More in Backup & maintenance
Backups start from the Select Company screen. It opens when E-Lab starts. To come back to it later, click the user icon at the top right, Close Company [Log Off]. This closes all open windows without asking, so save your work first.
On this screen
- Your companies click a row before Backup My Data
- Stored at folder of the clicked company
- Backup My Data saves a copy of the selected company
- Change Financial Year starts next year's books
- Create a New Company a new lab or branch
- Set Database Path data, backup and email settings
- Data folder where E-Lab looks for companies
- Restore Data turns a backup file into a company
| Your companies | Each company with its financial year and when it was last opened on this PC. A SQL Server or Remote badge marks shared companies. |
| Stored at | The folder of the company you clicked. |
| Backup My Data | In the Selected company card. Saves a copy of the selected company. |
| Change Financial Year | Starts next year's books (see its own topic). |
| Create a New Company | Alt+N. A new lab or branch. |
| Set Database Path | Alt+P. Data folder, backup folder and email backup. |
| Data folder | The folder E-Lab searches for companies, with icons to type (F2), browse (F3), save or cancel. |
| Restore Data / Import From Previous Version | Links under the data folder. Restore is covered later in this chapter. |
1. The automatic daily copy
- It runs when the login screen opens, which shows Taking today's backup…
- It runs once a day per company. Later logins that day skip it.
- Copies go to the Backup folder inside the E-Lab program folder, one sub-folder per company and one per weekday (Mon, Tue and so on). The file ends in _bk.sbk.
- A new day's copy replaces last week's copy in that weekday folder. You always have about the last 7 days.
- It holds the data as it was at that day's first login. Work done later that day is not in it.
- It needs Enable Auto Backup in Software Folder ticked in Set Database Path. Keep it ticked.
2. A copy on a second drive, every day
- Open Set Database Path
On Select Company, click Set Database Path. - Pick the folder
In Set Auto Backup Path (On Local PC), choose a folder on another drive or an external disk. F3 browses, F2 lets you type. - Tick Enable Auto Backup
Then click Apply. The message is Database Path Successfully Changed.
The copies go to an AutoBKP folder inside the folder you chose, with the same weekday folders. This works for MS Access companies.
3. Your own copy, any time
- Click the company
On Select Company, click the company row. With no row chosen, the button does nothing. - Click Backup My Data
Choose a folder, best on a pen drive. - Read the message
Backup Done Successfully shows the path and file name. An Access company gives one file: company name, date (ddMMyy), time and bk.sbk, for example CityCare_150426_0930bk.sbk. The time has no AM or PM. - Check the file
Open the pen drive and see that the file is there. Then take the pen drive out.
Seven days to go back
The weekday folders let you go back up to a week, for example to before a wrong change.
Two clicks for an off-PC copy
Click the company, click Backup My Data, pick the pen drive. The copy is outside the PC.
Questions people ask
I opened the company twice today. Are there two copies?
No. One automatic copy per day per company, at the first login.
How far back can I go?
About 7 days in the weekday folders, plus any copies you made with Backup My Data.
Nothing happens when I click Backup My Data.
Click the company row first, then the button.
Will restoring a copy overwrite my data?
No. Restore always adds the copy as a separate company.