VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- Backup vs. Memory Add-On (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=5287)

If I order the 8 mb memory Springboard, why would I need or want the backup Springboard? Is there anything I can do with the backup unit that I can't do with the memory add-on? David

When you snap it in, the backup module immediately launches the backup program which allows you to send all memory to the module or all the contents of the module to memory. That's all it does, but it does it automatically. The memory module comes with a copy to/from program, but you have to pick and choose files to copy.

This is all from what I've read. I don't own either yet. I'll be buying the backup module as soon as it hits retail.


[This message has been edited by PDAENVY (edited 03-20-2000).]

I have both modules and each has its function independent of the other. I'd favor acquiring the Backup Module first since it will back up all the "stuff" you have on the Visor independent of your desktop. Backup Buddy is OK, but it's desktop dependent. If you have to do a hard reset the Backup Module allows for easy restoration of all the "stuff" you had on the Visor before the reset.

It would be nice if somebody wrote a program that used the 8MB flash memory module as a one step backup module, customizing the backups so that you didn't have to backup EVERYTHING.

You'd have the best of both worlds.

Even better yet - why would you pay 80 bucks for backup when you could just do it for 40 with the backup module.

Now here's an idea, a program that takes the $40 backup module and turns it into flash memory. Any ideas on how to do this?

-Mike

------------------
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
-Ferris Beuler

Can you copy your address & date book to the memory expansion module?
You could have these as a reserve on the module, plus a few important apps you need every day. So if you have to do a hard reset for some reason, you still have everything you need plus a couple of free megs.

Ronster-
That's exactly what I do. I copy the AddressBookDB, ToDoDB, MemoDB, and DatebookDB to the module along with several apps and all of my documents and images (since the readers don't allow me to change them) along with the readers themselves (since they don't change). Any app or DB which gets written to or changed as a result of being run won't work in the module, but those which are unchanged seem to work fine.

If I ever have to do a hard reset (haven't had to yet, but you never know), I only need to reload a few apps from my PC--the rest are safe in the module.

Sounds good!
What Reader do you use. Will any Doc-reader work with the mem module? Can I put my K2 5-minute clinical consult on it? What about jfile databases?

I use ISilo Free as a doc reader, and Ken Shirriff's Tiny Viewer for images. Both are basic readers only--they don't allow manipulation or editing. (I think ISilo Free allows bookmarking, but that's it.)

I'm not sure if you can put JFile databases in Flash; do they get changed in the course of daily use? If so, don't >move< them to Flash. As for the clinical program, again, only if the program doesn't write to any part of itself (like an internal DB).

You could try >copying< these things to the module, and writes would occur to the copy in RAM. At least that way, if you have to do a hard reset, you could restore them. Frequent re-copying to Flash would ensure you have an up-to-date copy, and the File Mover program will ask you if you want to overwrite the old copy. Of course, if the Visor crashes if you try this, delete the copy in Flash. I have no problem backing up AddressBookDB, etc. by copying to the module, though. The Visor seems to ignore the copy in Flash if there is a copy in RAM.

Tom

Thanks!
I just got an email from K2 - they are working on a version of the 5 minute clinical consult which will work on FlashROM.
This means another 3 Megs of free RAM on my Visor.
I hope they will have the solution soon.

I'm pretty sure that you can't add one (or more) of the kinds of bookmarks used by iSilo while the file is in the Flash Module. I've meant to experiment to confirm this, but haven't gotten around to it . . .