Backing Up Your Data

One of the most important things you can do is to back up your data. Even the most secure computers have hard drive failures. If you do have a hard drive crash ALL OF YOUR DATA will be lost. In order to prevent this you should periodically backup your software. There are numerous utilities available commercially to help you backup your data. You should contact your local computer or office supply store for more information on those software/hardware packages. Some examples are Zip drives, CD writers, Jaz Drives and Super Disks.

What Should You Backup?
The quick answer is EVERYTHING. If you have the resources you could back up the entire KCDw folder on your hard drive. However if you don't have the resources to back up everything, Here are the main things you should worry about and where they are located in the file structure.

1. Your jobs, they are located in the KCDw folder and have they have the extension .job, example, kcdw1.job

2. You parts lists, they are located in a folder in the KCDw folder called, stdplist. If you look in this folder, you will see a number of folders that have the same name as your parts list method. For example, if you have a parts list called, my-pt-f, you will see a folder in the stdplist folder called my-pt-f.

Also in the KCDw folder there is a header file with the extension .pts. So in the above example, you would find a file called, my-pt-f.pts. You should back up both these files.

3. Your pricing lists, they are located in the same place as your parts lists. They too have a header file, with the extension .pbs or .pcs. So if you had a pricing method called Oak. You would find a folder under the stdplist folder called Oak and file under the KCDw folder called oak.pbs.

4. Reports. If you created any reports, they would be located in the KCDw folder with the extension. rpt. or .rpr

The contents of the KCDw folder, as seen from Windows Explorer. Note the stdplist folder, in there you will find your cutlist and pricing files.

If you would rather backup the entire KCDw folder, and we recommend that you do, simply go into Windows Explorer folder and copy and paste the KCDw folder (which would normally be on your C: Drive) to your back up drive. If your backup software requires you do this in a different manner, follow its instructions.