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Backing Up And Restoring Your Bento Data

Filed Under Bento Tips 

You should always back up the data on your Mac and applications such as Time Machine make this easier than ever. However if you are not using Time Machine or performing other regular backups or you just want a snapshot of your collection of Libraries before you try something out you can perform a manual backup in Bento.

Performing A Backup
A manual backup can be performed by selecting the ‘Back Up Bento Data…’ item in the File menu:

backing_up_00.png

This displays the standard dialogue which allows you to save your backup file in a location you specify.

Restoring Data
If something happens to your Bento data file or you make a major mistake when using Bento such as deleting the wrong Library then you can restore a backup of the data file using the ‘Revert to Bento Backup…” item in the File menu.

This process will over-write all of your existing Bento data with the data in your last backup file and is not Library-specific.

Automatic reminders
In the Preferences screen in Bento there are two options which will prompt Bento to remind you to perform a backup either on a weekly or a monthly basis:

registering_bento.png

When this automatic reminder is selected the following message is displayed when a backup is due:

backing_up_01.png

Comments

14 Responses to “Backing Up And Restoring Your Bento Data”

  1. Karl on May 27th, 2008 10:15 pm

    Do you know why all the Bento bakcups show the same date/time stamps even if I backed up a dozen time since last week? (May 22nd 1:50 pm here)

  2. Simon on May 27th, 2008 10:43 pm

    I do. Have a look at the article on The Bento Data File Date and Time.

  3. Karl on May 28th, 2008 2:24 pm

    Great, thanks! Sorry if I skipped the “basics” part! :-) )

  4. Simon on May 28th, 2008 2:29 pm

    Not a problem. :)

  5. Mike on July 19th, 2009 4:34 am

    I’m trying to revert to backup and it’s put all my fields and forms back into Bento…but no records!! HELP ME

  6. Florian on July 19th, 2009 6:20 am

    Sorry, Mike, never had that problem. You need tech support, which they have at the Bento forum:
    http://forums.filemaker.com/fmbnto/board?board.id=GS
    Post your request there, please. Their techies will help you step by step.

  7. Anselmo on June 27th, 2010 8:56 am

    Hey,
    I am looking for a way I can Back up the files I am using with my bento library. Whenever I do back up it shows: “Bento only backs up data stored in the Bento database. You must back up your Address Book and iCal data using those programs. Files you have added to media fields and file list fields are also not backed up.”.
    Do you know something I can use.

    thanks

  8. Florian on June 27th, 2010 9:13 am

    Anselmo,
    first of all, what KIND of files are you talking about? The files in media fields (pictures, sounds, movies) CAN be embedded in the database file. In other words they will then be included in a Bento data-backup.
    For any other files you can use any backup utility. I’m simply using time machine. If you keep all files you use in Bento in the same folder (and sub-folders), you can just drag that folder to a thumb-drive.

  9. monique on June 5th, 2011 7:14 am

    Hi there,
    my laptop got stolen, but luckily I do have the back-ups,
    so I just installed the Bento 4 on my new machine,
    but dubble-klicking on the backupfiles do take me to Bento, but won’t open the stored info.

    Help?

  10. Florian on June 5th, 2011 8:31 am

    Monique,
    The usual way to load backups is this:
    start Bento. It opens with a fresh database (not much data except for the linked apps like Address Book).
    Then choose “Restore from Bento backup” from the File menu. Navigate to the backup file you want, select it and click open.
    If your backup file was created in an earlier version of Bento, it will automatically be converted to work in Bento 4 after a copy of the original file is created by Bento.

    This always worked for me. Good luck!

  11. richard on August 20th, 2011 2:45 pm

    Hey there, I have a first gen MBA 64 gb since I got Lion, im running out of memory, and after deleting lots of files, apps etc… my memory is still crappy 10 gb free, so I need to restore my MBA to original settings, for that I have a huge deal, my jobs data base is BENTO now (updated by me only), and Im a little scared of restoring my Mac, and losing my data if I port the backupfile to the new restored Mac (thatll get me fired as f@#$, because I insisted on using it). Is there any youtube guide to do it flawless, no errors, or surprises in the way?

  12. Florian on August 21st, 2011 4:18 pm

    Richard, if you just got Lion you also get 90 days free tech support from Apple again. Take advantage of it! And if you have Bento 4.0.5 you shouldn’t have any problems with the datafile either. You can simply re-install Bento on the restored Mac if needed, and then restore the data from your backup datafile. You could put the backup datafile on a thumb drive before hand.

  13. Rat on November 12th, 2011 6:04 am

    Is there a way to specify where my bento backups are stored, I’d like to keep them in a folder on my hard drive
    Thanks

  14. Florian on November 12th, 2011 9:17 am

    Hi Rat (or Ray),
    you mean the data backups of Bento? Yes, when you choose “Backup Bento Data” from the File menu, you can choose any folder on your hard drive in the dialog box that pops up. You can also name the backup to any name.
    Tell me if you have any additional questions.

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