recovery
Sage 50 Backup Won't Restore
The backup exists but Sage won't restore it. That is usually recoverable.
The situation
You have the backup file. Sage 50 will not restore it. The restore either fails outright, stops partway through, or completes and then produces a company that will not open.
This is one of the worst moments in a Sage 50 estate, because the backup was the fallback. But a backup that will not restore is not the same thing as a backup with no data in it. In most cases the records are still inside the file and the problem is structural - the archive is truncated, the internal index is damaged, or the file was written by a version that the restoring copy of Sage will not accept.
What we work with
Sage 50 US (Peachtree) produces .PTB backups. Sage 50 Canadian (Simply Accounting) produces .CAB backups. We handle both lineages.
Send the backup exactly as it is. Do not try to repair it, rename it, or re-save it from another tool first - a failed repair attempt can overwrite the very structures we would otherwise read. If you also still have the original company folder, or an older backup that does restore, send those too. More material means a better recovery.
What we can usually get back
The realistic outcome depends on what damaged the file, and we will not know until we look at it. Broadly:
- A truncated or interrupted backup - the portion that was written is generally recoverable, so you get everything up to the point the backup stopped.
- A structurally damaged archive - usually fully recoverable, because the accounting data itself is intact behind a broken wrapper.
- A version mismatch - not really damage at all. The data is fine and needs to be brought into a form your Sage installation will open.
- A backup written from an already-corrupt company - we recover what the backup contains, which means the underlying damage comes with it and gets addressed on its own terms.
We tell you which of these you have before you commit to anything.
What happens next
Send us the backup and we will evaluate it and tell you what is recoverable, in what form, and what it costs. The evaluation is free, and if we cannot recover your data there is no charge.
If the recovered data is your cue to leave Sage 50 altogether, say so - we can deliver it as a working Sage company or convert it straight into QuickBooks, and it is worth deciding that before the work starts rather than after.