Aside from the critical role they perform in ensuring your data can be recovered in the case of data corruption or data loss, backups can be useful for referencing information from an earlier point in time.
And in those unfortunate circumstances when you do need to restore to an earlier version of your data, your backups serve that purpose too.
Before you begin
If you’re not sure what a backup is, best start with our article on backups.
Essential to being able to restore a backup is knowing where your backups are stored and what format they are in—Genie’s automated backup format (Genie.4BK) or another, external format?
It is common for your backups to be taken from the Genie server machine to be stored on an external hard drive or a different drive of the server computer, so your Genie server machine is a good place to start looking for your most recent backup.
However, if no one at your practice is sure who maintains your backups, you may wish to seek assistance from your nominated IT support as they will most likely be the ones taking care of this for you.
You will ideally want to restore the backup data on a machine that isn’t running the Genie Server application—a Genie Client machine, for example.
Restoring a Genie Automated Backup converts the Genie[XXXX].4BK file to a folder containing the Genie data file (i.e. Genie.4DD).
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Close any instances of Genie that may be running on this machine
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Create a new folder and name it GenieRestore
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Run the Genie Installer (contact Genie Support on support@geniesolutions.com.au if you do not have an installer file for the version of Genie you were running when your backup data was taken)
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Follow the prompts that appear on the screen, including accepting the Customer Service Level Agreement
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When asked which elements to install, from under the Full Installation option select Single User/Solo (and Genie Server if you wish to use this restored backup as your new data file for Genie Client to connect to)
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When asked to select the destination to install to, click the Browse… (Win) or Select Other… (Mac) button, select the GenieRestore folder you have just created and click OK/Open
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Click the Install button and wait for the installation to complete. Once complete, the Installer Wizard window will have a Finish button for you to click
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Inside the GenieRestore folder that you have created, double click on the Genie Solo application and immediately press and hold the Alt/Option key on your keyboard until the ‘You pressed the “Alt/Option” key’ window appears
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Select the Restore a backup file option
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You will be prompted to select a 4DD backup file. It will be in the format of Genie[XXXX].4BK and will be stored within your backup folder location. Navigate to this location, select the backup file and click Open
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In the Restoration of Data window, click the Restore button
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Once the restore has completed successfully you will receive the message below to tell you that the restored data file is ready
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A folder will be created in the same location as the Genie[XXXX].4BK file called Genie[XXXX]. This will contain your restored Genie data file (i.e. Genie.4DD)
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Copy the Genie.4DD file from your backup location and paste this file into the GenieRestore folder that you have created.
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Inside the GenieRestore folder you have created, double click on the Genie Solo/Single User application and immediately press and hold the Alt/Option key on your keyboard until the ‘You pressed the “Alt/Option” key’ window appears
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Choose the Select another data file option and click Continue
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Navigate to the GenieRestore folder
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Select the Genie.4DD and click Open
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Genie Solo will open and you can check that your backup contains the data you require
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You should remove any unwanted data files from this machine to prevent accidentally entering information into the incorrect data file
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Close any instances of Genie that may be running on this machine
-
Create a new folder and name it GenieRestore
-
Run the Genie Installer (contact Genie Support on support@geniesolutions.com.au if you do not have an installer file for the version of Genie you were running when your backup data was taken)
-
Follow the prompts that appear on the screen, including accepting the Customer Service Level Agreement
-
When asked which elements to install, select Single User/Solo (and Genie Server if you are wishing to use this restored backup as your new data file for Genie Client to connect to) from under the Full Installation option:
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When asked to select the destination to install to, click the Browse… (Win) or Select Other… (Mac) button, select the GenieRestore folder you have just created and click OK/Open
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Click the Install button and wait for the installation to complete. Once complete, the Installer Wizard window will have a Finish button for you to click
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Copy the data files from your backup location and paste them into the GenieRestore folder that you have created. The data files are the Genie.4DD, Genie.4DIndx, Genie.Match, Genie.4DSyncData, and Genie.4DSyncHeader, or if using Genie Version 7, Genie.4DD and Genie.4DR.
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Inside the GenieRestore folder that you have created, double click on the Genie Solo/Single User application and immediately press and hold the Alt/Option key on your keyboard until the ‘You pressed the “Alt/Option” key’ window appears
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Choose the Select another data file option and click Continue
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Navigate to the GenieRestore folder
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Select the Genie.4DD and click on Open
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Genie Solo will open and you can check that your backup contains the data you require
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You should remove the unwanted data file from this machine to prevent accidentally entering data into the incorrect data file
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