder using Winzip or similar software and transfer it to a safe place such as a ZIP drive or even FTP it to another machine via the Internet.

File Archiver is a 32 bit application and requires Windows 95 or Windows NT to run.

If you have already installed Visual Basic 4 on your machine, then all you need to do is to unzip the compressed file FILE_ARCHIVER32.ZIP copy the executable file FILE_ARCHIVER32.EXE and the help file FILEARCH.HLP to a suitable directory on your hard disk and run it.

If you haven’t got VB4, it is likely you will need some or all of the various run time routines necessary which should be copied into your WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory.

They comprise the following:

File Archiver works in two phases both of which are invoked by clicking on the "Start" button. Successively selecting "Cancel" in the series of simple dialog boxes will exit the program without any processing.

You will initially be asked for the Target Hard Disk to house the archive folder Archive_Dir.

Then you will be able to specify up to fifty file specifications you wish to archive.

These are in the familiar MSDOS format using wildcards such as *.DOC, PLAN?.* etc. which would specify "all files with an extension of .DOC" and "all files with 5 character names of which the first 4 are PLAN and with any extension." respectively.

The program then examines all directories and sub-directories on all hard disks you specify and creates a list file called ARCHFILS.TXT in the directory containing the program. This file contains a list of all of the specified files found on the specified disks. Of course, it ignores the directory Archive_Dir which is used for holding the Archive itself.

You are then given the opportunity to edit the list file to remove any unwanted files.

This is highly desirable as there are inevitably many files such as those in msoffice\library which ship with the MSOFFICE software and which you would not wish to archive

When File Archiver is run again, it identifies the ARCHFILS.TXT file and gives you the opportunity to go straight on to the second phase using the list file as a basis. Clearly, this is the option to take once you have ddone the editing.

In Phase 2, File Archiver reads through ARCHFILS.TXT and places a copy of all files listed in an archive folder called Archive_Dir in the structure explained above.
It also places a text file called FAddmmyy.ARK in the archive folder containing the date archived, where ddmmyy represents the date in terms of day, month, year.

File Archiver also produces a comprehensive error listing on a text file called ARCHFILS. Typical errors are files which cannot be copied because they are in use and also some illegally named files, for example ".MESSAGE" which was createdon my computer by an email application even though the Windows 95 API routines disallow file names beginning with a period.

The way I use this software is as follows:

I run File Archiver weekly and normally create a new list file ARCHFILS.TXT containing all of my Microsoft Office related user files.

I delete all of the files which are not mine from the new ARCHFILS.TXT.

I run File Archiver again and update the archive which has previously been created on my C:\ drive. Only the updated files are copied across of course.

I compress the entire directory C:\Archive_Dir using Winzip with the "Recurse Folders" option selected into a file I call MSOFILES.ZIP

5. I store the archive off-site on a convenient FTP site where I have access. Ask your ISP if you can use his storage.

You may wish to use this software to create several archives, for instance, one for your MSOffice files and one for your Visual Basic Files.

The simplest way to handle this is to Rename the archive directory Archive_Dir once it has been created to, say, C:\MSOFFICE\ARCHIVE and then re-run the entire program to archive your VB files.

I detail the above as a method that suits me. You may wish to vary this, especially if you are really short of local disk space when you would probably delete the entire Archive directory and / or .ZIP file as soon as you have transferred it to another machine.

File Archiver is a Freeware program and is supplied "As is" both as an .EXE file which is a 32 bit application compatible with Windows 95, and the Visual Basic 4 source code which you may modify as you wish for your own purposes.

I am not aware of any bugs in the software and disclaim any responsibility to anyone for the consequences of any unknown errors in it.

If you find it useful and continue to use it I would appreciate your comments.

Email me at roy@low.net.au.