Backing up your Microsoft (MS) Money file

Backups of your Microsoft Money file are absolutely essential. Money can corrupt your file, and corruption can cause you all sorts of problem - including the complete loss of your file data.

To create a backup, see Article 94.

Do not rely on just the single backup that Money creates - it is created on exit, which means any corruption present in the running file can be transferred from the live file to the backup. Also,

• Think about keeping multiple copies.
• Consider some sort of removable backup, such as a USB memory stick, a removable hard drive, and regularly save your Money file to this removable media.
• If you're using floppy (3.5") disk drives to store your Money backup, consider moving to a USB device. Floppy disks are much more unreliable that more modern forms of data storage devices.
• Consider online backups
  - e.g. Windows Skydrive, Box.Net or my current favorite, which I am using, DropBox.

Backup handling is something that MVPs (Article 7) have frequently complained to Microsoft about. New backup options were added in Microsoft Money 2006, partly due to some of this feedback, to allow multiple, timestamped backups to be made. You can see information about this on the Money 2006 backup options page (Article 212). In addition, Microsoft Money 2006 allows you to backup to network locations, and also has CD and DVD options.

I moved to MSMoney 2006 in the last few months, but before I did, I relied on other mechanisms to ensure I had multiple additional backups. I also used a USB pen drive in combination with scheduled tasks. My backups are managed by Windows using scheduled tasks, this allows me to have as many of them as I require.

The full explanation of the mechanism I used can be seen in the article I have put on this site - "How I backup my file".

If you have problems with your file, take a look at the Errors FAQ Articles.

Finally, check your backups! You might be diligent in making them, but ensure you know you can read them. This is especially true if you're using floppy drives.