imported>Yivanny at 08:55, 5 June 2024

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{{short description|Backup program for personal computers}}
{{Infobox software
| name = FastBack
| logo =
| screenshot = Fastback-plus-1.0-dos.png
| caption = FastBack Plus 1.0 for DOS, circa 1987.
| collapsible =
| author = [[Fifth Generation Systems]]
| developer =
| released = {{Start date and age|1987}}
| programming language =
| operating system = [[DOS]], Windows, [[Mac OS]]
| size =
| language = English
| genre = [[Backup]] software
| license = Proprietary
}}

'''FastBack'''<ref name=FB101>{{cite news |newspaper= The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/07/science/personal-computers-backup-copy-of-hard-disk-averts-loss.html |title=Backup Copy Of Hard Disk Averts Loss |first=Peter H. |last=Lewis |date=June 7, 1988 |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> is a software application developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s for backing up [[IBM PC]] and [[Macintosh]] computers. It was originally written by [[Fifth Generation Systems]], a company located in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=FB.NYT89>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/25/science/personal-computers-of-inevitable-sudden-death-and-backing-up-your-files.html |title=Personal Computers - Of Inevitable Sudden Death And Backing Up Your Files |first=Peter H. |last=Lewis |date=July 25, 1989 |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> When the company wanted to expand into the Apple market they purchased and rebranded a product from [[TouchStone Software]] Corporation.

The original FastBack was unique in the industry in that it was able to read from a computer hard drive and write to the floppy drive simultaneously using the full capability of the dual-channel [[Direct memory access|DMA]] chip found in personal computers of that time. When combined with [[data compression|compression]] techniques<ref name=FB.NYT89/> and a proprietary [[disk formatting|disk format]] that stored 720KB of data on each 360KB 5¼-inch [[floppy disk]] (only in 1.2MB drives), this made FastBack one of the fastest PC backup programs at the time.<ref name="V5.13">{{cite web |date=December 21, 2015 |title=The Great Floppy Backup Shoot-Out |url=http://www.oldskool.org/guides/dosbackupshootout |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315183829/http://www.oldskool.org/guides/dosbackupshootout |archive-date=2015-03-15 |access-date=September 14, 2020 |quote=Fastest backup: Fastback v5.13 (1984)}}</ref>



==Version history==
By 1984, FastBack (Version 5.13) was already on the market.<ref name=V5.13/>

In 1987, '''FastBack Plus 1.0''' for DOS was released. This version, or subsequent DOS versions, was released with an unconditional guarantee against harm resulting from use of the software in the terms and conditions. The guarantee contrasted itself with industry norms.

In 1991, '''FastBack Plus 3.02''' for DOS was released.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uj0EAAAAMBAJ&q=FastBack+DOS&pg=PA81 |title=Latest Fastback Plus won't let you down |first=Tom |last=Bigley |page=81 |date=September 16, 1991 |journal=InfoWorld |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref>

In February 1992 the company released '''FastBack Plus 1.0 for Windows''', written for PCs running [[Windows 3.0]].<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6z0EAAAAMBAJ&q=FastBack+Plus+1.0+for+DOS&pg=PA121 |title=Review:Fastback Plus offers reliable backup under Windows |first=Tom |last=Bigley |page=121 |date=April 6, 1992 |journal=InfoWorld |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref>

'''FastBack Plus 2.0''' was included with [[Novell DOS 7]] in 1994.

'''FastBack II''' was at one point [[Product bundling#Software|bundled]] with the "Drive 2.4" floppy disk drive marketed by Kennect Technology.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-051.html |title=TidBITS#51/Drive_2.4 |date=1991 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070315000840/http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-051.html |work=TidBITS |archive-date=March 15, 2007 |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref>

By 1992, FastBack had been purchased by [[Symantec Corp.]], who went on to bundle the application as "Norton Fastback" through version 3 of [[Norton Utilities]] for the Macintosh. However, by version 4, Norton Fastback was dropped from Norton's software utility package, bringing an end to FastBack.

* '''Fastback For The Macintosh''' v1.01/1.02 – 1987, v1.3 – 1988
* '''Fastback II''' v2.10 – 1990
* '''Fastback Plus''' v2.6 1991, v3.0.1 – 1992

==Features==
The New York Times wrote about the standard DOS ([[MSBACKUP]]) utility, that it "cannot automatically awaken itself at 3 A.M. to make a full backup onto a quarter-inch cassette drive."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/04/science/personal-computers-it-s-1994-so-where-are-your-data.html |title= It's 1994. So Where Are Your Data? |first=Peter H. |last=Lewis |date=January 4, 1994 |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref>

==Reception==
''[[BYTE]]'' in 1989 listed Fastback Plus as among the "Distinction" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating that "if you have a hard drive, we recommend this package".<ref name="byte198901">{{cite magazine |date=January 1989 |title=The BYTE Awards |url= https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1989-01/1989_01_BYTE_14-01_PC_Communications_and_Annual_Awards_and_Digitizing_Tablets#page/n371/mode/2up |magazine=BYTE |page=322 |via=archive.org |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url= http://www.moonmac.com/Macking31.html |quote=A note by Dave Decker entitled "Beware of FastBack" |title=Macking 31 |first=Michael |last=Pearce |date=February 1998 |work=Computer Bits |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130211759/http://www.moonmac.com/Macking31.html |access-date=September 14, 2020|archive-date=2006-11-30 }}

[[Category:Backup software for DOS]]
[[Category:Backup software for Windows]]
[[Category:Macintosh backup software]]
[[Category:Classic Mac OS software]]

FastBack - Revision history

imported>Yivanny at 08:55, 5 June 2024