Have several questions in one.
I read some where when backing up files it doesn’t save the images in the back up file. If this is so, then how will the media be seen in the rm9 site that I upload to?
Do I need to back up media at same time as my work to my computer (a check box is provided for selection)? Is it saving to the update file or just saving the address of the files (my media folder is not in RM Data folder were back up is put)
Every time I back up my work it does a new back up with the date in the same RM Data folder on my computer. Should I move the newest if the previous of the updated file into a different folder for safe keeping and delete the rest before updating/uploading to the RM site?
Your backup file has nothing to do with your website if you are talking about the site that RM gives you.
Do you need to backup media? You should backup anything you don’t want to lose. However including the media in your RM backup is rather silly in my opinion. If you have any kind of organization to your pictures, that all gets stripped out and they get dumped into one big folder. Backup your media seperately, this way you can maintain in folder organization that you have.
RM does not include your media in the datafile, it simply stores a link to the location of your media where it exists on your hard drive.
You should be making your backup someplace that is not on your computer. If you only backup is on that hard drive, what will happen if the drive dies? That is right, you lose the data file AND the backups. I never delete backups these days. I have over 10 years worth stored. You should also make backups that can be stored somewhere other than your home, for example, to a flash drive that you give to kids or friends or other family. Flash drives are cheap these days, there are also numerous online backup sites.
I suspect you meant “Is it saving media files to the RM backup file or just saving the address of the media files?”.
The answer to that specific question is that if you check the box to save the media files as a part of the backup, then it is saving the media files to the RM backup file. Otherwise, it is only saving the address of the media files to the RM backup files.
Some RM users prefer to include the media as a part of their RM backup files. Some prefer to backup their media files separately. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. I could get into those advantages and disadvantages. But much more important is to reinforce the recommendations from kfunk that you need to have backups that are not on your computer. The location not on your computer could be a removable hard disk or a USB thumb drive or a service on the Internet. It just needs to be not on your computer.
I’m not following the connection between the RM site and the backup. But, with backups I keep all of them. You never know when you may need to go back to that earlier backup, especially if there was some corruption in the file. I will add a letter right after the date if I have more than one for the day.
Thank you for the replies to my questions.
I had a Genealogy site a few years back but I am a little rusty and yours site just works different the my last one did when backing up and publishing.
Yes I was wanting to move my back up files off my computer and onto a 1tb extremal device.
I just didn’t know for sure what file RM uses to publish from.
Is this the file (in the blue box) that RM publishes from.
I am appreciative of the assistance you are giving me. Thank you.
Yes, it’s not the .rmbackup file. You would have to change your file manager’s settings to show all extensions, in which case the one that is typed as RootsMagic File would have the .rmtree extension displayed.
Suggestion: use a screen capture utility on your computer rather than a camera when sharing what you see. It’s faster to do so and the results are superior.
Thank you.
Just wanted to make sure I didn’t move a file that didn’t need to moved.
Again thank you for your help.
Totally agree. I think showing file extensions is one of the most important things you can do when using a computer. In the case of Windows, I have no idea why Microsoft doesn’t show file extensions by default. I don’t know how it works on a Mac.
For Windows 10, users here is the place where you can enable this option. I’m guessing that’s it’s similar in Windows 11.
I always use Backup+Media in RM but ignore the folder it uses.
I have two completely separate systems (1) software via RM on my PC and FTM on my Macbook (2) The folder system below which is not linked to RM or FTM in any way.
All my digital Genealogy documents, media, images etc. are all catalogued and filed completely within a Windows Explorer created Folder system hence outside Roots Magic.
There is absolutely no point to Backup with Media. It will strip out your folder system that you have so carefully setup. You can backup your media completely separate and not lose your folder structure.
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I assume your device lives in the same house as you do. So the next step would be to look into an offsite backup just in case something happens to your house. I have three sets of flash drives that I rotate. At any given time, my sister is in possession of one set of those flash drives and an aunt is in possession of one set. I have the third. I also use a backup service called iDrive and there are copies of my backups on Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.
Thanks for the comment.
I have made it clearer in my post, I have two systems in place and the Folder system is stand alone and not linked to RM.
Yeah, I got that…and as soon as you backup with media, it makes copies of your media, dumps it all into the same folder and when/if you ever need to restore that backup due to some disaster, you will no longer have a folder structure…so essentially you have to rebuild it and copy your media into the recreated folders. Your are also stuck if you only need to restore that datafile but the media is OK. You will end up with multiples of your media.
Whole lot smarter to backup just RM and just the media so they can be restored independent and you still retain the file structure.
I use RM differently the media the project contains is just what RM has downloaded from Ancestry.
RM is presently used just as a backup.
When RM becomes my main repository I’ll copy the docs, media etc from my Folder system to a “RM_Media_Source” folder and link to RM from that folder thus retaining the two independent systems.
Thanks again for pointing out the limitations.
That makes backing up with media even more pointless, especially in the context of another post you made in which you backup with media, run a DB tool, backup with media, run another DB tool etc. You end up with 4 backups in which only 1 file is likely (but not always) to change, specifically the datafile itself. If you overwrite them each time, then you rather defeat the point as you aren’t likely to be able to test to assure that something didn’t break when one of the tools was ran. Until such time as RM allows for incremental backups, this will continue to be the case.
I do have to say that after following your posts across three different software packages, I do truly appreciate the chuckle that you bring me at times.
I simply do not trust Roots Magic, I have encountered enough Tree Share issues to doubt the stability of the software hence the multiple Backups.
BTW, the Backup+Media files are not stored on the C or Boot drive but on a separate SSD which is for essentially “My Documents” folder.
OCD or what !
If this is the case, maybe it is time to move on to a different program. I wouldn’t use an accountant who I don’t trust, nor a lawyer, nor an investment banker. Why should your software vendor be any different?
I do, Roots Magic is great at error checking and as a Backup and that is all I use it for.
It is not nor has it ever been my main repository for my Family Tree as I have stated frequently it is simple a Backup.
Anyone who relies on a sole App and single location for their research is IMO taking a huge risk.
Strangely, I’m exactly the opposite. In almost 15 years of working with RM, I have never, ever had a problem with using it as my main repository. I certainly don’t trust Ancestry and prefer to have all my hard work under my own control.
Having said that, I have backups galore: RM (whenever something changes - in the cloud), RM To-Go (monthly - on USB stick), Ancestry (at least weekly), with quarterly GEDCOM uploads to MyHeritage, FTDNA, Familysearch & FMP. Media is copied monthly to the cloud and quarterly to RM To-Go stick.