Restoring your Desktop Report Writer 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.

Back-Up HG User Settings

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.

Here is our article on how to back up your HG User Settings: Desktop Report Writer: Backup HG User Settings

Restoring HG User Settings from the Cloud

1. 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).
2. Sign in by clicking HG Services > Enter Inspector HG Username. Enter username and password, then click OK.
3. Click HG Services > Restore HG User Settings. This will begin the process of transferring your settings down from the cloud.
   
4. 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.

Manually Restoring Desktop Report Writer

This portion of the article is considered intermediate-level, not beginner-level.

Manually restoring settings may be necessary if there was no (or no recent) backup or the user does not have Online Services.

• If you have access to your old computer, follow the instructions below. If you can no longer access your old computer, go to the next set of instructions.

1. Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents.
   
2. Right-click the HomeGauge folder and choose Copy.
   
3. Plugin and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive) to your current/old computer.
4. Navigate to the USB device on your computer, right-click, and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
5. 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.
6. Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer and plug it into your new computer.
7. On your new computer, navigate to Documents>HomeGauge. Right-click on HomeGauge and select Rename.
   
8. You will want to rename the HomeGauge folder, HomeGauge2.
   
9. 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 instructions below.

1. Download and activate Desktop Report Writer; for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Download, Install, and Activate.
2. Add your company logo (for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Add or Change your Logo.
3. Add your agreement (for instructions, see this article: Desktop Report Writer: Add or Edit my Agreement.

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 
1. From the Inspector Dashboard (Note: Microsoft Excel is required)
1. Log into your Dashboard
2. On the left, click Contacts > Real Estate Pros
   
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find Export Customers for HG Version 4/5. Choose All Years and click Submit.
   
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 but for Contacts > Buyers/Sellers.
5. Open both downloaded files in Microsoft Excel.
6. 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.
7. 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.
2. From an old computer
1. Copy the people.csv or people4.csv file from Documents HomeGauge. A USB drive is handy for this.
2. Paste this file in the exact location on the new computer.
• Restore your invoice (only possible from old computer)
1. Copy the people.csv or people4.csv file from Documents HomeGauge. A USB drive is handy for this.
2. Paste this file in the exact location on the new computer.
• Restore your reports
• From your Dashboard; for instructions see Inspector Dashboard: Downloading Uploaded Report.
• From your old computer or external hard drive
1. Open your File Explorer and navigate to Documents>HomeGauge.
2. Right click the Reports folder and choose copy.
   
3. Plug in and open your external storage device (we like to use a USB thumb drive).
4. Navigate to the device on your computer, right click and choose Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
5. Safely remove your external storage device from your old computer.
6. Paste these folders in your new computer at Documents HomeGauge Reports.
7. 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.
• 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.

Troubleshooting

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:

1. From the Inspector Dashboard, click the Install HG5 link on the left side menu.
2. Download the HomeGauge installer.
3. Run the installer once download. When the installation completes, open your software and preview a report to check your summaries.