Back-Ups & Updates

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Backing Up Printcost

Before you begin

Ensure that all Printcost users (other than yourself) are signed out of Printcost and that their copies of Printcost are closed.
Note: To check that all users other than youself have signed out of Printcost, on the left-menu, select Miscellaneous > Users. Ensure all user records are currently inactive. If any are still active, ask the relevant user to sign off and close Printcost. You can also change their status from an A ( for active ) to I for inactive. This will automatically log users off Printcost.

Caution: Do not disrupt the back-up process. Disrupting the back-up process may cause corruption of data and lock some files. Do not allow anyone to sign into Printcost until the back-up is complete.

To back up Printcost:

  1. At the botom of the left-menu, click Backup.
    • Result: The Backup Procedure window is displayed.
  2. Select both the pc9 folder and pc9data folder, then click 'Backup selected directories'.
    • Result: A back-up file is created, then Printcost will automatically sign you out.

What Next?

When the Printcost User Login window is displayed, you (and other Printcost users) may sign back onto Printcost.

(Recommended) Copy the back-up files to a remote location, that is, another server or store off site.

Note: The back-up files are saved as zip files in the pcbup folder. The filenames are formatted as ###pc9.zip, where ### is a number from 001 to 999. 001pc9.zip is always the latest back-up. All other files are renumbered accordingly.


Restoring Printcost from a Backup File

Caution: Ensure that you really need to restore Printcost from a back-up file. Restoring a back-up file will overwrite all data that has been added, modified or deleted since the back-up file was created.

Before you begin

Ensure that all Printcost users (other than yourself) are signed out of Printcost and that their copies of Printcost are closed.
Note: To check that all users other than youself have signed out of Printcost, on the left-menu, select Miscellaneous > Users. Ensure all user records are currently inactive. If any are still active, ask the relevant user to sign off and close Printcost. :

Caution: Attempting to sign onto Printcost while it is being restored may disrupt the restore process and cause corruption of data. Do not allow anyone to sign into Printcost until restoration is complete.

Ensure that the file you are about to restore is the correct file. Check with your system adminstrator to ensure that you are restoring the latest back-up.

To restore Printcost from a back-up file:

  1. At the botom of the left-menu, click Backup.
    • Result: The Backup Procedure window is displayed.
  2. Click Restore Menu.
    • Result: A list of files that can be restored is displayed.
    • Note: The files' names, backup dates and times are also displayed.
  3. Select the files that you want to restore, then click 'Restore from selected file(s)'.
    • Result: You will be asked if you want to restore the selected file.
  4. Click Yes.
    • Result: You will be asked if you want to overwrite any data that is currently in your Printcost folder (directory).
  5. Click Yes.
    • Result: You will be asked if you want to cancel the restoration of the back-up file.
  6. Click No.
    • Result: The back-up file that you selected will be restored, and any existing data in the PC9 folder will be overwritten.

What Next?

Sign onto Printcost to confirm that everything is restored.


Updating Printcost to the Latest Version

Updating Printcost to the latest version requires that all Printcost users are signed off and that all copies of Printcost and its related programs are closed. Once this has been done and the latest version of Printcost has been downloaded, users can start Printcost and sign in. Printcost will then inform users that a new version of Printcost is to be installed.

Before you begin

Important: Ensure that you have the authority to update Printcost to the latest version.

If someone hasn't already done so, complete the following tasks:

To update Printcost to the latest version:

  1. On Printcost's left-menu, click Miscellaneous > Downloads > Printcost.
    • Result: The latest version of printcost will be downloaded, then Printcost will sign you out.
  2. Start Printcost and sign in.
    • Result: A message will be displayed informing you that a new version of Printcost has been detected.
  3. Complete the update by following the onscreen prompts.

What Next?

When the update is complete, all users may sign on to Printcost.

If you have a multi-company set-up, Steps 2 and 3 (above) will need to be repeated for each company.