Money 2005 Users action required

This is a warning to remind users of Money 2005 that if you haven't already created a backup CD of your installation with the patch on it, to do it now!

Microsoft will be turning off the servers which provide it shortly and there is no downloadable file with the patch in it.

Notes

• This affects ONLY Money 2005 users
• If you're in the US you do have the option of using the sunset edition
• If you're in the UK and other countries, then 2005 was the last version available to you and the sunset edition cannot be used as you can't convert between regional versions of Money.
• Microsoft plan to turn the servers off at the end of this month - January 31, 2011

Creation of backup CD

To create the patched CD, see this article. You won't need the CD unless you reinstall. If you think it won't affect you, consider that if you buy a new machine or your hard drive crashes, without it, you will irrevocably lose access to your Money file and there will be no way to get your data back.

Once you've created your backup CD, don't forget to test it (e.g. on another machine) to ensure it works

Update to my Money backup mechanism

Over the last few years, I have used many mechanisms to keep my Money file and backups safe. These include

1. USB Drives
2. Automated network copies
3. Manual copies
4. Floppy disks
5. etc.

As you can see, a variety of methods.

I've been looking for something which would also automatically backup, with no effort on my part, and cheaply (or better, free), my Money file. Live Mesh was my preferred solution as it would allow me to synchronize and backup other files, but this wouldn't do .MNY files. I also understand that the next iteration of it won't work on Windows XP, so I have to move away from it.

I've decided to go for DropBox. I wish I had found it before -I can store my main Money (.mny) file in the DropBox folder and it will synchronize changes to the cloud. With the 30 day history, I know that each time I use Microsoft Money, the previous versions are automatically being saved.

Note that this is not the only way I backup, I still use the settings in Money that output to a USB drive, as I am of the opinion that you can't have too many backups.

If you're looking out for cloud-based storage for your Money file, think about checking DropBox out.

Money file backups

I've seen an increase in the number of people who do not have an adequate backup of their money file, and subsequently lose (or almost lose) their data. So it seems appropriate to comment on it.

The first thing to note is that backups are created at the end of a Money session. This can be a real problem, as if some corruption creeps into the file during the session, then this is saved into the backup - which may mean the backup is useless. If this is your only backup, then you're really going to have problems

Consider it being saved at the start - well, I suspect this is not done because of the time it would take to start the application.

So, how else to backup? A memory stick is good and supported within the program. Multiple backups are also supported from Money 2006 onwards (see http://moneymvps.org/articles/backup.aspx for a mechanism of automating it in previous versions).

If you're using certain versions of WIndows Vista, then using the shadow copies functionality is really good too. I looked the other day and had 10 shadow copies of my file going back to early January. In addition, if you have two disks in Vista, then use the automatic backup tool to save to the other disk. If only one, then you should still consider using it to other external media.

I tried Carbonite online backup also recently. This backed up my file on a remote server - it's also another option to ensure you have a safe copy. There are other companies that also provide online backup solutions too.

So, how do I backup my file now?
a) Backup in the file on each close
b) Backup every 7 days to a removable USB drive
c) Weekly backups to a second hard drive
d) Shadow copies based on the default schedule in Windows Vista

Your Money file may be the most important file you have - don't lose it!