>sure, a backup is a copy from whatever you are currently using - but a >backup from your database IS a copy of your database, by whatever means >created (e.g. select file in finder and copy it directly there or e.g. >via eMA and told to NOT trash copied messages). but it is different then >an archive where you no longer keep the data in the active application >(e.g. via eMA and told TO TRASH copied messages), and it was that point I >wanted to make clear without introducing (seemingly to a new user) too >much complexity.
Back in the days when files where not flung liberally all over the disk, I found backup/restore and archiving much easier. With Powermail 2.4v8j (Which I am still running), one strategy that I have found that works very well for me is to create a 500 - 600 MB disk image, and store the PowerMail application, keys, preferences and data files on this disk image. This has two advantages: First, you can easily backup your mail database by quitting the mail program, unmounting the disk image, and then burning it to a CD. This also has the advantage that you can take this CD to almost any Mac, put it in, and access your e-mail. I also have an Applescript that creates a backup copy of this the disk image on my hard drive twice a week (to protect against DB corruption), and I back it up to CD every two weeks (to protect against system/hardware failures). With this approach, I have only once lost messages (3 days worth) since I started using Powermail in early 1999. (My DB got corrupted due to a malformed spam message). Second, you can easily handle archiving. Each year, I create a new, clean e-mail setup using Powermail. Since I can mount my e-mail backups as disk images (I set them to be read-only), I can easily switch between messages databases to access my historical e-mail, copy/paste, search, etc, using the Powermail user interface directly. While I can only certify that this works well for me and when using an older version of Powermail running on the classic version of MacOS, perhaps one of those people whom know MacOSX better then I may know of a way to take advantage of this technique. Thanks, David Slik
