Database Maintenance Procedures

Table of Contents

1. Retrofit  I bought a new PC. How do I move my catalog to the new PC?
2. Conversion  I want to upgrade the software to a later release. How do I convert my catalog to the new release?
3. Backup  I want to back-up my catalog. What is the best way to do this?
4. Compact My database has grown in size. How do I compact it?

Retrofit and Migration

Use the following procedure to move your catalog from an old PC to a new PC:

1. Install the application on the new PC.
2. Copy the file located on the old PC at:

Applicable Release	Catalog Location
Release 1.23.9	C:\Documents and Settings\xxUserxx\Application Data\DVDR\R1.23.9\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21.5 - 1.23.8	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21 - 1.21.4	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVD Register.mde
Releases 1.19 - 1.20	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Releases 1.13 - 1.18	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Notes:
xxUserxx	is the name of the user that installed the DVD Register on the PC
Release 1.xx	is the name of the installed release e.g. "1.23.6 A200x" or "1.23.1 AXP"

to a removable storage device such as a recordable CD or DVD. This file contains your personal catalog.

3. Copy the file to the new PC at the same location and over write the factory installed file with the same name.
4. Move your cover art images from the old PC to the new PC. Cover art images are located at:

C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Images\...

Create a folder at this location on the new PC and copy all of the image files to this location.

5. Copy your registry settings from the old PC to the new PC: NOTE: Windows uses the Windows Registry (completely different from the DVD Register) to store local settings and customizations. Applications use the Windows Registry to store user preferences between sessions. The DVD Register is not different in this respect.  This procedure involves the use of the Windows Registry Editor. The Registry Editor is as powerful tool and improper use of the editor can cause damage to your PC and may make it fail to boot or for applications to not run. The following steps are not required to use the DVD Register on the new PC but will permit you to move your preferences and settings and certain customizations to the new PC. Otherwise you can recreate these settings individually on the new PC and they will be saved on the new PC. If you are accident prone then skip this step. If you are confident or experienced then use the following steps to migrate the settings in the Windows Registry.

1. Click Start>Run and enter regedit.exe then click the OK button
2. The registry settings are located at: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings\Laser Data Base   Expand the registry tree to reveal this location and then select the registry key.
3. Use the File>Export command to export the registry key and all subkeys. Give the file a name like DVDReg.reg
4. Close the Registry Editor with the File>Exit command
5. Copy this file to your new PC.
6. On the new PC, right click the file you copied and select the "Merge" command. The settings will be copied to the Windows Registry on your new PC.

If you don't have a removable storage device that can be connected to both PCs, the you can move the file between the two PCs with a network connection.

Lacking either a removable storage device and a network connection  you can use the following procedure:

1. Install the application on the new PC.
2. On the Old PC, open the application and use the File>Export>Backup... command to create a backup file. Save the backup file on a floppy disc. The backup file will usually fit on a floppy disc if your personal catalog is less than 1000 titles.
3. Insert the floppy disc into the new PC, and use the File>Import>Backup... command to restore your backup to the new PC.

NOTES: A backup file can only be imported by the same release that created the backup. You cannot install a later release on the new PC and import the backup from the old PC created from an older release. Note: Release 1.23.xx will import a backup from Release 1.21.xx

It is a good practice to not discard your old PC until you have verified that the application is working on your new PC and that you catalog was transferred.

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Upgrade and Conversion

Use the following procedure to upgrade your catalog to a new release.

Install the new version of the application on your PC. Do not remove the older version. A newer version (e.g. 1.19 to 1.20) will install in a new folder and will not overwrite your catalog.

1. Start-up the new version from the Start>Programs menu.
2. Use the File>Import>Upgrade Your Discs... command Select the source of the import as:

Applicable Release	Catalog Location
Release 1.23.9	C:\Documents and Settings\xxUserxx\Application Data\DVDR\R1.23.9\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21.5 - 1.23.8	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21 - 1.21.4	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVD Register.mde
Releases 1.19 - 1.20	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Releases 1.13 - 1.18	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Notes:
xxUserxx	is the name of the user that installed the DVD Register on the PC
Release 1.xx	is the name of the installed release e.g. "1.23.6 A200x" or "1.23.1 AXP"

3. Acknowledge the warnings and your catalog will be imported and converted to the new release.

NOTES: If you reinstall the same release or you install a patch release (e.g. 1.19 to 1.19a) then your personal catalog will be over written by the factory provided database and your personal catalog will be lost.

It is a good practice to verify that the new release is working properly before you uninstall the older release.

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Backup and Restore

Use the following procedure to backup your catalog :

1. Copy the file located on the your PC at:

Applicable Release	Catalog Location
Release 1.23.9	C:\Documents and Settings\xxUserxx\Application Data\DVDR\R1.23.9\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21.5 - 1.23.8	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVDReg.mdb
Releases 1.21 - 1.21.4	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\DVD Register.mde
Releases 1.19 - 1.20	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register\Release 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Releases 1.13 - 1.18	C:\Program Files\Laser Disc Register 1.xx\Laser Disc Register.mde
Notes:
xxUserxx	is the name of the user that installed the DVD Register on the PC
Release 1.xx	is the name of the installed release e.g. "1.23.6 A200x" or "1.23.1 AXP"

to a removable storage device such as a recordable CD or DVD. This file contains your personal catalog.

Use the following procedure to restore  your catalog from the backup:

1. Copy the file located on your backup storage device to the original location and over write the factory installed file with the same name.

NOTES: The above procedure is the most reliable method is recommended if you have a removable storage device like a writable CD or DVD. If you don't have such a device on your PC, then you can use the following procedure:

Use the following procedure to backup your catalog :

1. Open the application and use the File>Export>Backup... command to create a backup file. Save the backup file on a floppy disc. The backup file will usually fit on a floppy disc if your personal catalog is less than 1000 titles.

Use the following procedure to restore  your catalog from the backup:

1. Open the application and use the File>Import>Backup... command to restore your backup to the PC.

NOTE: If you are restoring from a backup file after a fresh reinstall, then you should apply the reference catalog updates to the database to bring the reference database current before you restore from the backup file.

NOTE: If you are restoring a backup into Release 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 or 1.20 and your receive a warning message that some records could not be imported due to key violations, then you should read about a workaround for restoring backups.

With Release 1.20 and later you can create a backup automatically every time that you exit the application. Use the Tools:Options command and select the Maintenance Tab. Place a check on the "autobackup" option and close the form. You can also select the location where the backups will be stored such as a location that you periodically backup offline. The automatic backup will rotate the file name six times before over-writing the oldest backup file.

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Compact Your Database

Over time as you use your catalog the database file will grown in size. This is typical of relational databases. Periodically you should compact your database. This will cause the file to shrink in size and have better performance. You should also compact a database after you have done an import from a previous release. There are a couple of different ways to compact your database and they depend upon the version of Access that you are using:

Database Compact Toolkit

Use the Start>Programs>DVD Register>Release XXX>Compact Your Catalog. This shortcut will open the Database Compact Toolkit:

Click the command button "Compact Your Catalog". The compact operations will commence. During the compact process an animation will shows flying folders. It may take a few moments to complete.

The Compact and Repair Tool

The short-cut Start>Programs>DVD Register 1.xx>Repair Your Database open the database compact and repair tool. This program is a little more complicated to set up that the previous two methods but works on both the A97 and A2K versions. There are several options that need to be setup in the tool and you need to be familiar with Windows Explorer to move and copy files. The repair tool cannot compact a database into itself and requires that you compact into a temporary db and then rename the temporary db. Use the following procedure to compact your db with the compact and repair tool.

1. Run the new short cut: Start>Programs>DVD Register XXX >Repair Your Database. This shortcut will open the Database Compact Utility 4.0

Then select the "Database to Compact From (Source)" to: "DVDReg.mdb". Set the "Database to Compact Into (Destination)" to "temp.mdb". Set the folder for the temp.db to a location that you can find later.

Then using menu command Tools>Set System Database Location to set the system database to: "C:Windows\System32\laser.mdw"

Then using menu Tools>Set User and Password to set the user to:laseruse    There is no password for laseruse

Then click the Compact command button. After the compact completes you will need to rename the compacted file so that the DVD Register can find it.:

Rename "DVDReg.mdb" to "Copy of DVDReg.mdb"

Rename "temp.mdb" to "DVDReg.mdb"