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| A program archive is similar to a secondary data archive, because it provides a safety against disk crashes and file corruption. Locate the program archive on a separate physical device from the one where the programs are installed. If all your programs are installed on your C: drive, you only need one program archive, located on a separate local drive, network drive, or web archive. In the example programs are installed on both physical disks so two archives are needed. |
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| Choose a host drive, either local or on a network unit, for your program archive. Go to the computer where the host drive is, and start Windows Explorer. Go to the top level of the host disk drive. |
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| Choose File / New / New Folder, and name the folder "Program Archive." At the top level, you will be placing ZIP or executable program installation modules, and directories (folders) filled with supporting files. |
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| If your program archive will be supporting other network users, right-click the Program Archive folder, and choose "Sharing." Name the share "Pgm Archive." Select full read/write access for the new file share. Assign a password if desired. |
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| When you're ready to create an archive for the files or installation module of a specific program, return to this location in Windows Explorer (or Network Neighborhood if on another network unit.) Click the new Program Archive folder again, and choose File / New / New Folder again. This time use a name that implies the name and version of the program you're archiving. See the tutorial series, "Using your archives." |
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| It may seem wasteful to have two copies of your software. But remember that you are only archiving the programs you carried forward from another computer or downloaded. If you have installation floppies, or installation CD-ROM disks, they serve as your archives. In fact, if you need to free up space on your hard drives, it's a good idea to move program archives to floppies or other removable disks. But if you have the space available, easily accessible program archives are nice to have. |
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