johndweston

Perhaps it was me then - but I've had a USB memory stick go bad (It was well-used, so...) It had apparently worked but, part-way through, the process stopped and the result wasn't readable by TMG. This introduced a measure of panic... Yes, I had the data on the "wrong" computer, but my fail-safe procedure had just had a failure. I, like you, have never had a similar problem with a network transfer between computers so perhaps the restore process would be OK using that methodology, but Backup/Restore had failed for me once, so... I now regularly use GoodSync over a LAN to synchronize my project database files along with the rest of my working data, avoiding having to rely on a backup/restore process. I use NAS connected drives without a problem and now even have them remotely accessible on colleagues' remote sites. I use that system to carry a full copy of my my working TMG master, alongside other important data that gets manually updated after any significant work on any computer. I do it manually, because I don't really trust computers, having spent most of my working life designing and fixing them In my experience of some considerable use of USB, it always seems to need watching. A consequence is that my USB disks are relegated to the cupboard somewhere. I'd never use one to carry my working master even with good backups, although, as others have said, it does get over the master/slave issue. Personally, I'm not a USB fan, since I've probably experienced more computer problems via that interface than any other. It works well for most of the time so you start to rely on it. Then, when it fails, it seems to do so in a big way at the end of some major work. No USB is not for me for important work - especially the network connection... JohnW

Sue As JohnC says, you can do what you want using the TMG backup and restore function. However, this can result in a problem if you aren't careful to follow an exact procedure to ensure you don't lose everything in the event of a restore failing. For example, you should never restore over your last good copy of your data on either system. Rather, restore to a special "new master" folder where you can check TMG can open and work with the restored database before using it for the new master. These old and new master database folders form a "father/son" pair that swap over to be the current working master database. As a better alternative, I suggest looking at an external file synchronization program that can maintain the full database on both the main and laptop computers identical via a USB drive or LAN network connection, which doesn't need to be connected to the full internet. I do this using a program called "Goodsync" (http://www.goodsync.com/) that works for me to achieve a similar main and laptop synchronization as you require. Other programs may perform a similar function, but check how they address the security issue of how to recover from a failure in the synchronization or backup process. With all these procedures, you must never work on both systems together. This will lead to your not knowing which is the last master. Unfortunately, file journaling is still in the domain of large systems and not available for home PCs, AFAIK. Hope this helps JohnW

There are two more this morning - you are right, they come from the V5 forum. I'll go there and unsubscribe, Thanks JohnW

Recently there has been another rash... This time, we seem to be getting a daily new posting notification mail sent. My spam trapper can't filter this spam before I see it since the header looks normal and it comes from a "trusted"(?) source. Is there any way of delaying the notification mails until after you have decided whether or not to delete a posting? Please... JohnW

What I do in a similar case, is to use the "Briefcase" folder feature of Windows. I store my TMG master files on my desktop and have a Briefcase folder created on my laptop. In this I've dragged a copy of the master data folder for the project in its entirety (I have one master folder for each project). On my laptop, I configure TMG to use the project database in the Briefcase folder. When I connect my laptop to my desktop, via a simple LAN, I run a Briefcase "update all". This identifes the database files that have been updated and gives the option to copy them from the laptop to desktop, or vice-versa, depending on which is the current master. This works fine for my use of TMG and similar programs. One warning, though, is that you must always remember which is the current working master, Laptop or Desktop. If you open the non-master database, even for a read-only action, then Briefcase will show that "both files are updated" and give the option to skip the copy. If you are certain the non-master open was a read-only, then you can manually override this "skip" to overwrite the read-only opened copy with the updated data. That's the advantage of Briefcase in that it doesn't automatically make assumptions as do other file synchronization programs I also use Briecase to keep a backup copy on a thumb drive, and copies of the backup files... I've lost nothing yet Regards, John.

I've just received an Email notification, subject: "Topic subscription Email notification", for a reply to a subject to which I'm not subscribed. I'm correctly getting mails for new subjects but not getting any emails for replies to subjects I've created. I have "Enable email notification of replies selected. Is there a problem with the email system? John