tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/problems/57285-how-to-restore-lost-laptop-hard-drive-and-data-files-from-dropboxInfinite Kind: Discussion 2020-01-31T18:00:23Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/477958072019-11-01T17:52:56Z2019-11-01T17:52:56ZHow to restore Lost Laptop Hard Drive and Data files from Dropbox<div><p>I am not support staff, just a user.</p>
<p>You don’t state, but I am assuming you are running Moneydance 2019?<br>
The following is based on this assumption.</p>
<p>Manual backup. A manual backup can be made under FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – BACKUP EXPORT. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname-yyyymmdd-tttt.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>Automatic backup is set under FILE – PREFERENCES – BACKUPS. Auto backup makes a backup every time you close Moneydance. Moneydance only keep the last auto backup of the day, overwriting any previous auto backups for that day. You can set the number of backups to be kept. When this number is exceeded the oldest backup is deleted. The file naming convention is yourdatasetname.yyyy-mm-dd.moneydancearchive</p>
<p>The default backup location can be found under HELP – SHOW BACKUP FOLDER. In both cases you can select the backup location and as such it is good practice to set the location on a cloud server such as Dropbox, in case your hard drive fails.</p>
<p>Your screen shots do not show any backups in Dropbox.</p>
<p>If your loss your data set on your primary computer and also your backups, but have been syncing to another device it should be possible to recover the data set.</p>
<p>Open Moneydance on your primary computer. If Moneydance opens in the Welcome to Moneydance window click CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT SET or if Moneydance is open in a data set click FILE (MONEYDANCE on Mac) – NEW.<br>
Then click OPEN SYNCED FILE. Use the dropdown to set the same sync method as you were using. Click NEXT and highlight your data set from the list. Click NEXT and enter the same encryption password (passphrase) for syncing as before and click FINISH. If your data set is synced back into your computer it will be as a second computer data set, you can’t change the sync method and need converting into a primary computer data set as below. Also, you may find a lot of old, maybe closed accounts or other accounts you have removed from the side bar reappearing in the side bar. Use the “+” sign at bottom of side bar then ADVANCED to tidy up the side bar.</p>
<p>Procedure for converting a secondary data set into a primary data set.</p>
<p>Do a FILE – EXPORT BACKUP in case something goes wrong.</p>
<p>To convert a secondary data set to a primary data set you need to run the attached script md2017_convert_secondary_to_master.py in Moneydance 2019. Don’t worry it states 2017.<br>
With your data set open click WINDOW - SHOW MONEYBOT CONSOLE use OPEN SCRIPT to select the script and click OPEN then RUN. Wait until the script has run, this may take some time. Close and reopen Moneydance. You should now be able to change the syncing method, leave it at the current syncing method.<br>
You should now find all your devices are syncing again with your primary data set recovered.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p></div>derekkent23