Third Party Services

Though Church Windows Web was specifically designed to allow staff members the ability to access Church Windows remotely, it is possible to access Church Windows Desktop from home or a different location when using a third-party remote login service.

Two services available for this include:

• GoToMyPC
• Team Viewer

In this document, even though Church Windows Web was specifically designed to allow staff members the ability to access Church Windows remotely, it is possible to access Church Windows Desktop from home or a different location when using a third-party remote login service.

Upgrading to Church Windows Web

While upgrading to Church Windows Web is definitely an option, please note that it is not an immediate option. Setting up a cloud installation of Church Windows requires signing a contract with the company that hosts Church Windows Web and takes a few business days to set up the cloud installation. At that point, we can move your data from your local installation out to that cloud installation. If you are interested in starting that process, you can email sales@churchwindows.com. Someone will get back with you as quickly as possible and will help you through the process.

Using these services is fairly simple, but may require some assistance from your church computer technician. With these being companies and services unrelated to Church Windows, we are not able to help with them or support issues. But when it comes to help in Church Windows specifically, we are always here for you!

Install Church Windows Desktop at Home

It is possible to install Church Windows Desktop at home, then backup the church data and restore it at home. One warning about this involves the transfer of data if you decide to take data back to the church.

Backups are a necessary part of any database program and are essential for emergency situations or computer failures, so should always be done. When restoring data back to a computer, it is essential to know that all previous data on that computer will be over-written. So when data is “out”, one must ensure that no changes are made to the church computer or they will be lost when data created on, say, the home computer is then restored to the church.
Here is More Information about Data Backup and Restoration

Obtaining Church Windows Desktop for Home and Restoring Data

If you wish to install Church Windows Desktop on a new computer at home, Contact Support and request a link to download the software in the “Please describe the problem….” section. Note that we must have your complete church information (and customer number, if possible) to verify that your church is an active customer before a link will be sent.

At that point, you can install the software. Have a backup of the church data ready at home by USB flash drive or stored somewhere on the home computer. Upon opening the recently-installed Church Windows Desktop for the first time, the system will offer the option to restore with a message similar to:

“”Welcome, it looks like you are starting Church Windows for the first time. What do you want to do?” — Continue with Empty Databases — or — Restore Existing Church Windows data”

Select “Restore Existing” and continue through the process.