Mike, are you able to copy non-Microsoft Money files to the CD's? It
sounds strange to me. I use and re-use CD-RW's all the time for
backups. If you can't use Windows to copy files to the CD-RW or to a
CD-R, something must be wrong with the drive.

Have you tried reformatting a CD-RW and then re-using it? When my
CD-RW's get filled up, I get error messages. Since I rotate backups
between 3 CD-RW's, the one with the oldest backups fills up first and I
just reformat it and use it. Every once in awhile, reformatting a
CD-RW doesn't help and it's not readable by any program, so I suspect
they become corrupted. In that case (happens once or twice a year) I
destroy the CD-RW and pop in a new one.

You probably know that formatting erases all data on a disk...just need
to mention this "just in case".

You can also go into Money Backup and click on Browse, then select your
backup location and Click OK. If you can't see the CD/DVD drive during
the browse, it could be a hardware issue.

Using Browse to select your backup location ensures that you didn't fat
finger the path to the data file as you could when entering it
manually.

The documentation I'm reading only mentions that Money 06 will back up
to a CD, DVD or USB drive (thumb drive). It does not mention floppy
disks, although I could swear it said you could back up to a floppy in
the Money 06 docs I read last year. (hmmm...)

Good luck, I know this is a frustrating problem. And it's great that
you are backing up your data....or at least trying to.

Shelley
--------------------
Shelley Elmblad
About Financial Software
http://financialsoft.about.com

Mike wrote:
- quote -

In microsoft.public.money, Mike wrote:

- quote -

And regarding the floppy, try formatted empty floppies.

In microsoft.public.money, Mike wrote:

- quote -


My number one suggestion is to make your scheduled backup to USB
flash drive.

In M06: Tools-> Settings-> BackupSettings
I suggest checking
x Automatically backup my Money file every time I close Money
Save in [a place on your hard drive ]
x Ask me before backing up each time*
x Compress Backup Files
Keep only the _20_most recent backup files [adjust to taste]

x Perform scheduled backups every _14_ days
Save in [a USB flash drive location]
x Ask me before backing up each time*
x Compress Backup Files
Keep only the _2_most recent backup files [adjust to taste,
but Money 2006 does not automatically trim to USB as it should]

Then periodically, perhaps once per month or more, copy your latest
backup (uniquely named by Money) to a CDR. With XP, this can be a
copy and paste operation. Otherwise use the burning software that
came with your CDR drive.

I strongly suggest use of a USB Flash rather than floppies. They
are bigger, so you don't have to swap media to back up. Plus
they are much more reliable (but not failure-proof).

* The reason I have Money ask me, is that I don't want to back up
each time I exit. If I went into Money 5 times in a day, I would not
want to back up 5 times, nor would I want to delete 5 other backup
files.
You will be given the choice to BackUpNow or to Postpone.


If you are determined to back up "directly" to CDR, I suggest you
Browse to the CDR drive rather than entering the drive letter.

I have Money 2006 Deluxe. After one backup to a CD-RW I haven't been able to
backup to anything but the C Drive. If I try to rewite the original backup
CD-RW, it says I don't have permission to write to that drive. If I put in a
CD-R, it says that the drive is not accessible. If I try a floppy, it says
the backup file is too large for the floppy (older versions prompted to
insert another floppy until the file was saved). Any suggestions?
--
Mike