In a message dated 7/27/2005 2:55:23 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, MaryEllen@satx.rr.com writes: When you use a "flash" thingie for back up of your data, would you do it in like format as some have mentioned here: Name of file-2005-06-01 or would you just write it over and over? And would you go back to the "flash" thingie and delete earlier ones, after a period of time? How often would you suggest saving on this kind of a device? And would you continue to save on floppies? Mel I would use the name-date format. This would not write over your old files so you would have a series of backup files. Since the USB memory sticks hold a lot of data (say 64, 128, 256, 512 megabytes or more) you would not have to delete very often, just whenever it felt right to you. I save a backup every time I make changes in my database (and especially if I am going to do some search and replace activity). If I make changes several times a day I use an "a, b, c" format on the date. I have not continued to use floppies to back up. Instead I use several sticks in rotation. They are getting so cheap now, I like them better than floppies or my zip drive. I am always careful to de-install them when I remove one from my machine and so far (how do I knock on wood on this metal machine?) have not had any trouble in two years of usage. I do delete the old files fairly often (about every 2 weeks). It is easy to do several at once in Windows Explorer. I delete when I am certain I am not going to need that file again. Alan B.