Via Options in the main menu you access the main options of the program.
If you are a beginner or want to keep things simple then use only the options above the horizontal bar. The options below the bar are more advanced options.

• Default location backup
  In "editing a project" you could see it is possible to select "default" for destination. This default destination root must be specified here, with this option. Remark it is recommended you select the root of your most used backup drive, but it is also possible here to select any directory!
• Limitation of backup drives
  For extra protection reasons you can give the drive you usually write to. If you select drive D for instance, then you will only be able to write to drive D. An error would be given when you try to write to another drive like your C-drive. Handy feature for people who are quickly absent-minded.
• Location of SMD-projects
  You are forced to put all your project-files (SMD-files) in the same directory. Here you can specify this location. Choose for instance "c:\documents\smd-projects". If you don't specify it at all, then they will be saved in the same directory as smartdircopy.exe.
• Location of log-file
  Specify here the location for your log-file. Choose for instance "c:\windows\temp". Avoid to put it in a directory which is a source-item in one of your projects! Otherwise precalculation could be less accurate as file grows in source during backup... . For the same reason, avoid to put it in a backup drive. If you don't specify a location at all, then the log will be saved in the same directory as smartdircopy.exe.
• Timer
  Instead of hitting the run button yourself, you can use the built-in timer and let the program run a project for you at a given time.
  You will have to set the project and the time (hour and minutes) you want it to run. Options to have the timer active on start-up or to show/hide the panel on the main form are available too. You can make the timer active using the timer panel. If not active, the timer will not time out. If active then it will run the chosen project at the given time and immediatly after it will deactivate.
  When the timer is active it will be impossible to run projects in the normal, manual way. Editing of log-file is forbidden too. Edit, view and save of projects is possible but you are not encouraged to do so when there is about to start an automatic run.
  On the timer panel on the main form you can also use the countdown monitor as an additional help. Use the mouse pointer or right mouse button for further help.
  The timer is a strong option. Together with other programs like Windows Task Sheduler it can automize your recurrent backups. Before you fully use the timer though, you are encouraged to first learn to use the program in the manual way and to play with the timer settings and countdown monitor, without an active timer.
• External launch in run form
  External launch means: when you double-click a smd-project in Windows Explorer for instance, that it causes SmartDirCopy to open and load the project immediatly, just like it happens with office files. Before you can use this you have to assign smd-extensions to SmartDirCopy (go to explorer, shift-right-click on a smd-file, select SmartDirCopy, check always use this program...). Then when clicking a project it will standard open in the project editor. Now, when most projects are already edited then you will probably want to go a step further and open them directly in the run form... in that case: check this option!
  See also the section extra, to overrule this option for specific projects.
• Background...
  Personalize your program. This allows you to set, change or remove a background image for the main screen. You can use also the right mouse button.
• Project editor - Show/hide dir sizes
  The directory browser in the project editor can show the dir sizes while you browse. This can be handy to estimate sizes during project edit. Note however that browsing will be slower and that the shown sizes exclude the sizes in the subfolders.
• Project editor - Show/hide synchronize option
  If you want to start using the synchronize feature then show (enable) this option so that a checkbox appears in the project editor. Only for advanced users.
  
• Run history - Maximum items
  Should you want to change the standard maximum items in the run history then you can do it here. The more advanced users will probably increase this number.