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Two default options are provided for starting MSDE Backup. The first option is to double click the ‘MSDE’ icon (icon show below) that can be found on the Windows Desktop and the second option is to use the Windows Start menu. To use the use start menu click on the following ‘Start | Programs | MSDE Backup’.

Figure 1: Icon for MSDE Backup

When MSDE Backup is started it first always displays the MSDE Backup end user licence agreement. Please read this agreement and then tick the box in the bottom left corner of the screen if you understand and agree to the licence agreement. Once this latter box is ticked you can press the ‘OK’ button and MSDE Backup shall start. If you do not understand or agree with the licence agreement you should press the ‘Terminate’ button. When terminate is pressed, MSDE Backup shall close down.

When the MSDE Backup has loaded the initial screen like the following is displayed.

Figure 2: Initial Screen

If this is the first time that you have used MSDE Backup it is first necessary to register a server group and then register MSDE Server. Please see ‘Registering a Server Group’ and ‘Registering a MSDE / SQL Server’ for more information.

Registering a Server Group

MSDE Backup allows you to organise your MSDE servers and SQL Servers into groups. For example if you have a couple of SQL Servers that are only used for accounting you may want to set-up a server group called accounting, or perhaps you also have a couple of SQL Servers that are used only for marketing so again you may wish to create a marketing group. For an example of what this would like see below.

Figure 3: Example of Server Groups

To register a Server Group, do the following:

Move the mouse over the node ‘MSDE Backup’; this latter node can be found in the top left of the screen.
Perform a right click on the mouse. This shall bring-up the context menu, as shown below:

Figure 4: Register New Server Group

Using the mouse, select the menu option ‘New Server Group’. After selection a ‘New Server Group’ dialog shall be displayed.
Enter the name of the new server group and then press the ‘OK’ button. The new server group shall then be displayed on the left tree view.

Un-Registering a Server Group

Please note that a server group can only be unregistered if it does not contain any registered SQL Servers. To un-registered a Server Group do the following:

Move the mouse over the server group concerned.
Press the right mouse button and the context menu shall be displayed (see Figure 5 for an example).
Select the option ‘Delete Server Group’.
You shall now be prompted to confirm that you require the server group deleting.

Registering a MSDE / SQL Server

To register a SQL Server, do the following:

Create a new ‘Server Group’ if one is required. See ‘Registering a Server Group’ for instructions on how to do this.
Using the mouse select the server group under which the SQL Server will be registered.
Perform a right click on the mouse. This shall bring-up the context menu, as shown below:

Figure 5: Registering a SQL Server

Using the mouse, select the menu option ‘Register SQL Server’. After selection a ‘Register SQL Server’ dialog shall be displayed, as shown below.

Figure 6: Register SQL Server Dialog

Populate the ‘Register SQL Server’ dialog with the necessary details. If the ‘SQL Server’ drop down box is pressed, the SQL Servers on your network domain shall be displayed so that you browse and select your SQL Server.
Press the ‘OK’ button and then you will be returned to the main form and your new registered SQL Server shall be visible, like below.

Figure 7: SQL Server Registered

Connecting to the MSDE / SQL Server

To connect to the registered MSDE / SQL Server simply press the ‘+’ against the SQL Server in the tree view. A connection is then attempted and if successful the tree view shall expand. An example of this is shown below.

Figure 8: Successful Connection

Should the connection be un-successful see the ‘Editing MSDE / SQL Server Connection Properties’ section below.

Editing MSDE / SQL Server Connection Properties

If you are unable to connect to a MSDE / SQL Server this is possible due to the incorrect username or password being used. To edit these latter details do the following:

In the tree view select the SQL Server concerned.
Right click the mouse and the context menu shown below shall be displayed.

Figure 9: Edit Server Registration Properties

Select the option ‘Edit Server Registration Properties’. The connection properties for the SQL Server shall now be displayed.
You can now edit the ‘Window NT Authentication’ and ‘SQL Server Authentication’ properties.
Press ‘OK’ when you have finished.

Note it is not possible to edit the name of the SQL Server that you are connecting to. Your only option here is to delete the SQL Server registration and create a new SQL Server registration.

Un-Successful Connections

If the attempt to connect to your MSDE / SQL Server was un-successful an error message shall be displayed. If this is the case it is recommended that you first verify that the SQL Server is running. This can be achieved by following these instructions:

Go to the server where SQL Server or MSDE is installed.
Click on the small Microsoft SQL Server icon that sits on the bottom right hand corner of the Task Bar. This shall start the ‘SQL Server Service Manager dialog’, as shown below.

Figure 10: SQL Server Service Manager (Copyright of Microsoft)

Verify that the SQL Server has a status of ‘Running’, as shown above. If the status is not ‘Running’ then press the ‘Start’ button.

If you are still unable to connect it is likely that your connection settings are incorrect. To establish and update your connection settings do the following:

Open the ‘SQL Server Service Manager’ as shown above.
Copy the Server text by positing the cursor in the ‘Server’ edit box and left double click the mouse and then copy the server connection details to the Windows clipboard by pressing (CTRL C). An example of the Server text is "DAVID-QH0Y9N18V\VSdotNET".
Open up MSDE Backup and select the SQL Server concerned.
Right click the mouse and the context menu shown below shall be displayed.

Figure 11: Edit Server Registration Properties

Select the option ‘Unregister Server’. You are then presented with the confirmation dialog for un-registering a SQL Server.
Press the ‘Yes’ button to confirm un-registration of the SQL Server.
Follow the ‘Registering a MSDE / SQL Server’ instructions above, however when populating the ‘SQL Server’ name edit box, paste the contents of the Windows clipboard by pressing CTRL V. This shall ensure that the correct name of the SQL Server is entered.

Hopefully you should now be able to connect. Note the default MSDE password for user ‘sa’ is a empty password.

Viewing MSDE / SQL Server Information

To view MSDE / SQL Server information, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the tree nodes ‘Server Information’ and ‘Version’ and ‘Properties’ are viewable, as shown below:

Figure 12: Server Version Information

Using the mouse, highlight ‘Version’ or ‘Properties’ and the panel on the right shall display the corresponding information.

Viewing MSDE / SQL Server Error Logs

To view the MSDE / SQL Server Error Logs, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the tree node ‘Error Logs’ and its children are viewable, as shown below:

Figure 13: SQL Server Error Logs

· Using the mouse, select the error log that you require to view.

Creating A Backup Device

To create a ‘Backup Device’ on your MSDE / SQL Server using ‘MSDE Backup’, do the following:

Using the mouse expand the tree view until the ‘Devices’ nodes is viewable, as shown below.

Figure 14: New Backup Device

Highlight ‘Devices’ and then right click the mouse and select the option ‘New Backup Device’. The ‘New Backup Device’ dialog as shown below is then displayed.

Figure 15: New Backup Device Dialog

· Enter a name for new backup device in the ‘Device Name’ edit box. The device name represents a logical name that is meaningful to yourself

· Select the corresponding disk or tape option.

· You should now enter the full path on the SQL Server of where the new backup device is going to be stored.

· If the disk option is selected the ‘Browse’ button ‘…’ can be pressed which allows you to browse the directories on the SQL Server. You should browse to a directory that already exists and can then select a file that already exists, or enter a name of a new file. Please note the ‘Browse’ option does not allow you to create new directories. An example of the ‘Browse’ dialog is shown below.

Figure 16: Browse Dialog

Figure 17: New Backup Device Dialog Populated

Once the details of the new backup device dialog have been populated you should then press the ‘OK’ button. The new backup device shall then be added to SQL Server. Note that generally SQL Server only actually creates or attempts to create the actual file on disk or tape when the first backup is performed using the device.
After the ‘OK’ button is pressed the new backup device will be viewable. For an example see Figure 18.

Deleting A Backup Device

To delete an existing MSDE / SQL Server backup device, do the following:

Expand the tree view nodes until the ‘Devices’ node is shown and then select this node, as shown below:

Figure 18: Backup Devices

Position the mouse over the backup device to be deleted. Important the mouse should be position over the grey section to the left of the backup device name; see example below.

Figure 19: Deleting a Backup Device

With the mouse positioned over the grey area, press the right mouse button and a context menu shall be displayed.
Select ‘Delete’ and you shall now be asked to confirm deletion of the device.
Important: MSDE / SQL Server when deleting a device does not always delete the actual file. Should you require to actual delete the file you should first delete the device and then delete the actual files using Windows.

Viewing Contents of a Backup Device

To view the contents of a backup device follow the same instructions as ‘Deleting A Backup Device’, however select ‘View Contents’ from the context menu that is displayed when the mouse is right clicked (see Figure 19). An example screen of the contents of backup device are shown below.

Figure 20: Backup Device Contents

Backing-Up

In to perform a backup you should have as a minimum already of registered your MSDE / SQL Server with ‘MSDE Backup / Restore’, please see section ‘Registering a MSDE / SQL Server’ for instructions on how to do this. Once you have registered your MSDE Server follow these instructions.

Your data is often one of your most valuable assets to your company and because of this it is essential that you have a disaster recovery plan. The plan should be tested at regular intervals to ensure that your backups are correct and that no problems exist with your media. In order to test your backups it is recommended that you restore your data to a new database.

It is highly recommended that you visit Microsoft's website for detailed information concerning SQL Server backing-up and restores. WWW.MSDE.BIZ or any of its representatives are not liable for the quality of your backups.

Open the tree view node ‘Databases’ as shown in the following diagram.

Figure 21: Backing-Up

Position the mouse over the wording ‘Database’ and press the right mouse button. This shall bring-up a context menu.
From the context menu, click on ‘Backup Database’ and this shall open up the ‘Backup’ dialog as shown below.

Figure 22: Backup Dialog

Press the ‘Database’ dropdown box and select the database that you require backing-up. After selection of your backup database the narrative ‘Processing using this database’ is updated to indicate the number of processes that are connected to the database you have selected for backup. The figure below show the ‘Accounts’ database being selected for backup.

Figure 23: Accounts database being selected for backup.

The ‘Backup Set Header Information’ details are optional, and simply allow you to attach notes about the backup to be performed. These details can be left with their default values.
With regard to the ‘Action’, MSDE / SQL Server provides various backups, with the main ones being (1) "Database - Complete", (2) "Database - Differential", and, (3) "Transaction Log". The type of backup that you use should be dependant on your disaster recovery policy and it is essential that you implement and test your disaster recovery plan!

Action: "Database - Complete"

Since SQL Server allows on-line backups it is suggested that "Database - Complete" backups are performed when allowable (i.e. for small databases). The advantage of performing a complete backup is that the restore process is simplified, since only one action is required for a restore (i.e. restore of the complete database).

Action: "Database - Differential"

Should your database be of considerable size it is suggested that you perform a combination of "Database - Complete" backups and "Database - Differential" backups. Using this latter method, for example you could perform a complete backup every Sunday and for every other day you would perform a differential backup. The differential backup, backs-up all the changes that have occurred since the last complete backup. The advantage with this approach is that differential backups should not take as long to perform as complete backups, since only the changes are backed-up. When doing a restore, two actions would generally be required. The first action would be to restore the complete backup and the second action would be to restore the latest differential backup. If you find that your differential backup is taking almost as long to complete as your complete backup, it is suggested that you perform the complete backups on a more regular interval.

Action: "Transaction Log"

"Transaction Log" backups should be used for databases that are extremely large and also have many updates occurring on them. A "Transaction Log" backup, backups all the transactions that have occurred from when the transaction log was last truncated. When implementing transaction log backup it is essential that you first perform a "Database - Complete" and then backup the transaction log at periodic intervals. In order to maintain the integrity of the transaction log backups, it is essential that the log is not truncated. The transaction log can be truncated by the following methods (1) Complete database backup is performed, (2) Backup of transaction log is performed with the truncate on completion option ticked, (3) A manual truncation, (4) The SQL 7 Server "Truncate Log on Check Point" option is on, and, (6) The SQL Server 2000 recovery model is set to Simple.

The ‘Target’ options allow you to decide where to store your backup. The target can be ‘Disk’ or ‘Tape’ and you can also backup to an existing device, or specify a Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) destination. The ‘View Contents’ button when pressed shows the contents of an existing backup. For an example of the contents of a backup, look at Figure 20.
The ‘Backup Sets’ has two options ‘Append’ and ‘Overwrite’. The ‘append’ option is used for when you want your backup to be appended to the current backup destination. The ‘overwrite’ option should be selected when you want the contents of the current backup destination to be completely over written.
The ‘Initialize Media’ options are optional and are generally only used for tape backups. The ‘Initialize Media Set’ box should be ticked if you require to write the Microsoft Tape Format (MTF) header to the beginning of the media. Should the media be a tape it will be formatted. The Media Name can be up to 128 characters in length and the Media Description can be up to 255 characters in length.
The ‘Validate Backup’ options should be ticked if you require the backup process to verify that the back-up set is complete and readable once the backup has been completed. It is important to know that this does not check the integrity of the data within the backup or perform an actual verify of the backup.
In order to start the backup process, press the ‘OK’ button, on which you shall then be asked for conformation of the backup. When the backup is in progress feedback of the actual percentage backed-up is displayed, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 24: Backup Feedback

Restoring

In order to perform a restore using ‘MSDE Backup / Restore’, follow these instructions:

Select the tree view node ‘Databases’ as shown in the following diagram and then do a mouse right click so that the context menu is displayed.

Figure 25: Restoring

Click on the ‘Restore Database’ option in the context menu. This shall bring-up the ‘Restore’ dialog that is shown below.

Figure 26: Restore Dialog

‘Restore to Database’ field. This latter field should be populated with the name of the database that the restore will be restored to. The database name does not have to be the same database name as the name of database that was used to perform the backup. For example if you may have backed-up the ‘Accounts’ database and you may want to restore it to a new database, with the new database name being ‘AccountsGeneral’. The ‘Restore to Database’ dropdown box can be used to select a database if you want the restore to overwrite an existing database.
Note that when the ‘Restore to Database’ database name is typed or selected that the ‘Processes using this database’ status is update to indicate the number of processes that are currently connected to the database.
‘Force Restore Over Above Database’. This box should only be ticked if the ‘Restore to Database’ already exists, and its names is different than the name of the database backup name.
The ‘Restore From’ and ‘Source’ fields should be populated with where the backup can be found (i.e. Disk, Tape, Device, UNC path etc).
Because a backup set can hold many backups it is necessary to select the actual backup that should be restored. This is achieved by pressing the ‘Select Backup Within Set’ button. When pressed a dialog similar to the figure below is shown.

Figure 27: Selecting a Backup for Restore

· With the ‘Backup Contents’ form you should now select only one of the backups from within the backup set for restore. A backup is selected by using the mouse, and clicking in the ‘Restore’ column. In the above figure, the backup at position 1 has been selected for restore. After selection of the backup you are returned to the ‘Backup’ dialog which has now been updated with information concerning the specific backup to be restored, the figure below gives an example of this.

Figure 28: Restore with Backup to be Restored Selected

· The ‘Restore Database Files To’ information can now be edited if required. The column ‘Restore Physical Location (Editable)’ allows you to manually edit the file paths so that the database and log files can be restored to specific locations. Generally these are left at their default.

· The ‘Database State After Restore’ and the option ‘Database Fully Operational’ should be left checked if you want the database to be fully operational after the restore. If you have additional transaction logs that you require to restore then the ‘Non operational so that additional transaction logs can be restored’, should be checked.

· Press the ‘OK’ button and the restore shall occur. During the restore process, feedback of the percentage completed of the restore is returned as shown in the following figure.

Figure 29: Restore Progress

Detaching a Database

In order to detach a database from MSDE / SQL Server do the following:

Open up the tree view so that the database to be detached is on display.
Move the mouse of the database to be detached in the tree view and press the right mouse button so that the context menu is displayed. In the following example the database ‘General1’ has been highlighted for detaching.

Figure 30: Detaching a Database

· Select the ‘Detach Database’ option from the menu. A ‘Detach Database’ dialog will now be displayed as shown below.

Figure 31: Detach Database Dialog

· Press the ‘Detach’ button and you shall be prompted to confirm the detachment of the database base.

· After confirmation of detachment the database is detached and you shall then be returned to the main form.

Attaching a Database

To attach a database to a MSDE / SQL Server follow these instructions:

Open the ‘Databases’ node in the tree view and press the right mouse button when the mouse is positioned over the ‘Databases’ node as shown below.

Figure 32: Attaching a Database

Select the menu option ‘Attach Database’ and the ‘Attach Database’ dialog as shown below is presented.

Figure 33: Attaching a Database

Follow the instructions given on the form and press the ‘OK’ button.

Un-Installation

To un-install MSDE Backup use the Windows application ‘Add or Remove Programs’ and remove the program ‘MSDE Backup’.

Important Information Regarding Un-Installing

The MSDE Backup un-installation program does not remove the SQL DMO library files (i.e. SQLDMO.dll). These library files shall remain in the ‘MSDE Backup’ folder in case any other applications refer to them.

If you manually delete these files, it is possible that another application may fail if they are reliant on SQL DMO.

Should this occur it is suggested that you search your computer’s files system for another SQLDMO.dll file. Once found go to the command prompt (i.e. DOS) and change directory until you are in the directory where you found the SQLDMO.dll file. In the SQLDMO.dll directory type ‘regsvr32 SQLDMO.dll’. This latter command registers the SQLDMO.dll library so it can be found by other applications.

Support

Should you require support regarding this product please email WWW.MSDE.BIZ at Support@MSDE.biz

Suggestions

Please email any suggestions that you may have to Suggestions@MSDE.biz