** PD review/298 words **

GEMAR v3.06
** Rating: 92%
Utility/Business
Shareware, all Ataris

** GEM_LOGO.GIF here **

GEMAR, programmed by Steffen Engel, is a comprehensive GEM backup program which supports almost all SCSI tape streamers connected to the ACSI or SCSI Port on Atari or TOS compatible machines.
When launched GEMAR displays its own desktop and although it does work in a multitasking environment it's not recommended for safety reasons. If your hard disk driver software is incompatible with GEMAR an alert appears and you should copy SCSIDRV.PRG (included) to your Auto folder, reboot and try again.
The GEMAR desktop includes an icon for each device and partition (CD-ROM, magnetic optical drive, hard disk) along with the GEMAR streamer icon. Several different backup/restore options are available:
** BL **
* Complete file backup.
* Incremental file backup - only data which has changed is backed up.
* Complete image backup - hard disk sectors, instead of individual files are backed up.
** BL off **
Backup sessions can be recorded and run as batch jobs and there's also support for the TAR-Importers, programmed by Carsten Friehe, which makes it possible to read data written on other platforms.
1stGuide format hypertext help is included and this complements the optional 100 page A5 printed manual.
GEMAR is a reliable, mature and full featured application which costs 70 DM (approx £25) or 100 DM (approx £35) with the printed manual. A commercial license, including manual, costs 200 DM (approx £70).
With the low cost of hard disks and removable media tape streamers have gone out of fashion but this does mean hobbyists can pick up tape streamer mechanisms at good prices. Used with a copy of GEMAR you won't go far wrong.
** BC on **
Email: Steffen_Engel@sz2.maus.de
URL: http://members.aol.com/steffene/
** BC off **
** Italics on **
Michael Ruge
** Italics off **

** Images **
** GEMPARAM.GIF **
** GEMPLUGN.GIF **