PGdebt technical bulletin 18a
Moving PGdebt version 8X or version 9 from one standalone PC to another (not PGdebt networks)
INSTRUCTIONS for PG8X and PG9 PCS ONLY
This bulletin refers to PGdebt 9 (but also applies to PGdebt 8X) these are internet versions which have their own licence key

Step 1. Run PG9 on the old PC...( NB This bulletin is for standlone PCs only...NOT PCs where the data is stored on a server )

  1. Make a note of the licence key which appears on the 'password' screen ... Something like PG9-xxxx-yyyy-zz
  2. If you have a backup routine for the old PC, make a last backup now

Step 2. Locate important files on the old PC

  1. Go to the Options/supervisor/file-paths screen. This screen will be similar to the one shown below and contains the locations of your client data files, standard letters and shared files. Observe the folders listed on this screen in the top four boxes and make a note of them on a piece of paper.
  2. Then close PGdebt.   Do not run PGdebt again on this PC !

Step 3. Copy these files onto a memory stick

  1. Close PGdebt if its still running. Do not run PGdebt again on this PC.
  2. Take a memory stick (or other media) and place it in the appropriate drive on the old PC.
  3. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer
  4. Copy the 4 top folders to the memory stick
  5. If you take care you will end up with 4 folders on the memory stick with the same names as on the old PC. (data, stanlets, draft and common in the example above)
  6. When all folders are copied safely, remove the memory stick and proceed to the new PC

Step 4. Install PGdebt on the new PC

  1. Download the latest version from this web site.   Don't use your CD if you have one, it is out of date.
  2. If you have bought an upgrade and are upgrading to a later version of PGdebt, install the new version now, not the old one.
  3. Take care to choose the right version on the web site
  4. After installation run the program
  5. When prompted, enter the same licence key that you noted on the old PC in step 1
  6. NB. If you want PGdebt to run on both PCs, you must buy a new licence for the new PC and use the new key.
  7. Make sure it runs properly, it should run OK, but of course your own data will not be available yet.
  8. Go to Options/Supervisor/Files-Paths...the same screen as before, but on the new PC
  9. Note the locations of the various folders on the new PC. These may or may not, be the same as on the old PC. If they are different it does not matter, do not change them. Make a note of the folders on a piece of paper and close down PGdebt. You will now copy the files into these folders.

Step 5. Copy the important files from the memory stick to the new PC

  1. At the new PC, put the memory stick in a usb drive
  2. Do not run PGdebt yet
  3. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and copy the files from the folders on the memory stick to the new locations on the new PC. So the files that were in the data folder on the first PC go into the data folder on the new PC, and so on for all folders. A common error here is to move the whole folder, not the files within that folder...it is the files within the original folders which need to be moved into the new folders on the new PC, so the files are added to those already there, overwriting them if necessary.
  4. Start PGdebt, it should run, and have your data, standard letters and creditor database available

Step 6. Check configuration on the new PC

  1. Go to Options/supervisor/files-paths and check that the directories to be backed up section contains the folder where the data files are located. ( It will have some extra squiggles after it...this is correct). Place a tick in the box to lock the data folder if this is desired. Check that the backup location is the one you desire.
  2. Go to Options/supervisor/defaults (PG8X only) and check that names etc. are correct
  3. Go to Options/supervisor/security and set new passwords
  4. Go to Options/supervisor/Agency (PG9 only) and fill in the information
  5. Make a new backup as soon as you are sure everything is running properly. Do not use old backup discs...start afresh with a new memory stick for the new PC and configuration.

Step 7. Vital

Do not run PGdebt again on the old PC. When certain that all is well on the new PC, make sure that you delete the program from the original PC. If you do not do this, the licence will be on two PCs and will be cut off if the original PC is used again.

Step 8. Optional items

The procedure so far does all that is really necessary, but there are certain other files that could be moved over. These are all located in the main PGdebt folder

PGdebt 8X and 9 customisation files
CUSTOM.ADU (spellcheck)
SPELL.CFG (spellcheck)
PGPOS.INI (screen)
PGSUBST.INI (stats)

Finally
When you are absolutely sure, (this may take a day or so !) that everything is OK, then delete PGdebt from the old PC. Use the REMOVEPG program to remove PGdebt itself, this will be found under Start/All Programs/PGdebt9. This will not remove everything, new files such as client files which have been added since origional installation will not be removed, make sure you delete these manually yourself. This is important as you do not want to have two copies of everything. Also this information should be removed before disposing of a PC to protect client confidentiality. You should really use a secure deletion utility to remove data from a PC before disposing of it