Doing a data backup — is it really necessary?

How many times have you pondered the question: do I really need to make a backup? How often do you choose to make changes without making a backup of your data?

I’ve proceeded without backing-up my data many times over. I figure, if I follow each step in the instructions, I will be fine and everything will work out great.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this was never the best decision.  As such, I usually find myself spending hours or even days undoing all the new changes, hoping the whole time that I did not make a big mess of things and I can find my way back to where I started.

Eventually, I do end up back at or close to where I started; but was it worth the heartache?  In retrospect, you can imagine how many hours and/or days I could save had I just made the right decision in the first place.

Making a backup of your data before making any major change is a very important step to follow, even if the instructions don’t specifically mention it.

Remembering to make a backup is a habit I had to develop — and you can do the same. These days, I make a backup before making any changes or before doing an upgrade.

The following guide helps me to decide if I need to make a backup, especially when working with Cartegraph. 

Make a backup if you are going to:

• Update to a new Cartegraph version
• Format for a new Cartegraph module
• Adding new structure to the database
• Performing a multi-edit
• Planning to turn on GIS integration
• Make copies of reports and forms before modifying them

These are a few of the things you definitely want to make a backup before proceeding. And it might be worthwhile to check with your IT to see it they could automate the process where your database and project home is backed up daily or weekly.

Now if you find yourself in doubt, err on the side of caution — make a backup no matter what it is! You will save time and have less heartache in the long run.

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