Diabetes Pilot - Software for Palm PDA's and Windows PC's

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Making a backup of your Diabetes Pilot Data

A backup of your data can be useful in many situations. For example:

Your handheld lost its memory contents due to running out of battery power.
You got a new handheld and want to transfer your data to the new device
You accidentally erased your data somehow

We recommend backing up your data periodically. There are several different methods for backing up your data:

Using Diabetes Pilot Desktop to back up your data
Backup with a third-party backup program
Exporting your data

Each of these methods is described below.

Using Diabetes Pilot Desktop to back up your data

When you use our Diabetes Pilot Desktop software (sold separately), your data can be synchronized automatically the Palm and Desktop software each time you HotSync. This gives you a copy of your data that you can access directly on your desktop computer. This is particularly useful if your handheld should become lost or damaged. Click here for more information on using Diabetes Pilot Desktop with your handheld.

Backup with a third-party backup program

You may wish to use a third-party backup program to back up all of the data on your handheld. "Backup Buddy" is one such program - it's available at www.backupbuddy.com. We have no relationship with the manufacturer of this program, but have had good experience with it.

Typically, Palm backup programs will copy your data when you do a HotSync. The data is stored on your computer as a Palm database file that can be reinstalled to your handheld, but cannot otherwise be used on your desktop computer.

This backup file for Diabetes Pilot is called "Diabetes_Pilot_Data.pdb". The exact location depends on the particular configuration of your computer and software. Typically, the file will be located in a subfolder of where your Palm desktop data is stored. If you should ever need it, the easiest way to find this file is to use the file search function on your computer (on the PC: from the "start" button select "search", then "files or folders") and search for the file "Diabetes_Pilot_Data.pdb".

The food database is backed up separately. To find the food database file, search for the file "Diabetes_Pilot_Foods.pdb", following the instructions above.

If you wish to maintain periodic backups from further back than just your last HotSync, we suggest that you make a copy of the backup file to another location occasionally. We recommend that you copy the backup file to another location (such as a floppy disk or another folder on your desktop computer) before upgrading to a new version of the program.

Restoring your backup data

Once you have located this file, it can be installed to your handheld. This will restore your Diabetes Pilot data. To install the backup file and restore your data, follow the instructions with your backup software. Or, with some setups, you can follow the steps below:

Open the Palm Install tool. (This is usually located on your computer in the Start Menu, under "Programs", then under "Palm Desktop".)
In the Palm Install Tool, click on "Add..." You will be prompted for a file. Locate the backup file and select it. Click "Open".

Depending on the circumstances, you may also need to restore the Diabetes Pilot program file and food database in addition to restoring your data. Click here for instructions on downloading and installing the program and original food database.

If you have a backup copy of your personal food database, you can restore it by following the instructions above with the "Diabetes_Pilot_Foods.pdb" file.

Backing up your data by exporting it

Diabetes Pilot also allows you to back up your data by exporting it to the Palm memo pad. This type of backup is useful because it provides you with a copy of most of your data in a format that you can read completely independently of Diabetes Pilot. Exporting your data is also a useful way to get the data into other programs for analysis and sharing with your doctor. However, this method of backup will not allow you to restore your data in Diabetes Pilot.

Detailed instructions on backing up your data by exporting it can be found by clicking here.