This program does it automatically, every night at a time when the network is quiet!

The first improvement to the program was the allowing of weekly, date and time-based directories, so that cyclic copies could be made.

As time progressed the program has increased significantly in features and application :-

• James has installed the Auto Backup/FTP in his Windows Start folder, so that the backup is institutionalised into his computer.

• A few years ago, James was programming a management system for a company. The basis of their computer system at the time, was an old dBase-based system, that was unable to be modified.

  The Auto Backup/FTP was used to copy all of the dBase files to another computer every time they were detected to have changed. Not only did this provide a very secure backup, but it enabled another program to reprocess the data and produce the required on-line management reports.

  It may not have been a totally elegant system, but it was totally safe and very reliable. It also meant that a new and powerful management system could be created, without altering a fragile and very out-of-date system.

• As the backup mode of the program had proved successful, it was extended to perform FTP transfers on the same basis.

  These can be performed by checking a cache first. If the file to be uploaded matches the one in the cache then no uploading is performed.

• The FTP mode has been used successfully by several companies to store their important files on the Internet.

• The FTP features of the program have now been extended, so that it can check directories and perform all transfers from the very simple to the most complex.