unofficial microsoft.public.money FAQ and A
[ Home ]

How to do things in Money: Data/File Management

Q) How do I backup to CD-RW? CD-R?

A) First, remember that a CD-R, CD-RW, or any of the various forms of writable DVD is not a general purpose random access storage device and needs software to begin to pretend to be.

(Such software is referred to as "packet writing" software and includes things like DirectCD or Drag-to-Disc from Easy Media (Coaster) Creator by Roxio and InCD from Nero. That having been said, the poor reliability many people experience with packet writing software in general and DirectCD in specific suggests it is a very poor choice for backing up critical data like your Money file. At less than a dime per media in quantities of 100, burning a CD-R with a copy of your Money data file seems like a better choice.)

Like any file, your .MNY data file can be stored on writable optical media the same way you put other files on them. For instance, if you use WinXP, you can backup to the hard disk mirror created by WinXP and then burn a CD after you've exited Money. If you like Nero, go ahead and burn a CD with your Money data file and don't drag Money into the problem at all. Etc.

Second, don't expect the "backup to floppy" choice to offer up your writeable CD. Is the writeable CD a floppy? No, it is not. Why would Money think it is? Newer versions (M04?) say "Removable." But they still don't recognize devices that do not have normal FAT/NTFS file systems--i.e., CD/DVD writeable.

When a WinXP follow-on product supports the Mt. Rainier technology, and when you have hardware that also supports Mt. Rainier, then maybe Money will be a little savvier about writable CDs.

Read the referenced MSKB for information about using the backup methods in Money to backup to writeable CDs.

M06 updated the backup tools--the first time in many versions that backup functionality has been improved--and provided direct access to writable optical devices that the operating system knows how to deal with. Perhaps this was because they broke the floppy disk backups so severely in M05?

Reference courtesy of Glyn Simpson, Microsoft MVP - Money

References:
MSKB: Q265130 backup to writeable CDs

Please see this disclaimer if you are using Money 2005 or this comment if you are using Money 2006.

If this kind of stuff is important to you: