KOBRAHSOFT SOFTWARE

 OWNERS MANUAL
 (c) . KOBRAHSOFT 1988
"DB1 +3 DISC BACKUP UTILITY "
INTRODUCTION
 We thank you for buying our "DB1 PLUS 3 DISC UTILITY" for your Spectrum, and we
hope you will enjoy using it.
PLEASE NOTE:- DB1 DISC UTILITY IS SUPPLIED SOLELY ON THE
UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU ONLY USE IT MO MAKE BACK UP COPIES OF
YOUR OWN SOFTWARE FOR SECURITY REASONS, NOT TO USE IT TO MAKE
COPIES TO SELL OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTE - THIS IS PIRACY, AND WE DO
NOT CONDONE PIRACY!
NOTE:- As far as we know, DB1 will back-up virtually ANY +3 disc, both ordinary AND the
commercially available protected discs. However, new protection methods are always being
evolved, which may mean that DB1 may fail on certain discs.
 As we are sure you will realise, since new protection systems are always appearing, no
utility can backup EVERY disc, we think you will find DB1 will handle most.
LOADING AND USING DB1.
 At the opening Menu:- Press ENTER - DB1 will load and run automatically.
PLEASE NOTE:- To avoid illegal copying of DB1, we have protected it so that the version of
DB1 which you have will NOT copy itself, either using the CLONE or the single file backup
method. Thus, if your DB1 disc should ever fail, please return it to us, and we will send you a
replacement disc AND refund your postage costs. After the expiry of our 6 month guarantee
period (see Catalogue), we will have to charge you for any postage or other costs incurred in
replacement.
You may notice this DB1 Manual is VERY small! Fortunately, this is because DB1 is so very
easy to use!
On loading DB1, the initial screen shows the "WARM START POSITION", i.e.:-
 K-BYT:FILES=9 FREE=165 SELCT=0 COPY=0 MEM=96 
DISC . 9K
Where the file length total=9K; the amount of free memory on the disc=165K; SELCT or
Sector Load Count=0; Amount of memory used to copy=0, and the memory available to
copy=96K.
On loading, the current disc (which here will be the copier disc) is read, and its directory
shown. The current file highlighted by bright attributes, can be moved using the left and right
cursor keys. This is the Warm Start Position, and it is obtained whenever the "A" key is
pressed in response to a message prompt. Thus, pressing "A" again will re-read the copier
disc. To read another disc, insert it in the drive and press the "A" key. PLEASE NOTE:- On
some of the latest protected discs, there appears to be NOTHING on the disc! However, it
can still be copied using DB1. Also, DO NOT PRESS THE "A" KEY WHEN A MESSAGE
PROMPT APPEARS UNLESS YOU WISH TO ABORT BACK TO THE WARM START
POSITION! i.e. "PRESS ANY KEY" means "PRESS ANY KEY BUT NOT -A-". The
options available at the warm start position are:-
KEY -S- :- SELECT FILE
Pressing the "S" key selects the file currently pointed to by the file pointer. Selected files have
their attributes flashing. Pressing the "S" key when the file is already selected will deselect the
file.
KEY -T- :- TRANSFER FILES DISC TO DISC
 This will transfer all selected files to a second disc.
KEY -D- :- DELETE SELECTED FILES
 This will delete all selected files.
KEY -R- :- RENAME SELECTED FILES
This will display the current name of selected files and prompt you to type in the required new
name. Once all selected files have been renamed, the files are changed on the disc.
KEY -F- :- FORMAT DISC
 This key will allow you to choose the format type, sector size and number of sectors per
track according to the following possible format types:-
Format Type:- +3 Disc Amstrad Data Amstrad Program Miscellaneous
Enter:- 1 (normal) 2 3 4
Sector Size:- Press key (1) gives 256 bytes/sector: (2) gives 512 bytes (normal).
No. of sectors/track:- This is 9 (normal). On pressing 1 to 9, the disc is formatted
KEY -B- :- COPY BOOT SECTORS
The Boot sector of the current disc is tested and, if present, can be copied to disc or tape.
KEY -P- :- COPY SELECTED FILES FROM DISC TO TAPE
Select each file as detailed above - the total is displayed in SELCT, each file is then loaded
into memory (MEM decreases), then saved out to tape. The multisave can be aborted at any
time by pressing SPACE. 
KEY -G- :- COPY FILES FROM TAPE TO DISC
Either previously saved files or standard format files are copied from tape and put onto the
current disc. This is a multifunction load and thus the new directory is not written to the disc
until SPACE is pressed.
KEY -C- :- CLONE FULL PROTECTED DISC
On pressing the "C" key, you are prompted to insert the ORIGINAL Kobrahsoft disc. This is
a protection method - the program checks the disc and if it is NOT the original the message
"PROHIBITED DISK IN DRIVE" appears. If the disc checks out O.K., the message
"MASTER CLONE TO DISK OR TAPE" appears. BEFORE pressing a key, remove the
Kobrahsoft disc, and insert the disc you wish to clone. Press "D" for a clone to another disc;
"T" for a clone to tape.
This will copy BOTH the format AND data from the whole disc. This can either be copied to
disc or tape. For a FULL disc, it may require TWO saves to complete the copy, but most can
be done in one. On loading from the current disc, SELCT increases as each sector is read, up
to a maximum of 39, when the clone is complete. NOTE:- This copies the WHOLE disc,
PLUS blank sectors. Thus, with a disc containing only 1 or 2 files, it is usually best to use the
(T)ransfer method given earlier.
PLEASE NOTE:- When cloning certain discs, some sectors may take longer than normal to
read. These are usually unformatted sectors, the clone still continues, but may take longer than
for the "ordinary" discs.
This completes the list of options for DB1, we hope you enjoy using it and find it useful.