Atola Insight Forensic: Database backup and restore

To be able to backup and restore Atola Insight Forensic database, you will need Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express. You can download it here.

Backup

To backup the database, please follow these steps:

  1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. Establish database connection (with default settings).
  3. Select Databases folder on the tree.
  4. Right-click AtolaInsightForensic and select Tasks > Back Up.
  5. Check the backup destination and change it if desired.
  6. Click OK.

Restore

This procedure will work only if you did not move backup file (for example, from another PC). If you are moving the database over to another PC, see Restore when moving.

  1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. Establish database connection (with default settings).
  3. Select Databases folder on the tree.
  4. Right-click AtolaInsightForensic and select Tasks > Restore > Database.
  5. Select the desired backup file.
  6. Click OK.

Move

To move the database from one PC over to another, please follow these steps:

  1. Backup your database on the source PC.
  2. Copy backup file over to destination PC.
  3. Restore the backup file on the destination PC (see Restore when moving below).

Restore when moving

  1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. Establish database connection (with default settings).
  3. Right-click Databases folder on the tree and select Restore Database.
  4. In the To database field enter AtolaInsightForensic.
  5. In Source for restore, select From device.
  6. Point to the database backup file.
  7. Click OK.

If you only have .mdf and .ldf files

This may happen if your operating system has crashed and you are reinstalling everything from scratch. In this case you would need to copy AtolaInsightForensic.mdf and AtolaInsightForensic_log.LDF files from the old hard drive over to the new one. You may find these files in:

  • "C:\Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Atola\Insight Forensic\", if (localdb)\V11.0 instance is used (default).
  • "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\", if SQLEXPRESS instance is used.

After you have copied the database files, follow these steps:

  1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. Establish database connection (with default settings).
  3. Right-click Databases folder on the tree and select Attach.
  4. Click Add and select AtolaInsightForensic.mdf.
  5. Click OK.
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