One easy way to insure you have the list when needed is to use the print all feature from the Family Emergency Plan A or B screen. This will print all reports for your inventory, contacts, and emergency plan. You then will have at the very least a printed list with photos to provide to the insurance company or other agencies if needed. Plus a copy of your emergency plan with images of important documents that you have placed in the database.

IMPORTANT! - Filenames that end with .TPS are your data files. These files store your inventory data.

Just copy the all of the My ICE Plan folders to another location to backup . That's all to it! However read below for some backup solutions that are portable and easily accomplished.

Other backup options are..."unplug and go" and/or "plug and go"

You should make sure that you backup your data. To do so make sure you back up the folder that the software was installed in . It contains the data files for your inventory as well as all of your image and movie files.

We like and favor the idea of using a USB external hard drive or USB thumb drive because it is extremely easy and portable. Just insert the thumb drive into a USB slot on any computer and use it. You can also use purchase security software to password protect the drive. Space on a thumb drive may be an issue if you have many images and movies. Although you may be able to buy thumb drives that have 8+ gig of space that may satisfy your needs. USB External hard drives can be purchased with plenty of space for a very inexpensive price and is an excellent choice too.

One idea would be to install the software on a external USB hard drive along with any other documents you deem valuable. You can then take the external hard drive and leave the house when an emergency arises. Or you can purchase a 2nd USB external hard drive that is at least the same size as the external drive you work on and back up everything onto that drive, syncing or mirroring the two drives. Then store that 2nd drive in a safe deposit box or other safe location. Do this at least once per month or when you make major changes. Using an USB external drive will allow you to " unplug and go" and/or "plug and go" . Meaning you can take the USB drive, plug it into any other Windows computer (or MAC computer running Windows) and have all of your images, important documents, and other important files as well as being able to use My ICE Plan all in one easy connection in a matter of minutes. When the time comes in the form of a disaster (and we hope never) you will be extremely glad you had taken time to create a solution to get at all of your important files in minutes. Not to mention the relief in knowing you have an inventory of your items to submit to the insurance company and other agencies. My ICE Plan was designed to be able to run anywhere from any Windows computer without re-installing the software.

There are many options - use the one that best fits your needs and liking but most of all make sure you do a backup. Even if it is a printed report but do one. 

Storing data on a web server

The advantage to storing your data on a web server means your data is available to you 24x7 . The disadvantage is that your personal data may be compromised by some hacker. It is also available for viewing to any one who has access to the servers. The decision to store all of your personal information regarding items owned, finances and notes about your family is one that should not be taken without great care in the decision process.