 FastBack Plus 1.0 for DOS, circa 1987. | |
| Original author(s) | Fifth Generation Systems |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1987; 38 years ago (1987) |
| Operating system | DOS, Windows,Mac OS |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Backup software |
| License | Proprietary |
FastBack[1] is a software application developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s for backing upIBM PC andMacintosh computers. It was originally written byFifth Generation Systems, a company located inBaton Rouge,Louisiana.[2] When the company wanted to expand into the Apple market they purchased and rebranded a product fromTouchStone 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-channelDMA chip found in personal computers of that time. When combined withcompression techniques[2] and a proprietarydisk format that stored 720KB of data on each 360KB 5¼-inchfloppy disk (only in 1.2MB drives), this made FastBack one of the fastest PC backup programs at the time.[3]
By 1984, FastBack (Version 5.13) was already on the market.[3]
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.[4]
In February 1992 the company releasedFastBack Plus 1.0 for Windows, written for PCs runningWindows 3.0.[5]
FastBack Plus 2.0 was included withNovell DOS 7 in 1994.
FastBack II was at one pointbundled with the "Drive 2.4" floppy disk drive marketed by Kennect Technology.[6]
By 1992, FastBack had been purchased bySymantec Corp., who went on to bundle the application as "Norton Fastback" through version 3 ofNorton Utilities for the Macintosh. However, by version 4, Norton Fastback was dropped from Norton's software utility package, bringing an end to FastBack.
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."[7]
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".[8]
Fastest backup: Fastback v5.13 (1984)
A note by Dave Decker entitled "Beware of FastBack"