There are several utilities available within MicroBiz to keep your system safe and healthy. Some of these routines should be used on a regular basis, and some are just there in case they are ever needed. Familiarizing yourself with these tools is the first step to ensuring that your system will stay happy! 

Figure 18-1

Reindex, Clean & Pack

This utility should be used on a regular basis to ensure that your files are kept current. Running "All Files Above" at least once a month is recommended. The Reindex feature will update your .CDX (index) files and the Clean & Pack feature will update your .DBF (data) files. Aside from regular use, you can run a Clean & Pack any time you feel that your records might be incorrect.

 Figure 18-2

This process can be performed for specific types of files individually or altogether. To run a Reindex/Clean & Pack:

1. From the Main Menu, choose Tools | Reindex/Clean and Pack, etc.
2. Choose the routine desired: Customers, Product, History, Miscellaneous, or All Files Above.

For this reason, it is advised that this process be performed at a time when the system is not going to be used for ringing sales, receiving inventory, etc. It's a good idea to try this process out at such a time before you need it, to establish a baseline of the time required by your system. 

Recalculate Customer/Product Data

The Recalculate ("Recalc") utilities can fix certain inventory/sales figures, should you ever suspect they are incorrect, based off of your stored product/invoice data.

 Figure 18-3

These utilities are found just under the Clean & Pack utilities as shown above. Here is a list of the routines available, and what each does:

1. Recalc Customer Buckets –Recalculates the sales period (Year-to-Date, Quarter-to-Date, etc.) figures stored by MicroBiz.
   • These figures are available for viewing by selecting a customer and choosing "Explode" from Customers, Customer Add/Edit.
2. Recalc Customer Balance Due –Recalculates the outstanding balance for each customer's house account.
   • This only applies to Business Controller Plus users.
   • This procedure can be performed for a single customer from the Front Register by double-clicking on the Balance display in the upper-right corner.
3. Recalc Customer Credit Balances –Recalculates the outstanding store credit figures for each customer.
   • This only applies to Business Controller Plus users.
   • This procedure can be performed for a single customer from the Front Register by double-clicking on the Credit display in the upper-right corner.
4. Recalc Product Buckets –Recalculates the sales period (Year-to-Date, Quarter-to-Date, etc.) figures stored by MicroBiz.
   • These figures are available for viewing by selecting an inventory item and choosing "Hist" (history) from Inventory, Inventory Add/Edit.
5. Recalc Product Backorder Quantities –Recalculates the backorder figures for all items.
   • These figures are available for viewing by Reports, Backorders.

Duplicate Files Check

This utility checks the data files in both your System and Local Files Paths (as defined under Management | Custom System Settings | File Data Path Settings ) and ensures that no master files are found in both directories. The option for running this check is found under Tools | Duplicate Files Check (as seen in Figure 18-1).

 Figure 18-4

Some files should never be duplicated, and a MicroBiz Support Technician may ask you to perform this check if duplicate files are ever suspected. 

DBF Scan for Corrupt Files

Figure 18-5 

This is another utility that is used more often by MicroBiz Support than by end users. It will scan your data files and report on any corruption found. This can be run by choosing the option under Tools, as shown in Figure 18-1. If you wish to perform this scan but are unable to open the MicroBiz program, you can run "dbfscan.exe" which is found in your Local Files Path (usually C:\BizWin). 

Station Settings

This function allows you to save the local memory and trigger files that control how your current station is setup.  By saving the station settings, if you ever need to re-install or if for any reason your settings are set to default values, you can use the Restore function here to restore your backup of the station settings.

Query Rebuild Index

This utility is used to rebuild the index files used by Queries. If you ever get an error when running a Query, this tool is the first thing to try. 

File Backups

Figure 18-6 

MicroBiz backups are highly recommended! Some users have their own utilities for backing up their data, but this utility makes using other applications unnecessary.

To configure MicroBiz backups:

1. From the Main Menu, choose Management | Custom System Settings | Global Store Settings.

2. Click on the File Backups tab at the top of the screen.

3. Choose the backup type from options 1-5.
   Select the Backup Directory. This is NOT the directory that will be backed up (this will always be data from the System Files path), but rather the location in which MicroBiz will save your backup data.

   1. Never do any Backup – This option is only recommended if you have another way of backing up your MicroBiz data files. It is ALWAYS recommended to back up your data!
   2. Ask me each time after every Close Out – You will be prompted to back up after completing each Close Out (usually every day). You have the option of choosing not to back up each time with this method.
   3. Automatically after every Close Out – The backup procedure will take place, without prompting, after completing each Close Out.
   4. Ask me each time before every Close Out – You will be prompted to back up at the beginning of each Close Out (usually every day). You have the option of choosing not to back up each time with this method.
   5. Automatically before every Close Out –The backup procedure will take place, without prompting, at the beginning of each Close Out.
      • This option should be enabled by default on new installations of MicroBiz.

4. Click on the Save button to exit and save your settings.

You can also perform a backup whenever desired by navigating to this menu and choosing "Back-up now."
It is also highly recommended that an external or off-site copy of backups be updated on a regular basis (i.e. on a CD or flash drive). Performing regular backups helps to ensure that your data is safe! For more information on backups, see

Chapter 3 - Customizing Your Software.