Frequently Asked Questions:

• Can I use Frostbow Software products in my business?


• Can I install Frostbow Software products on more than one computer?


• How do I change the currency symbol display?


• Are there any limits on the size of database I can create?


• Can I move my data from Home Inventory to Collection Manager and vice versa?


• If I purchase the full version of a Frostbow Software program do I need to purchase the upgrade too?


• How do I backup my database to a CD?


• I just bought a new machine, how do I move the program and my data to the new machine?

There are no restrictions on the use of Frostbow Software Products for business purposes (other than the normal license restrictions) and you can create as many individual inventory files as you wish.

Frostbow Software has a family friendly license agreement. That means you can install and use the program on multiple computers (for example your desktop and your laptop). The only restriction is that you can't use the program simultaneously on multiple machines unless you purchase enough licenses for the number of concurrent users.

Frostbow Software products are setup to conform to your Windows locale settings. So if you have your regional settings set to display the proper currency symbol, so will the program.

You can check your regional settings on most versions of Windows by going to the Windows control panel (available from My Computer or via the "Settings" menu on the Windows Start menu).

When you bring up the control panel, you should see an entry for "Regional Settings" open Regional Settings and you should see a tab labeled "Currency". On the Currency tab you can change the currency symbol used as well as the way the currency is displayed.

Windows XP - How to Change Date, Time, Number, and Currency Value Displays

Windows Vista - Change the display of dates, times, currency, and measurements

Windows 7 - Change the display of dates, times, currency, and measurements

The maximum number of items that can be added to Frostbow Home Inventory 4+ or Frostbow Collection Manager 2+ is 200 million under Windows 95/98/ME and 1 billion under Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7.

The maximum size of a database file (.DAT), index file (.IDX), or BLOB file (.BLB) is 4,000,000,000 bytes under Windows 95/98/ME and 128,000,000,000 bytes under Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7.

You can read more about the database engine's system capacities here: DBISAM system capacities.

Yes. You can use the "File|Export to Text File..." menu command from Home Inventory to export your data and then use the "File|Import Text File..." menu command in Collection Manager to import your data. Be sure to match up the respective fields when you go through the import wizard so that all the data ends up in the correct fields. The same process will also work in reverse from Collection Manager to Home Inventory.

Note: The import process will append the new records to the end of the current file, so if you want only the imported records in your file you need to start with a new blank database.

No. If you are purchasing the latest version of the software there is no need to purchase the upgrade. The upgrade is for people upgrading from an older version of the software. For more information on our upgrades, see the Frostbow Software Upgrade Policy.

How you create a CD (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, etc.) varies from system to system based on the hardware, software, and operating system you have installed. Therefore, the easiest and most reliable way to backup your database to a CD is a two step process.

• First, start your Frostbow program and use the "File | Backup" menu choice to create a backup of your database on your hard drive.
• Second, insert a burnable CD, and then use your CD burning software to copy your backup file to the CD.

Restoring your backup file is simple, just start your Frostbow program and use the "File | Restore" menu choice to restore your backup file from the CD to your hard drive.

The simplest way to move the program itself to your machine is to download and install a new copy on your new machine. You can always find the latest version on our "Downloads" page. If you're looking for an old version you can find it on the bottom of our "Support" page.

The easiest way to move your data over to the new machine is to use the program's backup & restore functionality.

• First, on your old machine, start your Frostbow program and use the "File | Backup" menu choice to create a backup of your database on your hard drive.
• Second, copy this backup file to a removable media such as a floppy or CD-R drive.
• Finally, on your new machine just start your Frostbow program and use the "File | Restore" menu choice to restore your backup file from your removable media to your hard drive.