x86/DOS system backup via rs232?

On 11/14/2015 07:52 AM, Jules Richardson wrote: For my own product, way back in the dark old days, I designed one from scratch and contracted for a couple hundred from a cable house. When Laplink came out, I was surprised to find that it used exactly my setup. How's that for coincidence? So I changed my further orders to use the commodity LL cables--at about half the price. Not as rugged as my design, but they worked fine. Interlink uses the same cable. All were 2m in length. I think 12 conductor commodity foil-shielded cable will do the trick. Basically, you've got 4 data lines in each direction, plus strobe and ground. It is possible (I don't know if Interlink supports it) with PS/2 style bidirectional printer ports, to do a full 8 bit transfer in both directions, but it can get touchy on setup. The 4-bit cables nearly always work. So a length of cable, 2 DB25M connectors and Bob's your uncle. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/142324 MIcrosoft calls/called it "Direct Cable Connection" and is supported through Windows XP (Vista dropped it). --Chuck