Moving the Software

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Moving the Software

Perhaps your term as membership director has expired and it's time to move the software to the next person, or perhaps you've purchased a new PC and need to move MemberTies from the old machine to the new one. How do you accomplish this?

The process is essentially, 1) Backup the database, 2) Install the Software, 3) Restore the database.

Moving the Software

1.If you're going to be turning the software over to a new user, the first thing you should do is create a new user for the new person to use. Otherwise, you'll have to give them your user name/password so they can log in, which makes it harder to tell who made which changes. To create a new user, see Working with Users. Create a new user with a simple password like "password". The next person can login and change it to something more secure.

2.Backup the database using the Database Toolkit. Take note of where the backup file is saved.

3.Copy the backup file you just created and take it to the new machine. You can email it, put it on removable media like a USB drive, CD-ROM, or ideally just copy it across the network.

4.Copy any additional files associated with your database and take them to the new machine. These may include photos or related files that are been saved on the computer (unless you have the database File and Photo Storage preference set to save these in the database, in which case they will be moved automatically).

5.Now, on the new machine, install MemberTies either from your original install files, or by downloading the current version from the website. DO NOT simply copy all the files from one machine to the other. You won't get all the libraries and registry entries that way, and the program will not run.
 
Again... do not simply copy the program files from one machine to the other... it will cause problems.

6.Use the Database Toolkit on the new machine to restore your backup as a new database.

7.Place any additional files copied earlier in their corresponding locations on the new machine.

8.Now you should be able to start MemberTies normally and the database will appear in the list on the Login window.

 

Troubleshooting

If you restored the database, but when you log in you only see the "sample" record, you may have been given a copy of a new database, or you may have accidentally restored the database to a different name. Go back to the Login window and see if there is another database listed in the Database  list. If the database is there, you can use the Database Toolkit to delete the "empty" database that you don't need anymore.

If you get Windows errors, "bad or missing .dll" errors, or other operating system messages, it normally means you've copied program files instead of installing. You have to actually install the software for it to work. Download the software from our website and run the installation program.

If you have other problems, please contact support and we'll do our best to help.