Cause #2: Incomplete

An incomplete QuickBooks® backup will not restore successfully .
Though many types of media may be used for making QuickBooks® backups. This issue primarily revolves around the use of the standard 3 ½" disk, better known as the "floppy disk". If attempting to restore an incomplete backup, you will most likely end up stuck in a loop with the message of Figure 2 below, again the disk number refferenced in the message can vary.

Figure 2

QuickBooks® is basically asking you for a specific disk, either you have it, or you don't.
You may be very aware that your backup is incomplete, for example you may know that your backup usually takes 5, 3 ½" Floppy discs, but you may only be able to find 4 of them; however, there are other reasons you may have an incomplete backup.

Bottom line: If you find yourself up against a case of your backup being incomplete, your options are:

  1. Restore any other backups you may have and re-enter anything needed to bring it up to date.
  2. Start a brand new Company Data File, basically start over from scratch.
  3. Proceed with Backup Damage Recovery services. Click the Service Request link at the top of the page to get details on our backup damage services including, pricing, turnaround times and an online submission form to get your service started as soon as possible.

Below we will go over some basics about QuickBooks® backups, and reasons why you may have an incomplete backup.
 

Basics of QuickBooks® backups

Lets get started with a few general facts about QuickBooks® and QuickBooks® backups.

  1. QuickBooks® does NOT automatically create backups to removable media.
  2. A QuickBooks® backup will have an extension of .QBB.
  3. If a QuickBooks® backup exceeds the amount of data your media can store it will prompt to insert another disk.
Making Backups, Incomplete Backups

What we have found to be the leading issue with most incomplete backup cases deals with spanned backups.
A "spanned" backup is one that takes more than 1 piece of media.
As we discussed this issue is seen more with 3 ½ " floppy disk backups, so our examples of QuickBooks® prompts reflect backing up to the A: drive. If the backup being created is larger than amount of free space on the first disk QuickBooks® will backup what it can onto the first disk, then give the prompt shown as Figure 3 below.

Figure 3

This prompt will reappear as needed asking for you to insert disk 3, disk 4, etc. until the backup is completed.
What Usually Goes Wrong

OK This is what usually goes wrong, and where attention to detail is what becomes critical.
If you receive the prompt shown in Figure 3, and DO NOT insert a new disk before clicking OK, you will receive the message prompt shown below as Figure 4.

Figure 4

What's happening here is that QuickBooks® is looking to your backup disk, and is seeing that there is already a backup, or part of a backup there, not wanting to automatically replace it, it displays this prompt.
 
If you click YES to this prompt before inserting the next disk, you are basically telling your computer to DELETE the backup portion that is already on the disk and replace it with the next portion of the backup.
Once this action is taken, there is not a way to reverse it, and you have just now created an incomplete backup that will not restore.
 
So How Bad Is It?

The severity of this type of QuickBooks® backup damage can vary greatly. Even if you pursue Backup Damage Recovery services, you must be aware that there will be quite a gap of missing information in the final recovered file.
For example, if this occurs and you have 3 discs of a backup when there should be 4, you can pretty much expect to be missing about 25% of any information ever entered into the file.
If you have only 1 disk when there should be 2, you would be missing about half of the information ever entered.
If for some reason this occurs and you are actually missing part 1 of a spanned backup, the situation is very serious.
Part 1 of any spanned QuickBooks® backup, holds much of the groundwork for the remaining backup portions to work with. Then again if there are no other backups to revert to anything may be better than nothing.
 

Bottom line: If you find yourself up against a case of your backup being incomplete, your options are:

  1. Restore any other backups you may have and re-enter anything needed to bring it up to date.
  2. Start a brand new Company Data File, basically start over from scratch.
  3. Proceed with Backup Damage Recovery services. Click the Service Request link at the top of the page to get details on our backup damage services including, pricing, turnaround times and an online submission form to get your service started as soon as possible.