S-IT-SmartPack Help

SmartPack combines folders into an ISO file or a 7z or ZIP archive, extracts them again and deletes data that is no longer needed so that it cannot be recovered. Recurring tasks sit on speed dial buttons and start with a single click.

Overview
What SmartPack offers beyond a 7-Zip front end
Create ISO
Create archive
Speed dial
Extract archive
Secure delete
Verifying results and skipped files
Settings
Program folder and files
7-Zip and oscdimg.exe

Overview

The window has three areas:

The sidebar on the left with the four pages Create ISO, Create archive, Extract archive and Secure delete. Settings and Help are at the bottom.
The middle shows the cards of the selected page. Below them is the row with the start button (for example Create ISO), Cancel, the progress and the Log button.
The speed dial on the right with ten buttons. It appears on Create ISO and Create archive.

The number of files and the size of the running operation are shown above the progress bar. The ESC key cancels a running operation. After each operation a result window appears with the button Open destination folder.

What SmartPack offers beyond a 7-Zip front end

Speed dial with one click: Ten buttons store fixed tasks with source folders, destination folder, format and, if you like, a password. Every run puts the date and time into the file name, so dated versions build up side by side.
ISO files from folders: Even several folders from different drives end up in a single ISO file. A double-click mounts it as a drive in Explorer, on any Windows PC without extra software.
Restoring via speed dial: The newest version is found automatically, the stored password is used and, if you choose, the content is written back to its original location – for archives and ISO files alike.
Stored passwords are encrypted: A password stored in the speed dial can only be read by the Windows user who stored it, and only on this PC. This applies to the speed dial only: the archive itself can be extracted on any PC with the password.
Verify result: On request every archive is read completely and every file is checked against its checksum; it is also checked that every file of the source folders is included. For ISO files SmartPack compares the number of files read.
Locked and unreadable files: They are skipped and the operation carries on. At the end the result window lists them by type, with a pointer to S-IT-SSD-Check for unreadable files.
Checks before starting: free space, the 4 GB limit of FAT32, a destination folder inside the source and source folders with the same name are detected before anything is written.
Secure delete: Folders and files, such as old ISO, 7z and ZIP versions, are overwritten once completely and then deleted. Speed dial source folders, Windows, program and user folders are locked; confirmation is by a random number.

Create ISO

An ISO file is an image of folders in a single file. Windows mounts it as a drive with a double-click; its content can then be read as from a CD or a USB stick. This page needs the Microsoft file oscdimg.exe in the program folder – how to get oscdimg.exe.

Sources

Add puts folders into the list; Remove or the Del key removes the selected entries. Clear removes all entries at once, for example for a new selection; the same applies on the page Create archive. Several source folders each appear as a folder of their own in the ISO file. A whole drive can be chosen as the only source.

Destination

Destination folder: the ISO file is created here.
ISO name: made from the folder name plus date and time; it can be changed. With several source folders it is “Collection”.
Volume label: the name Explorer shows when the file is mounted, at most 32 characters. Umlauts are transcribed for it.

Several source folders: They are first copied into a staging folder, which is deleted afterwards. SmartPack prefers the fast system drive if there is enough space, otherwise the destination drive – in each case directly at the top level with a short name, for example C:\_SP12345. This way the paths inside are no longer than at the original. Its location is shown above the progress bar during the run, for example “Staging folder on C:\”.

For technical reasons: Windows allows at most 259 characters for a path. If a path in the staging folder would be longer, SmartPack reports this before copying and names the file concerned. A single source folder needs no staging folder; neither do 7z and ZIP archives.

Checked before starting: If the destination drive is formatted with FAT32 and the source is larger than 4 GB, a notice appears – FAT32 does not allow larger files. SmartPack also checks for enough free space. If a file with the same name already exists in the destination folder, SmartPack asks whether to replace it. It is replaced only when the new file is complete; until then the new file is created under the name ….part. This also applies to archives.

A line at the bottom of the page shows whether oscdimg.exe is present. If the file is missing, clicking this line opens the instructions for getting it. Save as speed dial to the right puts the current selection on a speed dial button.

Create archive

An archive combines folders in one compressed file. SmartPack uses the highest compression level of 7-Zip.

Format: 7z or ZIP. ZIP opens in Windows without extra software; 7z is smaller and, with a password, also encrypts the file names.
Auto name: the archive name is made from the folder name, date and time. Without the tick it can be chosen freely with Save as ….
Password: encrypts the archive. The password is not stored and is required for extracting.
Delete the source after the archive has been created: the source folders are deleted only after successful completion, following a confirmation. The archive is always verified in this case, even without the tick in the settings. If files are missing from the archive or the verification fails, the source stays unchanged.

Files that are currently open in another program are included where possible.

Speed dial

The speed dial on the right of the window stores up to ten fixed tasks – such as “Contracts [7z]” or “Stick64 [ISO]”.

Left-click starts the task immediately. The file gets the date and time in its name.
Right-click opens the window Assign speed dial.
When the mouse rests on a button, a tooltip shows sources, destination, format and password.

Assign speed dial

Label: at most 16 characters; the format is added in square brackets.
Format, Source folders and Destination folder as on the ISO and archive pages.
Password (7z and ZIP only): if the field is left empty, SmartPack asks for the password at every start. An entered password is stored encrypted and can only be read under this Windows user on this PC. On another PC it is asked for. This restriction only concerns the copy of the password stored in the speed dial: the archives can be extracted with the password on any PC, with SmartPack, 7-Zip or another archiving program. Therefore also keep a note of the password in a safe place.
Remove assignment frees the button again.

It is quicker from the pages: once sources and destination are filled in, Save as speed dial puts them on a button; a small window asks which one.

With one source folder the file is named after that folder, with several source folders after the label. If a drive is not connected, SmartPack reports this before starting. Grey text means: free, or an ISO speed dial while the ISO function is switched off.

Extract archive

This page extracts 7z, ZIP and ISO files.

From speed dial

If you choose a speed dial here, SmartPack fills in the newest version of that task and uses its stored password. Older versions can be chosen with Browse …. If a file of a speed dial is chosen by hand, SmartPack recognises the speed dial by itself.

Archive and destination

Archive / ISO shows the file that will be extracted.

A freely chosen Destination folder, for example on an external drive.
Or Back to the original location: the content is written back to where the source folders of the speed dial are. Existing files with the same name are overwritten; SmartPack asks first. If the source folders are in different places, this option is not available.

Without a speed dial, a password is entered via the Password tick.

For technical reasons: with very large ISO files, 7-Zip sometimes cannot read the content. SmartPack then reports this instead of extracting incompletely. A double-click on the ISO file in Explorer mounts it as a drive; the files can be copied from there.

Secure delete

This page deletes folders and files so that they cannot be recovered – such as old ISO, 7z and ZIP versions.

Folder … and Files … fill the list To delete; several files can be selected at once with Ctrl or Shift.
Below the list it says whether all entries can be deleted or which one is locked.
After Secure delete … the extent and the entries are shown. To confirm, a four-digit number is entered; only then is Delete permanently possible.

Method: Every file is overwritten once completely with random data, given a random name and then deleted. It takes about as long as copying the same amount of data once.

Locked are the speed dial source folders and the folders containing them, whole drives, Windows, program and user folders and the program folder of SmartPack. Shortcuts and links are removed only as a reference; their target stays unchanged.

For technical reasons: SSDs, USB sticks and memory cards distribute writes to other memory cells on their own. Overwriting there is not guaranteed to reach every old copy. Data that was stored encrypted is fully protected. SmartPack shows this notice as soon as an entry is on such storage.

Verifying results and skipped files

Verify result

The tick Verify the result after creating it in the settings applies to 7z and ZIP archives, including speed dial. If the source is deleted after creating, the archive is always verified:

Archives are read completely; every file is checked against its checksum. This takes about as long as extracting once.
In addition, SmartPack checks that every file of the source folders is included in the archive.

The result window then shows, for example, “Verification passed: 1,234 files, 4.2 GB”. If the verification fails, the missing files are listed and a selected deletion of the source does not take place.

For ISO files the final message of oscdimg.exe counts. SmartPack writes it to the log together with the number of files oscdimg.exe has read. If this number is lower than its own count, the result window points this out.

Locked and unreadable files

If a source file cannot be read, SmartPack skips it and continues. If a read makes no progress for 20 seconds, the file counts as unreadable. At the end the skipped files are listed separately as

locked or no access permission – for example opened by a program, and
not readable, possibly defective.

Unreadable files can indicate a failing drive. The result window then offers the button S-IT-SSD-Check, which leads to the S-IT-SSD-Check page. The complete list is in the log.

When creating archives, 7-Zip reads the files itself. If a read hangs there, Cancel helps; the skipped files are still determined and reported.

Settings

The window opens via Settings in the sidebar or by clicking the flag at the bottom right.

Display size: automatic according to Windows or fixed from 90 to 150 %.
Language: Deutsch, English, Nederlands.
Colour scheme: five matched schemes from light to dark; Reset colours selects “Muted” again.
Verify result: see above.
ISO function: when switched off, the page Create ISO and the ISO choice when assigning a speed dial are hidden. Assigned ISO speed dials remain stored. If oscdimg.exe is missing at the first start, SmartPack offers to switch the function off.

Display size, language and colour scheme take effect after a program restart; SmartPack offers it right away.

Program folder and files

S-IT-SP-Start.exe starts the program.
S-IT-SmartPack_Prog contains the program, 7z.exe and 7z.dll, the language packs and this help. oscdimg.exe also belongs here.
S-IT-SmartPack.ini in the same folder stores settings and speed dial.
S-IT-SmartPack.log records every operation with command, duration and, where applicable, the skipped files; the Log button opens it.
License-Disclaimer contains the licence and disclaimer.

The whole folder can be moved or copied to another PC. Speed dial passwords stored there are asked for again at the first start.

7-Zip and oscdimg.exe

7-Zip: SmartPack uses 7-Zip by Igor Pavlov (7z.exe, 7z.dll) for packing and extracting. 7-Zip is free software under the GNU LGPL; some parts are under the BSD licence and the unRAR licence restriction. The complete licence text is in the file 7-Zip-License.txt in the License-Disclaimer folder. Program and source code: www.7-zip.org.

oscdimg.exe is a Microsoft program and is not supplied with SmartPack. How to get oscdimg.exe.