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The issues you are having are not normal behavior for the software. There is an underlying reason for these issues - though it is not yet apparent. Despite the problems you are having, we can assure you that the software is fundamentally sound and is very reliable.
It sounds like something is going on at the hardware/OS/Network/Network OS level(s) that is causing you grief. I suspect that there is at least one setting somewhere in the PC/Network system that is causing these strange occurrences. However, because there are so many troubleshooting scenarios, it is way beyond our support ability to troubleshoot each one. As you know, POSitive is writing a lot of data all the time - way more data than almost any other software you run. Timing is everything in database data writing. There may be some sort of caching going on that is causing a data file to not be written right away - explaining mysterious disappearances of data - or maybe that has NOTHING to do with anything - after all, I don't know the answer - else I would have told you what the answer is! But, in troubleshooting, take PC's out of the loop - especially the ones that are causing trouble - that would be a good first step toward finding out why you have trouble.
Here are a few things we suggest you take a look at:
o Did you notice any troubles like this in your demo data? Have you tried it in the demo data?
o Do you have the latest version of PFW installed? I don't believe these issues are a POSitive programming problem, but if you upgrade to the latest version, then we have at least eliminated the question of whether it could be cured with a software update.
o Have you rebooted your PC(s), and your server? Many problems are solved by restarting computers.
o Try disabling unnecessary startup programs in Windows.
o Are your Virus Scanners scanning each POSitive file? These slowdowns interrupt writing timing. Find settings in your virus scanner and omit PFW files from being scanned during read and write. If you can omit scanning on the entire PFW folder, excellent, a 2nd choice would have it omit *.TPS from scanning.
o Is your virus scanner a memory and resource hog? Try completely disabling it.
o Check your mapping. In POSitive, if you go to Help -> About POSitive for Windows, at the bottom of the window, you will see the data path. This will tell you where POSitive is running from. Assuming you have the root driver shared on the server, you should see "C:\pfw\Data2" on the server and "P:\pfw\Data2" on the workstations where P is the mapped network drive. If you see something like "\\server\c\pfw\data2" then you need to map a drive to "\\server\c". If you don't know how to do this, please contact your network administrator. If you see something like "P:\data2", you are mapped to the pfw folder instead of the folder above it. In this case you will probably need to change the share on the server. The mapped network drive should point to the folder directly above pfw. For example, if POSitive is installed in the default location(C:\pfw), the entire C drive on the server would need to be shared on the server and then mapped on the workstations. If you don't know how to do this, contact your network administrator. If there are any questions about this procedure please contact POSitive technical support.
o Run Network Check on each of the machines on your network. This checks your opportunistic locking settings in Windows and changes them to the settings that will cause POSitive to perform the best. You can choose Utilities from the Choose Company screen and click the Network Check button.
-Place a check next to the option "Change Registry Settings if Necessary"
-Click Test
-Reboot if changes made
o Is the server running a screen saver? 3D screen savers are especially resource
o Are the server or workstations running any kind of power saving modes? Don't allow hard drivers or other components to shut down or otherwise run minimal power settings.
o Does each machine when it logs on to the network have FULL ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS? They need to have full administrator rights. Read/write access is not sufficient.
o Do you have Adware/spyware/malware or viruses that are lurking and causing issues?
o Do you have Adware or spyware scanners running? Try disabling them altogether.
o Have you installed other software that may be hogging memory, CPU, or Network resources?
o Does one workstation seem to offend more than others? Try eliminating it for a while. Try wiping its hard drive and setting up a fresh install of the OS - clearly, this is not the FIRST thing you want to try - but many things are cured with fresh installs of an OS. Gradually re-introduce other software to the PC watching for POSitive performance issues.
o Bad Network Cards or cables/connectors. I assume that you are NOT using a wireless network. Dropped data packets are real problems for databases like POSitive - and Wireless networks drop data packets all the time. Accessing POSitive over a wireless connection is not a supported method of using POSitive. Bad network cables have been known to be the root cause of MANY network problems, as have bad (they may be functional - but error prone) network cards
o We've seen really busy locations have problems settle down using Gigabit Network components especially at the server end... Gigabit card in the server, connected to a gigabit switch, workstations using 100MB network card. Essentially there can be a bottleneck effect at the server.
o How's your RAM? Do you have 256MB? Bump to 512. Have 512? Bump to 768 or 1GB.
o How's the hard drive on the server? Try a different one. Flaky drives can cause intermittent trouble.
o Which computer is the server? Is it a dedicated server? If not - is the busiest computer designated to be the server- thereby limiting the amount of network traffic? It may not be practical to put this in a peer to peer workstation - but if it is - put it on the main register up front - where most activity is performed - it’s a common idea in a peer to peer setup to install PFW on the OFFICE computer - not at the register. I prefer installing at the register. Network problems are exposed by programs reading and writing a lot of data. Limit the data crossing the network and it might settle down for you.
Clearly, some of these things are easy, some take expertise to change, some cost a few dollars, and some cost a few more. I'd try the easy and the less expensive things first. I can tell you also that many a "networking expert" has found that just being able to "see" the other computers on the network and being able to copy a file to and from is NOT necessarily an indication that a network is healthy. POSitive, and software like, it stress the function of your network - if you have a weakness in your network Positive will find it. Please take this in the spirit its intended - that you have a problem to solve and that it's more than just POSitive at work here - your problem could very well be outside of POSitive. But one thing is for certain. If you have a network or other hardware issues, an alternative to POSitive software will probably have trouble too.
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