Do not attempt backup of a drive where software cannot get a listing of the contents of the root folder on that drive.

Improved diagnostics of disc write problems. Changes In Version 5.1.145 (5/6/05) Complete support for folder and file names longer than 64 characters. Changes In Version 5.1.141 (4/23/05) Allow include/exclude wildcards that apply to entire folder trees, with overrides in subtrees.

Show files in selected folder when choosing folders to back up. Changes In Version 5.1.138 (4/11/05) Create a set of standard backup plans when the software is installed, instead of requiring you to execute the Wizard to create them.

When starting a backup, added the ability to create new backup plan in addition to using an existing plan. Previously new backup plans could only be created in the "Manage Backup Plans" area.

Move backup progress display from separate window onto main window, which allows all windows in the program to be minimized while a backup is running. Changes In Version 5.1.127 (3/19/05) An entirely new disc writing engine, with better support for different kinds of DVD writers. Changes In Version 5.1.82 (10/12/04) Extend trial period from 30 to 90 days. Changes In Version 5.1.79 (10/2/04) Add to "Select Folders and Files" window the ability to search your hard drive(s) for "traffic signals" and expand the folder tree to show them all.

Add to Backup Plan Wizard the ability to search for folders by last modification date of files. Also, after Wizard has created a backup plan open it immediately in the "Select Folders and Files" window so user can see and modify what it did. Changes In Version 5.1.73 (9/12/04) Several enhancements to the Backup Plan Wizard and the folder selection window. Changes In Version 5.1.66 (6/30/04) Simplified the process of creating the first backup, by consolidating several prompts. Also clarified several explanations in the software. Changes In Version 5.1.65 (5/30/04) Remove restriction on adding additional backups to backup disc if prior backup(s) on disc had unusually long folder names.

Remove restriction on backing up files with ".." in the name.

Fix bug in backing up entries "Favorites" folder with names longer than 64 characters.

Bring software into comformance with rules for Microsoft "Joliet" file system on CD/DVD media regarding legal file and folder names. Previous versions of the backup software allowed names which violated the Joliet specification, and occasionally resulted in runtime errors. Changes In Version 5.1.50 (12/23/03) Fix bug which caused CD-RW drive compatibility test to falsely report the software was incompatible with many CD-RW drives. Changes In Version 5.1.49 (12/17/03) Allow individual file selection for a folder without requiring any other instruction for the folder (i.e. "red light" or "green light" icon in folder list). Changes In Version 5.1.48 (11/30/03) Replace the old window for selecting individual files to back up with a completely new one which is much easier to use. The new window displays lists of files and file types and lets you click on what to include and exclude in each folder, instead of requiring you to type file names and wildcards.

Add an Explorer style "pick folder" dialog for adding backup destinations, instead of asking the user to type in the path. Changes In Version 5.1.45 (11/20/03) Fix unattended backups using command line options to allow backups to blank discs.

Remove incorrect diagnostic error message. Changes In Version 5.1.44 (11/16/03) Minor fix to setup program, affecting people with some old versions of the backup software if they don't uninstall the old software first. Changes In Version 5.1.40 (11/11/03) Initial release of version 5.1.

The major enhancement in this version is the addition of built-in disc burning capability. Older versions of the software used the packet writing software present on your computer, which sometimes caused compatibility problems.

Support for the various DVD formats such as DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD+R.

Addition of a "Check Backup" option to verify any backup at any time. Changes In Version 5.0.141 (7/20/03) Removed "nag wait" in trial version of software.

Changed some wording in the user interface to make features easier to understand.

Made the software compatible with the date and time formatting conventions of all languages with which I have tested it: English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Polish, Portuguese and Italian. In addition, the software has been tested with various non-English language character sets. The software is NOT compatible with asian languages requiring very large character sets, such as Chinese and Japanese. Changes In Version 5.0.140 (7/13/03) Improved date handling in some non-English language versions of Windows. Changes In Version 5.0.128 (5/10/03) Added Backup Plan Wizard. This makes it easier for new users to create backup plans. Changes In Version 5.0.126 (5/4/03) Fixed bug in "days since last modification" file filtering that affected some international users. It confused month and day in locales where the day of the month comes before the month, instead of the month before the day as in the USA. Changes In Version 5.0.123 (4/24/03) Redesigned main window to be simpler. It now opens a dialog asking for the information it needs, rather than expecting the user to figure out which options on the main window need to be selected before clicking each button.

Renamed "backup type" to "backup plan".

Changed software to automatically start the process of creating a new backup plan if the user clicks "Make Backup" and there are no backup plans. Changes In Version 5.0.113 (3/19/03) Added option to include "special" folders ("c:\System Volume Information", "c:\_RESTORE") in backup activities.

Add graceful messages when software cannot write or delete backup type instruction files.

Allow backup type instructions ("BDF" files) to be saved for the "c:\_RESTORE" and "c:\System Volume Information" folders even if the software cannot write to those folders. The "BDF" files are saved in alternate locations. Changes In Version 5.0.109 (3/8/03) Changed software to suppress warnings about failure to back up some files Windows sometimes opens exclusively for itself, if they are known to be files that can safely be excluded from the backup.

Improved error recovery and diagnostics when file cannot be found to verify after backup. Changes In Version 5.0.104 (2/13/03) Fixed installation problem for users who have a file named "zlib.dll" from another vendor in their windows\system32 folder. This caused a failure to register BackupLib.dll.

Fixed a problem that caused the software to sometimes not recognize CD-RW drives. Changes In Version 5.0.101 (2/15/03) Rewrote software to not use Microsoft Scripting Runtime SCRRUN.DLL, to solve compatibility problems experienced by some users. Changes In Version 5.0.62 (10/1/02) Added the CD-RW Drive Wizard. Changes In Version 5.0 (7/30/02) Initial release of version 5.0. Changes In Version 4.1.22 (7/18/02) Version 4.1.22 is a minor bug fix release. The only bug addressed is failure under some circumstances to recognize that a drive is not accessible, for reasons such as an unformatted disc or a failed network connection. Changes In Version 4.1.20 (6/26/02) Version 4.1.20 is a minor bug fix release. The only bug addressed is the inability to make a registry backup under Windows 95, 98 and ME. Changes In Version 4.1 (6/17/02) The major new features in version 4.1.18 (the first version 4.1 release) are the introduction of Backup Made Simple, the ability to wait until a time of your choice to start a backup, the ability to create a backup log, and improved diagnostics for problems with CD-RW drives.

Here are the details of these features, and others:

• Backup To CD-RW now has a sibling - Backup Made Simple. The two programs are very similar, but while Backup To CD-RW 4.1 continues to be tailored for CD-RW drives, Backup Made Simple 4.1 is a more general purpose backup program. Each has all the features of the other, but the default settings in each are configured differently. The major difference is that Backup To CD-RW is configured for high capacity devices like CD-RW drives, and does not compress files and split them across backup discs, whereas Backup Made Simple compresses and splits and is configured for smaller capacity media like floppy diskettes. These differences are all accomplished with configuration settings the user can modify, so you make either program operate like the other. Or you can install both! Each program can also read backups created with the other program, as well as backups created in earlier versions of the software. Because the programs are so similar, you only have to purchase one license ID for both.
• The software now has the ability to wait until a time of your choice to actually start the backup. All you specify is a time of day, so you don't have to worry about getting the date right. You can wait until any time during the next 24 hours, including after midnight. This is very handy if you want to run your backup in the middle of the night, for example if you are backing up multiple computers over a network and you can't run the backup until everyone is done for the day. Unlike previous versions of the software, this can be done without using a separate task scheduler program. Everything is built into the backup software. This feature is available from the normal user interface inside the software, as well as a command line option in case you want to create a "Start" menu option to launch a backup with all the options pre-selected using other command line options. You can still use the software with command line options and a separate task scheduler program if your scheduling needs are more complex.
• The software now has the ability to write a log file recording what was saved on the backup. You can choose to not create a log file, to create a log file listing the folders from which anything was backed up, or listing the folders and all the individual files backed up. It always notes which backup disc folders and files were saved to, so you know which to look on to restore them. You can use the log viewer built into the backup software, and because the log files are simple text files you can also view them with any text editor or word processing program.
• The software now has greatly improved diagnostics to help you figure out what is wrong if you can't get your CD-RW drive to work with the backup software. It will help detect problems such as missing packet writing software for your CD-RW drive, a backup disc not being formatted, etc.
• The software now looks for file names that are legal on your hard disc but are not allowed on a CD-R or CD-RW disc, and omits them from the backup and displays an explanation at the end of the backup instead of trying to save them. The usual reason for such problems is that file names on CD-RW drives are generally limited to 127 characters, but on hard drives the limit is 255 characters. This can be an issue for the very long file names commonly used for internet shortcuts in your "Favorites" folder.
• The list of files that could not be backed up is now saved to a text file, as well as being displayed in a window, for easier reference.
• A command line option has been added to suppress all messages previously displayed at the end of unattended backups started with the "/ub" command line option. These ending messages are now saved to a text file, regardless of whether you suppress them or not.
• A command line option has been added to verify files after writing them, for unattended backups started with the "/ub" command line option. This was previously only possible for backups run through the normal user interface.
• The software will now check if the destination folder for a backup exists each time a disc is started during the course of a backup, creating the destination folder if it does not exist. Old versions of the software only did this when the backup destination was first added to the program. This allows you to make backups on removable media devices to folders other than the root folder, because in such situations the destination folder must be created on each disc.
• Fixed problem which caused software to stall at the "splash" screen when running unattended backups with the "/ub" command line option in some task scheduler programs.
• A cosmetic bug has been fixed which caused misleading text to be added to the final summary message if files could not be backed up on a multiple disc backup.

Here are the details of these features:

• The software now has the ability to backup and restore system files while they are in use. Backups are made as normal, and files which are in use by Windows or applications are restored by copying the version to restore to a temporary file and renaming it over the old version the next time the system restarts. This is all automatic, you don't have to know to do it. It will simply tell you when you must restart your computer in order for the software to complete the restore. This is crucial to doing a full system backup and restore, because Windows will not let anyone modify many of its components while it is running.
• A new option has been added to the backup type, to include the Windows registry in the backup. When restoring a backup which included the registry, an option to restore the registry will be available on the main dialog. You can restore the registry without restoring anything else from the backup, and you can restore anything else from the backup without restoring the registry.
• A new file format has been added as an option when making a backup. This format will compress the contents of the file, and if it will not fit in the space remaining on the current backup disc will save as much as it can on the current disc and then split the remainder up over as many additional discs as required. There is no limit to the size of file which can be backed up this way. Since this feature is primarily of use for large files, it has been added as an option based on the size of the file. The backup type can now specify to use the new format for files above a particular size. Files saved in this format are stored alongside normal format files on the backup, with a slightly modified name so they can be recognized. The naming convention is to insert "$@" before the file type, for example to save "bigfile.dat" as "bigfile$@.dat".

Here are the details of these features, as well as others:

• When file inclusion by last modification date is used, files with the windows "Archive" flag set can also be included.
• Option to clear "Archive" flag on all files actually backed up, if they were last modified more than "x" days ago.
• Option to save backup to an automatically created subfolder of the selected backup destination, named for the date and time. Prevents new backups from overwriting old ones written to the same destination.
• Command line options to create a backup without requiring any interaction with the user. Handy for running unattended backups. All backup features are available through these options.
• Better diagosis of problems caused by inability to write to the CD-RW drive at all, typically caused by missing or disabled software like Adaptec Direct CD or Nero InCD.
• Change the way "disc full" errors are detected and handled, to get around problems a small number of users were having with backups requiring multiple discs.
• Completely new and greatly expanded documentation in "Windows help" format.

There are also numerous smaller improvements to general usability, including but not limited to these:

• It now recovers gracefully and continues the backup if any errors occur while reading files or folders. If any errors occur it displays a log of all of them at the end of the backup, with lots of details to help you solve the problem.
• Automatically skips the Windows 9x swap file and Windows NT/2K page file when making a backup, instead of reporting errors on these files.
• Before starting a backup, warns the user that all files will be deleted from the backup destination.
• Will not allow the root folder of a hard drive or network mapped drive letter to be selected as the backup destination.
• Better reporting of unrecoverable errors.