What happens when my computer doesn't synchronize during the data retention period?

Note: If all the computers in your data sharing network have not synchronized during the data retention period, then skip down to the second section of this article (below).

By default, ChurchTrac stores new and updated data on your data sharing server for 21 days (although you can change this data retention period when you set up your data sharing service). This means that each computer must connect to the server and synchronize every 21 days or less in order to stay active in the network.

Let's suppose one of your computers (we'll call it Computer Z) does not synchronize within the 21 day period. In this scenario, there is a good possibility that Computer Z is missing data, since data older than 21 days has already been removed from the online server. ChurchTrac automatically removes Computer Z from your data sharing network. You can re-add Computer Z to your network by following these simple steps:

1. Open the data sharing screen in ChurchTrac on Computer Z and click the "Synchronize Now" button. This will upload any new or updated information on Computer Z to the server so that it is not lost.
    
2. Create a new backup file from one of the other computers in your data sharing network. Make sure this computer has recently synchronized and therefore has not gone past the data retention period. You should not use an older backup file for this step--create a new backup file.
    
3. Restore this new backup file onto Computer Z and restart ChurchTrac.
    
4. Open ChurchTrac, then open the data sharing screen and click "Synchronize Now". If the steps were performed correctly, Computer Z should immediately be re-added to the data sharing network list.

What happens if all the computers in my data sharing network have gone past the data retention period?

If every computer has gone past the 21 day data retention period (or whatever number of days you've chosen for the data retention period), then your computers and online server must be reset. You should only do this if EVERY computer has gone past the (21 day) data retention period. Otherwise, perform the steps above to re-add a computer to your network.

If ALL the computers have gone past the data retention period, follow these steps:

1. First, locate the computer that has the most up-to-date data. This becomes your new "Computer A". The data on the other computers will be discarded and replaced with the data on Computer A, so choose carefully.
    
2. Be sure the most recent program update is installed on Computer A. These steps may not work unless the most recent update is installed.
    
3. If you are using ChurchTrac 2010, skip to step 5. If you are using ChurchTrac 2009, continue to Step 4 below.
   
    
4. If you are using ChurchTrac 2009, follow these steps:
   
   A. Close all open programs on Computer A. Click on your Windows Start menu and open a Command Prompt. To open a command prompt on Vista or Windows 7, type cmd in the search box and press Enter. On Windows XP and earlier, click Run and type cmd and press Enter. This opens a command prompt window (black background, white text).
   
   B. At the Command prompt, type this:

"%appdata%\ChurchTrac\StartAccess_2002.exe" "%appdata%\ChurchTrac\ctapp6.mde" /x reset

Then press Enter. This will open ChurchTrac and, if done correctly, should give you a message that the last synchronization date has been reset.

C. Next, contact technical support and let them know that all your computers have gone past the data retention period, and that you need to reset your server. Wait until you hear back from technical support before proceeding to Step 6.
 

5. If you are using ChurchTrac 2010, follow these steps:

A. Open ChurchTrac 2010, click on Utilities, then click on Share Data With Other Computers. This will open the Data Sharing screen. Click on the Data Sharing Settings tab, then click "Advanced data sharing options". This opens the Advanced Data Sharing Options Window.

B. First, click the button to "Reset the data file's Last Sync Date". When prompted, choose Yes. This will remove the data file's last synchronization date field, which essentially tells the server this data file has never before been synchronized with the server.

C. Next, on the same Advanced Data Sharing Options window, click on the button to "Reset Your Data Sharing Server". This will remove all the data sharing information from your server so it can be reconfigured with your newly reset data file.
 

6. Now that your server has been reset, print and follow the data sharing setup steps again (you can view and print the data sharing setup instructions by clicking the link on the data sharing screen in ChurchTrac). Beginning with Step 1 of the data sharing setup instructions, you'll need to reconfigure each computer and re-add it to your data sharing network. Use Computer A from these steps as new Computer A in the data sharing setup instructions.