system utilities

BACKING UP YOUR DATA / See Also: Backing up to a CD

An extremely important aspect of any data base type system is the backing up of your data onto another disk for insurance against hard drive failure. While computer systems are becoming more and more reliable, hard drive problems or data corruption due to power surges or drop off are still fairly common. IT IS IMPORTANT TO BACK UP YOUR DATA ON A REGULAR BASIS. (once a week or so) The system is equipped with a backup / restore utility which will save your data to a floppy disk or hard drive. The utility compresses your data, saving space and generally will allow your database to be saved onto a single floppy. (depends on how much data) The utility only saves your DATA, the program itself is not backed up so be sure to hold onto your original program disks in the event that you should need to reinstall your system onto a new computer!

To open the Backup / Restore utility , click "Start", "Programs", "Dawin" and "Backup/Restore". The Backup/Restore utility has three commands, "Backup", "Restore" and "Close". The "Include orders" option will include any order files which are stored in the "Orders" sub directory. THESE ARE ORDER TO THE COMPANY, NOT CUSTOMER ORDERS. Customer orders are automatically backed up. Including orders with your backup is optional. To include orders with your backup, make sure that this option is checked before clicking "Backup.

Backing Up

Click on the "Backup" pushbutton to open the "Select Location" window.

1. Enter a name for your backup into the "File Name" field. The system does not support "Long File Names". Backups are automatically saved with the .zip file extension. It is recommended that backups are labeled with the date that you are backing up on.  012902

2. Select the drive that you are saving the file to with the "Drives" list box. (A or B for a floppy disk.)

3. Insert a blank disk into your disk drive if you are backing up to a floppy.

4. With the drive selected and the name in the File Name field click OK to begin the backup.

5. If you are backing up to a floppy drive the system will open a prompt, asking you to insert the "First disk of the multi-volume set.". IF YOUR SYSTEM DOES NOT PROMT FOR THE MULTI VOLUME SET, YOU ARE NOT BACKING UP TO A FLOPPY DISK (A) THE BACKUP IS EITHER GOING TO YOUR HARD DRIVE OR ANOTHER HARD DRIVE IF THIS WAS SELECTED. The prompt just means that you're backing up to a small disk and that it may require more. With your first blank disk in the drive, click OK to start the backup. If your backup requires more than one disk you will be prompted to insert additional disks.  If your disk has another backup on it, the system will save as much as it can on the first disk and then ask for another. This means that a backup that could be saved to a single disk is being saved to 2 since the first disk has another backup on it. It's recommended that you rotate disks, deleting older backups before backing up again or using new disks for backups. Disks wear out and they should periodically be labeled with the date and placed in a safe place.

6. When the backup is complete a message box appears verifying that it was successful. Click OK to close the backup utility and return to the windows desktop.

Restoring Your Data From A Backup

1. To restore your database from an existing backup, open the backup utility.(see above). ONLY RESTORE YOUR DATA AS A LAST RESORT IF YOU'VE ABSOLUTELY LOST YOUR DATA OR ARE REINSTALLING ONTO A NEW COMPUTER.

2. Click on "Restore" to open the "Select File" window. Insert your disk and point the "Select File" window to the location of your backup file with the"Folders" and "Drives" list boxes.

3. Click on you backup file or enter the name of the backup including the file extension (backup.zip) into the "File Name" field.

4. With the file name entered and the correct location appearing in the "Select File" window, Click "OK" to begin the restore.

5. When restoring from a floppy drive you will be prompted to insert disks as needed.

6. When restoring, the system will prompt you before overwriting the existing database.

7. When the restore is complete a message box appears verifying that it was successful. Click OK to close the backup/restore utility and return to the windows desktop.

8. Important! If you are restoring an old data base that was created with an earlier version of the program, always restore from the Backup/Restore icon, never from within the program.

I'm trying to backup but after clicking OK, it doesn't do anything! Any suggestions?

When backing up you need to remember 2 things... Select the drive you wish to backup to (A or B) and then Name The File! If it's not doing anything, you haven't named the file. We require you to name the file so that you won't be tempted to rely on the same disk forever. It's recommended that you have more than 1 backup disk in your possession. You don't want to have your entire business riding one 1 twenty cent disk!

DATABASE MAINTENANCE

A utility program is included which compresses your data and rebuilds the data structure to ensure that your database has not been corrupted by power surges etc. This utility should be run periodically (about once a month with heavy usage) or if you experience any problems. DO NOT RUN THIS PROGRAM WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS RUNNING ON YOUR COMPUTER OR IF YOU ARE LOW ON AVAILBLE HARD DRIVE SPACE! (Less than the size of your database) Double click on the "Maintenance" icon to open the Database Maintenance program. Click "Continue" to launch the maintenance procedure. You will be prompted when the Maintenance is complete.

Auto Maintenance

The system will automatically launch the maintenance program if it is detected that the system was exited improperly. If you should have a power outage or turn your system off by mistake, the system will run the auto maintenance utility before going into the program.