Data Back up to CD or DVD

[pieterse]

Hi Mark,

Even though I back up to a Seagate FreeAgent external HD, I would also like to put all my FM data on a CD. For a future restore or transfer to a new computer.
I use XP PRO SP3 OS and current on FM updates..
My Documents folder contains the FM folder (63.0MB) with all the *dat files and the Autoback folder (59.4MB) which contains 25 *.fmb files.
Even after reading various forum topics related to back-up, I'm not quite sure which files and or folders to select to burn to a CD. Or should I just drag and drop the entire folder to the CD drive?
Would appreciate your assistance.
Thanks and thank you and your associates for a great piece of software.
Enjoy the weekend.

[Mark]

Hi pieterse,

All you really need is a single *.FMB file. This is a backup containing everything necessary to restore the portfolio used to create that backup. Usually you would only have one portfolio file (*.mm4), so you only need one *.FMB file to restore it completely. If you are using more than one portfolio file, then you'd need a separate *.FMB file for each portfolio file.

That said, it doesn't hurt to backup your whole Fund Manager data folder, with all the automatic backups. It is more than you need, but doesn't hurt to back up the whole folder.

[pieterse]

Thanks Mark,

I decided to back-up the entire folder on a CD. Coincidently my most recent back-up file at time of doing this back-up was #30, which is my default setting and understand that the next back-up will replace file #1, etc.
However, once that replacement starts; one has to click through the files and look under Properties the find the date the file was created.
Was wondering if the file name could be modified in the program to include the date of the back-up and would read something like this: "name_14.fmb_2010_10_08". Back-up created on Oct.10, 2010.

Regards

[Mark]

Hi pieterse,

It would definitely be possible for us to add the creation date to the name, but it is usually easier to just view this information in Windows. You can add "Modified Date" to your list view in Windows Explorer if it isn't already there. In Windows Explorer there are different "Views", like "Details", "Icons", etc. If you use "Details" view, you can see a listing of all your files, and usually one of the default columns is Modified Date, so you can see all the modified dates, and easily sort by modified date as well.

[pieterse]

Thanks Mark,

You're right. Never occured to me the look under View. But now I know, there's no need for adding dates to the file name.

Enjoy the weekend