To do this, you will need to RENAME the folder in Windows that contains your corrupted data. This changes the file path that program is looking at so it cannot find the file anymore. If you used the default Data folder that the program automatically chooses as the invoices file directory, locate your Data folder as follows:
C:Program FilesMySoftwareMyInvoices
Once you find it, RENAME the 'Data' folder to 'Data Old' - to do so, right-click the 'Data' folder and select 'Rename.' Type 'Data Old' (without quotes) and then press the Enter key on your keyboard one time.
After you rename the existing Data folder that contains your corrupt file, you need to create a new blank 'Data' folder in the same directory. To do so, go to the 'File' Menu, choose 'New', then 'Folder' and a new folder (called 'New Folder') will appear. Type the word 'Data' (without quotes) for the name of this new folder and press the Enter Key on your keyboard.
Now that you have renamed the folder and made an empty replacement, you should close all the open Windows Explorer windows and attempt to open your program again from the main Desktop shortcut (or from the 'Programs' folder in the START Menu). You should come to a little screen that says:
An Invoice file must be open for (Program Name) to continue
And you would have options to Create, Open, Cancel or Help. If you get this message, you have successfully accessed the program again and you should proceed to step 2 (Press 'Cancel' here to close the program for now).
If the program still crashes after performing this 'Renaming' function, then your file that the program keeps attempting to open is in a folder other than the 'Data' folder. To proceed, you will have to find this invoices file somewhere in a folder on your hard drive and then relocate it.
Step 2
Restoring your Invoice data
If you are able to access the program, you will want to see if you can recover your data. This is best accomplished by restoring a Backup file. Ideally a user makes a Backup file no less than once a week, when prompted by the program whenever the program is closed.
If you have a recent Backup to restore, follow this process:
'Restoring from backup will replace the contents of your current files and could result in lost data. Are you sure you want to continue?'
Endnote how to locate serial key.
This means that you have successfully identified the proper filename and Backup file. Click 'Yes' to proceed with your Restoration and you should see your invoices, customers products on their appropriate program tabs. The data will be as current as when the Backup was made.
'The selected file does not contain valid information for **file name 1**. However, this file does contain valid information for **file name 2**. If you want to restore **file name 2** you must first open the file.'
This means that you have not exactly matched the file name of the currently open Invoices file with the stored Backup's Invoices file name. The program can only restore a Backup if the file names match exactly. To try again, start at step 10 and make sure that you are creating or opening an Invoices file that matches the name you received in the message for what appeared for **file name 2**.
'No .inv files found in backup file'
This means that the file path is wrong for where you have chosen to restore a file from, or the Backup file itself is corrupted, or the floppy disc was corrupted/damaged. You will need to restore a different Backup file.
If you do NOT have a Backup file you will need to start a new invoices file from scratch in the program to resume invoicing. There is no way to recover a corrupted file for use in the program again.
If you have no Backups of any kind, you can still, however, recover the 'raw data' from the Invoice listing to view it in a program that can read DBF ('*.DBF' extension) file types. A common program that can do this is Microsoft Excel (version 97 or higher). If you need to view the raw data in order to retrieve your information, do the following:
This file was NOT designed for readability by human eyes, but rather for a database to read and interpret. As such, it is not easy at first to determine what the various pieces of the database are. However, know this about the file you would be looking at:
At this point, you have done all you can to recover your data. Be sure to browse our other KB articles about specific errors and other problems you may encounter along the way if you are trying to recover a file from file corruption in one of our Invoicing programs.
If you do not feel comfortable performing any of the operations or troubleshooting steps described here, please contact Technical Support. Our technicians can fully explain the errors and procedures that you will need to navigate in identifying a corruption, re-accessing your program, and recovering any data that is possible.