Automated tape backup system and method

Claim 1

A method for automatically archiving data files from a hard disk of a computer system to a backup system, the computer system having an operating system, the backup system having a backup medium, the method comprising the steps of: (1) waiting for an end-user input signal indicative of initiating a data backup; (2) upon receiving a user-input signal indicative of initiating a data backup, determining whether the operating system is presently running; (3) if the operating system is not running, waiting until the operating system is activated; (4) after the operating system is activated, determining what day of the week it is; (5) if the day of the week is a preselected day of the week for full backups, displaying a dialog box to the end-user with information indicative of a full backup is to be performed and an erasure of data on the backup medium will occur; (6) performing the full backup at a preselected time of day; (7) if the day of the week is not the preselected day of the week, waiting for the preselected time of day to perform an incremental backup; (8) after the backup is performed, rewinding the backup medium; (9) comparing each data file archived on the backup medium with each related file on the hard disk; and (10) if any errors are detected during step (9), writing an error message to a file.

Claim 2

A method for automatically archiving data files from a hard disk of a computer system to a backup system, the computer system having an operating system, the backup system having a backup medium, the method comprising the steps of: (1) waiting for an end-user input signal indicative of initiating a data backup; (2) upon receiving a user-input signal indicative of initiating a data backup, determining whether the operating system is presently running; (3) if the operating system is not running, waiting until the operating system is activated; (4) after the operating system is activated, determining what day of the week it is; (5) if the day of the week is a preselected day of the week for full backups, displaying a dialog box to the end-user with information indicative of a full backup is to be performed and an erasure of data on the backup medium will occur; (6) performing the full backup at a preselected time of day; (7) if the day of the week is not the preselected day of the week, waiting for the preselected time of day to perform an incremental backup; (8) after the backup is performed, rewinding the backup medium; (9) comparing each data file archived on the backup medium with each related file on the hard disk; and (10) if any errors are detected during step (9), writing an error message to a file.