Mayer Consulting Services Ltd.

I GUARANTEE YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM WILL FAIL, OFTEN AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME, DESTROYING ALL DATA NOT BACKED UP.

Failures relate primarily to electrical surges and computer hardware failures, some of which are due to excessive heat. You also can have conflicts between endless combinations of hundreds of thousands of different equipment items, programs, viruses, spyware, plus user error. Very few crashes are due to program errors.

Backup! Backup! Backup!

A QuickBooks user asks, “How do I backup my QuickBooks data file and is there a recommended backup routine?

Back up your company file at the end of each session or each day to a network drive; external hard drive; removable storage device such as a CD, USB flash drive, or Zip disk; or to a remote site over the Internet using QuickBooks Online Backup.

(Important: Do not store routine backups on your computer’s hard drive where you store your working data-if your computer’s hard disk fails, you may lose your backup files as well as your working data.)

You can:
1·Have QuickBooks back up your company file when it closes. This is the simplest option. QuickBooks runs the backup after the company file closes a certain number of times. You set the number of times the file will close before being backed up.
2·Schedule automated daily backups. This makes backups more convenient. QuickBooks runs the backup daily or on set days and times. You decide the days and times that QuickBooks should run the backup. Just leave the computer on and close the company file, and then let the backup run by itself. You can schedule a backup to a network drive, USB flash drive, or Zip disk.
Be sure to tell your QuickBooks what your Windows password is so it can run the scheduled backup.
3·Back up your company file manually. This gives you the greatest control. You open the backup wizard and manually make your selections, or you can set default options. You can back up to:
CD using Windows XP, Vista or 2000; USB Flash drive, Zip disk or network folder.
If you prefer, you can also create a reminder for yourself to back up the file.
4·Use a combination of the above. For example, schedule daily backups but manually run the backups you store off premises.

Whichever method you choose, you will need to set your options for backups including: the default location of your backup; whether to add the date and time to your filename; and the number of backups you want to store at the location you set. QuickBooks will use these settings each time it runs a backup until you change them.

If you’re backing up locally;
1. Each day, back up onto removable media to keep in the office.
2. At least once a month, make a backup copy to keep off premises.
3. At the end of your fiscal year, make a copy of your data to keep off premises.

http://marksgroup.blogspot.com/2008/10/quickbooks-user-asks-how-do-i-backup-my.html