To back up and restore Sage 50 HR data
Description

Backing up your HR data regularly is a very important routine to get into. If something happens to your PC, for example your hard drive crashes, if you don't have a recent backup of your data, you will have to re-enter all your HR information.

This article explains how to take a backup of your Sage 50 HR data and how to restore your data from a backup you have taken. It also outlines a comprehensive backup routine to help ensure the security and integrity of your data.

Cause
Resolution
A comprehensive backup routine

The more backup copies you have, the safer your data is against loss. A comprehensive backup routine is as follows:

  • Back up at the end of each day labeling the disks Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Re-use these disks weekly. You can then go back to any day in your current week.
  • Back up at the end of each week, labeling disks Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4. Re-use these disks every four weeks. You can then go back to any week in your current month.
  • Back up at the end of each month, labeling disks Month 1, Month 2 and so on. Keep these disks until the end of the year. You can then go back to any month in your current year.
Reasons why a backup might fail

There are a number of reasons why your backup might fail:

Tip: For more detailed information about how to troubleshoot backup failures. Read more >

Session locks

If a user is still working in the software, the data becomes exclusively locked by them. If you can't ask them to log out, you can use the Remove Session utility to log them out of the software. For further information about this, please refer to article .

Antivirus

Some antivirus software can cause your Sage 50 HR backup to fail and the software to subsequently lock. This is because when the Sage 50 HR backup routine is met with on-access scan, it causes the backup to fail. This has so far only been reported with McAfee antivirus software, however, to err on the side of caution, we recommend the same action regardless of software vendor. We recommend that, at least during backup, you deactivate on-access scanning of the Sage 50 HR share and the Sage MySQL temporary folder.

  • Sage 50 HR share

    Windows XP, Sever 2003 and 2000 - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sage\HR
    Windows 7 and Vista - C:\ProgramData\Sage\HR

  • Sage MySQL temporary folder

    Windows XP, Server 2003 and 2000 - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Temporary SageMySQL Files
    Windows 7 and Vista - C:\ProgramData\Temporary SageMySQL Files

To add these exclusions to your antivirus software, please refer to the user guide supplied with that software or press F1 to open its Help system. Please note that these products are not recommended, produced or supported by Sage. For a list of popular antivirus software and links to their support site, please refer to the Useful links tab.

Note: These exclusions should be added to your antivirus software on the computer that holds the data. Therefore, if your data is held on a server, the exclusions should be added to the antivirus software on that.

Disk space

The location you are backing your files and data up to has reached full storage capacity. Clear some space on the drive or specify a different location for your backup.

Sage 50 HR open on another PC

Error message: 'It looks like you have another instance of the company open 'company name'. Your data cannot be backed up until all other instances of this company are closed.

To resolve this, close all other open copies of Sage 50 HR.

Permissions

You may not have sufficient permissions to back up to the location specified. For further information about this, please refer to your systems administrator.

You may not have sufficient permissions within Sage 50 HR to carry out backup and restore procedures. Read more >

Encryption

If you are using Windows Vista Home, a backup can fail due to EFS Encryption. To back up your data you must first deactivate this. To do this, click Start and in the Start Search box type cmd. When cmd.exe appears in the Programs pane, right-click it and choose Run as Administrator. In the command prompt, type FSUTIL BEHAVIOR SET DISABLEENCRYPTION 1 then press Enter.

The following detailed steps contain everything you need to help you back up your data.

To back up your data
  1. Within Sage 50 HR, ensure you are logged in to the company you want to back up then open the File menu and choose Backup.  

    Note: If you are backing up to a removable device, for example a USB drive, please connect that device now.

  2. Click the Advanced Options tab and ensure the required file types are selected.

  3. Click the Backup Company tab and check or complete the following:

    • Check no one else is currently editing the company that you want to back up.
    • Check that you are logged in to the correct company.
    • Check that the data location is correct.
    • In the Filename box, enter the required name for your backup file.
    • In the Location box, enter or browse to the required location for your file.

  4. To continue, click Backup.

    Note: Depending on how much data you are backing up, this may take several minutes.

  5. To finish, click OK.

You have now successfully taken a backup of your Sage 50 HR data.

To restore your data
  1. Within Sage 50 HR, ensure you are logged in to the correct company then open the File menu and choose Restore.

  2. In the File box, to locate the required backup file, click Browse then select the file and click Open.

  3. Check that this is the correct information then to continue, click Restore. If it is not the correct file, repeat step 2, above.

  4. Enter your Username and Password and click OK.

You have now successfully restored a backup of your Sage 50 HR data.



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