Installing the Client

The Client software will be installed on each computer that operates the program.

Initial Install

Place the CD ROM disk in the drive on the workstation.  When the program starts select Install Auto Shop Writer 8, and then select the second menu option, Auto Shop Writer Client.  Follow the instructions provided by the installation program.

When you start the program the first time, it needs a path to the data on the server.  Use the displayed browse capability to find the ASW8s folder on the server.  DO NOT select a subfolder.  Double click on the ASW8s folder icon so it displays open.  Then select OK and you will be able to sign in.

If you make a mistake, reset the path as described in the section below.

DO NOT run an uninstall and reinstall if you have a problem.  Email Support@MasterLinkSoftware.com.  Doing an uninstall will not fix the problem and making internal changes may just increase the problem.

Updating ASW 8 from the CD

You only need to run the Auto Shop Writer Client install from the CD.  When entering the program, check the Help - About menu option  and make sure the version is equal to, or higher than, that noted on the CD.

If the version is not the same, or higher, then your computer did not overwrite the current files with the latest version.  Exit ASW8.  Use the computers Start button, and when the menu appears select Control Panel, and then Add/Remove Programs.  Find the ASW 8 Client installation and click on the Remove button.  DO NOT do anything else to remove files ... only this uninstall.  Then reinstall from the disk.

Setting the Path to your Data

Your "client" software needs to know where the data resides.  When you start the program for the first time, you will be shown a browse window, and you simply need to find the ASW8s folder on the server, highlight it, and click the OK button.  It will store the path in the computer registry and every time you start the ASW8.exe program, it will know where to turn for the data.

To make it easy, we suggest you first map a drive to the ASW8s folder on the server.  We would suggest the letter M: ( for MasterLink ).  This will make it very easy to then find the folder.  Then when you first start ASW8, you can simply find, and highlight, the M drive.  Of course you can simply look for the server in My Network Places, then highlight the ASW8s folder and press OK.  Mapping a drive, however, is easiest for reconnecting if their is a failure.

The path is stored in the registry in:

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

               Software

                       MasterLink

                               Setup                        Path

If you followed our suggestion of a mapped directory, then the value would be simply:    M:\

If you mapped the server drive, then it would be:                M:\ASW8s\

If you selected it from the browse across the network neighborhood, the values could be varied.

To fix a problem with the path, either edit the value to the correct one, or delete the Path entry from the registry and restart ASW8, browsing to the correct location.

If you try to start ASW8, and an error box pops up noting CONFIG.DBF ( 2)  cannot be found, then your path is incorrect.  Reboot your computer in case it lost its connection to the server.  If this fails, then you probably have fouled the path value saved in the registry and it will need to be reset.