HOW TO MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATA

What you should know:
The data from the software can be lost or corrupted by turning your computer off without exiting Windows properly, having a power failure while your working on your computer, having a power surge while your computer is on; getting a virus, having a computer crash, even installing other applications can corrupt some files (this is rare, but possible). You may even inadvertently delete the file yourself. Whatever, the reason, you don’t need to worry about losing your data if you have a Backup of it. Backups are created from within the Database Maintenance screen of our software.

It’s a good idea to Backup your data regularly. We recommend keeping a revolving 7 days during your busy season. For example, the backups would be named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Monday the procedure would be to replace the backup file created last Monday with your current day’s data, and so on throughout the week. For maximum data protection, these backups should be created on some type of removable storage medium such as a USB/Flash Device. Remember, that if your computer crashes and your backups are on the hard drive then they are also lost; that is why it is so important to have a backup on removable storage.

Do not use CDs. We do not recommend or support CDs due to the fragility of the storage medium and how complicated the process is to use them successfully. If using an improperly formatted or the wrong type of CD you may get a Path File Inaccessible error. CDs also create the backups as read-only which will not work when restored back into the software. If you’ve already restored from a backup created on a CD you may be getting a 70-Permission Denied error or the error that the database is already opened exclusively by another user, or you need permission to view its data. For help attempting to fix these errors search our knowledgebase for the error code.

Getting back up and running after a disastrous event would simply involve either just restoring your data back in if the software is still operating properly; or if the software or computer has been compromised, reinstalling the software on the same computer or installing the software on a new computer and then just restoring your data back in from a backup. Your software is automatically re-registered when the data is restored.

Note:
Restoring from a Backup is a FULL REPLACEMENT of the current data within the program with the data contained within the Backup. Because of this, if you need to get back to your current data after viewing a Backup then you will need to make sure you Backup your current data before Restoring the other. That way you can restore your current data back in after your done with the archived backup. If you’re using the Backup and Restore features to transport data between multiple computers, make sure you completely understand the concept of the full data replacement when restoring from a backup. In other words, when Restoring, the current data in your software is overwritten with the data contained within a Backup. If you’re not careful, data can get lost in the process. Do not attempt to view or open the backup file created with any software other than GroundsKeeper. The data can become corrupted by doing so. The backup file created contains your customer and company data; it is not a copy of the software itself. Logo Image files and Contract Terms files are not saved with the backup of your data. If you want to backup these non-critical files, use Windows Explorer.

How to make Backups: If using removable storage media, make sure the storage medium has been inserted in the Drive before opening the Database Maintenance screen. The screen will not load the device as available unless it is inserted before the screen is opened. In other words, it will not be available for selection in the Drives Drop-Down listbox. To refresh the Drives Drop-Down after inserting the media, simply exit the screen and reopen it.
If you get a Device Unavailable error when selecting a Drive than either the storage medium is not in the specified drive or the storage medium is damaged or not formatted correctly or the Drive itself may not be operating properly. Use a new storage medium or have a hardware technician inspect your computer’s drive for problems.

AutoBackups: The GroundsKeeper Pro software does keep a revolving fifty(50) (only 20 for Lite and Blizzard Buster) auto backups of your data. Each time the software is closed a backup is created of the current data with a filename reflecting the Date and Time it was created. If fifty(50) auto backups already exist the oldest is deleted and a new one created to take its place. These auto backup files are stored on your computers harddrive in a folder named AutoBackups under the root of your products installation, in other words, in the path: C:\GroundsKeeper Pro\AutoBackups. If you loose your data or your data becomes corrupted and you don’t have a backup of your own, you may attempt to Restore your data from the AutoBackups. The AutoBackups are not a replacement for creating your own backups. In the event of a virus or harddrive crash, the AutoBackups may be unrecoverable.