John, What you are doing is absolutely fine - keep making those back-ups to your floppy disc! The 3-steps I proposed are an enhancement to that process. Having a designated folder on your hard drive for backups (as defined in Tools > Preferences > Folders) in combination with my second step of naming each back-up with a date --- gives you your first line of defence - having available on your hard drive, for immediate access and comparison a series of dated past back up files. Your preference set-up for this setting most likely specifies the A-drive. It is of course only a first line of defence - each backup file should subsequently be copied to an exterior medium and/or facility (floppy disc, CD, memory stick, email attachment, ftp to internet site etc.). I find it most useful to have a series of past dated backups immediately accessible for quick comparisons or testing/corrupting with some new procedure - and, in common with a growing number of modern PC's and lap tops, there is no built in floppy drive to my pc (although I do have an exterior attachment which I only bring out when someone specifically wants a floppy disk from me - becoming very rare now). Regards, Stewart -----Original Message----- From: john burns [mailto:johnburns@telus.net] Sent: 23 July 2005 00:30 To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PAF-5] Backup files I've been looking at this post for a day and still can't make any sense of it. I just make a backup of my PAF to a floppy disc. Why would you "set up a specific folder for your back-up files"? John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stewart Millar" <sm999@tiscali.co.uk> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 2:27 AM Subject: RE: [PAF-5] Backup files > Grace, > > Good Question! Despite backups being an essential safety net, over the years > I have seen great confusion and actual loss of data because of the way in > which backups have been handled. > > The steps that I teach and advocate are as follows: > > 1. In Tools > Preferences > Folders set up a specific folder for your > back-up files. This would be somewhere on your hard drive - mine are kept in > C:\........\My Documents\PAF\Backup. > > 2. When selecting or requested to do a backup - the suggested name of > the zipped backup is your PAF database name - this should be changed to > include the date of your backup - for example, my database is millar.paf, > which for a backup (today) I would change the suggested name to > > millar-2005-07-21 (the .zip extension will be added automatically for > you) > > This example of course is using the reverse European date system (Y-M-D) > which is recommended for keeping a series of files in date sequence. > > For any time where you have multiple backups on the same day - for instance, > where you create a backup to take to a FHC or on a research trip - add some > data at the FHC - then create a backup at the FHC to take home - simply add > an additional version number at the end of the second backup file name, for > example: > > Millar-2005-07-21-2 > > 3. The backed-up file should then - for security reasons - either - be > burned onto a CD - copied to a floppy disc (if your PC still has a floppy > disc) - copied to a USB memory stick - attached and emailed to a friend - > uploaded (ftp) to a secure internet site. Whatever suits your off-site > storage arrangements. > > Using this approach you will then have a series of past backups - all date > marked. > > Periodically you would delete the older backup versions. > > This way, any restored backup will create a PAF file with the same name that > has the date incorporated in it. From any restored backup, you can then make > the deliberate choice to rename the restored backup as your main file (using > Save-As). > > Backups are not only a safety net for restoring a lost file but used in this > way can allow you to open up (restore) a past back for a specific date and > compare it with your current database to track any changes that you may have > made. > > Good luck, > > Stewart > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Grace Inman [mailto:Grace@eufaula.rr.com] > Sent: 21 July 2005 04:03 > To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [PAF-5] Backup files > > Could someone please explain to me in real simple baby steps how to make the > best kind of backup files? When I click "Backup" on the File menu of PAF.5, > I always tell it to overwrite the current file. Is that the way I should do > it, or not? If not, how should I be doing it to provide the maximum > protection for my file(s)? Please and thank you very much. > Grace in Georgia, USA > > In God we trust. > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > PAF @ FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service > http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/ > > > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > FreeBMD - Free Access to England and Wales Civil Registration Index > Volunteer as a Transcriber Today! > http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== PAF @ FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/

When you make your backups to floppy diskettes, there is a danger many folks ignore. If you use a single diskette or set of diskettes to do your backups there are two catastrophes that can occur. 1 - One that is guaranteed to happen over time is that the backup diskette(s) can become "worn out" over time by the constant passing of the drive heads over the diskettes. This can result in the failure to do a successful restore when you need to. 2 - A catastrophe that is "waiting in the wings" and could happen results from a crash of the computer during the backup process. If you are doing a backup and your hard drive crashes while in the process, you've just overwritten your last backup, but haven't successfully created a usable new backup. Thus you wouldn't have anything to restore. The same thing can result from a power outage during the backup process, or a motherboard failure during the backup, etc. I've observed that a great many PAF users follow the approach of using the same backup disk over and over, and are thus susceptable to this sort of problem. They feel comfortable that they are backing up their data, but they don't really have solid protection. I teach an approach for folks using diskettes that get's around this problem. First, assemble a set of diskettes for the backups - I recommend at least 5, but it can be any number. A set is however many diskettes it takes to do your backups - one being enough for most folks. Second, make labels indicating these are PAF backups and numbered from 1 to as many sets as you have, and mark them with the date they went into service. Third, organize the backup diskettes in numerical order (such as in a closed diskette box or plastic diskette holder with a cover) Fourth, when you make a backup, take the set of diskettes off the back , make your backup and replace them in the front. Fifth, at the end of each year, replace half of the diskettes. For some other comments about the backup process, see the following page at PAF Review: http://www.paf-review.com/paf_backup.html Mike St. Clair -----Original Message----- From: Stewart Millar [mailto:sm999@tiscali.co.uk] Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2005 10:11 AM To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [PAF-5] Backup files John, What you are doing is absolutely fine - keep making those back-ups to your floppy disc! The 3-steps I proposed are an enhancement to that process. Having a designated folder on your hard drive for backups (as defined in Tools > Preferences > Folders) in combination with my second step of naming each back-up with a date --- gives you your first line of defence - having available on your hard drive, for immediate access and comparison a series of dated past back up files. Your preference set-up for this setting most likely specifies the A-drive. It is of course only a first line of defence - each backup file should subsequently be copied to an exterior medium and/or facility (floppy disc, CD, memory stick, email attachment, ftp to internet site etc.). I find it most useful to have a series of past dated backups immediately accessible for quick comparisons or testing/corrupting with some new procedure - and, in common with a growing number of modern PC's and lap tops, there is no built in floppy drive to my pc (although I do have an exterior attachment which I only bring out when someone specifically wants a floppy disk from me - becoming very rare now). Regards, Stewart -----Original Message----- From: john burns [mailto:johnburns@telus.net] Sent: 23 July 2005 00:30 To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PAF-5] Backup files I've been looking at this post for a day and still can't make any sense of it. I just make a backup of my PAF to a floppy disc. Why would you "set up a specific folder for your back-up files"? John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stewart Millar" <sm999@tiscali.co.uk> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 2:27 AM Subject: RE: [PAF-5] Backup files > Grace, > > Good Question! Despite backups being an essential safety net, over the years > I have seen great confusion and actual loss of data because of the way in > which backups have been handled. > > The steps that I teach and advocate are as follows: > > 1. In Tools > Preferences > Folders set up a specific folder for your > back-up files. This would be somewhere on your hard drive - mine are kept in > C:\........\My Documents\PAF\Backup. > > 2. When selecting or requested to do a backup - the suggested name of > the zipped backup is your PAF database name - this should be changed to > include the date of your backup - for example, my database is millar.paf, > which for a backup (today) I would change the suggested name to > > millar-2005-07-21 (the .zip extension will be added automatically for > you) > > This example of course is using the reverse European date system (Y-M-D) > which is recommended for keeping a series of files in date sequence. > > For any time where you have multiple backups on the same day - for instance, > where you create a backup to take to a FHC or on a research trip - add some > data at the FHC - then create a backup at the FHC to take home - simply add > an additional version number at the end of the second backup file name, for > example: > > Millar-2005-07-21-2 > > 3. The backed-up file should then - for security reasons - either - be > burned onto a CD - copied to a floppy disc (if your PC still has a floppy > disc) - copied to a USB memory stick - attached and emailed to a friend - > uploaded (ftp) to a secure internet site. Whatever suits your off-site > storage arrangements. > > Using this approach you will then have a series of past backups - all date > marked. > > Periodically you would delete the older backup versions. > > This way, any restored backup will create a PAF file with the same name that > has the date incorporated in it. From any restored backup, you can then make > the deliberate choice to rename the restored backup as your main file (using > Save-As). > > Backups are not only a safety net for restoring a lost file but used in this > way can allow you to open up (restore) a past back for a specific date and > compare it with your current database to track any changes that you may have > made. > > Good luck, > > Stewart > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Grace Inman [mailto:Grace@eufaula.rr.com] > Sent: 21 July 2005 04:03 > To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [PAF-5] Backup files > > Could someone please explain to me in real simple baby steps how to make the > best kind of backup files? When I click "Backup" on the File menu of PAF.5, > I always tell it to overwrite the current file. Is that the way I should do > it, or not? If not, how should I be doing it to provide the maximum > protection for my file(s)? Please and thank you very much. > Grace in Georgia, USA > > In God we trust. > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > PAF @ FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service > http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/ > > > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > FreeBMD - Free Access to England and Wales Civil Registration Index > Volunteer as a Transcriber Today! > http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== PAF @ FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/