Backing up files

I have tried searching and reading the installation docs, and I can not seem to find the answer to how to back up my files. I figure it is so easy, nobody bothers to ask....

I can back up my database no problem, but I am in the process of doing a lot of modification of my settings and adding modules, etc.

I want to basically backup my files as I work so if I, for example, add a module and it doesn't work for me, I can go back to what I had before.

Can I just FTP my "shop" files onto my computer and then if I need to revert, just delete what I had and upload my old files?

Or when I want to revert, should I just overwrite the files that are there?

Sorry, but I am unfamiliar with how PHP works and I don't know the implications of what I am thinking of doing.

Thanks for any help you can give me, even a link to where the information can be found would help.

Thanks Pat

edited for spelling

Yes, you can FTP your shop files on the server to your local PC as a backup. You could also install Apache/PHP/MySQL on your local PC so that you could test out any new mods on your local PC 'server' before you copied them up to your live site. There's a couple of packages available to install a server on your local PC - WAMP and ApacheTriad come to mind, but there may be others.

Thanks for the quick response, that is just what I needed to know.

I don't think I will configure a "server" on my PC, I am working on sub directory on my web host and that way I can work on my site from different locations.

My regular website, which is a basic web page with html links to a hosted shopping cart is not effected by having zencart installed on the same site, and I like that I can work on it a bit at a time from where ever I am.

Pat