Only two things usually go wrong with QuickLaw: loss of network connection (most common) and data corruption. There are occasional problems with Word doing the letters, but that is always related to the installation of Word or Office, and can be solved with a removal and re-installation of Office or Word.
Whenever the network connection is lost QuickLaw edits the QuickLaw.INI file (explained below), changes the data file path to the local C:\QuickLaw folder, and tries to attach to the data files there. The problem is, once the network is brought back up the stations will continue to fail because they are now looking for them locally. This was a “bug” that we never fixed in QuickLaw, and is the cause of 99% of the problems reported to us. To fix the problem you will need to edit the INI file on each station and change the SharedDataFilepath= entry to point back to the network to get going again (see “Can’t find data files”, below).
QuickLaw keeps track of the data files in the QuickLaw.INI file found in C:\QuickLaw. Near the bottom of this file is an entry named “SharedDataFilepath=” You must make certain that the text after the equal sign is the path to the folder that contains the QLData.MDB and other data files.
You can open and edit the QuickLaw.INI file with Notepad or any text editor. It can be found in the Windows folder (C:\Windows).
An example of a good entry for a network system with QuickLaw located on a mapped F: drive and in a folder named QuickLaw would be:
SharedDataFilepath=F:\QLData
The standard, single user QuickLaw path looks like this:
SharedDataFilepath=C:\QuickLaw
If the path is correct and you have verified the data files are in there then the files are probably corrupted. Follow the instructions under Corrupted Data, below.
The only way that we know of to save corrupted data is to run Access’s repair and compact routine. You can use FileFix.MDB utility that came with QuickLaw to do this, which should be located in the QuickLaw folder on any workstation. Be sure to check all the boxes when you run the program. It should take several minutes, and as long as several hours, to complete this process.
If you can’t find FileFix.MDB, or it doesn’t seem to work then you can try using MS Access to do it manually. Only do this with Access 2.0! If you don’t have Access version 2 either find an old copy somewhere (try eBay) or use the runtime (below).
QuickLaw comes with a runtime version of Access 2 called MSARN200.EXE. Run this program and put on the command line the path and filename of each file (QLData.MDB, OLEOpen.MDB, DBClosed.MDB, OLEClosed.MDB) and the switches “/Repair /Compact”. You must do each one separately.
For example, from your PC’s desktop click Start, then Run and type:
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe f:\QuickLaw\QLData.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
You will need to give it your login name (the default is “User1”). You should see a status bar go across the screen. It will stop and ask you to press OK after the repair, and then again after the compact.
Now do the same thing for the other data files…
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe f:\QuickLaw\OLEOpen.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe f:\QuickLaw\DBClosed.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe f:\QuickLaw\OLEClosed.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
Finally, do the local QuickLaw programs:
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe C:\QuickLaw\QLOpen.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
C:\QuickLaw\Msarn200.exe C:\QuickLaw\QLClosed.MDB /Repair /Compact /INI QUICKLAW.INI
This can happen… a file gets so badly corrupted that it can’t be repaired by Access. Hopefully, you backup your data regularly, because now is the time you are going to need it.
You can try some Access Recovery tools that are available on the internet. For example, www.OfficeRecovery.com/Access/Index.htm. We haven't tried this but it is an option available to you. There are others out there if you look for them.
Barring the success of any recover tools you will now need to restore your QuickLaw data files from your latest backup set. Try restoring only OLEOpen.MDB first and see if that solves your problem. If that doesn't do it then you will need to restore both your data files (QLData.MDB, OLEOpen.MDB)
The most commonly corrupted file is OLEOpen.MDB. That only contains the letters that you saved on your cases, but it will keep QuickLaw from being able to run if it is corrupted. If all else fails copy a clean OLEOpen.MDB (only that one file) from your setup disks to the shared data folder and run QuickLaw again. You will lose all of your letters but at least all of your case data will still be there.
Download clean: OLEOpen.MDB