Taking a backup

1. Open the Windows Start menu and select All Programs, Sage Practice followed by Tools.
2. Select Sage Taxation followed by Backup And Restore.
3. Click Backup. When you're prompted to check your databases, click Yes to allow your data to be scanned.
4. Once the scan has finished, click Yes to take a backup.
5. Once the backup has finished you are informed of the location of your backup. Click OK.

Routinely backing up your data not only safeguards your data, it also performs essential housekeeping on the log files used by Microsoft SQL server.

If you've not backed up in a while, the utility may show as 'Not responding' for a prolonged period. This is normal and the utility will still be working in the background. Subsequent backups should be quicker if performed regularly.

Automating backups

You can automate your backups using the Windows task scheduler. You'll need to make sure it's set for a time when nobody is using Sage Taxation.

1. Create a basic task pointing to the backuprestore.exe in:
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage\Sage Taxation\Client if you are running a 64 bit operating system
• C:\Program Files\Sage\Sage Taxation\Client if you are running a 32 bit operating system
2. Add /BACKUP as an argument - without this the utility will open but no backup will be taken.

For step by step instructions, please click here.

Restoring a backup

1. Restoring a backup is essentially the same process, selecting Restore instead of Backup.
2. You'll recieve a warning advising you that this will overwrite any Sage Taxation data held on the server. If you're happy to proceed, select Yes.
3. You'll then be able to select a backup to restore. These backups are located on the server machine that holds your SQL data.

    

   It can sometimes be helpful to select Browse to view the files as you can also compare file sizes.

4. Once you've selected OK to restore a backup, you'll be shown some details about the file. Select Yes to proceed or select No to cancel.

The backup will now be restored, and you'll need to accept any on screen prompts.

Key points about restoring

• The backup consists of two files, one with a BKP file extension (which holds your client data) and one with a BKPR extension (which holds system data).

If you've moved a backup from another system you'll need to make sure these files are both in the same location. If you have multiple (e.g.) v21 BKPR files, copy them all to your new machine.

• The backups are version specific, so you'll need to make sure the version you have installed matches the version from the filename of the backup. This includes any minor updates (e.g. Update 1, Update 2 etc...)
• Restoring a backup will replace your existing Sage Taxation databases with those from the backup. You can't backup or restore individual clients

Changing backup settings

Selecting the settings option will allow you to change the backup directory and file name options.