Upgrades to Hardware or Windows

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Q: How do I handle upgrading my hardware or my version of Windows?

A: If you get new computing hardware or upgrade your version of Windows on the computer that holds your MainBoss database, you will want to migrate your MainBoss installation to the new system as painlessly as possible. We recommend the following steps.

  1. Before you abandon the old system, make a backup of your MainBoss database using Administration —> Database —> Backup.
  2. Copy the backup file to a safe location (e.g. burn it onto a CD or copy it to another computer in the network).
  3. On the new system, install the MainBoss software. Specify that you want to create a new database under C:\MainBoss.
  4. Start MainBoss on the new system and use Administration —> Database —> Restore to restore the database from the backup file. Restore it to the location C:\NMainBoss. (The letter "N" stands for "new".)
  5. Exit MainBoss. Use Windows Explorer locate the folder called C:\MainBoss.
  6. Rename the folder C:\MainBoss to OMainBoss. (The letter "O" stands for "old".)
  7. Rename the folder C:\NMainBoss to C:\MainBoss.
  8. Restart MainBoss. Now you'll be working with the restored database. Reindex the database with Administration —> Database —> Re-Index. You can then use MainBoss as normal.
  9. Delete the C:\OMainBoss folder. This folder holds the empty "new" database created when you installed MainBoss in step 3 above. You don't need the empty database because you're now using your original data.

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