One of the most important utilities that all ADAM owners MUST have is some kind of backup program. If you have not already experienced the low of an important software package because of a bad block, sooner or later you will.

This first thing you should do after purchasing a new software program, is to make a backup copy, and then store your original in a safe place. Failure to do so, could cause you to buy that important software title twice, or you could loose hours of work you done on SmartWRITER, thus having to start all over again.

One of the better backup utility program packages available for the ADAM is Uncle Ernie's Toolkit. This series of programs will allow you to copy nearly all of your most important soft-ware such as SmartBASIC, ADAMCALC, SmartFILER, SmartLOGO, etc.

The main program on this package is the toolkit program, with it you can copy your software, scan your tapes/disks to determine what is stored on each block, find/restore lost/deleted files, modify your software, and check for bad blocks. The 'Toolkit' does all this, and does it using very easy to use menus.

In doing all of the above procedures, the "Toolkit" uses a six block copy buffer. This small buffer size will require the user to swap media several times when copying with only one drive. Thus, when using one drive, the copy process can be rather slow.

If you need a faster copy program, Uncle Ernie's Toolkit provides a faster block-only copy program called Quickback. This copy program uses a 20K copy buffer for much faster copies - Unlike the 'Toolkit', you will need to know the correct blocks you-need to copy in order to use this program correctly, or you can just copy all the blocks on the medium.

Supplied with the package is a 30 page instruction manual that fully explains how to use all the programs. The author spent a lot of time on the the documentation so you will be able to understand how to use all the features contained on this package.

Two features that are lacking on this package is the ability to copy individual files, and the other thing that this program WILL NOT do is copy some of the Super Games such as Donkey Kong Jr.

For many of you, the first thing to consider in a software program is it's usefulness VS price. This is one feature this package has over some others. At only $10.95, this is a real bargain.

All in all, this is a good software utility package.

RATING - B