FORSCAN - All As-Built Data .ab file a full backup?

[Oakstone]

Heya,

I am about to embark on the FORSCAN adventure for the first time. I have seen instructions that go two ways. One is to go to all AS BUILT modules in the truck and back them all up one at a time. The other is to go to Index - FordServiceInfo.Com (motorcraftservice.com) enter your VIN and download a .ab file.

I have done the latter and have the .ab file saved. Is that enough for me to start making FORSCAN changes without going through the long process of backing up every module individually?

My thought process is to back up only the modules I'm going to make changes in (along with notes in a spreadsheet), so I can restore an individual module if I want to, but have the .ab file as a general backup.

I will totally do "every AS BUILT" if that's the best practice, but figured if I could save some time and still be protected, I'd do the more incremental way.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Sponsored

 

[antho]

It doesn’t take that long to save each module. The benefit to saving each module is if you want to revert it back to factory you can load the file for that module vs trying to find the differences. I know you can “restore” the abt if connected to the internet now but at some point the changes you have made will get updated to the server. So “restoring” wouldn’t exactly be the factory abt.

 

[Oakstone]

Ah ok gotcha thanks! I didn't catch the part about the truck being the source for the .ab file on Ford's servers so that totally makes sense that I'd want a local AS BUILT for all modules since the future .ab file would represent my changes not how it rolled off the line at the factory.

 

[imnuts]

What I'd recommend, before making any changes, save the settings for the module you're in. If you're doing it for the first time, not a huge deal, but in a few months, if you want to change something else, your initial backup could be "bad" if you received an OTA. This let's you have the latest backup available all the time.

Having the factory file from Motorcraft and doing an initial backup from every module is a great start though before your first changes.

 

[Oakstone]

Thanks for the advice. I did a full backup before beginning and had a very successful first crack at using Forscan last night

Sponsored