Q.    Both my assistant and I have computers. Can we use the DCMS on both at the same time?

No problem! There are several steps and issues though... 

1.  Installing the DCMS on the Second Computer

The quickest way to reinstall the DCMS Windows Version (either to a  new computer or to a computer which had crashed) is to visit this web site and choose the "Support" link from the home page. Then select the "Program Updates" link. On the Program Updates page, you will a list of available updates fro the program. The third one is the "Re-Installation Update". Click on that link. You will be asked for your name and email address. Provide them and click "Let Me In" 

You will then get a page of instructions. Print that page for use later. 

This will help you during and after the download. On the page is also a link to start the download. The file you are downloading is called DCMSDEMO.EXE and is in fact the same file that installs the Demo program. The Demo program is a full, working  version of the program. 

The most important part of the instructions to re-install the DCMS is that you must place your latest backup (a transit disk is preferred - see section 2) in drive A:  BEFORE you start the demo program for the first time. When the program starts, it "rattles" drive A: looking for, among other things, a backup disk. 

When it finds the backup, it will announce its presence and ask if you want to restore the data, which of course, you do. 

2.  Transferring the Data Between Computers 

File transfer is done using special Safety Backups called "Transit Disks".

Make a Safety Back-up of the most up-to-date data. Check the box which asks, "Make This Disk a Transit Disk?". Transit disks are special in that they prompt a data restoration if they are in the drive when the program starts. Regular backups do not. 

Carry the Transit Disk to your other machine. Insert the disk into drive A; in the computer you are moving the data to. With the disk in drive A:, start the DCMS. The program will find the Transit Disk, and offer you the opportunity to restore the data on the backup. If you answer Yes, the data will be transferred to the computer and both computers will have the same information. 

You could also choose to restore the data to the next computer using the Backup Utility from the Utilities menu. Choose Restore Data (from Drive A:) and the data will be extracted from the Transit Disk. 

3.   Using Multiple Computers (Remote Computers) 

Some people are fortunate enough to have more than one computer to work with, for instance when you have a desktop computer and a portable "laptop" for travels; or where you have a computer at the office and the permission and time to use it to update your records. Whatever reason sees you using several machines, you have a problem. If you add, change, delete or otherwise update information on one machine, it is not automatically updated on the other. You must transfer the new data to the other machine. This is done by Transit Disk. 

Whichever way you do it, you must not use both machines at the same time, since the changes cannot be sorted out. The DCMS will copy the newest files over older ones when transferring data. For instance, let’s say both computers had the same data at noon on Friday, June 1st, when you made your last Transit Disk. After that, you added Jane Smith on your main computer at 2:00 PM on Saturday and your secretary adds Mary Brown in her computer at her home at 3:00 PM on Saturday. She then brings a transit disk to the main computer and updates your files as described above. The files she amended at 3:00 are newer than the files you amended at 2:00, so they will overwrite your files and Jane Smith will be lost. This is the reason that you have to be very careful when you use two computers for entering data. Your information can be lost quite easily. I’ve done it before and it will no doubt happen to me again. Be careful. 

The Trick is to develop a discipline where you move the operations of your business from one computer to another. While the business operations are moved to your laptop, for instance, anything you enter in your desktop computer could be overwritten. When you want to return operations to your desktop, make a backup to a Transit Disk on your laptop and have that Transit Disk in drive A: on the desktop computer before you start the DCMS. 

4.  You Can Email the Contents of the Transit Disk Between You and Your Assistant

Finally, you can email the contents of your transit disk to an assistant. To do so, make a Transit Disk as described in section 2 above. Then prepare an email to your assistant. With your Transit Disk in Drive A:, "attach" the two files on the disk to the message. On your email program, like Netscape or Outlook or whatever you use to read and create email, there should be an option in the FILE or EDIT menu that allows you to "attach" a file. Please look to find the option. (In Netscape, open File, and choose Attach File - In Outlook, open  INSERT and choose File Attachment). There might even be an "attach" button visible (usually symbolized by a paperclip) 

Choose the attach option (while composing the message). You might be asked if you want to send the file "as is" or some other way. Choose "as is". The program will ask for the name of the file to attach. Enter the name A:\BACKUP99.LZH  and press <Enter>. Then return to the Attach option and enter the name of the second file   A:\TRANSIT.  Then return to the message, finish it and send it. It will take a few moments more to send, but a copy of the backup will be included. 

When your assistant receives the message, she should see two "attachments" to it. She should click on each attachment and choose to save it to a disk. She should have a blank floppy disk in drive A:, or she could use a previous Transit Disk. When asked where to save the file, steer the file to the disk in Drive A:, overwriting the previous file there if it already exists. If the TRANSIT file is already on the floppy disk, it needs not be copied again, but the BACKUP99.LZH file does need to be copied.

The disk in your assistant's drive is now a Transit Disk and can be used to restore your amended data into her computer.

When she is finished working, she can make a Transit Disk with the updated data and send you an email with the two files attached. On receipt of the message, you extract the attachments and create your own Transit Disk, reversing the above process to get the data back.

Hope that helps
 

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