The RapidFire Point of Sale system was designed to allow the #2 computer to become the #1 computer in the event of a software or hardware failure on the #1. There are intended to be nightly copies of some files from the #1 to the #2 computer. If any of these files are corrupted on the #1 computer then that corruption will also go to the #2. Additionally if any of the "secret" software protection files are damaged you will have a big problem. If your #1 and #2 computers are working properly right now then you can "Ghost" your #1 hard drive to a new hard drive. "Ghost" is the name of a software product produced by Symantec Software which makes a "carbon copy" of all of your information. After this is complete you can install the new hard drive in your system. After this new drive is proven to be working properly, use the original hard drive to Ghost to yet another new hard drive. This will give you two layers of backup of drives that will work with your software key in the event you have a hard drive failure or software corruption in the future. Of course if you ever have to use this "insurance policy" your customer, employee, and menu files will be out of date but you will have a known good copy of a functioning RapidFire POS software system. If you wait until the failure or corruption happens it will be too late.
We get so busy working on our priorities that we tend to take our computers for granted. In a restaurant during every minute of every day the computers are inhaling dust and grease. These small specs accumulate until they have become large, potentially static carrying layers inside the computer and can glue shut all the cooler air breathing holes. This leads to premature computer failure and systems that have to be repurchased much more frequently. Computers in industrial environments have had air filtering as an option for a very long time. I feel that restaurant computer suppliers should have supplied filtering as an option as they are well aware of the conditions. For the short term please inspect the air "intake" holes of your systems. A portable vacuum cleaner can pull some of the gunk out. The "grease glue" will need to be cleaned with some type of non metallic insertion tool and even then when the power is off. Your professional technician could clean out the insides, but only after proper backups have been done. For the longer term I am currently researching proper filtering for these systems. I have decided not to use some of the products that are on the market for dusty environments as these might be flammable either out of the box or once they are coated with grease. I may use window screen materials which while they still allow grease to accumulate inside they will clog up much more frequently than the larger air holes that are currently on the computer cases and thus will be a great improvement. If you have a proven solution please let me know so I can share it with everyone. Any filtering solution REQUIRES that the owner replace these filters on a regular basis just like they clean their grease hood as filters will clog up quicker and left unreplaced will themselves result in premature computer failure.
When the power blinks off for a second in a restaurant, especially during a busy rush there can be lost orders, lost time, confusion and a lot of unnecessary stress for several minutes because all the workstations and possibly the #1 have reset themselves. Today there are small battery backups available at office supplies, electronic stores, and also Walmart that retail from $30-$40 each so you can put these on all of your workstations at a reasonable cost. Years ago these items were very expensive and so typically only the #1 would be protected. These low cost units only have a few minutes of backup time on them so you cannot run for very long on them if the power stays off, and in fact if the power stays off you want to logically close the menus and turn off the computers and batteries. But for those short term power blinks they are a good option.