Tip of the Month (September 2009)

Locating the Desktop Database on a Network Drive When Using mEnable

In Visual CE's synchronization settings, you may specify that the "Desktop Database" is on a network drive (for example, on the T: drive where the T: drive is on some other computer on your network). This works just fine when you synchronize using Visual CE's FILE | SYNCHRONIZE | GO, but this won't work when you synchronize using mEnable.

Why? Because the T: drive is something that is defined within the scope of your login. The mEnable server does not log on as you, it logs in as SYSTEM. And SYSTEM does not have the T: drive defined.

To get around this problem you have to do a couple of things on the machine that runs the mEnable server:

1. Create a new user account (perhaps call it MENABLE). Log onto your machine as MENABLE and define the T: drive. Do this the same way you defined the T: drive for your login.
2. Using a text editor such as notepad, open a file called MENABLE.INI in the windows folder (create this file if need be). Add the following lines to this file:
   [SERVER]
   UserMustBeSystem=0
   Save the file and close notepad.
3. On the control panel, under administrative tools, double click on "Services". Scroll down and double click "SYWARE mEnable". In the "Log On As" section, specify that this service is to login as the user you created in step 1 (perhaps MENABLE), rather than the built-in SYSTEM account.

After you do this, the mEnable server will be able to use the T: drive.