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Guide 36 Data, settings and help

Automatic Email Backup

Keep copies of your books in three places, let Speed Plus make them every day, and know how to bring them back.

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  • Owner
  • Dealer
  • Admin
01A dead hard disk is not a dead businessCopies on a second drive and in your mailbox survive when the PC does not.
02Nothing to rememberSpeed Plus copies the company the first time you open it each day and keeps the last seven days.
03Back in business on a new PCInstall, click Restore Data, pick the file. Accounts, stock and bills come back as they were.
In this guide
Quick steps
  1. On Select your company click Set Database Path
  2. Tick Enable Auto Backup and choose a folder on another drive
  3. Tick Enable Email Backup and fill the Gmail ID and app password
  4. Press Apply
  5. Once a month, test a restore on another PC

Your books are the record of every rupee your customers owe you. A hard disk can fail, a PC can be stolen, a virus can lock files. Speed Plus 9 makes copies of your company on its own, can put another copy on a second drive and can mail one to your Gmail. This chapter shows each kind of copy, how to switch it on, and how to restore one when you need it.

Where to find it
ScreenSelect your company: Backup My Data (card Selected company), Set Database Path (card Get started), Restore Data (card Data folder)
Backup settingsSet Database Path screen: Enable Auto Backup in Software Folder, Enable Auto Backup, Enable Email Backup, then Apply
Works withAutomatic copies and Email Backup: MS Access companies. SQL Server companies: Backup My Data or a server backup plan (Chapter 20)

23.1Why back up: the three places rule

Owner
Good Practice The three places rule

Keep your data in three places: on the PC you work on, on a second drive (another hard disk, an external drive or a pen drive), and away from the shop (your email or cloud). A fire or theft takes the PC and the drive next to it. A mailbox copy is still there. If any one copy fails, another survives.

PlaceSpeed Plus copySwitch
1. This PCThe daily copy in the Speed Plus folder, last seven days (23.2)On from the start
2. Second driveAuto Backup to a folder you choose, last seven days (23.3), and Backup My Data whenever you like (23.5)You switch it on
3. Away from the shopEmail Backup to Gmail (23.4)You switch it on
Open companyfirst time today
copy
Speed Plus folderBackup\…\Mon…Sun
copy
Second driveAutoBKP\…
mail
Your Gmailzipped copy

23.2The daily copy Speed Plus already makes

OwnerDealer

The first time you open a company each day, Speed Plus copies its data file before the login screen appears. The copy goes into the Backup folder inside the Speed Plus folder, in a folder for the company and then one folder for each day of the week: Mon, Tue, Wed and so on.

So you always have the last seven days. Next Monday's copy replaces last Monday's. The file name has the company, its data folder and the date, and ends in _bk.sbk.

Example On Thursday at 11 am the cashier finds that 40 items were deleted by mistake on Wednesday afternoon. The owner restores Wednesday's copy from the Wed folder as a separate company (23.6), checks the items there, and adds them back to the live company. Nothing else changes.

This copy is switched on by the tick Enable Auto Backup in Software Folder on the Set Database Path screen. Leave it ticked.

Caution This copy sits on the same disk as your data. It saves you from a wrong deletion, not from a dead disk or a stolen PC. Add a second drive and email as well.

23.3Auto Backup to a second drive

OwnerAdmin
  1. Close the company. On Select your company, click Set Database Path. The Set Database Path screen opens.
  2. Under Set Auto Backup Path (On Local PC), click the box and press F3 to browse, or press F2 to type the path and Enter to check it. Pick a folder on another drive, for example E:\SP9 Backup.
  3. Tick Enable Auto Backup.
  4. Press Apply. The software says "Database Path Successfully Changed".

From the next time you open the company, each daily copy also goes to that folder, under AutoBKP, again with one folder for each day of the week.

Tip A second hard disk or an external drive that stays connected is better than a pen drive that someone takes home. If the drive is missing when the company opens, the copy cannot be made that day.
The Set Database Path screen with Set Data Storage Path, Set Auto Backup Path (On Local PC), the three backup ticks and the Gmail boxes.

23.4Email Backup with Gmail

OwnerAdmin

Email Backup zips the day's copy and mails it from a Gmail account to the address you choose. The mail has the subject "Data Backup:" with the file name, and the text "This is Automatic Data Backup of" your company with the date and time.

First, make an app password in Gmail. Google does not let other programs use your normal Gmail password. You make a separate app password once.

  1. Sign in to the Gmail account that will send the backups, on any browser.
  2. Turn on 2-Step Verification for that account (Google Account → Security). The Speed Plus screen reminds you: "2 factor authentication must be on".
  3. In Google Account → Security, create an app password for Speed Plus. Google shows a 16-letter password once. Copy it.

Then, fill the Speed Plus screen.

  1. On Select your company click Set Database Path.
  2. Tick Enable Email Backup.
  3. To Email ID (Receipient): where the backups should arrive. "Its Okay to use same Mail ID in From And To".
  4. From Email ID (Gmail Only): the Gmail that sends. It must end in @gmail.com.
  5. App Password (Gmail): paste the app password.
  6. Press Apply.
Note The backup mail is sent when the main screen opens with the Classical (Blue and Gray) dashboard (General Settings → Hotel and restaurant → Dashboard Style), on the first opening of the company that day, for MS Access companies. With the other dashboard styles no backup mail goes out in version 261030, so rely on the second-drive copy or choose the Classical dashboard on the main PC.
Caution Gmail does not take attachments larger than 25 MB. If your zipped company is bigger, the mail fails and Speed Plus shows Gmail's error. Keep the second-drive copy as well, and ask your dealer about a cloud folder for large companies.
Example The owner of SHREE GANESH TRADERS makes a new Gmail, sgtbackup@gmail.com, only for backups, and sends to his own email. The main PC uses the Classical (Blue and Gray) dashboard. Every morning when the accountant opens the company, a mail "Data Backup: ..." arrives with the zipped file. When the shop PC's disk fails in March, he downloads the mail of the previous day and restores it on a new PC. He loses only that morning's few bills.

On the same screen, Send Invoices using this mail id has its own From Email ID (Gmail Only) and App Password (Gmail). That pair is for emailing bills to customers from the print window, not for backups.

Tip When you create a company, the Send data backup to this email tick (ticked at the start) puts the company email in the backup address. Check Set Database Path once to be sure the To address is one you read.

23.5Backup My Data by hand

OwnerStaff

Take a copy by hand before any big step: year-end (Chapter 16), an update, a migration to SQL Server, or before the PC goes for repair.

  1. On Select your company, click the company in the list.
  2. Click Backup My Data ("Save a copy of the selected company").
  3. Choose the folder, for example the pen drive.
  4. The software says "Backup Done Successfully" with the path and file name. For an Access company the file ends in bk.sbk and has the date and time in its name. A SQL Server company gives two files ending in .sbm and .lbm; keep both together.
Select your company
The Select your company screen with a company chosen, the Backup My Data tile, and the Restore Data link in the Data folder card.
Backup done
The Backup Done Successfully message with the backup path and file name.

23.6Restoring from a backup

AdminDealer

A restore never overwrites a company you already have. It makes a new company folder (Data 12, Data 13 and so on) and adds the company to the list. Your live company stays as it is.

  1. On Select your company, click Restore Data.
  2. Pick the backup file. You can pick an .sbk file (daily copy or Backup My Data), the zipped email attachment ending in _zp.zpp after you download it, or the .sbm/.lbm files of a SQL Server backup.
  3. The Restore From Backup window shows what the file is, for example "Backup File Belongs to MS Access Database". Keep Continue to Restore as MS Access Database (or choose Migrate This data to SQL Server Database, see 20.3).
  4. Press Restore. When it says "Your Company has been successfully restored", open the company from the list and log in.
Tip After a restore the list has two companies with the same name. Look at Stored at before you open one, and tell staff which one is live. Press F11 to open a company's folder if you are not sure.
Test it once a month Restore last night's copy on another PC, open it, and check today's opening cash and one party's balance. Then you know the backups work before the day you need them.
Restore From Backup
The Restore From Backup window for an Access backup, showing Backup File Belongs to MS Access Database and the two restore choices.

23.7Data path, pen drive and a new PC

OwnerDealer

The data folder is where your company folders live. By default it is the Data folder inside the Speed Plus folder (1.11). Set Data Storage Path on the Set Database Path screen tells Speed Plus which folder to use for companies. Changing it does not move any files.

Caution Never move, rename or delete the data folder or a company folder in Windows Explorer. Speed Plus then cannot find the company and says "Path is not Valid". To move a company, use Backup My Data and Restore Data.

Pen drive as the only copy. Do not keep your only data on a pen drive. Pen drives get lost and fail without warning. Use one as the second place for a copy, never as the first.

Moving to a new PC.

  1. On the old PC, open Select your company and press Backup My Data for each company, onto a pen drive.
  2. On the new PC, install Speed Plus with SpeedPlusSetup.exe (Chapter 1).
  3. Click Restore Data, pick each backup file and press Restore.
  4. Open each company and check a few balances. Then set up Auto Backup and Email Backup again on the new PC.

Questions and answers

Does Speed Plus take a backup on its own?

Yes. The first time you open an MS Access company each day, it copies it into the Backup folder of the Speed Plus folder and keeps the last seven days.

Where are the automatic copies?

In Backup inside the Speed Plus folder, one folder per company, then Mon to Sun. With Auto Backup on, also under AutoBKP in the folder you chose.

How do I turn on Auto Backup to another drive?

Select your company → Set Database Path, choose the folder under Set Auto Backup Path (On Local PC), tick Enable Auto Backup, press Apply.

How do I turn on Email Backup?

On the same screen tick Enable Email Backup, fill To Email ID (Receipient), From Email ID (Gmail Only) and App Password (Gmail), press Apply.

I turned on Email Backup but no mail comes. Why?

Check four things: the sender is a Gmail with an app password; the company is MS Access; it is the first opening of that company today; and the dashboard style is Classical (Blue and Gray). With other dashboard styles no backup mail is sent in version 261030.

Can I use my normal Gmail password?

No. Gmail needs an app password, and 2-Step Verification must be on for that account.

Can I send backups to a Yahoo or office email?

Yes, the To address can be any email. Only the From address must be a Gmail.

The backup mail failed with an attachment size error. What now?

Gmail takes attachments up to 25 MB. A bigger company cannot go by mail; rely on the second-drive copy and Backup My Data.

How often is a backup taken?

Once a day, the first time the company is opened that day. Take Backup My Data by hand before big changes.

How do I restore from the email?

Download the attachment (it ends in _zp.zpp), click Restore Data on Select your company, pick the file and press Restore.

Will restore overwrite my current company?

No. It makes a new company folder and adds the company to the list. Check Stored at to tell the two apart.

Restoring an Access backup broke my open SQL Server company with "Incorrect syntax near '#'". Is that fixed?

Yes. Fixed in version 261030; update with Help → Check for Updates. The restored company is also listed under its own name now.

Does the automatic backup work for SQL Server companies?

Auto Backup to a second drive and Email Backup work for MS Access companies. For SQL Server, use Backup My Data regularly and ask your dealer for a server backup plan.

I moved the data folder to another drive and now see "Path is not Valid". What do I do?

Put the folder back where it was. To move data, use Backup My Data and Restore Data instead of Windows Explorer.

Can I run my company from a pen drive?

Do not keep your only copy there. Keep the data on the PC and use the pen drive for a backup copy.

How do I move Speed Plus to a new PC?

Backup My Data on the old PC, install on the new PC, then Restore Data for each company (23.7).

Should I test my backups?

Yes, once a month: restore a copy on another PC and check a few balances.

What should I back up before year-end?

Take Backup My Data of the company before Change Financial Year (Chapter 16).

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