* Default Backups

[jsphillips]

I always do a "Full" backup of each PROJECT file. I have 10 project files.
I also do GED file backup separately after each project file backup
Are there separate GED files for each project ? ie when I EXPORT "all" and tick all boxes when in a project does that backup all Family Historian or only the relative project.
Could you please also suggest the File location for the GED files and the Backup files.
At the moment some appear to be saved in the C:\Users\John\My Documents\FH Project\Filename
and some in C:\Users\John\My Documents\FH Project\Filename\Public
The GED files appear to be saved in C:\GED files
All very confusing as I have some files in all of these.
I would like to have a Standard GED file backup location and a Standard Backup location for Projects ?? If so where do I set these up please ?
Any help gratefully received

[jsphillips]

I also Have Family Treemaker backups which I like to keep separately.

[AnneEast]

Ummmm, I know this isn't the expert way but here goes. Every time I work on one of my families I do a back up. All my families are in the Family Historian Projects folder.

To back up I insert a USB memory stick and drag the whole Projects folder onto it. I also now do the same back up to my Dropbox folder. Job done! (although I know I need to make provision for the customised bits of FH, I don't have many of those)

Anne

[LornaCraig]

I always do a "Full" backup of each PROJECT file. I have 10 project files.
I also do GED file backup separately after each project file backup
Are there separate GED files for each project ? ie when I EXPORT "all" and tick all boxes when in a project does that backup all Family Historian or only the relative project.

There are separate Gedcom files for each project, but each Gedcom file is contained within its own project, so if you are already backing up the entire project there is no need to do a separate backup of the Gedcom file.

However if you do particularly want to keep separate backups of the Gedcom files, the easiest way is to use File>Backup/Restore>Small Backup (Gedcom only), rather than doing it using Export.

The location of the backups is entirely up to you, but the important thing to remember is that the purpose of a backup is to keep a safe copy of your data in case disaster strikes and your PC crashes. So you should regularly backup to an external device, otherwise if your PC fails you will lose your backups as well as your current data. An external hard drive or, as Anne has suggested, a USB memory stick and/or a Dropbox folder (‘cloud’ storage) are best.

[tatewise]

As Lorna says, I would advise always using File > Backup/Restore and using the options there.
But as Lorna also said, all the options include the GEDCOM file.

Every Project is a separate entity with its own GEDCOM file, Project Data Folder (including Media), and Public folder.

The Tools > Preferences > Backup tab allows you to set the Default Backup Folder for ALL Projects and the Help button leads to more explanations.

As Lorna said, these backups offer protection against accidental corruption/deletion of your Project data, BUT not against PC/Disk Drive failure, which sooner or later WILL HAPPEN!

You need to have a separate Windows Backup regime for ALL your My Documents folders and other key data, not just FH Projects.
These Backups should be to a Disk Drive or DVD or USB Pen Drive or Internet Cloud storage separate from your PC.
See glossary:backup_and_recovery|> Backup & Recovery for more details.

[jsphillips]

Thank you all
I did not realise that a full backup included the GED file.
I once a week backup onto a separate external hard drive for safety.
My concern was did FH by default store the Full backup of project and if required a GED file into a predetermined folder. If so what is this default please
Thanks all again

[tatewise]

As I said above:

The Tools > Preferences > Backup tab allows you to set the Default Backup Folder for ALL Projects and the Help button leads to more explanations.

Do you also backup all your FH customisations and preferences?
i.e. Customised Diagrams, Text Schemes, Reports, Queries, Fact Sets, Property Box tabs, Tools > Preferences, etc, etc.

If not, then use the Plugin Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings to BACKUP weekly into the same Backup folder as above.

Then if you ever need to restore those FH customisations and preferences they will be available.

[jsphillips]

Yes I do and thanks again. I will predetermine and setup separately.
Backups for FH
GEDS for FH
Backups for Ftreemaker
A lot of my errors have come to light as they were shown on FT Analyzer