Interface Overview

This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program. The design of the interface precludes any mistake being made on the part of the user. Most operations are performed through the system of wizards. Buttons and menus are accompanied by easy understandable icons. Nevertheless, any problems that might occur while managing the program can be tackled by reading this very chapter.

General Layout

When you start the program, the first component that is displayed is called the Launcher. It enables to run wizards and dialogs, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration.

The LauncherÆs window can be conditionally subdivided into several sections that differ in their purpose and functionality:

A number of panels offer similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables to conceal some of them to simplify the interface management.

All panels are separated by vertical and horizontal expandable sliders, allowing the user to customize the screen layout.

Main Menu

The Main Menu provides access to the entire functionality of the program. The available functions are as listed below:

Tool Bar

The Toolbar provides fast access to the most frequently used operations:

Virtual Operations Bar

The program supports previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual mode of execution). In fact, when the virtual mode is enabled, the program does not accomplish operations immediately, but places them on the List of Pending Operations for later execution.

The Virtual Operations Bar enables to manage pending operations.

Common Tasks Bar

The Common Tasks Bar is located on the left side of the main window. It is intended for easy access to the program's wizards.

The bar contains several tabs named Basic Backup Tasks, Advanced Backup Tasks, Restore Tasks, Copy Tasks, Tools and News and Documentation. Each of these contains a separate button bar which can be folded by clicking it.

Disk Map

The Disk Map is displayed in the Explorer Bar when the Disk View tab is selected. It is located either at the top or at the bottom of the window, depending on the state of the Disk Map Location option (Main Menu: View > Disk Map Location).

As the name infers, the Disk Map displays the layout of physical and logical disks. Physical disks are represented with rectangle bars that contain small-sized bars. These small-sized bars represent logical disks. Their color depends on the file system of the appropriate partition.

Large-sized bars display the following information about physical disks:

q       Manufacturer,

q       Model.

Small-sized bars display the following information about logical disks:

q       Serial number,

q       Drive letter,

q       Total size,

q       File system.

Furthermore, it is possible to estimate the used disk space by looking at the size of the barÆs shaded area. The program offers to choose from several types of the disk layout scaling. ItÆs done especially to increase the program usability. For instance, if youÆve got a high capacity hard drive containing both very large (more than 100 GB) and rather small (less than 10 GB) partitions, you can select the logarithmic type to make all partitions readable, otherwise (selecting the linear type) you wonÆt be able to see small partitions at all, but thing strips. On the other hand, if the proportional disk layout is critical for you, the linear type is exactly what you need.

Nevertheless thereÆs a compromise solution û linear scaling with the minimal limit to small partitions. So if a partition is too small it will remain readable.

Just click on the arrow icon on the top right side of the Disk Map to select the desired scaling type.

Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer Bar. Thus by selecting a disk on the Disk Map, the Explorer Bar will automatically display detailed information on it.

Explorer Bar

The Explorer Bar is located in the center of the main window which emphasizes its importance. The bar displays reference information including:

q       The help system;

q       General information on the product including its name, version and a list of helpful links;

q       Detailed information about disks selected on the Disk Map;

q       List of scheduled operations;

q       List of archives

According to these categories the Explorer Bar has several tabs:

q       Disk View, which offers the user the following options:

- Properties to view detailed information on the selected partition/hard disk in the bright graphical form.

q       Scheduled Tasks, which gives the user the possibility of browsing and editing scheduled operations and the program scripts.

q       Archives, which enables to manage the Archive Database.

q       Help, which contains the program help and general information on the product.

You can access the desired information by clicking on the appropriate tab.

The Explorer Bar is a fully-functional embedded HTML browser, which offers the possibility to address, for example, the company's website to look through important technical notes or download the latest updates without having to close the program.

The program help is also HTML-oriented. You can read it and follow external links from to get additional information.

To easily navigate through browsed pages, the program provides the following functionality:

Legend Bar

The Legend Bar explains the color scheme used for disk and partition presentation. You can hide (or show) the bar with the appropriate Main Menu item: View > Disk Map Legend. When it is activated it can be found at the bottom of the Explorer Bar.

The program distinguishes between the following types of known file systems:

   - FAT16/32,

   - NTFS,

   - Linux Ext2/3,

   - Linux ReiserFS.

Status Bar

This is the bottom part of the main window. The Status Bar displays menu hints, for each item the cursor points to.

The user can hide (or show) the bar with the appropriate Main Menu item: View > Status Bar.