Good morning! Thanks, Bert, for the advice. I didn't feel comfortable detaching the database because I've tried this before and it was almost impossible to attach them where I wanted. So, this is what I did: I copied from the laptop the files you mentioned above into its own new folder (named "files from laptop), I copied my main folder (where the main database is supposed to be, named Amazing Charts V4) into another backup folder, then I copied and pasted the laptop files into the Amazing Charts V4 folder, overwriting everything, and it worked! It probably worked because there was already a blank database in V4 attached to the main computer, so all I had to do is overwrite it. It is still a mystery why the database was erased to begin with and I don't know how to prevent that from happening again. I feel nervous about uninstalling,deleting old stuff since it was a nightmare doing it the first time (even though I followed all the instructions). So, I went to the other computers, and reset the pathways, and all is working now...except for a minor problem: one of my computers is shared by another staff member under her own account, and when trying to use AC from her account, it won't connect, although it would connect fine under my user account, so I don't have a clue why that is. I may need to just delete her account and it will be just one account, but shouldn't she be able to connect under her own user account?

I'll take your advice about system backup and external hard drives, as eventually I'll need to upgrade my XPs into whatever else Microsoft comes up to replace Vista and I'm sure it won't be fun.

Thanks, everybody for your advice.

Dr. B

Hector D. Barreto, MD, MPH