Home → Star Bill of Lading → Upgrading → Upgrading the Network Edition from a previous version.
4.2. Upgrading the Network Edition from a previous version.
Below are the instructions to upgrade/update the Star Bill of Lading software from a previous version.
To upgrade your software, please follow these instructions:
Before you do anything, please make sure you have a current backup of your Bill of Lading database. We always want to be on the safe side, and as a side note, before you update any software, be sure to have a backup copy of the database just in case.
Here are the instructions to perform a backup of your database if you do not know how.
How to Backup your Star Bill of Lading Database
After you have successfully created a backup your database, we can proceed.
Do you know what version of the software is currently on your system? Let's find out by following the instructions below.
Find out what the original version you are using. To do this, run the original program, then click on the Help menu on top of the screen, then click on About...
This will display a window with the version number listed.
Now you know the version you are upgrading from.
Then download the latest version of the Star Bill of Lading Network Edition software and install it on all of the workstations that have the Star Bill of Lading Network Edition software.
Do not run the software on any of the workstations yet.
Star Bill of Lading NE Download - Select NE version...
When you have finished installing the software on all the workstations, refer back to the version you were upgrading from.
If you were upgrading/updating from any version from v6.xx and Above, then you can run the software from one of the workstations to perform any conversion process that needs to take place and you are finished.
If you were upgrading/updating from version 4.xx of 5.xx then continue with the instructions below, as you will need to perform the conversion process manually.
REMEMBER — The following is only if you were running version 4.xx or 5.xx.
If you are converting the Network Version, you will need to perform a few steps to accomplish the actual data conversion.
You need to know where the old data resides for the previous version. We would assume it is somewhere on your network. If you are upgrading from version 4, or newer, run the Network Workstation Configuration Setup Utility from the previous version. It should be listed under the Windows Menu system under Star Bill of Lading (X), Utilities.
This will tell you where the data for version (X) resides on your network. You will see one of the following screens depending on the version you are currently using.
OR
You will find the conversion programs that needs to be run after the installation of the latest version has also been installed. You can select this option by clicking on the Windows Start Button, then Programs, Star Bill of Lading (X), Utilities, and then Convert Data from previous version.
This will run a program that will allow you to select which version you are upgrading from.
You will be prompted for the folders that contain your old data and where to place the converted data.
Be sure to select the folder that contains the old data. And, normally just leave the to location alone. This will tell the program to convert the data over to the local workstation. It is optimal to do this before installing the upgrade on the other workstations.
If everything is correct, then just click on the Convert button. This will take your old data and load it into the latest version database. Then click on Exit. You are done with this step.
4. If everything went smoothly, then you should have a duplicate copy of the database on your local workstation under C:\Document and Settings\All Users\Application Data\StarreSoft\Star Bill of Lading\Data (Windows XP or earlier) OR C:\Program Data\StarreSoft\Star Bill of Lading\data (Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 10).
You can run the software and verify everything is working correctly. Then you will need to copy this data folder over to a place on your server, shared workstation, or wherever you plan on sharing this information on your network.
5. Then run the Workstation Configuration Setup Utility to point the current workstation to the new data location. Afterwards, be sure to test to be sure the current workstation is running and accessing the data. If this is correct, then we can proceed to the other workstations.
6. Download and install the latest version of the software on each workstation. Run the Network Workstation Configuration Setup Utility on each workstation to point to the new data location. They should be up and running and accessing the new data.
7. After you have upgraded to the latest version, you may be prompted for a registration key. If so, just request a new key, and we will make sure you are valid on your support license. If you are, then we will send you a new set of keys. Key them into each workstation. That is about all there is.
WARNING:
One thing we must mention, if you have any data already in the latest version, this will be lost during the conversion, as the data from the previous version will overwrite everything in the latest version. We just need to mention this in case you have any data already in the latest version.