Here is the recommended approach to backing up SacReg data files. This approach will work for both version 3 and version 4, with minor differences as noted.

1. With your data files open in Sacramental Register, go to the Output menu and select "Count the entries in the database" near the bottom of the list. On the screen that appears, click the large button near the top of the screen, which will then run through and read every record in the database. If this routine runs to completion without errors, it means that all of the records in your database are present, and you can go on to step 2. If the report is not on your menu, then you are a version 3.0 user who needs to update your software.

Note: If error messages occur when you are counting the entries, it means you have problems with some or all of your data records. If it is only a handful of error messages, you can possibly delete the bad entries and re-enter them. If error messages occur with all or most of the entries, then you will probably need to restore your files from an uncorrupt backup immediately. If  it appears that most or all of the records are causing messages, then you will want to do a CTRL-ALT-DELETE and end the task, so that you don't have to go through the entire data file.

2.  With your data files open in Sacramental Register, go to the File menu and select "Backup a set of files." In the box that appears, find (or create) a hard drive folder that is empty and create a valid name for your backup files (the name you create must end in 0.db if you are a version 3.0x user (HolyCross0.db), or it must end in 0.adt if you are a version 4.0x user (HolyCross0.adt)). Click on Save to initiate the backup process. The backup process, incidentally, creates copies of 33 physical files for version 3, or 17 physical files for version 4.

3. Once the backup step is complete, we recommend going to the File menu and closing the open set of master files, and then going again to the file menu, selecting Open an existing set of files, browsing to open the backup set of files that you just created. Again, run the "Count the entries" report. If this report runs to completion without error, you know you have a good backup.

4. Go to the File menu, Close the files, exit the Sacramental Register program, and copy the folder with ALL of the backup files to a zip drive, or to a CD writeable drive, or to another hard drive on a networked machine.

The backups should be several deep and overlapping, and this is the case whether you decide to create a backup every day, or every week, or every month. For example, if you make a backup every day, and, after creating it, you put the backup on a ZIP disk for Monday, then use a different ZIP disk for Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, so that you have several sets of backups around at any given time. It would be a good idea to also have several (for example, three or four) Friday ZIP disks, so that in addition to having backups for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you can also have a backup for Friday. But the next week, you repeat the backups for Monday through Thursday (on the same ZIP disks), but on Friday, you rotate to another ZIP disk, keeping last Friday's backup, and making a new backup for the current Friday. Ditto for the next week or two. This process will result in seven or eight backups, any of which can restore your data if the files get damaged for any reason. Your data is the most important thing about the Sacramental Register system, and it is important enough to justify seven or eight backups. This is important because sometimes it takes days or weeks to discover a problem with a database. Regardless of how frequently you decide to create backups, the “Count the entries” report should be run every day during which changes are made to the data files.

We use ZIP disks in the example because the medium is inexpensive, readily available, has enough capacity to handle most SacReg databases, and it is removable so that it offers an extra degree of protection from fire or water damage. Floppy disks are generally too "small" to contain the data files, but any device with enough capacity would do as well as the ZIP media. Many newer systems have CD-ROM writable drives, and these are fine, provided you realize that the SacReg program cannot write files directly to such a device. That is a separate step that has to be done with specialized software. Backups can also be kept on hard drives on other networked systems, provided there is enough security in place so that other users don't inadvertantly delete the files. Finally, tape backups and automatic backup programs are fine, provided you know that they are specifically set up to backup all of the physical files associated with the SacReg database. Some users have gotten in trouble with these automated backup systems by only backing up the file that ends in 0.db (or 0.adt), and not its whole list of associated files. If you are using one of these automatic backup systems, take the trouble to have the data files restored to a temporary folder from a recent backup, and then use the Sacramental Register program to open the restored files and, from the Output menu, run "Count the entries." If it runs to completion without error messages, then you know your automatic backup process is working correctly.

Congratulations on setting up a reliable backup system! The only thing left to do is to note the date on each ZIP disk when you introduce it, and change to a new disk every six months or so. That will insure that you don't get caught with media wear issues.