Restoring your Desktop Report Writer settings is a great way to recover settings from a crash or when you get a new computer. In this article, we teach you how to back up your user settings and restore those settings to get you back to writing reports.
Backup and Restore features are only available to users with Online Services.
Overview
Note: First, you must back up your user settings if you can access your current/old computer. The restore feature ONLY works if you have backed up your user settings at some point.
Backing up your Desktop Report Writer settings is a smart precaution that can make recovering from a computer crash or transitioning to a new computer a breeze. This article will guide you through the process of backing up and restoring your settings, ensuring that your templates, comments, invoices, and more are safe and accessible when you need them.
Desktop Report Writer will periodically prompt you to back up to the cloud. Take advantage of this and back up your settings as often as possible. You can also back up manually if you do not have an internet connection.
Back-Up HG User Settings
At the top-level menu, click HomeGauge Services > Backup HG User Settings
When asked if you want to proceed, click Yes.
What does the backup include?
For a full list of settings that are included in backups, see Understanding Backups
Templates
Comments
Invoice
Contacts
Logos, Signatures, Initials
Print options
Custom report parts (cover page, back page, agreement, etc.)
Auto Fill
What does backup NOT include?
Reports
HomeGauge Backup does NOT back your reports! You must upload your reports to your Inspector Dashboard to save them online. HomeGauge keeps your reports for a minimum of 5 years.
To download or transfer your Reports, follow the instructions below:
From your Inspector Dashboard, for instructions, Inspector Dashboard: Downloading Uploaded Report
From your old computer or external hard drive
Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents\HomeGauge.
Right-click the Reports folder and choose copy.
Plug in and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive).
Navigate to the device on your computer, right-click and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer.
Paste these folders in your new computer at Documents HomeGauge Reports.
Restart the HomeGauge software. The reports will be available for you to open.
Note: If you are using HomeGauge 4, you will need to click Open -> Rebuild Database to make your reports visible.
Drawings
The Backup will not save your Drawings folder. To transfer your Drawings folder to a new computer use an external hard drive or usb thumb drive or follow the instructions to transfer your template:
From your old computer or external hard drive Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents\HomeGauge.
Right-click the Drawings folder and choose copy.
Plug in and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive).
Navigate to the device on your computer, right-click and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer.
Paste the Drawings folder in your new computer at Documents\HomeGauge.
Restart the HomeGauge software. The drawings will be available for you to open.
Attachments
The Backup will not save your Attachments folder. This folder contains all of the Pictures, Drawings, and Files that you Attached to your Auto-Comments. The Attachments folder is included along with the template. To transfer your Attachments folder to a new computer, follow the steps to transfer your template below:
Transferring a template using the cloud
In your HomeGauge desktop software, click HG Services > Upload Cloud Templates & Settings.
Select the template(s) you want to transfer and click OK.
On your other computer or device, go to HG Services > Download Cloud Templates & Settings. The templates and settings you uploaded earlier are downloaded
Click Select Report Template to choose and use the template
Transferring a template manually from your old computer or external hard drive
Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents\HomeGauge.
Right-click the Drawings folder and choose copy.
Plug in and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive).
Navigate to the device on your computer, right-click, and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer.
Paste the Drawings folder in your new computer at Documents\HomeGauge.
Restart the HomeGauge software. The drawings will be available for you to open.
Restore HG User Settings
If you have Online Services, you can easily restore your backup from the cloud. If you do not have online services or do not have internet access, you can still restore your backup manually by moving your HomeGauge files from one computer to another with an external hard drive or usb thumb drive. Instructions for both methods are listed below:
Restoring HG User Settings from the Cloud
Download and activate Desktop Report Writer by going to HomeGauge.com, signing in to your dashboard, and then clicking Install HG 5 on the left side menu (Desktop Report Writer: Download, Install, and Activate).
Sign in by clicking HG Services > Enter Inspector HG Username. Enter username and password, then click OK.
Click HG Services > Restore HG User Settings. This will begin the process of transferring your settings down from the cloud.
You may now start creating reports. To restore any reports you've uploaded to the dashboard, you can manually download them by following the instructions in this article: Inspector Dashboard: Downloading Uploaded Report. It's unnecessary to download all your reports, only the reports you need.
Note: HomeGauge Backup does not save Reports, Drawings, or Attachments. To read more about using HomeGauge User Backups, see the instructions above.
Manually Restoring Desktop Report Writer
Manually restoring settings may be necessary if there was no (or no recent) backup or the user does not have Online Services. This portion of the article is considered intermediate-level, not beginner-level.
If you have access to your old computer
If you can no longer access your old computer, skip to the next set of instructions.
Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents.
Right-click the HomeGauge folder and choose Copy.
Plugin and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive) to your current/old computer.
Navigate to the USB device on your computer, right-click, and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
While transferring files on your new computer, start the download of HG 5 and activate the software; for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Download, Install, and Activate.
Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer and plug it into your new computer.
On your new computer, navigate to Documents>HomeGauge. Right-click on HomeGauge and select Rename.
You will want to rename the HomeGauge folder, HomeGauge2.
Once you have renamed the empty HomeGauge folder to HomeGauge2, right-click in the white area and paste the copied HomeGauge folder from your USB drive onto your new computer in your Documents folder. This will replace the default HomeGauge folder that comes with the install to your copied HomeGauge folder from your old computer containing all your settings.
If you can no longer access your old computer.
Follow the steps below to set up the basics in your report writer.
Download and activate Desktop Report Writer; for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Download, Install, and Activate.
Add your company logo (for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Add or Change your Logo.
Add your agreement (for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Add or Edit my Agreement.
You can recover your template from a previous report if you have uploaded it to the Dashboard. (for instructions, see our article on Recovering a Lost Template
After restoring the Desktop Report Writer, remember to activate your license and companion devices. You can find all your licenses on the dashboard (for instructions, see Desktop Report Writer: Activation).
Restore Part of HomeGauge Data (Contacts, Invoice, Reports)
Follow the instructions below if you only need to restore part of your HomeGauge data, such as your contacts, invoice file, or reports.
Restore your contacts:
From the Inspector Dashboard
Note: Microsoft Excel is required
Log into your Dashboard
On the left, click Contacts > Real Estate Pros
Scroll to the bottom of the page to find Export Customers for HG Version 4/5. Choose All Years and click Submit.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 but for Contacts > Buyers/Sellers.
Open both downloaded files in Microsoft Excel.
Combine both files into one. The easiest way is to copy the rows of data (but not the headers) from one file into the other.
Save the complete .csv file in the Documents HomeGauge folder. Be sure to name it people4.csv. If you are asked if you want to replace the existing people4.csv file with the new one, say yes.
From an old computer
Copy the people.csv or people4.csv file from Documents HomeGauge an paste it into a USB drive or external hard drive.
Safely remove the external drive
Move the external drive to your new computer
Paste the people4.csv file in the exact location on the new computer.
Restore your invoice (only possible from old computer)
On your Old PC, find your HomeGauge Data folder. If you need help, see Locating HomeGauge Data Folder.
Copy the Invoice.csv from inside the HomeGauge data folder and paste it onto an external drive.
Safely remove the external drive
Move the external drive to your new computer
Paste the people4.csv file in the exact location on the new computer.
Restore your reports
From your Inspector Dashboard
for instructions see Inspector Dashboard: Downloading Uploaded Report.
From your old computer or external hard drive
Open your File Explorer and navigate to your HomeGauge Data folder. If you need help, see Locating HomeGauge Data Folder.
Right click the Reports folder and choose copy.
Plug in and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive).
Navigate to the device on your computer, right click and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer.
Plug the External Drive into your new PC.
Paste these folders in your new computer at Documents HomeGauge Reports.
Restart the HomeGauge software.
Click the Open Report button from the Toolbar
Click Refresh Database. Once the process finishes the reports will show up in the window to open them.
If you do not upload your reports to the Dashboard, and your old computer is no longer working or salvageable, your reports may not be recoverable.
FAQs
Summary Missing After Restoring Your Settings
If you have recently restored your settings from a computer that was running an older version of HomeGauge, you may notice that your summaries are missing from the print/upload preview. To correct this, you'll need to reinstall HomeGauge. Note, reinstalling will not remove any of your existing files or settings:
From the Inspector Dashboard, click the Install HG5 link on the left side menu.
Download the HomeGauge installer.
Run the installer once download. When the installation completes, open your software and preview a report to check your summaries.
How do I check the date of my last backup?
Log onto your Inspector Dashboard. On the left, click My Reports -> Cloud Transfers. Scroll down to the HomeGauge User Settings Backup section