How to Speed Up Total Office Manager Software
The following is a list of ideas and settings that should make your Total Office Manager operate faster.
Update Your Software
We are constantly working to make the software faster. That seems to be what users want the most. If you have not updated in a while, please consider updating. If you are nervous about the update breaking something, contact the helpdesk@aptora.com for advice on how to proceed.
Windows Experience Index (Rating)
If your desktop computer uses Windows 7 or higher, check your Windows Experience Index (Rating). Go to: Control Panel | All Control Panel Items | System
You should have a rating of 4.5 or higher. This will help assure that the desktop computer you are using runs Total Office Manager quickly.
Network Speed Testing
Be sure to have your network and network cables tested by a professional. We have seen a lot of problems such as faulty cables, ports, and switches. Most of our users underestimate this as a possibility. Please double check.
Do NOT Connect Wirelessly
Total Office Manager needs a fast network connection and wireless is rarely ever fast enough.
Important: Some desktop computers will try to connect to your network wirelessly even when they have a network cable plugged into them.
Re-index Your MS SQL Database (Company File)
This tip is for NON-HOSTED clients only. We take care of this in the hosted environment.
When all or most people are out of the software, go to File | Company File Information | Database Stats. Click the Run Database Maintenance
For more information, please see this topic based on Database Configuration, Maintenance, and Backups.
Set Your Database Compatibility Level (advanced tip)
This tip is for NON-HOSTED clients only. We take care of this in the hosted environment.
This tip could cause a huge speed improvement. This tip is for advanced IT people only. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Check the Compatibility Level setting. It needs to be as high as it will allow. You should notice an immediate speed improvement and even more improvements over the course of about one or two weeks.
Important: Make sure that Total Office Manager and Aptora Mobile II are BOTH updated to the latest version before changing this setting.
Speed Up Lists with the Fast Lists and Max Lists Preference
If your lists are slow, unresponsive, or freeze, please read on. This topic covers a feature that should help based on list speed optimization.
Speed Up All List Forms Quickly
The larger lists have a preference form called Show Columns. This form offers a list of columns that you can include or exclude from the list. Many users leave all of them checked. Some of them are not needed while others can cause your lists to load, sort, filter, and search very slowly. Some users might notice the software freezing, unresponsive, or locking up.
The following lists and forms contain these types of columns.
- Caller ID
- Check List
- Customer:Job List
- Customer:Job Lookup
- Invoice/Sale/Credit/Estimate List
- Invoice Items List
- Receive Payments List
- Work Order List
- Work Order Lookup
- Chart of Accounts List
We make unchecking all of these columns fast and easy.
- From the Main Menu, click Edit | Preferences | Appearance | Company Preferences.
- Look for a button called “Hide Columns that Significantly Slow List Performance” and click it.
This process unchecks the boxes needed to hide these columns for all users. Users may still add those columns back if they wish. You can perform this procedure any time you need to. Note: If a form is opened when you perform this action, the form will need to be closed and reopened for the changes to take effect.
Faster Customer:Job History
Click File | Preferences | Customer:Jobs | My Preferences. Look for the “Show Balance on Sales Tab in the Customer History Form” and consider unchecking that box. The process of calculating and displaying that value can slow down this form.
Load Customer:Job List Form Faster
Go to Preferences | Customer:Job | My Preferences.
Check the Do Not Load Customer:Jobs on Add/Edit (form loads faster) checkbox.
The form will open with no information. You can still search as usual.
Delete Unnecessary Zip Codes
Total Office Manager includes a database of approximately 50,000 zip codes covering the entire nation. Any form that uses a zip code loads all of these when the form opens. Remove the zip codes that you do not need. Click Tools | Zip Codes. Delete zip codes that don’t apply to you and are not part of your service area. This will make zip code selection faster. Forms that include a zipcode field will load faster.
To Speed Up the Enter Bills Form
Turn on the Auto Recall option Go to Preferences | Auto-Recall | My Preferences. Check “Auto-Recall Transactions”. This will make the New Bill form load faster and auto-populate that Vendor’s last Bill information.
Load List Forms Faster
Select the “Show Active” Default Filter on all List Forms.
This automatically loads Active Records only which limits the amount of data to load when opening any List Form in the software.
The Default Filter is remembered by the User and will load information based on what was last selected in each list.
Bulk Inactivation
Go to Tools| Utilities| Bulk Inactivation. This allows you to Inactivate multiple Customer:Job Accounts that you no longer need or wish to see as Active. This will speed up forms that load the Customer:Job List for selection as well as the actual Customer:Job List.
Remove Unused Items
Go to Tools| Utilities| Item Cleanup Unused. This allows you to Bulk Inactivate or Delete any unused Invoice Items. This will speed up forms that load Invoice Items for selection as well as the actual Invoice Items List.
Merge Duplicate or Unneeded Accounts
Go to Tools| Utilities| Merge Chart of Accounts. This allows you to Merge Chart of Accounts of the same Type for duplicate accounts or simply condensing the List. This will speed up forms that load Chart of Accounts for selection as well as the actual Chart of Accounts List.
To Speed Up Write Checks Form
Go to Preferences| Checking| Company Preferences.
Check the option that says, “Do Not Include Any Cust:Jobs in Checks Pay To List”.
This will speed up the Write Checks form by limiting the data displayed in the Pay to the order of selection.
Company File Maintenance
Inactivate Customers, Invoice Items, Vendors, etc. that are no longer used.
Close Unnecessary Forms
Do not keep unnecessary windows open that are not a part of your workflow.
Hide the Information Center
It takes time and processor cycles to reload this information. Hiding this reduces network load and maximizes screen real estate.
Faster Software Updates
Speed up your software updates by sharing the update file. To do this, you will need to be logged in as the Administrator. From the main menu, click Edit | Preferences. Select the Web Updates tab and click the Company Preferences tab. Select an update file path. This is a location where the update will be stored. This makes updates faster because once the update has been downloaded; all other software users will have access to it; rather than downloading it from the internet.
IMPORTANT: Scheduled Database Maintenance
Be sure that you have set up regular MS SQL Server database maintenance. This includes backing up and re-indexing your database file from within SQL Server Management Studio.
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