I have a .mdf database I created in my App_Data directory for my site. I'm not sure how to back it up however. I was going to just copy/paste it to another drive but not sure that's actually backing it up as securely as I'd like. I know SQL Server 2008 has a back up option that creates a .bak file and everything but I can't seem to get my database to attach there and then be able to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Open up Sql Server Managment Studio (SSMS). Attach your database by selecting the mdf file. It should pull in your ldf log file as well. Then you will be able to right click the database in object explorer and under tasks you can backup your database into a bak file.