Backup - How to Backup to a Removable Drive (Flash Drive or Hard Drive)

1) Quit FileMaker on the Scanner Computer.

2) Quit FileMaker on the Staff Computer.

3 a) From the Dock, run the program "PassTracker Backup Workflow"

The Dock is the equivalent of the Start Menu in Windows, it hovers in the bottom of the screen, as you mouse over it, applications popup up and magnify as you scroll over them.

3 b) Don't copy the file yet

After FileMaker quits, the first thing you should see is a file named CV_PassTracker_Folder.zip show up on your Desktop.

3 c) Wait til the file name changes to Today's Date

The archiving may take a few moments, as the folder size can quickly grow to many megabytes.

Once the Archiving process is complete, the file's name will be changed to include the date at the beginning of the file name. Now it is ready to copy to the USB Flash drive.

4) Copy the dated CV_PassTracker_Folder.zip file to the USB flash drive

If you haven't already done so, insert the USB drive into the Mac Mini's USB port. Once the drive has mounted on the Desktop, you can copy the archived file to the Flash drive.

Eject and Store the USB Flash Drive

Once the copying from Desktop to USB Flash drive is complete, you can Eject the Flash Drive.

This can be done a number of ways:

1) Using the mouse, right-click on the drive, in the pop-up menu, select Eject "USB_Flash" (or whatever the drive is named)

2) Control-click with the mouse, while holding down the Control key on the keyboard.

3) Click on the drive and go up to the File Menu and select Eject.

After the flash drive has been ejected, it can be safely removed from the USB port of the computer.

Important Note: Store the Flash drive in a secure and agreed upon location, so that other staff members can find it, but thieves will not.

5) Locate the Alias for the Backup Folder on your Desktop

An Alias, is like a Shortcut in Windows, a small pointer file or folder that represents the actual file. The actual folder in this case resides inside the Documents folder. For ease of access, an alias (shortcut) has been created so it is easier to just drag and drop to the folder.

Drag the CV_PassTracker_Folder.zip file to the Backup Folder.

Note: Redundant Archive Files

Part of the reason we are renaming the PassTracker archive files with a date, is so that we can store more than one copy. This can be handy if for some reason a customer gets deleted accidentally, we have more than one file to go back to.

Why Backup?

Commercial break-ins are increasingly common in certain areas. With these kind of odds, it is only a matter of time before a computer gets stolen. If the computer is stolen and the last backup is a week ago, we have unhappy customers. Anyone who bought a pass in that time period won't be in the system.

The moral: Backup Daily.

Thanks.