How do I run PETRAX on more than one computer?

How do I run PETRAX on more than one computer?

You may run PETRAX on more than one computer, as long as you follow the published license agreement. See http://www.petraxsoftware.com/forum/index.php?topic=14.msg14#msg14

To run PETRAX on more than one computer, you first need to install the program on all computers involved. NOTE: Make sure you copy the installation file (PETRAX_Setup.exe) to EACH computer and THEN run the setup process.

Alternatively, download it to each computer from directly from the website: http://www.petraxsoftware.com/downloads/PETRAX_Setup.exe

NOTE: DO NOT run the setup program FROM a remote computer - this causes problems with the installation process.

Next, you will need to decide which is the "primary" computer. This will be the computer that stores the primary company database file. All other instances will "share" this database file. This is usually the owners primary desktop computer.

Then, all other computers will need to be set to find and read the shared company database file that is located on the primary computer.

This is a description of the process:

In order to use PETRAX from multiple computers you need to be able to access the company database from each computer. This means that each computer needs to be able to successfully connect to the computer that stores the company database over your internal network.

Thus, your first step is to ensure that the network connectivity between both computers exists, and that your computers have permission to share files.

Say I want to run PETRAX on two computers that are named ComputerA and ComputerB. ComputerA has the PETRAX database stored on its C: drive. ComputerB needs to be able to connect to ComputerA to read the database file.

To test if ComputerB can connect to ComputerA, do the following:

Open Windows Explorer on ComputerB.
At the top, in the address bar, type the following: \\ComputerA\c$ and then press enter. (that is: slash slash, name of the computer, the letter "C", followed by a dollar symbol. This should get you to the contents of the C drive. If your PETRAX database is located on another drive, then replace the letter "C" with the letter of the drive. Replace "ComputerA" with the name of your computer.)

If you can connect without error, then you can proceed to setting up a Share (see below). If not, then you have a network connectivity issue that you must first resolve.

If you are prompted for a user name and password, enter the user name and password you use to log in to ComputerA with. (Note: Your user name will be in the format "ComputerA\<username>" (no quotes), along with the correct, case-sensitive password.)

If that is in place, you now need to create a network share from ComputerB to ComputerA. A network share is a name we give to the connection between the computers, and is in the format of a letter of the alphabet, and is needed for PETRAX to be able to connect.

Here are some resources for how to create a network share:

For Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308582
or
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsxpnetworking/ht/mapnetworkdrive.htm

For Vista:
http://www.vista4beginners.com/Map-Network-Drive

For Windows7
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Create-a-shortcut-to-map-a-network-drive

Notes:

Always choose the "reconnect a logon" option so that the next time you reboot your machine, it will attempt re-connect to your database.
If you have errors in PETRAX that indicate it can't find your data on your "ComputerB", first check that you connect to ComputerA from ComputerB by doing so in Windows Explorer.
If PETRAX can't find the database, check that the drive letter has not changed. If the error says it can't find X:\\NameOFFolders\NameOfFiles...make sure that the "X" drive exists, and that it hasn't changed the share name.
Never INSTALL PETRAX from a shared/networked drive. Always have the installation file ON the computer you are installing to.
Never RUN PETRAX from a thumb drive...in other words, do not store the company database on an external or a thumb drive. The PETRAX database must reside ON a physical computer to avoid problems.
The correct format for the connection to the drive is "X:\FolderName\AnotherFolderName\PetraxCompanyName.ptxdb". (where "X" is the MAPPED DRIVE you made.

This is the incorrect format: "\\servername\sharename\FolderName\AnotherFolderName\PetraxCompanyName.ptxdb" - this is a network URL, and DOES NOT WORK with PETRAX. If you see this type of format in error messages, or when you tried to connect to the database, then you need to go back, and create a MAPPED DRIVE as described above.