Home Forums Discussions Feedback and Recommendations How to transfer my Laptop AC to Desktop PC?

I Have one laptop and I want to add another Laptop (for my Medical assistant) and a Desktop (for my receptionist). How do I make all of the computers have the same info (i.e. the consultants, patient files, etc) ??

Are your laptops XP home or pro, or vista home or business? Have you watched Dr. Bertman's videos on the AC website?

I'll give a quick rundown.

In short, you need to copy all of the database files to the AC folder of the computer that will host AC. Then, you need to share the AC folder on the host computer. Next, reset the path to AC by going to Amazing Utilities and clicking reset path (or something similar). Now, open AC, it will have forgotten where to find the databases, and browse to the shared AC folder on the host computer. Select the Amazing Charts DB and you will be able to access AC on the host computer as well as on your laptop. You'll need to reset the path and browse to the shared folder on any other computers you add also.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't very clear in my post. If you have any questions I would be happy to help by writing out the specific steps. It'll be easier for me to help if your computers are XP. I haven't used vista much yet.


P.S. Mr Ref, where did you go?

I am a brand new user, having difficulty transferring my records from a laptop to a desktop, both XP. Have tried on a thumb drive (got error in synchronizing files message) and through wireless network, but I can't figure out how to tell the wireless network I am the administrator to allow access. Is it simpler to go through logmein.com or gotomycomputer.com? Could you direct me to the step-by-step instructions for any method?

Are you trying to sync the two databases, or did you begin your records on the laptop and now want to move them to a desktop?

Is your computer xp home or pro?

I began on my laptop, and now want to make the desktop my server. I have XP Pro on the laptop and XP home on the desktop.

Susan, I believe you need to copy (not cut, leave a copy on your laptop as backup) the following six DB's from your local AC folder to the folder on your desktop. To find this folder open my computer and go to c:\program files\Amazing Charts The files to copy are: amazingcharts.mdb; amazingmeds.mdb; schedule.mdb; billing.mdb; codes.mdb; importeditems.mdb; and also copy the imported items folder. I suggest you simply copy these items to a flash drive, as this will be easiest.

Check to see if everything works properly on your desktop; do you have all of your patients and are the imported items in place? You might receive a 'connection to db lost' error, if you do you should probably select 'no, there are more computers on this network', browser to the local AC folder and select AC.mdb. If things are fine, you now need to share your Amazing Charts folder on your desktop.

I'm not sure about this part. You will need to have both computers on the same Workgroup. Set this by right-clicking My Computer > selecting properties > choosing 'computer name' > clicking 'change'. Now make sure both computers have the same workgroup, change it to clinic or some such if you wish. Now go to your desktop, right click on the Amazing Charts folder > select sharing and security> select 'share this folder' and 'allow other users to access my files', save by clicking ok.

You will probably be able to find the file on your network by going to my computer>my network places, and so on down a list. As long as both computers are on the same network. I'm not sure about the last bit cause I've been doing things a bit differently.

I hope I have helped you. Let me know if I have or not. Sorry, next time I'll use bullets. I probably said much more than was needed . Good luck!
PS Someone correct me if I missed something. Also, you might be dropped some if you connect wireless; is that your plan?

Thanks, I was able to use the flash drive approach successfully! Yeah! And I have discovered that part of my local network problems were firewall related, now only partially remedied. My plan for future updates was to use gotomycomputer or logmein. My entire practice is at group homes, seeing adolescents in custody. I am the primary provider, a nurse practitioner, but I have a couple part time docs who go monthly to write stimulant prescriptions, and I have a billing/secretary person, all of whom will need to access the database remotely. No central office except at my house. So if you have ideas on the best way for all of us to access the database, and all providers to update it, let me know.

Susan,

Any of us would be more than happy to help with your networking and/or remote connections. While there are many topics on this board, by far the three most discussed are backups, PC to Fax and Fax to PC, and remote connections.

A quick search of the word "Remote" will bring up four pages of hits. I am sure other key words will do more. My advice would be to pore over these before we try to reinvent the wheel so to speak.

Without going into any detail, it is best if all of your users can remote into the office that has the network and use any of the PCs that are connected to the main database. Again, many options, but LogMeIn is the simplest and cheapest, i.e. free.

There are ways to sync your data, but I have found it can be fraught with problems. Also, there is a new sync system in version 4, which I am guessing is better and easier. Unless you do not have any way of connecting to the Internet from your remote sites and/or have a lot of off site work, then I wouldn't necessarily recommend syncing. But, I wouldn't completely rule it out either.

As to firewall issues, what types of software firewalls are you using? Are you using a hardware firewall such as Linksys, Netgear or Cisco? My only other recommendation would be to upgrade to XP Pro when you can and to only purchase XP Pro in the future unless you decide to go Vista.

Hello all, I'm fairly new to AC, but very happy with it so far!

I'm looking for a smaller/lighter laptop that I can carry around the office for charting. We have a fairly small space, which we share with other tenants, so I sometimes chart in the room with the patient, sometimes at the front desk PC, sometimes at my desk, and sometimes on the ferry-ride home via logmein. I have some physical limitations, so smaller and lighter is really important for me, since I lug the thing everywhere!

I saw in another thread that some folks were looking into the mini-laptops, but didn't see if anyone had actually tried one with AC. Has anyone tried one yet? I know they meet the hardware requirements, but I want to be able to see the whole AC screen.

Thanks!

The choice is relatively easy, how much are you willing to spend and what are you willing to give up to go lighter.
There are essentially three types of notebooks - regular, ultralight and tablet models. "Regular" notebooks are just that, the typical notebooks you see in the store with a nice screen, DVD drive, regular size keyboard, etc. "Ultralight" notebooks are portables that shed DVD drives and extra ports (USB, modem, VGA, etc), employ small screens and keyboards,
and use small processors to keep size down and battery life long. Ultralights are a trade off on portability and usability and they can be quite expensive for the higher end models. Tablets can fit in the middle of a regular and ultralight but have the added feature of a pen or touch screen. Tablets tend to be underpowered (relatively) but have good portability. (OK there are four - gaming notebooks but they are heavy, battery life that functions like a UPS but very powerful computers).

Mini-notebooks are referred to as Netbooks. They do not function as regular PCs but rather as portable internet devices. I am not sure how they run AC, someone else would have to comment on that. I am not sure that a netbook would be the best option since they tend to have a small screen (or rather resolution) that can frustrate users. One problem with netbooks is that they only have XP home installed which makes using them in an domain network difficult. You would have to purchase an upgrade CD to windows pro to interface a windows domain network. There are netbooks with Vista Business but I can not imagine those products working well at all because of the underpowered processors of netbooks.

In terms of the best ultralight portable, the MacBook Air is the best in class relative to price and features. Of course you will have to either dual boot windows or run in VMWare or Parallels. I personally use an IBM thinkpad tablet x61. I find that the tablets are the best portable windows products because portability is the key to a tablet function. Most of the true ultralight portables are very expensive like the Lenovo x200 or Sony's ultralights. I find that by getting a tablet you can split the difference of a relatively cheap lightweight and good performing laptop. Also on the car and ferry rides you can easily switch to tablet mode which provides for ease of use in tight spots.
I would mention that the tablet functions are difficult to use in AC, AC is not designed to be a tablet application.

Of course you can just shop around at the store for laptops like Best Buy, etc. and see if a "regular" notebook will work.

Geoff

I use a netbook for AC on the road, but I had to change the screen resolution to an even tinier level to see the whole screen, since there is no way to scroll down the record. It works, it only cost me $400 bucks with a longer battery life. It's a trade off. When I can afford it I'll get one of the really expensive lightweight laptops.

Susan,

I am a little confused. I can't tell by your question if you are getting a desktop or a lightweight laptop. Are you wanting to transfer everything over or just sync? It is rather easy. Just let me know what you're trying to do. Also, which version are you using?