Home Improvement Software - IT guy view point

Any business owner would consult his / her IT guy before making decision about a new softwre.

This page is built for the IT guy of your company. It provides answers and information about the technical side of the Home Improvement Software (HIS.)

Here is what an IT guy should know about the HIS:

  1. Lightweight: The HIS is a lightweight software, The Executable is under 6MB. The size of the entire installation folder is about 60MB. This includes the executable, about 42000 zip codes, installation files for the scanning, VoIP, HTML, Emails modules and the HIS installation it self (Only 7MB). In order for for the HIS to work you only need to run the VFP9-setup.exe on the workstation you want the HIS to run on, and restart. (Takes about 20 seconds on old Pentium 4 with 256MG memory. Few seconds on new machines.)
  2. Hardware Requirements: From the newest 64bit PCs with Windows 7 to any older computer with 250MB memory, older Pentium 4 processor that runs Windows XP: The HIS runs it without any problems.
  3. Work Environment: To run the HIS on a network, you need to map a drive, and have on it a folder that contains the HIS executable (HIS.exe.) The HIS can be placed on any shared folder that is comply with either Windows XP, 2003, 2008 Vista or Windows 7. That is correct. If your server is Unix or Apple, long as Windows can read and right to a folder on it, you can have the HIS files and database sits on it and the HIS will function perfectly fine. Additionally, you can place the HIS executable file and tables on any shared folder on your network: NAS devices or any workstation. All you must verify is write permission to that folder.
  4. No Server Installatoin: The HIS DOES NOT NEED ANY SERVER INSTALLATION! No installation is required on the hosting machine. That means that you'll have to install nothing on your server in order to run the HIS on your network. You should know, however, that is you want to run the HIS from any Server 2003, Server 2008 all you need is to run the installation files - and you can run the HIS right on the server.
  5. Network card Speed: The HIS happily lives with a 100MB/Second Ethernet connection seed. It will run faster on it than most new network applications such as Quickbooks, ACT!, Peachtree.
  6. Drive Map for the HIS: You can call it either with \\Server\HIS\HIS.exe or through a mapped drive, like H:\HIS\HIS.exe - Choose whatever makes your life easier...
  7. Moving the HIS to new server: Moving the HIS to another server is a snap: You SIMPLY COPY the folder from where it is located, and paste it to the new location on the new server. All you have to do now is point your workstations to the new location and keep working. No fancy SQL installation and migration, and no .NET updates. Again - there is no installation of any kind required on the server.
  8. Backing up the HIS: The easiest task you ever done: Simply include it in your backup locations of any standard backup software, and you're done. We do recommend off - site backup as well as daily backup to another hard drive and shadow backup twice a day.
  9. HIS and SQL: No SQL required! SQL - Far as the HIS concern, you can completely uninstall your SQL server, or keep it alive - it does not bother the HIS at all. The HIS has not business of any kind with any SQL server.
  10. HIS Installation: Installing the HIS on a workstation takes about 20 seconds. You'll have a 8MB installation file that takes about 10 seconds to run, and after restart you can run the HIS on that machine. Note that there are few optional modules that would take extra 30 seconds or so - ONLY if needed.
  11. Windows Updates: The HIS is a "closed box" far as Windows knows. Automatic updates, and .NET versions has ZERO effect on the HIS.
  12. HIS Speed: The HIS works practically at the same speed whether its database is empty or has hundreds or thousands of records in it. It uses unique technology that enables it to run fast on slow computers and slow networks. Another words, you need not to upgrade your computer network and workstations only for the HIS. Most likely - you'll find the speed of your existing system sufficient enough for several additional years at your service.
  13. Compatibility: The HIS is compatible with all modern Windows versions: XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008.

For the IT guy, the HIS is nothing less than heaven...