[ggcsquicksig] Backing up Quicken Data - and, just proving no one is perfect!
- From: "Babette" <ggcsquicksig@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "SIGLIST" <ggcsquicksig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 17:33:07 -0800
Our March meeting spent the last hour on the ins and outs of backing up your
Quicken data to something other than your Hard Drive.
YOU DO BACK UP YOUR DATA EVERY TIME YOU ADD TRANSACTIONS, DON'T YOU????
A few of the points we covered, for those of you who couldn't be with us.
1. In addition to having copies of your data OUTSIDE of your hard disk in
case of hard drive problems, it's a good idea to make a monthly copy of the
data and take it outside your home./office or whereever you work on
Quicken,.in case of a fire, flood, or other disaster to the computer's
location.
2. Backups can be made to zip disks (if you have a Zip drive,) CD's,
external hard drives (an excellent backup resource, and getting cheaper
every day,) or flash drives, (also a good backup resource, because they are
so easy to move and store. In fact, they are easier to store in a safe
deposit box due to their small size, than CD disks.). Floppy disks are no
longer practical, since the size of current Quicken data files are so large
that they will require more than one floppy, and that's a real drag.
A second internal hard drive also can be used for backup, since it is
not too likely that both hard drives will fail at one time. However, if
anything happens to the whole computer, or its location, you still need
backup copies outside the computer.
3. It's a good idea to check the backup copies from time to time to make
sure they are usable!
a. If your backup is on a zipdisk, another hard drive, or a flash
drive, you can OPEN the backed-up file into Quicken to make sure it's OK.
(To open another file, go to the FILE menu, click on OPEN and browse to the
location of the backup files).
b. If you backup to a CD disk, the data set will be marked "READ ONLY"
during the process of burning it to the disk. Since Quicken seems to write
something to its file when you open it, even before you enter any
transactions, it will tell you it can't open the file because it is marked
"Read Only". In order to test it, you have to copy the backup files to a
folder on your hard disk - make a folder on your desk top and copy into it -
and THEN open it.
NOTE: In Windows XP, copying the file removes the READ ONLY attribute.
In earlier versions of Windows, such as W98, you have to change the
attributes manually.
4. If you are using a Quicken version earlier than 2005, when you open a
backup file IT WILL HAVE THE SAME NAME AS YOUR WORKING FILE, i.e, "Jones
Data", or whatever name you've given it. After you've determined that the
backup copy is functioning, BE SURE TO THEN REOPEN YOUR WORKING COPY.
The reason for this is that Quicken will reopen whatever file you last
used. So if you don't reopen your working copy, Quicken will re-open the
backup copy on your desktop. If you don't realize what has happened, you
will make new entries in the wrong copy, and risk deleting the copy because
you think you don't need it any longer.
In version 2005, Quicken introduced the ability to apply the date each
time you backup. Using this new feature is VERY helpful. It will create a
backup copy of your file that looks something like this: "Jones Data
20060315"
When you open the backup copy, the date will appear at the top of your
screen, where Quicken shows you the name of the file you are about to use.
It's a great help in avoiding the "wrong copy" trap.
A couple of weeks ago, I backed up to a CD disk, and in preparation for our
SIG discussion, tried to open the backup file from the CD to check its
integrity. That's when I discovered that CD files are READ ONLY. So I made
a folder on my Desk Top, copied that day's backup to the new folder, and
opened it. It was fine. Then, duh!, I exited Quicken and turned off the
computer. WITHOUT repopening my working file.
So, for the last few weeks, I've been making entries into the backup file in
my desktop folder, never noticing that the file name had a date after it!
Yesterday, I discovered what was going on! So fear not, we all goof in many
ways...hopefully never the same way twice.
Taking Will's suggestion, I changed the name of my data to BLOCH Data
Current, removed the date notation, and copied the data set to the folder in
My Documents where I keep Quicken files. I opened it successfully, closed
Quicken and deleted the (now) outdated old BLOCH Data file. Talk about
learning experiences!
Babette
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