CARCare
Title:
HOW TO:
Use a Backup Copy of your CARCare Database File
Background:
The CARCare database is a single
file that contains all of your vehicle data. As you exit CARCare, the
software will make a backup copy of your database file,
and will save it into the backup folder that you have defined.
This process is automatic unless you have turned-off this feature.
The backup folder can be defined on the
General tab under the Options | Preferences... menu. The backup folder can
be any folder in your Windows file system, as long as the backup path is not the same as the location of your live database.
The backup folder should exist on an external storage device (USB drive,
external hard drive, etc.). This way you will have a backup copy to rely
upon should the hard drive in your PC fail.
Each time you exit CARCare, the software
will make a copy of your live database file, append a date/time-stamp to the
end of the file name, and will store the copy in the backup folder that you
have.
A database
backup copy will look like:
CARCare.db.20060701-113233
Where:
-
CARCare.db
is your database filename
-
.20060701
is the date (yyyymmdd) the copy was made
-
-113233
is the time the copy was made
Locating the
Most Recent Backup Copy:
The date/time-stamp represents the date/time that the backup copy was
made. Use the Date/Time-stamp to locate the most recent backup copy you
plan to use. The greater the serialized time value, the later it was
in the day.
Replace the Damaged/Lost
Database with Your Most Recent Backup Copy:
You should never attempt to open and use a backup copy as-is...
You must first rename
the backup copy to what your actual database is currently named, then place the
renamed backup copy into the appropriate folder. This process involves simply
removing the date/time-stamp from the end of the filename. Once this is done,
you can use this file to replace (overwrite) your damaged or lost database file.
When you restart CARCare, you will see the prior contents of the database at
the time it was last backed up.
IMPORTANT:
Direct the the backup copies of your database to
external
media such as an external hard drive, USB device, or CD-R/RW. Use the
General tab under Options | Preferences... to set your backup folder. Having backups on
external media will protect you in the event of a hard disk failure.
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