On Mar 11, 8:46 am, Richard Peters
<RichardPet...> wrote:
> Hi Luther,
> Unfortunately, MS only supports BCM's built-in backup method. There's no
> description whatsoever on how to use anu other method, like the ones you seem
> to suggest. That's exactly why I such a huge problem to restore my database
> files.
> You see, I do make normal back up's of all my files, including thes databse
> files, but when it comes to restoring the database files backed up that way,
> MS leaves me in the blind. It's not supported and thus not described in any
> way. MS clearly states that using the built-in back-up method is the only
> right way and supported way. MS even goes so far as to advice BCM users that
> they put a daily reminder in their Outlook tasks so they don't forget to
> start the built-in back-up procedure.
> I would be thankful to anyone that would explain to me how to automate these
> back-ups.
> Richard
> "Luther Blissett" wrote:
> > On Mar 11, 3:14 am, Richard Peters
> > <RichardPet...> wrote:
> > > Thanks, John.
>
> > > I've been able to solve the problem - which is a great relief.
>
> > > Although I had already tried what you suggested, I tried once more. And
> > > again, And again. Doing so, I tried several different ways to copy, connect,
> > > attach etc., start BCM again, and so on, each time with different error
> > > statements. This made me realise how hilariously complex and intransparant
> > > this whole SQL database management thing is to a layman like myself. Maybe MS
> > > should rename Office for Small Business into "Office for SQL specialists"..
>
> > > After quite a lot of extra tries and alterations, and when I least expected
> > > to get a good result al all, it suddenly worked. For the first time, SQL
> > > Server Management Studio Express actually offered me a chance to attach my
> > > "old" database. My heart jumped after restarting BCM: all my data showed up!
>
> > > Thanks for encouraging me to keep trying.
>
> > > Philosophical question: Don't you find it impractical that we cannot
> > > automate the backing up of these database files? It seems that the only way
> > > to be protected from data loss is to daily remember to make the backup from
> > > within BCM, which is a manual action that is likely to be forgotten. I'll try
> > > to do better from now on, but nevertheless I feel that this is a great
> > > omission in the usability and security of BCM - especially as BCM is meant
> > > for small businesses like mine and not for bigger companies that can hire
> > > skilled specialists who can take care of these things.
>
> > > "John" wrote:
> > > > Hi Richard,
>
> > > > Try placing those two database files under "%localappdata%\Microsoft
> > > > \Business Contact Manager\" and try again. Let me know if it works
> > > > for you.
> > > > Good luck,
> > > > John
>
> > > > On Mar 10, 5:40 pm, Richard Peters
> > > > <RichardPet...> wrote:
> > > > > After a hard disk crash I had to reinstall Vista and BCM. Unfortunately, I
> > > > > had forgotten to use the BCM backup tool during the last four months. (Yes,
> > > > > that was stupid of me, sorry for that). I was able, however, to recover
> > > > > recent versions of the two main BCM database files (mdf and ldf).
>
> > > > > I am now looking for a way to attach these "old" database files to BCM
> > > > > again. I have tried SQL Server Management Studio Express to see if there is a
> > > > > way to reconnect the database files, but couldn't figure it out.
>
> > > > > How do I fix this?
>
> > > > > Is it necessary that my new computer's name and / or my Windows user account
> > > > > name are the same as before the hard disk crash?
>
> > > > > I use Vista Busniess and BCM 2007.-
>
> >
>
> > Windows provides a way to schedule backups, and so backup data for all
> > applications at one time. That way you don't have to schedule backups
> > in each application. BCM's help docs could indicate how to do this.-
I googled "automate sql server backup" and there's a lot of
suggestions out there.
One approach is to look into a Windows program called Task Scheduler.
You can to configure it to backup your database; the .MDF file in C:
\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Business Contact Manager.
Sql Server has support for automated backups, but not with the free
version that comes with BCM - perhaps that's why BCM has a command to
do backups manually. You can get a sql server license, upgrade sql
server, and then use their backup service.