WinTAR-SCSI - TAR for Windows Version 2.2.5 (Evaluation Version)
================================================================

Copyright (c) 1994-97 SpiralCom Communications Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

This README file provides up-to-date information regarding WinTAR-SCSI
Version 2.2.5 that may not be included in the help file.  Please read
the help file for detailed information about WinTAR-SCSI Version 2.2.5.
In particular, please read the sections "Operations of WinTAR's SCSI
Tape Interface" and "Relationship between Logical Block Size and Blocking
Factor" to get you started.  Enjoy!!

********** System Requirement **********

+ A 486 or above IBM compatible PC with at least 8MB RAM and 2 MB free hard
  disk space.

+ Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5x, and Windows NT 4.0

+ An ASPI compliant SCSI card

+ A SCSI tape drive.  See the supported tape drive list below for
  a list of tape drives that have been tested.

********** Package List **********

+ This WinTAR-SCSI distribution contains the following files:
	data.z
	disk1.id
	setup.pkg
	_setup.dll
	_inst32i.ex_
	_isdel.exe
	setup.ins
	_setup.lib
	setup.exe

********** Installation for Windows 95/NT users **********

1) Copy star225u.zip to a temporary directory, such as C:\Windows\Temp.

2) Run "pkunzip star225u.zip" in a DOS prompt.  When prompted for a
   password, enter the one indicated in your download instruction e-mail.

3) Run setup.exe.

4) Follow the installation wizard to complete the installation.

5) Double-click on the WinTAR-SCSI icon.

6) Enter in the given registration information when prompted to do so.

********** Known Bugs/Problems/Limitations **********

The current release of WinTAR-SCSI has the following limitations:

- If you have an ATAPI (EIDE) type tape drive in your system, WinTAR-SCSI
  may get confused.
- Since multi-tape backup is not supported in this release,  you will
  receive an "End Of Tape" message when the end of tape has been reached.
  However, WinTAR-SCSI does not prompt for the next tape.
- WinTAR-SCSI does not have "Erase Tape", or "Format Tape" functions.  
  Currently, you may need a third party program to perform these functions.
- If you have a Wangtek 5525ES QIC-type tape drive, tape reading may be
  slow.
- If you have a Wangtek 5525ES QIC-type tape drive with old firmware
  versions or if you have an Archive Python DAT,  you must uncheck 
  "File-Mark search in reverse direction" in the SCSI Tape Options dialog 
  box or the tape will shuffle back and forth forever.

********** Change logs **********

Version 2.2.5 - July 9, 1997
Bug Fixes
---------
- Fixed a bug where tape reading or writing can be slow because
  the tape drive's memory cache is turned off.

Version 2.2.4 - July 6, 1997
New features
------------
- Added several command-line arguments 
- Incremental backup flags can now be saved with the backup template
- The user is now given an option to extract files from the tape without
  reading in the contents first using "Extract Files on Open Tape"
- Support block size changes for older firmware of some SCSI tape drives
  and those SCSI tape drives that are not SCSI-2 compliant.
- Support non-Adaptec SCSI cards under Windows NT.

Version 2.2.3 - March 25, 1997
New features
------------
- The "Ignore blocks of zero" option is extended to support skipping
  file marks.  This allows the user to read in a multi-archive tape
  in one step. 

Version 2.2.2 - February 24, 1997
New features
------------
- Incremental backup is supported.
- Added byte swab option in the Preference dialog box.
- Added some logics to help the user to find out the block size and
  blocking factor combination of the recorded tape.
- Increased the blocking factor limit from 256 to 512.
- Increased the block size limit from 64K to 512K.

Bug fixes
---------
- Fixed a bug in showing "Out of System memory" when in fact the error
  means ASPI installation problem.
- Fixed various timing problems with certain tape drives.

Version 2.2.1 - January 29, 1997
- Fixed a bug in SCSI tape detection process to work-around some SCSI
  controllers.

Version 2.2.0 - January 27, 1997
- First public release.

********** TODO List (for a future release) **********

+ Windows 95 look-and-feel for user interface.
+ Add the capability of appending files/directories to an archive.
+ Add multi-volume (multi-tape) support that is compatiable with GNU tar.
+ Add a simple scheduler to schedule hard-disk backup time.
+ Add drag-and-drop support.
+ Allow the user to backup files selectively (archive bits, date range, etc.)

********** Supported Tape Drive List **********

WinTAR-SCSI should support the following types of SCSI tape drives:
+ DAT (DDS-1, DDS-2, DDS-DC, etc.)
+ 8mm (EXB-8200, EXB-8200c, EXB-8500, EXB-8500c)
+ QIC

The following models from various manufacturers have been tested.  An updated
list can be found from our Web page at http://www.spiralcomm.com.  If you've
found that your tape drive model is not listed here but it works with your
configuration, please let us know by sending an e-mail to 
support@spiralcomm.com stating your tape drive manufacturer, model, and
the type of tape used.

+ Archive Python 28454, 25588, 25501, Archive Viper 150MB QIC
+ Exabyte EXB-8200, EXB-8205, EXB-8200SX, EXB-8500, EXB-8505, EXB-8505c, 
  EXB-8700LT, 4200c
+ HP SureStore 2000i/e, 5000 i/e, 6000 i/e, C1533A, C35480A
+ Sony SDT-2000, SDT-4000, SDT-5000, SDT-5200, SDT-7000
+ Tecmar WangTek 5525ES (Reading is slow)
+ Tandberg  TDC 4222
+ Wangtek 51000

