Backing up Your Database by using Access 2003

This is a sample from the Microsoft Access Protection book by Garry Robinson

1. With the arrival of Access 2003, a new menu command handles the naming conventions for backing up a database, and it's an option well worth considering for any DBA who is interested in a simple, well-organized backup process for their Access format databases. The system works by asking you for the folder of your backup database (as shown in Figure 5-19).

    
   Figure 5-19: The Backup menu command.

   It then compacts the current database to that folder. The file name suggested for the backup results from concatenating the name of the current database with a date string. If you back up your database more than once a day, the name of the backup database will also receive a numerical suffix to differentiate between each of the backups for the day (as shown in Figure 5-20).

    
   
   Figure 5-20: Access 2003 backup wizard in action.

   Naturally, there are some complications with this process, such as:

   • You need to store the backups in a safe place if you are trying to protect the information in the database.

   • You will need to make sure that everyone has logged off the database before running the backup.

   • You need to make sure that you back up both the front-end and back-end databases.

   • You will need to clean up all the old backup databases by using Windows Explorer or some other system that lists files in the directory.

   • They are not compressed