If an error message has been displayed, take note of the error
details and exactly what action you were taking just prior to the
error. Were you trying to print a Report. Which button were you
clicking on? This information may help us to identify your problem.
Step 2
You will now need to exit the Doctor's Diary 2.0 program and shutdown
and restart your computer. If you are running Windows, then this is
sometimes difficult because an error can cause other errors to occur
making the system unstable or unresponsive. If you find this to be
the case and you are having difficulty closing Doctor's Diary 2.0, then
fortunately Windows provides a key sequence for handling these sort
of errors. Press the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys all together. You should then
be presented with the option of an END TASK button. Click this
button. You may need to repeat this sequence several times in order
to fully exit all processes. If the computer is not responding at
all (mouse does not move) then you have no choice but to turn it off
(or press the RESET button).
Step 3
Before calling Technical Support, you should also have the following
information on hand. The version of Windows you are running –
Windows 95, 98, 2000. The exact version of Doctor's Diary 2.0 you have –
this can be found by clicking on 'Help' and then clicking on
'About'. Your Doctor's Diary 2.0 ID number. This is assigned to the
registered subscriber and will appear on any invoices sent to you
from Doctor's Diary 2.0. It can also be viewed by selecting Help About
from the menu bar in Doctor's Diary 2.0.
If you have taken the above steps before calling Technical Support,
then this will help the Technician on the other end of the phone to
diagnose and rectify your problem in the most efficient manner.
^^ Back to Top ^^
Before proceeding to install Doctor's Diary 2.0, please ensure that your
computer hardware meets the following specifications. Please note
that these specifications are for standalone PCs .
Item
Minimum
Specifications
Recommended
Specification
Processor
Intel Pentium I or
equivalent
Intel Pentium II
or higher
RAM
32MB or higher
64MB or higher
Monitor
SVGA
graphics card and 15” monitor, running a resolution of at least
800x600 at 16 bit color (or better).
SVGA
graphics card and 17” monitor, running a resolution of at least
1024x768 at 16 bit color (or better).
Hard Disk
Hard
disk should have approximately 100 MB free space (50MB for
Doctor's Diary 2.0, 50MB
for system and some in reserve for initial Patient records and
temporary installation files).
3 - 8
GB hard drive (or higher). For large numbers of scanned
documents more hard disk space will be required.
CD ROM
Standard
High
performance (32 x speed or above)
Printer
Any
Windows supported printer. NOTE: Laser printers that use
the Windows Print System or GDI may not be supported by
NT and/or networks.
Inject printers as they are quiet, compact and
inexpensive. Multi-bin Laser printers have more sophisticated
and versatile paper handling facilities making them more
convenient when printing different types of documents ie:
scripts, requests, letters etc.
The computing environment is a fragile one, and many things can
cause data to be lost. Mechanical failure, e.g. of the hard disk, is
probably the most disastrous, and is also surprisingly common. A
hard disk may have a life-span of only three to five years before it
fails and all or part of the data on it becomes irretrievable.
Power failures, crashes or note-book batteries going flat while
programs are in use can all cause corruption of data files. Virus
infection is particularly insidious, as files may become
progressively more damaged over weeks before you notice anything
wrong. Then there is physical loss of the computer, e.g. fire and
theft.
Any of the above situations could result in the loss of all your
data (including Patient records) if you do not have backups.
What is a Backup?
'Backing up' means making copies of all important files. Your
valuable data can be restored from these backups in the event of
data loss.
When do I Backup?
It is obvious that if files have to be restored from a backup, any
data that was entered after the last backup was done will be lost.
Backup every day!
How do I Backup?
Backups are best performed to removable media, e.g. floppy disk, ZIP
disk, CD-ROM etc. It is useless to simply copy the files to another
directory on the same hard disk. If the hard disk fails or the
computer is stolen, you will loose your data. Similarly, backing up
to another computer on the network alone will not give you complete
protection in the event of fire, flood or theft. Both computers
could be lost. For this reason your backup strategy should always
include a removable media which can be taken "off site". At lest
once a week, a backup should be taken "off site".
Smaller practices or stand-alone machines, would generally find that
zip disks or even floppy disks are sufficient.
Doctor's Diary 2.0 built-in backup module can backup the data to any
device represented by a User.
Often the best time to backup is at the end of your Doctor's Diary 2.0
session from the prompt. This way backups can be conveniently done
on a daily basis. Use a different disk for each day of the week eg.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. These disks can then be re-used each
week. Keep several disks marked for Friday. Friday's disk can be
kept aside for several weeks using a different disk every Friday and
rotating the disks. This protects data against fire, flood or theft.
It also ensures that there is a backup available from several weeks
ago, particularly important in the event of virus infection which
may corrupt weeks worth of data. It is far better to lose one
month's worth of data than to lose everything.
Replace your disks after six months and don't re-use old disks. Nor
should the same disk be used every day. Floppy disks will eventually
fail after being used many times. No warnings are usually given by
the computer when copying files onto the disk, but when it comes
time to read from the disk, "Bad Sector reading Drive A:" or similar
means the disk is faulty and the data is gone.
Ensuring you keep regular backups is for your own security and will
probably save your data at least once in your practice.
Note: For full details on using Doctor's Diary 2.0 Backup module
(including command line options) please refer to the Backup topic
via the File Menu. ^^ Back to Top ^^
The width and position of the columns used in various displays while
viewing a data can be customized.
Changing the Column Width
To change the width, you will need to move your cursor to the right
edge of the column title. The cursor will change shapes to appear as
a black line with an arrow pointing both Left and Right.
Once the cursor has changed shape, press and hold the left mouse
button and move the mouse to adjust the column size. As you move the
mouse, a shadow will appear showing the new size for the column.
This size will be saved when the mouse button is released.
Note: When resizing a column, it is possible to reduce the size so
that the column is no longer visible.
Changing the Column Position
Move the mouse cursor so that it appears over the name of the column
(heading). At this stage the mouse cursor will change to a hand.
Press and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse to the left
or right depending on where you want to re-position the column.
A shadow representing the column will be displayed as you move the
mouse. Once the shadow is in the required position, release the
mouse button.
Resetting the Column Width and Position
If you wish to reset the positions back to the default settings, you
will need to reopen the window. ^^ Back to Top ^^