Windows 7 and above, has an annoying habit of altering the shortcut/icon that is used to launch Paragon. This only happens in multi-user installations where a few workgroup computers are used to form a local area network.
It seems to be caused by Windows not setting up the drive mapping early enough in the start up sequence and is a well discussed problem on the web. We use a drive letter (usually I:) to map to a shared folder on one computer allocated as a server. This mapping is then the same on all computers on your Local Area Network or Workgroup. Paragon then knows how to access its files in the same way from any computer, so the Paragon executable program can be found at “I:\BASE\ParagonDMS.exe”. What can happen is if the I: drive is not available then Windows tries to help by changing the shortcut to C:\Dairydata\BASE\ParagonDMS.exe” which can also be a valid location for the file but only on the server computer. In some cases it simply removes the shortcut as it thinks you no longer have the software installed on your computer.
How to Prevent It
It is a good idea to ensure that your Dairydata drive mapping is working correctly each time you turn your computer on. To do this click on the “Computer” menu item found on the “Start Menu” this should list all your available drives. Usually your main hard disk is C: an additional hard disk or partition, or CD/DVD ROM drive will be D: and any memory card slots may have reserved drive letters below. Right at the bottom you should see and Network / Mapped drives and the Dairydata I: should be visible. However it may have a red X over it which indicates that your computer has not connected to it yet. By simply double clicking on the icon with the red X you will open the connection and the folders (one of which should be “BASE”) will then be visible. You can close the Computer explorer using the normal red square with an x in it in the top right and the Paragon shortcut should work correctly.
How to Fix It when it breaks
Find the shortcut on your desktop. This can sometimes be difficult at the little red van icon we use can also disappear as part of this problem. The shortcut should be labeled “Paragon DMS” or “Paragon Dairy Management System”. Right click on the icon and select “Properties” from the pop up menu. The image below shows the correct entries for “Target” as “I:\BASE\ParagonDMS.exe” and “Start In” as “I:\BASE\” the drive letter my be K: or Z: instead of the default I: that we use as in some cases the I: drive may have already been used on some networks.
