Restoring Backups

If you ever do have a problem and need to restore from your backup diskette or a backup directory on your hard drive, CD, USB memory key etc., it is very easy.

To do this, select Backup/Restore à Restore Database. It will prompt you with a "Restore Backup File" dialog box, where you select the backup file and the directory it is in. The file has to have the same extension as your current database file plus the additional backup file extension ".GBK". So if your database has the normal filename DONATION4.DB (which it will, unless you are using Database à Switch Databases to handle multiple databases), then the backup file to be restored will usually be named DONATION4.DB.GBK (though you could have named it anything.DB.GBK when you did the backup). Once you select the file to restore, just follow the prompts, and it will do the restore.

If you are using Database à Switch Databases to handle multiple databases, you can only restore the backup corresponding to the database that you are currently using. So if you are currently on a second database named DONATION4.OTHER, the backup file you would restore would normally be named DONATION4.OTHER.GBK.

The restore is done by completely replacing your existing database file with the restored backup file. Once this has been completed, it will restart the program so that it can use the newly restored database.

The "Restore Backup File" dialog box will always initially display the last drive and directory from which you did a backup using Backup/Restore à Backup Database.

Restoring donation3.db Backup Files from Previous Versions of DONATION

Database backups made with versions of DONATION prior to version 3.00 can not be restored directly to version 3.00 or later using Backup/Restore à Restore Database, because a different database format was used. If you need to restore a previous-version backup (e.g. a file named donation3.db) please use the Backup/Restore à Restore Old Database (DONATION3.DB) menu option instead. It may prompt you to install additional components needed to do the restore - if so, read those prompts carefully and follow their instructions.

Restoring Emailed Backups

If a backup has been emailed to you, it may be called DONATION4.DB.S4B. That is not restored with Backup/Restore à Restore Database. Instead, use the Backup/Restore à Restore Emailed Backup menu option.

Warning about Using Standard File Copies

Although you can also successfully back up and restore your database file (donation4.db) just by using standard file copying methods (e.g. using My Computer, Windows Explorer, or the COPY command in a Command Prompt), or via specialized backup software, do not do this while you are running DONATION! That can lead to your database becoming damaged and unusable.

Doing Temporary Database Restores

In some unusual cases you may just want to look at an old backup of the database, without switching to it permanently. If you want to do that, first make a backup of your current database and save it carefully, to a different location or a different filename from the old backup you want to look at. Then restore the older backup that you want to look at. When you are done with it, restore the new backup.

Restoring for users of the Network Version

Only a user on the computer that has the Network Server version installed on it can do restores. Users of the Network Client version will receive a message explaining that they cannot do restores.

Restoring from Network Paths

If you want to restore from a drive on another computer on your network, you must map a drive letter to that drive on your computer, and restore from that drive letter. You cannot use what are known as UNC paths.

For instance, if you want to restore from the share named CDrive on the computer OtherComputer, you can't specify \\OtherComputer\CDrive\pathname\DONATION4.DB.GBK in the Restore Backup File dialog box. You will get an error message about not being able to restore the backup if you try that. Instead, in My Computer use the Tools à Map Network Drive menu option to map \\OtherComputer\CDrive to a drive letter, such as Z:. Then in DONATION, you just restore from Z:\pathname\DONATION4.DB.GBK, and it should work.