FastBack
Backup program for personal computers
title: "FastBack" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["backup-software-for-dos", "backup-software-for-windows", "macintosh-backup-software", "classic-mac-os-software"] description: "Backup program for personal computers" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FastBack" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Backup program for personal computers ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | FastBack |
| screenshot | Fastback-plus-1.0-dos.png |
| caption | FastBack Plus 1.0 for DOS, circa 1987. |
| author | Fifth Generation Systems |
| released | |
| operating system | DOS, Windows, Mac OS |
| language | English |
| genre | Backup software |
| license | Proprietary |
| :: |
| name = FastBack | logo = | screenshot = Fastback-plus-1.0-dos.png | caption = FastBack Plus 1.0 for DOS, circa 1987. | collapsible = | author = Fifth Generation Systems | developer = | released = | programming language = | operating system = DOS, Windows, Mac OS | size = | language = English | genre = Backup software | license = Proprietary
FastBack is a software application developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s for backing up IBM PC and Macintosh computers. It was originally written by Fifth Generation Systems, a company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When the company wanted to expand into the Apple market they purchased and rebranded a product from TouchStone 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-channel DMA chip found in personal computers of that time. When combined with compression techniques
Version history
By 1984, FastBack (Version 5.13) was already on the market.
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.
In February 1992 the company released FastBack Plus 1.0 for Windows, written for PCs running Windows 3.0.
FastBack Plus 2.0 was included with Novell DOS 7 in 1994.
FastBack II was at one point bundled with the "Drive 2.4" floppy disk drive marketed by Kennect Technology.
By 1992, FastBack had been purchased by Symantec Corp., who went on to bundle the application as "Norton Fastback" through version 3 of Norton Utilities for the Macintosh. However, by version 4, Norton Fastback was dropped from Norton's software utility package, bringing an end to FastBack.
- Fastback For The Macintosh v1.01/1.02 – 1987, v1.3 – 1988
- Fastback II v2.10 – 1990
- Fastback Plus v2.6 1991, v3.0.1 – 1992
Features
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."
Reception
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".
References
References
- Lewis, Peter H.. (June 7, 1988). "Backup Copy Of Hard Disk Averts Loss". The New York Times.
- Lewis, Peter H.. (July 25, 1989). "Personal Computers - Of Inevitable Sudden Death And Backing Up Your Files". The New York Times.
- (December 21, 2015). "The Great Floppy Backup Shoot-Out".
- Bigley, Tom. (September 16, 1991). "Latest Fastback Plus won't let you down". InfoWorld.
- Bigley, Tom. (April 6, 1992). "Review:Fastback Plus offers reliable backup under Windows". InfoWorld.
- (1991). "TidBITS#51/Drive_2.4". TidBITS.
- Lewis, Peter H.. (January 4, 1994). "It's 1994. So Where Are Your Data?". The New York Times.
- (January 1989). "The BYTE Awards".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::