Using Backup Buddy
Intelligent Systems
http://intellisys.base.org
Introduction
BackupBuddy is a small, simple shareware utility that allows owners of Windows and Macintosh computers to perform complete, incremental, and scheduled backups of their PalmPilots (Please see the section below on registration for information on how to obtain a registered copy). Additionally, it contains features that can significantly speed HotSync times. Using it properly can insure that you never lose data if your PalmPilot crashes.
The newest version has been enhanced to make it significantly easier to use. Simply read the Quick Start below to start protecting your PalmPilot's data.
Note: if you're upgrading from an unregistered version or an older version, you must disable QuickSync or toggle BackupBuddy to the Inactive mode first!
BackupBuddy Quick Start
After installing BackupBuddy on your PalmPilot for the first time (please consult the manual that came with your Pilot or contact 3Com technical support if you need help installing applications), you should see a screen similar to the one below:
To begin backing up your 3rd-party applications, simply tap on the "Active" button. The screen will change to show:
Now drop your PalmPilot in the cradle and press the HotSync button - each time you HotSync, BackupBuddy will maintain a complete copy (on your desktop PC) of everything you have ever installed, keeping the latest versions of all information, and minimizing the time it takes to HotSync your PalmPilot - all at once!
If you ever need to start your backup record over again, just launch BackupBuddy and click "Inactive," then click "Active" again. This will signal BackupBuddy to resave everything (your next HotSync will take longer than usual). You might do this if you lose the files on your PC, or shift to a new PC. You might also do this to remove old applications and data from your backups, that you've already removed from your PalmPilot.
Additionally, online help is available from the BackupBuddy main screen by clicking on the Tips icon (the small "i" in the upper-right corner).
Please note: any application that provides its own conduit (see the definition of conduit below) cannot be managed by BackupBuddy; this includes the Address, ToDo, and Memo programs, for example. Their data is backed up by their corresponding conduits running on the desktop PC. BackupBuddy allows you to backup data and programs that don't supply their own conduits - the vast majority of PalmPilot applications.
To learn how to restore your PalmPilot in the eventuality of a crash, see the relevant section below. Note that these directions require you to review what's in your backup directory before proceeding, unless you've enabled the TrueSyncTM feature, available only with registered versions of BackupBuddy. That's because, without it, BackupBuddy keep a record of everything that has ever been on your PalmPilot. Though you may have deleted applications or data from your PalmPilot itself, they'll be kept in your backup records. This is good, if you realize you didn't mean to delete them; but if you're restoring everything from scratch, you probably don't want all those deleted things reinstalled. Details on how to enable TrueSync are in the README-FIRST.TXT file that comes with registered versions of BackupBuddy.
Note that to use TrueSync you will need to install Desktop 3.0 or later if you're not already using it. This is an update to the software that runs on your PC; it works with all 3Com Connected Organizers, and is free. See the Compatiblility section below for information on where to obtain the new desktop software.
Advanced Backups with BackupBuddy
N.B. Although most of the information in this section is accurate, it mostly pertains to using BackupBuddy prior to versions 3.0, or when using it in versions 3.0 and higher in its advanced mode. Additionally, in version 3.0 you no longer need to perform a "Complete Backup" prior to installing QuickSync: QuickSync will do the complete backup automatically for you when first activated, and automatically switch to incremental backups on subsequent HotSync's.
Terminology
Before we explain how to use BackupBuddy to actual perform backups, it would be helpful to review some PalmPilot terminology.
Conduit - a conduit is a supplementary program supplied by an author of a PalmPilot software package that resides on the desktop computer. Its role is to manage the synchronization of data between a particular PalmPilot application and the desktop computer. You can see a list of conduits currently installed by opening the Palm Desktop application and selecting the HotSync->Custom menu.
The conduit we're most interested in is the System conduit. This is because a program which does not supply its own conduit (the majority of PalmPilot applications) relies on the System conduit to perform any backup operations. Not all third-party applications take full advantage of it, however; BackupBuddy helps to fill in the gaps.
Backup-bit - a "backup-bit" is one of the many attributes a PalmPilot database (whether it contains programs or simply data) has. When it is "set" or turned-on, this attribute instructs the System conduit to transfer the database from the PalmPilot to the Desktop PC during a HotSync.
Backup-directory - is where the System conduit stores databases that have been backed up. It can be located by navigating to the directory where you installed your PalmPilot desktop application and looking for a directory containing your PalmPilot username. In my case, my username is: "Alexander Hinds" and my backup directory is located in: "c:\program files\pilot\HindsA\Backup".
BackupBuddy's Advanced Interface
When you select BackupBuddy's advanced interface for the first time (assuming you have disabled the Active mode on the Basic screen as described above), you will see a screen similar to the one above. The specific databases listed will depend on which additional programs you already have installed on your Pilot.
The first thing you should notice is that in the first column, some application names are in bold. These are databases which have either never been backed up or have been modified since the last HotSync: in other words, databases which need to be backed-up.
The second thing you should notice the little checkbox next to the names of the databases. This checkbox indicates the current status of the backup-bit for that database: if it's checked, the database's backup bit is on; if it's not, then the backup-bit is off. Also notice that if you use the scroll-arrows (on the bottom right) to scroll the list of databases down a few screens, some of the databases don't have a little checkbox next to their name. This is because they are located in ROM (Read Only Memory) and can't be transferred from the PalmPilot to the Desktop PC.
Changing the status of a backup-bit is simple: just check or un-check as many of the checkboxes as you'd like, and hit the Apply button. BackupBuddy will then change the status of all the backup-bits; during your next HotSync, the databases with the check next to their names will be backed-up on your PC. Note that if you should change your mind before you've hit the Apply button, simply press the Reload button, and BackupBuddy will make sure the checkbox settings match that actual state of the backup-bits on the Pilot. If you change your mind after hitting the Apply button, don't worry: BackupBuddy has some features that make manually setting BackupBits unecessary.
The second column in the screen-shot above shows you the size of each of the databases on your PalmPilot. (Due to a limitation in one of the PalmPilot ROM routines, a database whose size is above approximately 64K will always be listed as 64K.) Finally, the last column, shows the date during which the database was last backed-up.
First steps: how to perform a complete backup
Now that we've reviewed some of the pertinent terminology and BackupBuddy's basic interface, you should be armed with the knowledge you need to perform a complete backup of your PalmPilot.
You should follow these steps:
Congrats! You now have a complete backup of your Pilot!
At this point, an astute observer might notice that some databases did not show up in the backup directory. This is because the databases belong to a program (for example, the address book's database which called AddressDB) that supplies its own conduit and thus will never be shown to the System conduit for backup.
QuickSync - Incremental backups
Now that you have a complete backup of your PalmPilot, you may be wondering if you have to repeat the above steps each time a database changes or you install a new application on your PalmPilot. The answer is "no": use QuickSync!
Enabling QuickSync is very easy:
What does QuickSync actually do? It installes a small patch to the operating system (n.b.: the patch survives a soft-reset). Subsequently, each time you HotSync, the patch looks thru all the databases to see if any have been changed or never backed-up: if they are out of date with respect to the backup on the desktop PC, then the backup bits for those databases are set and they are transferred to the desktop PC during the HotSync. If you start BackupBuddy after such a HotSync, those databases that were backed up during the HotSync will be the only ones with their backup-bits set.
The end result is that your backup directory now contains and up-to-date backup of your Pilot and HotSync's proceed much more quickly.
Again, an asutute observer might notice that a database deleted from the PalmPilot still shows up in the backup directory. This is because BackupBuddy itself does not have a conduit (but may in the future) and without one there is no possible way for it to instruct the desktop software to delete a database from the backup directory.
Restoring
Restoring your PalmPilot to its prior state after a hard-crash (one that looses all data on your PalmPilot) is very easy. Follow these steps:
Using Sets
BackupBuddy has an advanced feature called sets. They are most useful, for example, in the following scenario:
Let's say that you're a user of the cool Doc, AportisDoc, or TealDoc reading programs. It turns out that each time you read your electronic books, these programs open the books in read/write mode. This means that the modification date is updated, even if the contents of the book don't change. Since there is no easy way for BackupBuddy to know whether the database actually changed or not, if you have QuickSync enabled it will still try to backup that database; this can lead to unecessarily long HotSync times, especially with longer books.
To avoid this, you can enter the book's database(s) into a set; databases in a set are never backed up during a QuickSync, nomatter what their backup bit status is.
To use a set, do the following:
Now any database in your set will never be backed up; use this feature with caution!
TimeSyncTM
This feature allows you to schedule your backups to occur every day at a time of your choosing. When this feature is enabled, a small "clock" icon is displayed in the main window.
At the specified time, your pilot will initiate a HotSync; it behooves you to make sure that your Pilot is actually in it's cradle at that point. If it isn't, the device will attempt to initiate a connection with the desktop and fail after exactly one minute (on my PalmPilotPro). After the (attempted) HotSync, the Pilot will turn it self off according to your auto-off Preferences setting.
Note that to keep the code size down it uses the Pilot ROM's built-in time selector, which always displays an "end time". This value is not used by BackupBuddy and should be ignored. Finally, you may use TimeSync and QuickSync in conjuction with one another.
TrueSyncTM
TrueSync is a feature new to versions 2.0 and above of BackupBuddy. It is implemented as a HotSync conduit and overcomes a deficiency present in prior versions of the software: if you deleted an application from your Pilot, it would still be present in the backup directory. The BackupBuddy conduit is now able to detect this situation and will keep your Pilot and backup directory "in sync". (N.B. if you delete a program from your backup directory yourself, the conduit will not "re-backup" this file.)
Currently this conduit runs only on Windows95 and WindowsNT4.0 operations systems, and
greater upgraded to V3.0 HotSync, included with the PalmIII, or available as a free
upgrade to all existing PalmPilots:
http://www.palm.com/custsupp/downloads/indexdl.html
Using BackupBuddy and QuickSync with Two Desktop PCs
You may use BackupBuddy with when synchronizing two PCs; if you wish to continue using QuickSync, then you must set the second PC's System conduit setting to "Do nothing". This will ensure that PC #1 contains all your backup information; PC #2 will contain no backup information, although it will still synchronize the data for all the standard conduits, such as Address, ToDo, Mail, Memo, Expense, and DateBook.
Of course, you may still operate BackupBuddy in manual mode, as described above in performing complete backups.
BackupBuddy is compatible with all Pilots. Additionally, it *does* work with the Macintosh, with the exception of the TrueSync conduit; if somebody wants to send me a new G3 Mac, I'd be more than happy to write it.
Windows PalmPilot users should download the updated Pilot Desktop 3.0 with HotSync 3.0 available from http://www.palm.com/custsupp/downloads/indexdl.html.
Known Bugs
Additional Sources of Information
This introduction is not (yet ;-) meant to be an exhaustive treatise on the operation of BackupBuddy or all its subtleties. Calvin's excellent PalmPilot FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), http://www.pilotfaq.com, has a section on backing-up and restoring PalmPilots, with an additional section on using BackupBuddy.
BackupBuddy is shareware; if you do find this software useful, and use it regularly, I ask that you register it.
You may register online at http://intellisys.base.org, or send a check for $15 to:
Alexander HindsIf you happened to send me a check, please include your email address so that I may send you a registered version. Registration entitles you to free upgrades for the lifetime of the software.
Corporate and volume purchases welcome. Please inquire at the above address.
UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THIS PROGRAM, OR ANY PORTION OF IT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ALEXANDER HINDS, HEREINAFTER CALLED "AUTHOR" BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
THE AUTHOR SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION, IF ANY, PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS PROVIDED "AS IS". THE AUTHOR HAS NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.
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This document is copyrighted © by Alexander Hinds, Intelligent Systems, 1998. Unauthorized duplication or redistribution is strictly prohibited.