To quote the guy that I paid $400 to retrieve the information off of my crashed hard drive: “There are 2 types of hard drives: ones that have crashed and ones that are going to crash.”
I mention this because I just got another support email from a distraught customer whose hard drive had crashed and they needed to know how to reinstall and restore their family directory data and photos. I thought it was time to give you a short primer on backing up your family data and how the software easily helps you prevent your own data disaster.

How to backup:

Backing up the family data is done in the Administration form under the Data Management tab. When you click on the Backup button the software will open a dialog box and ask you to save the data file. Note that in our software the data file is separate from the actual software program. The file name is already preformatted for you. You can use the default name or give it your own name. Just make sure it’s something you remember!

Where to save the backup file:

It’s important that you backup and store the data OFF of your own computer. Obviously it does you no good if your computer crashes and you’ve saved the data to your hard drive.

Direct backup off your computer:

• External device: This can be a hard drive or thumb drive directly connected to your computer.
• Online internet storage site: These sites let you store your files (data, photos, etc.) securely on the internet so they are easily retrieved when you need them. Some of them even “act” as a local folder on your computer so when you backup it’s as simple as selecting the proper folder. I like Dropbox.com for this reason as it’s really easy to use.
  There are some great free or low cost online storage sites out there. Just make sure you find one that is easy to use and doesn’t require a lot of effort or technical expertise or you won't do it!

Backup and copy: the following options require you to save the data file to your computer first:

• CD - If you have a CD burner on your computer you can copy the data file to a CD.
• Email the file to a friend or colleague: Have the person your emailing the file to save it on their computer.

Restoring from a backup:

Let’s say that you have a hard drive crash, are reinstalling the software or you need to go back to the last version of your database.

Go to the Administration function, Data Management tab and select Restore. You will be prompted for the file. In the example below I stored my backup file to the internet using Dropbox.com so I will go to that folder to get the file.

NOTE: if reverting to an older database, please make sure you backup the current data before you restore.

I hope this helps you avert your own data disaster! Feel free to contact me if you need any assistance

Tracie Oken