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Safeguarding Your Act! Data - Don't Trust To Luck!

3/17/2016

 
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​Don’t trust to luck (whether you’re Irish or not) when it comes to the safeguarding your data. We recommend backing up your Act! database on a daily basis.
 
Rachel also recommends designating one person in your company to check the Act! backups on a weekly basis. The best way to make sure this happens is for the designated person to set a recurring activity in Act! to do the weekly backup check. 

​Learn more about best practices for creating, storing and checking Act! backups
. 
 
Do you have questions about your current backup situation, testing backups, or restoring backups? ​
Contact Us

Thinking About Upgrading to Windows 10?

8/19/2015

 
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Good news for Act! users - Act! v17 was officially certified for Windows 10 compatibility at the end of July. However, we strongly recommend that before you make the upgrade leap you confirm that your drivers and other applications are also compatible with Windows 10. And most importantly, back up your data. 

Remember, if you have received and accepted the upgrade reservation through Windows Update, you have an entire year in which you can install Windows 10 for free. Take the time to prepare properly!
*Please Note* Only Act! v17 has been officially certified for Windows 10 compatibility. Older versions of Act! have not been tested or certified for compatibility. We suspect that Act! v16 and ACT! 2013 may work while ACT! 2012 and older versions  probably will not.

Want to upgrade to Windows 10 but need to update Act! first? Contact us.

Backup Boot Camp

6/23/2015

 
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You may have noticed that our monthly newsletter features frequent reminders to backup your Act! database. Why? Practicing good backup habits is essential to protecting your investment.  We've had the displeasure of telling clients that they've lost their Act! data and that it's completely irretrievable.  We don’t want this to happen to you!

Here are our four steps to backing up your database.  Please note - it is imperative you perform all four of these steps for best results:

1) Know who is making backups
If your organization has several users of Act!, make sure you know who is responsible for your Act! backups.  Also, don’t assume your IT people are backing up your Act! database. Talk to them about it.

2) Make backups and make them often
Making a backup is as easy as going to File->Backup->Database when logged into Act! as an administrator.  We recommend that you create backups and store them in a place where you can readily locate them.  

How often should you make a backup?  To answer this question, ask yourself how often you can afford to lose your data.  In our office we make backups daily.  For information on how to schedule automatic backups using the Act! Scheduler, search Act! Help Topics found in the Act! Help menu.

3) Store a backup offsite
In case of disaster, it's in your best interest to store a copy of your database off premises.  Depending how paranoid you are (not always a bad thing!), you can create a backup to an external hard drive, to a laptop that you take home, or what we recommend—a cloud-based storage system. Or you can do all three!

4) Check your backups
Too often we've run into cases of clients who think they're running backups, only to find out too late that they were not.  To check your backup, keep an eye on the file size.  As you back up your database every day (ideally), the file size should generally get bigger and not vary drastically, barring any unusual deleting or importing activity.  If the file size drastically decreases or increases, you will want to test your backup.

We recommend testing your backups once every two to three weeks even if the files appear normal.  To test one, an administrator must go to File->Restore->Database, pull up the backup file and restore it. IMPORTANT - the administrator must rename the database so as not to overwrite the production database.  Test opening the database and logging in.  If everything looks good, the tested backup database can then be deleted.

And that's all there is to it.  Backing up your Act! database is not particularly time consuming or expensive, but it can save you time, money and frustration should something happen to your computer.

If you would like our assistance setting up, testing, or restoring your backups please contact us. We'd be happy to help!

Have you got your backup routine down to a science?  Tell us about it.

Weekly ACT! Tip: How to Backup Your ACT! Database

11/29/2010

 
ACT! Backup
As Kristi Smith, the owner of KSC, likes to say -- "You can never have too much money or too many backups." Are you making regular backups of your ACT! database? Have you tested the backup recently? Are you storing these backups outside of your office? Do you know how to restore a backup if you needed to?

To make a backup in ACT!, click on the File menu and choose Backup - Database. (You need to have administrative rights to the database in order to make a backup).

We recommend creating a backup daily, and taking the backups out of your office at least once per week. We DO NOT advise creating and storing the backups on the server that is hosting your ACT! database. Please place it on an external hard drive or other computer on your network. We've seen situations in which there was a server hard drive failure, and both the ACT! database and its backups were effected.

If you have any questions about your current backup situation, testing backups, or restoring backups, please let us know! Call us at (847) 520-0860 or click here to email us. Has an ACT! backup "saved the day" for you or do you have a story to tell about an unfortunate backup mishap? Tell us below and help others understand the importance of ACT! backups.



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