2020 Year-End Genealogy Backups

 2020 Year-End Genealogy Backups

I use the genealogy program, RootsMagic7.  I have many genealogy databases. There are four databases that I update on a regular basis.  Those are the databases (files) that need backup.

The backup process requires a number of steps and takes quite a bit of time.

1. Run the four-step Database Tools of RootsMagic on each of the four files. This is database housekeeping.
2. Create a backup for each database on the laptop hard drive.  To avoid overlaying, modify the name of each backup to include the word "Keep'' in the file name.
3. Create a normal backup of each database on the laptop hard drive without altering the file name.
4. Delete all of the backups done on the laptop during the year except the last four.
5. Copy the four backup files to an external hard drive.
6. Copy the four backup files to a thumb drive.
7. Copy the four backup files to my paid cloud Box account.
8. Delete all but the last 3 or 4 backup files from the external hard drive; thumb drive; and Box account.
9. Check storage usage on Box - 6.4GB of 100GB available.

Dick Henthorn

2 Dec 2020

May 2019 File Backups

May 2019 File Backups

Today I ran the RootsMagic Database Tools on the nineteen files that I've updated since January 2019. 

For the first time ever I got a message about a file problem with one of my largest files, the one where I currently do the majority of my updates. I continued to run all of the database tools on this file and then returned to the first tool, where the error was reported, and ran that first test again. Fortunately the error was corrected by one of the other database tools tests.

After I ran the Database Tools for each file I backed up each RootsMagic file to a backup folder on my laptop hard drive..

Next, I copied all of the backups to a thumb drive that I use solely for genealogy backup.

I also have an external hard drive that I salvaged from a laptop that broke down. I copied the same files to a genealogy backup folder on this hard drive.

I have a paid subscription to cloud storage with the Box company. The final step in the backup process was to upload the nineteen files to my RootsMagic backup folder on Box.

The final result of my backup project is four sets of backup, one on my laptop, two external in my house, and one in the cloud.

I keep Notes in a Steno notebook. I created a page with a table that recorded the extent of my 24 May 2019 backups.

Dick Henthorn

24 May 2019

Year-End Backups

Year-End Backups

Today, in order to get 2019 off to a good start, I'm doing Backup on some of my genealogy files.

 I ran the Database Tools on the last eleven genealogy files I'd opened. RootsMagic keeps track of the file names of the most recently opened files.

 Then I backed up those eleven files to my laptop.

 Then I made copies to three external media
1) 4GB Sandisk thumb drive with green smiley face sticker
2) 30 GB Dell external drive
3) Box cloud account

I made notes in my Steno notebook to remind me when and how I did this backup. I spent about an hour doing this task.

Dick Henthorn
1 Jan 2019

Genealogy Year-End Backups

Genealogy Year-End Backups

Because I can't remember the things I think I can remember I keep a steno pad notebook for note taking. At the bottom of each page I write a label for the page and the date I used the page.

Today, 7 Jan 2018, I created a page for recording my RootsMagic Backup. My goal was to accomplish year-end (seven days late) backup of my genealogy files.

The RootsMagic program maintains a list of the last ten genealogy files I accessed on my C: hard drive.  A prudent backup strategy demands backing up to media external to the computer itself.

RootsMagic Steps

• I ran the RootsMagic Backup Tools on each of the ten genealogy files to insure file integrity. 

• I backed up each of the ten files to my laptop hard drive to create a backup with today's date.

• I deleted all but the last three backups of each file from the hard drive, to free up hard drive space.

External Backups

• I copied the ten latest backups to my genealogy thumb drive (with the green happy face sticker).

• I copied the ten latest backups to my 30GB Dell external hard drive.

• I uploaded the ten latest backups to my Box account cloud storage. 

Storage Used

I used Properties to check how much available storage remains on the thumb drive, the external drive and the Box account. There was plenty of space left, so I didn't consider deleting old backup files from those three media.

Storage Strategy

The end result of this backup strategy is I have four backups of the ten genealogy files I'm actively accessing, three reside in our house and one is in the cloud.

Dick Henthorn
7 Jan 2018

The Computer Backup Rule of Three - Scott Hanselman

The Computer Backup Rule of Three - Scott Hanselman:

Recently the screen on my laptop went black a couple of times after the hard drive had been working hard for a couple of hours.  One Wednesday night I was watching streaming video of the concert, Music City Roots from Franklin, TN, near Nashville. Those incidents got me thinking and talking about the fact that the laptop could give up the ghost at anytime.

Here's an interesting post that showed up today on Facebook, with additional comments from some of the folks who read the piece. I think the author makes some good points. He certainly raised my awareness about how vulnerable I am, at this moment, to a computer disaster.

All of us should consider implementing a sounder computer backup strategy in 2018.

Dick Henthorn
29 Dec 2018

'via Blog this'

Blogspot Backup

Blogspot Backup

Today I created five folders on my computer in My Documents for the purpose of storing backup files for my five blogs on Blogger. It was necessary to create a folder for each blog because when Blogspot creates the backup files all have the same name using the date of the backup.

Once the folders were in place the steps required to do the backup for each blog were relatively simple.

I can't remember when I last backed up the blogs or where I put the backups. This time I wrote a page of information about the process in my Steno notebook.

Dick Henthorn

22 May 2017

RootsMagic Backup Strategy

RootsMagic Backup Strategy

I've been thinking about my genealogy file backup strategy. I'm concerned that I wasn't ready for a computer disaster. I'm writing this article to describe how I decided to improve my backup policy.

I have about forty-five RootsMagic genealogy files. Ten of these files are listed in the RootsMagic "Open Recent" file list. That is to say, RootsMagic remembers the last ten files I opened.

The program always keeps track of the last ten files that were opened. Generally, whenever I update a file I have RootsMagic backup the file when I close the file at the end of the update session. RootsMagic writes the backup files to a folder on my laptop hard drive that I specified during program setup. This means that there are two copies of the file on the laptop. One is the RootsMagic file itself and the other is the RootsMagic backup. These files are in two different file formats. If I backup a particular file more than once a day RootsMagic asks if I want to overwrite the already existing backup file. I always choose "yes." If I back up once each day for a week there will be seven backup files on my hard drive.

This really isn't a very good backup method. If the hard drive fails or the laptop is stolen I will lose both the RootsMagic version of the file and all of the backups.

For more secure backup the backup files must be stored external to the laptop where the RootsMagic program resides and stores the data and backups.

With my new backup methodology I will be storing three copies of my backup files away from my laptop.

1. external hard drive
2. thumb drive
3. Box account cloud storage

I own a Dell 30GB hard drive that I salvaged from a failed laptop. I bought a case to protect the drive and I have a cable that connects the drive to the laptop. On this drive I have created two folders for RootsMagic backup. One folder stores the ten files that I am actively updating, the "Open Recent" files. The second folder stores the other files that are infrequently updated and therefore infrequently backed up.

I have a thumb drive dedicated to RootsMagic. There are two folders for backup on the thumb drive. Again, one folder stores the backup of the ten files that I am actively updating. The other folder stores all of the other RootsMagic file backups.

The third set of RootsMagic file backups is located "in the cloud" on my paid Box account. Again, one folder stores the backup of the ten files that I am actively updating. The other folder stores all of the other RootsMagic file backups. Having an offsite backup adds one more degree of protection to my backup strategy. If, heaven forbid, there was a disaster of some sort with our house and the laptop and thumb drive were destroyed or stolen I would still have a backup copy of all of my genealogy files on the Box computer.

Periodically, I do maintenance on the RootsMagic folder on my laptop hard drive where the backups reside. Remember that if I backup a file once a day for 30 days I will have thirty backup files at the end of the month. The purpose of the maintenance task is to free up space on the hard drive. I usually delete all backups of each file except the last two.

Currently the process of copying the backups to the three backup locations is accomplished via simply using the Windows file manager to copy the files from the laptop hard drive to the external hard drive and to the thumb drive.The Box account file manager is used to upload the files from either the external hard drive or the thumb drive to my Box account.

BTW I think you can still get 5GB of free storage on Box. Therefore, people who don't use a lot of disk space for their genealogy can set up storage "in the cloud" without paying for it. Also if you don't have an external hard drive you can used two thumb drives if you want to have three levels of backup.

Dick Henthorn
8 Mar 2017

Another Mess

Years ago I divided my own genealogy information into two files, one for my maternal line and one for my paternal line. I can't remember why I did this. I must have thought it was a good idea at the time. Now I think it wasn't such a good idea.  This is my the family of my grandmother, Augusta (Anderson) Carlson.

I have some backups. I'm not certain which backup is the latest version. The data was in Personal Ancestral File (PAF).  On my old computer I don't have a copy of my maternal line available to PAF. As a matter of fact I can't remember how long ago it was when I last looked at this information with PAF.

Yesterday, I found three backup floppies with the latest backup dated, 24 Aug 1998. Using the old computer I created a folder to house the files that make up my maternal line and I loaded the backup file into PAF.  It worked. I recovered a copy of the information that I can access with PAF.

Unfortunately moving the information from PAF to RootsMagic isn't a simple matter.  There are  edits that need to be accomplished to get ready. From past experience, with larger files, I know that this task can take several days, if not weeks.

• I want to add the county abbreviation, "Co.," to county names.  
• I want to expand cemetery names to eliminate truncation. 
• And, most important of all I need to edit the textual information in the Note fields so word wrap will work in RootsMagic.

Dick Henthorn
16 October 2014

RootsMagic6 Backup

After the talk about backup at the computer club meeting and the follow-up comments at the next meeting I've been thinking more about backup.

A year-end project was to upgrade my genealogy program to RootsMagic6.  Once this was accomplished I noticed that it was necessary to open each genealogy file and click to run a quick conversion routine. I had 25 genealogy files on my computer.

I wrote a blog post for my genealogy blog which briefly describes the 25 genealogy files. I posted the article as a static page.  This means there is a button labeled My RootsMagic6 Files at the top of the page.  Google allows up to ten static pages per blog.

On 23 January 2014 I used the RootsMagic6 program to backup all of the files as RootsMagic backups and as GEDCOM backups.  The backups were written to RootsMagic backup folders on the laptop computer.  Next I created backup folders on the old Dell hard drive which I'm running as an external hard drive.  Finally I signed on to my SkyDrive account where I created two more backup folders.  I uploaded the backups from the external hard drive to the SkyDrive folders called: RoomsMagic6 and GEDCOMrmg6.  This gave me a total of six sets of backup.

Later on in the afternoon I created two CD backups.  I wrote the 25 RootsMagic6 backup files to one CD and the 25 GEDCOM files to another CD.
23 January 2014

A RootsMagic Caution

Caution

RootsMagic only prompts you to backup your databases when you exit the program. If you edit a database and are ready to close it, but not exit the program, you must run the backup program from the File, Backup menu before closing the database. The above Caution is from the RootsMagic5 documentation. I just noticed that there was no Backup prompt and did the research to learn why. It's nothing serious once users are aware of how it works. Mr. Dickie 4 August 2013

Transitioning to RootsMagic 5

Some comments about moving my genealogy files from my old desktop computer to my newer laptop computer and from older versions of genealogy programs to my latest genealogy program.

My current genealogy program is RootsMagic 5. The majority of my genealogy files are still on my desktop computer in either PAF 2.31 format or RootsMagic 3. There are many issues with the desktop computer which should encourage me to move on with the transition.

Yesterday I resolved an issue with RootsMagic 5. I didn't have the folder structure set up correctly on my laptop. With Email help from my friend in West Virginia, Vernon Anderson, I was able to understand and fix the problem. RootsMagic 5 suggests the creation of five folders and details how to make them work with Windows 7 and it's Library and Folder design. I created:

• Backup
• Data
• GEDCOM
• Multimedia
• Reports

I created a sixth folder which I named "GEDCOMin." I'll use this folder to stage incoming GEDCOM files that I plan to load into RootsMagic 5. The GEDCOM folder is where RootsMagic 5 writes any GEDCOM files that the program creates.

During some recent testing I discovered that a good way to move a RootsMagic 3 file to the laptop computer for loading into RootsMagic 5 was via GEDCOM. The steps I followed were as follows:

1. Create GEDCOM file from RootsMagic 3 (old computer)
2. Send the GEDCOM file to myself, using Gmail attachment (old computer)
3. Download the Gmail GEDCOM file into my Download folder (new computer)
4. Move the GEDCOM file to my GEDCOMin folder (new computer)
5. Import the GEDCOM file to RootsMagic 5 (new computer)
6. Compare counts for People, Families, Events, etc. (old & new computers)
7. Create a backup GEDCOM with RootsMagic5, in my GEDCOM folder (new computer)
8. Create a backup using RootsMagic 5, in the Backup folder (new computer)

The file I moved today (31 July 2013) was my Henthorn, Carlson, Hagstrom, Marquinez file. This file consists of:

• 5216 people
• 1939 families
• 5602 events
•   838 places

Mr. Dickie

31 July 2013

Box.Net Online File Storage - TechReviewSource.com

Box.Net Online File Storage - TechReviewSource.com:

"There are many different online file storage and sharing services available online today, some free and some you have to pay for, but we recently stumbled upon a free service called Box.Net. We recently did a review of Microsoft's beta version of Windows Live Skydrive, but we thought we would take a look at a competitor, Box.Net."

******

I'm going to have more to say about Box.Net in the near future. I think this review is a pretty good introduction to the product. It's better than anything I found on the Box.Net site.

At the end of the review, if you click on "Next" you will go to a similar review for the MS SkyDrive. I haven't read that one yet.

I have an account for both products.

Both companies offer file storage and sharing using their computers. If you are looking for automatic file backup there are other products that provide that functionality.

Mr. Dickie

Henthorn Genealogy Website Downloaded

Yesterday I worked most of the day downloading all of the webpages I'd uploaded to my free AOL webspace. I put all of the files on a thumb drive that I bought for this purpose. Completing this project insured that I have a copy of everything on a device that I can move from one computer to another.

After my genealogy website is discontinued at the end of the month I will still be able to retrieve and share any of the information that someone might request. Also, I'll be able to put any of the files, I choose, back on the Internet should I decide that's something I want to do.

I've thought of one more project that I need to accomplish. There is a link from a Monroe County, Ohio webpage to a document that I've made available on my webspace for many years. That link will break at the end of the month. Today I'm trying to make contact with the person responsible for the page with the link. I'm not having much luck. I tried a couple of Email addresses and they were out of date.

Backup

For the time being I have more or less run out of topics to post in Henthorn Website News. Last week I got interested in Facebook and spent many hours learning about how that service works.

Today I thought I'd write something about backing up your genealogy files. What I'm going to say applies to what I should be doing myself. One thing I learned about personal computers over the years, they will fail. When they do it is never at a convenient time and it is never easy to fix the problem.

What would you do if your computer failed and you had to purchase a new one? Would your genealogy files be backed up? Would your old genealogy program work on your new computer operating system?

There are several ways you can backup your genealogy files. You can make an exact copy of the genealogy files with the Copy command. Or you can use the backup system of your genealogy program. And, finally, you can create a GEDCOM file. All three methods have advantages and disadvantages.

Making an exact copy of your genealogy file assumes that you will have a working copy of your genealogy program available after you recover from your computer failure. Making a backup copy with your genealogy program assumes that you will be able to install a copy of your old genealogy program on your new computer, if you have to buy one.

A GEDCOM file is a "text" file that can be read by all good genealogy programs. Having a backup file in this format makes it possible to load your backed up file into any genealogy program you chose, including perhaps a new version of your old genealogy program or some other genealogy program you might decide to purchase.

By the way, you might want to consider sharing a backup copy of your genealogy file(s) with someone else. I heard a story one time about a couple who had their genealogy on a laptop in their RV. The RV caught on fire with the laptop still inside the vehicle. Any backups were also in the RV. A disaster!

I urge you to give thought now, when things are going well, to how you would deal with a computer malfunction that impacts your genealogy. It will be time well spent.

Mr. Dickie

Tags: Genealogy, Backup, GEDCOM