Product Tips
Corrupted Backups on Flash DrivesBy: Kathy Ivens
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Situation
We've had a number of messages from readers who said that when they needed to restore a company file backup from a flash drive, the backup file was corrupt and couldn't be used. Now, they're stuck.
Response
We queried a few of those readers and several admitted they don't always remember to use the Windows Safely Remove Hardware feature. That is almost always the cause of corrupted data on a flash drive; you can't just yank that stick out of the USB port.
That's not to say that flash drives are perfect and data can't become corrupted even if you use the Safely Remove Hardware feature.
Tip: Don't rely on any single type of media for backups. If you're using flash drives, buy a separate flash drive for each day of the week so you always have multiple backups. Once a week (or, at worst, once a month) back up to the desktop (or another place on your computer) and then burn a CD and take it offsite.
Look into online backup services to supplement your manual backups.
Copyright© 2008 CPA911 Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.
Editor's Note: The above tip is copyrighted by CPA911 Publishing and is adapted here with permission. More tips can be found on the CPA911 site.
Kathy Ivens is the acclaimed author of several print volumes on QuickBooks, including QuickBooks 2008: The Official Guide (McGraw-Hill) and Running QuickBooks 2008 Premier Editions (CPA911 Publishing), as well as editor of the CPA911 Newsletter.
Please note that Intuit offers the Intuit QuickBooks Online Backup Service, with more information at this link.
Last Updated: 10/10/2008
