-----------------------------------------------------------------------
             An Introduction To Programing By HackShackJack
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

     This is a simple yer efficient method I have come up with for performing routine maintenance on the System. I simply set Scheduled Tasks to Link .bat (batch) files that then run under DOS. Goto the Start Menu and Select RUN, then type CMD into the box and hit enter. You will see the Psuedo DOS window. Type HELP and hit <enter> to find out the available commands.

     To create your own text file for a given DOS command simply use the following format:

help xcopy >\"C:\\Documents and Settings\\Username\\My Documents\\Project\\Documentation\\xcopyHELP.txt\"

(all on one line)

     You will need to go thru the batch files and edit USERNAME with your username.

     You will also want to adjust the directorys (pathnames) to suite you system.

     Say you want your Documents and Pictures files backed up to an external HD that has the drive letter G: Mapped to it. Put this in a notepad file and save it to disk. You might have to add the .bat extension to get XP to recognize that it is a batch file and not a text file.  To further edit batch files simple right click on them and select EDIT. <continued>
Here\'s a sample I\'ve modified to backup me Documents and Pictures
Folders on a Vista Machine:
-------------------------------------------------

rem
@echo off
rem *********************************************************************
rem **   ********************************************************   *****
rem **   **       THIS WILL Synchronize One Drive or           **   *****
rem **   **       Directory to another. It should only copy    **   *****
rem **   **       FILES THAT HAVE CHANGED BTW. COOL!!!         **   *****
rem **   **       -   HSJ @ 1:18 PM 7/3/2008  -                **   *****
rem **   **       Synchronizer.bat V7.71 @ 10:22 PM 7/11/2008  **   *****
rem **   **       ------------------------------------------   **   *****
rem **   **       This is linked by a Scheduled Task and it    **   *****
rem **   **       is Setup to Auto Run Ever 10 minutes while   **   *****
rem **   **       I am logged onto the system but not if not  .**   *****
rem **   ********************************************************   *****
rem **   ********************************************************   *****
rem *********************************************************************
@echo on
rem Backup From Documents Folder:
set source=\"C:\\Users\\Username\\Documents\\\"*.*
rem ************************************
rem Backup From Pictures Folder:
set source1=\"C:\\Users\\Username\\Pictures\\\"*.*
rem ************************************
rem Copy Changed Documents Files To:
set destin=\"G:\\Username\\Documents\"
rem ************************************
rem Copy Changed Pictures Files To:
set destin1=\"G:\\Username\\Pictures\"
rem ********************************************
rem Ready To Copy files that have changed only.
rem Existing files on destination and files that
rem haven\'t changed are left alone.
rem ********************************************
xcopy %source% %destin% /D /E /V /C /F /G /H /R /K /Y
xcopy %source1% %destin1% /D /E /V /C /F /G /H /R /K /Y
rem ***************************************************
rem If copying to a NETWORK DRIVE ADD THE /Z Command!
rem SO you would use the format shown below for a LAN.
rem destin2=\"\\\\Server\\Users\\Username\\Documents\"
rem xcopy %source1% %destin2% /D /E /V /C /F /G /H /R /K /Y
rem ***************************************************
rem To test simply unblock pause below. And read realtime.
rem pause
exit
rem
----------------------------------

     SO the rest of this tiny archive is some examples of that kind of stuff.
Some can merely have a shortcut created and stuck in the QuickLaunch or on the desktop. Others can be linked to a Scheduled Task. If you would like some help on how to setup Scheduled Tasks in XP or Vista let me know.

     It\'s really quite simple just go to Scheduled Tasks (START, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks) (or Task Scheduler in Vista)   Then add a Scheduled Task, Show it where the BATCH Program you want to run is stored (put a folder in Documents called \"Automated Tasks\" so they get backed up too!) and setup the Schedule, exceptions and If you want it to run when idle or in use, (the above runs only if I am logged in, some of the others run only if the System has been idle for a bit) and so on, tell it your username (you must be System Administrator) and give it your password, and it will run the batch programs at a given time, daily weekly, monthly or whatever. 

     The ADVANCED Button in \"daily\" lets you have it run like every ten minutes. This way if I am working on a big project I save it to My Documents folder and I know there is a backup copy on my external drive if there is a problem!

     The .ZIP archive also includes docs and so on. I\'d have put examples of the Scheduled Task files in there but they would show up as a virus or backdoor trojan. SO you can see how silly that is but such is life as a computeer!

-HSJ-
-----