I HAVE SAID THIS ELSEWHERE BUT MAKE NO APOLOGIES FOR REPEATING MYSELF
Whatever software you use make a regular backup copy of your file, and more importantly do not rely on your hard drive as the only place to store the backup file.
There are several ways to store the file, depending on your computer system, your computer abilities and the software you use you should consider the following methods
CD copies of the file,
A device which you can remove from your PC, (ie a memory stick or removable hard drive)
Less desirable but worth a mention are;
Internet Backup options, available for certain software packages (but they do rely on an internet connection, third party storage, working servers etc)
Whichever system you choose please make sure that your backup copy has transferred to the disc/stick etc before you close your genealogy programme.
It takes years of research to find the information and just a minute to save it and a minute to check the backup file has been safely transferred.
Please don't take a chance , spend two minutes backing up and checking, it could be the best two minutes work you ever do.
ALWAYS VERIFY THE BACKUP FILES HAVE BEEN STORED, A QUICK CHECK IS TO OPEN A BACKUP FILE, IF IT OPENS AND HAS YOUR LATEST INFORMATION INCLUDED IT HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL COPY.
Several questions about creating backups have been asked recently, people have experienced some problems when attempting to backup to CD,a troubleshooter for CD backup problems can be found further through the thread, see post #5
Whatever software you use make a regular backup copy of your file, and more importantly do not rely on your hard drive as the only place to store the backup file.
There are several ways to store the file, depending on your computer system, your computer abilities and the software you use you should consider the following methods
CD copies of the file,
A device which you can remove from your PC, (ie a memory stick or removable hard drive)
Less desirable but worth a mention are;
Internet Backup options, available for certain software packages (but they do rely on an internet connection, third party storage, working servers etc)
Whichever system you choose please make sure that your backup copy has transferred to the disc/stick etc before you close your genealogy programme.
It takes years of research to find the information and just a minute to save it and a minute to check the backup file has been safely transferred.
Please don't take a chance , spend two minutes backing up and checking, it could be the best two minutes work you ever do.
ALWAYS VERIFY THE BACKUP FILES HAVE BEEN STORED, A QUICK CHECK IS TO OPEN A BACKUP FILE, IF IT OPENS AND HAS YOUR LATEST INFORMATION INCLUDED IT HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL COPY.
Several questions about creating backups have been asked recently, people have experienced some problems when attempting to backup to CD,a troubleshooter for CD backup problems can be found further through the thread, see post #5
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