Backups

Making copies of your data

It's always wise to make backup copies of your data. If your computer is stolen, broken, infected etc, you don't want to lose everything.

PennyPerfect stores its data in two files in the PennyPerfect directory (PennyPerfect.dat and Options.dat). The compact storage format means data for 10 or more years worth of work can be less than 1MB of disk space (less than 1 music track).

To Make a Backup

  1. From the File menu, select Backup, then Save Backup.
  2. A Save File dialogue is displayed with a default name for the backup about to be created (the name is based on todays date e.g. PennyPerfect Backup 23 Aug 2022.bak).
  3. Choose where to save the backup - a USB drive that is kept separately from your computer is ideal.
  4. Press OK, and your current data is saved. If you're data is password protected, your backup is also password protected with your current password. You can save each backup with a different password - but if you forget the password you will not be able to restore your data!

To Restore a Backup

  1. From the File menu choose Backup, then Load Backup.
  2. A File Open dialogue appears. Select your backup file and press Open.
  3. The backup file is then loaded into PennyPerfect.

Automatic Backups

  1. From the Tools menu choose Options.
  2. On the Options screen on the General tab, click the Backup tab.
  3. Enter the number of days you would like between automatic backups, or leave blank for no automatic backups.
  4. A backup is saved when PennyPerfect closes if more than the time period specified has passed since the last backup.
  5. If you don't want automatic backups to be saved, leave the text box empty.

Starting PennyPerfect from a Backup

When PennyPerfect starts it loads its data from a data file (PennyPerfect.dat). If this file becomes corrupted PennyPerfect may fail to start. It's possible to start PennyPerfect from a backup as follows.
  1. In Windows File Manager navigate to the PennyPerfect directory (by default this is C:\PennyPerfect).
  2. Locate the PennyPerfect program (PennyPerfect.exe). This has the PennyPerfect icon.
  3. Locate the most recent backup file. This will be named something like PennyPerfectBackup 12 Oct 2022.bak.
  4. Drag and drop the backup file onto the PennyPerfect program. This will start PennyPerfect using that backup file.
  5. Now PennyPerfect is opened, if you press Save then that backup data will overwrite the normal data file, and that becomes the current data. The backup file will not be changed.
  6. If after the loading the backup you do not want this to become the current data, then from the File menu select Exit without saving.

To Copy Your PennyPerfect Data onto a new Computer

Follow these instructions about moving to a new computer.