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Maintenance

Maintaining FastManager

Your subscription to FastManager includes *unlimited* Maintenance, Support and access to any Updates that may be released from time to time.

Remember to check our Updates Page regularly to see if you have the latest revision.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to head to the HelpDesk to get assistance

Backup your database

Although the simplest thing to do is just to zip or copy the entire data folder, this can result in quite a large backup file (the pictures folders can take up quite a lot of space as time goes by).
Therefore, you may prefer to backup just the company & catalogs databases. It's up to you. The steps are essentially the same: it's only a difference between ZIP'ing just the 2 database files and ZIP'ing the entire folder
It is not a good idea to include the FastManager Data Folder in any kind of automated backup process (like Carbonite), or a cloud-folder sync service (such as Google Drive or Dropbox).
Rather manually ZIP the databases, then move them to another folder and let that folder be included in the automated backup.


Step 1: locate your “FastManager Data Folder”

This is the folder where your company database is stored, as well as various other files and folders that FastManager uses.

  • Open FastManager and check in the lower-left corner of the program window, there you will see the “path” to where your main company database is stored.



Using Windows File Explorer locate that folder. In it you will find the following files:

  • db.qdb
  • catalogs.mdb (or it might be just catalogs)

And some folders, such as:

  • thumbnails_1
  • upsshippinglabels
  • … and a few others.

Here is an example:



The simplest thing to do is zip up that whole folder … the only reason not to is if the resulting archive will be too large for the available space or bandwidth. If ths is the case, read on ….


The most important file to have a backup of is db.qdb.
This is the file which contains all your customers, orders, and everything else (except your catalogs and items, those are stored seperately)


Step 2

Get everyone to close FastManager

While FastManager is open , you will see 2 “lock” files in the data folder. You will recognize them by the tiny “lock” emblem on the icon, as well as the fact that they are very very small (only 1kb):

These 2 lock files should disappear after everyone closes FastManager.
If the lock files are still there even after you are sure that FastManager is closed everywhere - contact the HelpDesk for assistance

Once are sure the “lock” files are gone - proceed to the next step:

  • Press Ctrl + A (simultaneously)) on your keyboard to select all the files & folders inside that folder.
  • Or use Ctrl + left-click to selectively highlight only certain files.
  • Select the fies:
    • db.qdb and
    • catalogs.mdb (might be listed as just: catalogs)

You can optionally also select:pictures_1 (this is your Pictures Folder, sometimes also called: thumbnails_1), but remember that this could make your backup file quite large.

  • Now right-click on one of the highlighted items and select:
    • Send to --> Compressed (Zipped) Folder
    • This will zip all the selected files & folders together into one archive,
    • If you're pressed for available space (the thumbnails _1 folder and the “catalogs” database can become quite large), remember that the most important thing to have a backup of, is the main company database file: 'db.qdb'
If in doubt, just back it ALL up



Now you should have a new file in that folder called: db.zip or, possibly: catalogs.zip.

That is your backup.

  • Move or copy that .zip archive to some other folder, for example, if you have your own private NextCloud server, or if you're using a proprietary service such as DropBox or Carbonite, move the file db.zip into a folder that will be picked up by that software so that it makes a remote backup for you (uploads it to your cloud storage).
  • You could also copy it onto a thumb drive or other external, removable storage.
If you use a removable or external drive to store your backups, take it off-site!
If you make a copy of a file and keep it in the same location as the original - you don't have a backup, you just have a copy.
If the hard drive fails or the building burns down, you have lost both.

Backing up a SQL database

This is a “quick and dirty” howto, using SQL Server Management Studio. The video which follows shows a bit more detail

Open “SQL Server Management Studio​”​

  • Connect with “Windows Authentication”
  • Expand Databases
  • Right-click on the database to backup
  • Select/confirm the database to backup
  • Backup to = 'Disk'
  • Click on ADD to add a new backup location & filename
  • Browse to the folder where the backup file will be stored and give it a name
  • (remove any unneeded entries from the list of backups to be created)
  • Then click OK
The video views better in fullscreen mode



Data Verification

From time to time it may become necessary to verify the data contained in the database.

For Example“ You might see some entries on the Accounts Receivable Report that show 0.00 as the balance.
This is often a “glitch” in the data and can be fixed with a Data Verification.

In FastManager, go to File → Data Verification

  • Each option performs a different task.
  • You can safely select all the options,
  • Remember to check the box to confirm that all the other users have closed FastManager before you click on Start



Make sure that **all* the (other) users have closed FastManager before you start the routine


The option to Verify Items will take a long time (especially if you have several vendor catalogs)