Backup Files You should get into the habit of backing up your company file at least every pay run and implement a backup procedure that ensures you don’t ever lose your company information Backing up your company file is very important. It only takes one power surge or failure to corrupt your file. If your company file becomes corrupt, you may not be able to restore it, and may end up having to re-enter your payroll information.
1 From the File menu, choose Backup Files. The Backup Data window is displayed.
2 Check that the FROM path and file name are correct. By default this should be C:\PROGRAM FILES\Elite Payroll\DATA\{filename}.QPW ( {filename} is the Disk File Name of your company file.)
3 Check that the location you are copying TO is correct. By default the company file backup will be created on floppy drive A. You can change the default backup path and file name in File Preferences. You shouldn’t need to use the Browse button to specify the backup path and file name—it's just there for advanced users who may wish to specify a different location.
4 Click OK. If there are already backup or other files on the disk, Elite Payroll will ask if you want to remove (erase) those files.
5 Click YES when prompted to back up your company files, tax scales and reports.
The purpose of backing up is to protect yourself from data corruption and from hard disk failure. Don't forget that hard drives, floppy disks and other backup media are prone to failure. Therefore, if your computer has more than one hard drive, we suggest that you perform regular backups to a drive other than the one where you keep your working data and to another form of backup media.
We recommend that you follow these procedures for backing up your company and payroll data:
1 Each day, back up onto floppy disks or other removable media to keep in the office. If your computer has more than one hard drive, also backup to the drive other than the one where you keep your working data.
Tip. The first time you do a daily backup, we suggest that you make several sets of backup media and label the sets "Elite Payroll Backup Monday," "Elite Payroll Backup Tuesday," etc.
2 At least once a month, make a backup copy to keep off your premises. This way, if you have a fire, or a break-in and lose your computer and locally stored backups, you still have one copy of your company data off-site.
Tip. For your monthly backups, you should alternate between two sets of backups. If disaster strikes your office, you'll want to have a reliable record of your data to fall back on. Also, if one of the disks become damaged or fail you'll have another one to fall back on.
3 At the end of your financial year, make an archive copy of your data to keep off your premises.
4 If you have Internet access, you should consider off-site back-up through the Internet. To find one that suits your needs, just type "offsite backup" into your favourite Internet search engine.
Notes If you have a lot of employees or make changes often, you should ensure that your backup procedures have a much shorter, more regular backup cycle. You could even backup after each session with Elite Payroll.
See also