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Staging Hardware and Installing MicroSale

MS Info
  • Updated
Important:
Consider the time needed to properly prepare and stage the registers. Always stage the registers at your office or offsite. Do not stage registers onsite at the restaurant.

Completing this staging document in entirety is crucial to the success of your installation. If you are unsure of any of these steps, please contact MicroSale support. MicroSale’s support department also offers remote staging services. There is a flat-fee per register; please refer to the dealer price sheet for more information.

MicroSale works on nearly all Windows-based POS terminals as long as minimum requirements are met. Because MicroSale can work with most restaurant environments (from quick service to full service), register options are highly customizable. It also integrates with cash drawers, bar code/QR code scanners, kitchen video and more. For all integrated options, please click here.

Printable Version of this article

 

Prerequisites before Installing MicroSale (Windows Setup)

The following are prerequisites that must be completed on each terminal before installing MicroSale.

Installing MicroSale

 

Setting Up Windows User Accounts

 

Create Windows user accounts and set auto-logon to Windows

Important:
The same Username and Password must be used on all terminals in order for MicroSale to communicate properly.

Always use strong passphrases with 7 or more alpha-numeric characters with at least one number, at least one upper- and one lower-case letter, and at least one symbol.  Passphrases should be changed at least every 90 days as a preventative security measure and for PCI-compliance.

  1. Right click on Start Button and select Run. Or use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type control userpasswords2 and select OK
    mceclip1.png
  3. Click on the Advanced tab and uncheck “Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete”.
  4. Click the Advanced button
    mceclip2.png
  5. Double click Users, highlight Administrator, and click Action > Set Password
  6. Highlight the Users folder again, and click Action > New User
  7. Type a new administrator account User name for your company (or restaurant name)
  8. Create strong Passphrase for it (7 or more alpha-numeric characters with at least one upper- and one lower-case letter and one symbol):
  9. Close the New User window, click Users again, and double-click your newly created administrator account name from above. Enable Password never expires, and
  10. Next click on the Member Of tab, and assign this account to the Administrators
  11. Apply this, and close the Properties window for the new administrator account.
  12. Double-click your newly created site user account name from above.
  13. Again, enable Password never expires, and
  14. For any and all other accounts listed including “Guest”, double-click the account name, check the Account is disabled box, and click Apply

 

Configure auto-logon to Windows – Administrator account

  1. Right click on Start Button and select Run. Or use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type control userpasswords2 and select OK
    mceclip0.png
  3. The “User Accounts” box appears. Tick the checkbox, Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. This prompts to enter the username and password you wish to use to automatically when Windows starts. Use the same user name and password on all terminals.
    mceclip4.png
  4. Highlight the newly created administrator account name for the site then Uncheck Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.

    Now, the terminal will automatically login using the selected Administrator account

 

Adjusting Windows Settings

 

Security and Maintenance

  1. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Change User Account Control Settings
  2. Click Change User Account Control settings. Move the slider bar down to “Never notify”, and click OK
    mceclip5.png

 

Disable LUA setting in registry

  1. Right click on Start Button and select Run. Or use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type in regedit and click OK
    mceclip6.png
  3. Browse to following path:
  4. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

  5. Change EnableLUA from ‘1’ to ‘0’

 

Windows Firewall

Important:The default Windows firewall must be turned off. You will use the firewall from the router or you can use a third-party company (such as Netsurian).
  1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security
  2. Click on Windows Defender Firewall on or off on the left side of the screen
  3. Select the bubble next to Turn off Windows Firewall
  4. Click Change Security and Maintenance settings
  5. Uncheck the Windows alert messages that you do not want to be displayed so that they do not interfere with normal POS operations, click OK, and close the window.
  6. Restart Windows to test the auto-logon to the new administrator account

 

Windows Updates

  1. Install the latest Service Pack for the operating system
  2. Install all High-Priority/ Critical/ Important updates from Windows Update
  3. Restart Windows if and when prompted during this process

 

System Performance

  1. Right-click “This PC” (on the desktop), and select Properties
  2. Under “Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings”, click Change settings
  3. To set the computer name, click the Change
  4. Type the computer name and domain or workgroup name, and click OK. Note: For consistency, name the computer similar to the register name that will be assigned later in MicroSale, such as POS1, BAR1, Backoffice, etc.
  5. Click OK to confirm the message to restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
  6. Click OK to go back to the System settings, and click “Advanced system settings”.
  7. On the Advanced tab, and click the Performance Settings
  8. On the Visual Effects tab, select Adjust for best performance, and Apply.
  9. On the Advanced tab, set Processor scheduling for “Background services” and Apply.
  10. Under Virtual memory, click the Change
  11. Set the paging file to Custom size, set the Initial and Maximum sizes both to the same value, and click Set. Use a value that is higher than the “Recommended” (by Windows) value shown.  Recommended values depend on the amount of available RAM and hard disk space, but common values are 6144, 8192, or 12288

Tip: configure the page file size to be larger than the amount of RAM in use.

 

Enable Microsoft .NET Framework

  1. Right-click “This PC” (on the desktop), and select Properties
  2. Click Control Panel Home at the top left, and select Programs and Features
  3. Click Turn Windows features on or off on the left side of the screen
  4. Click the “+” in the box to expand “.NET Framework 3.5
  5. Put a checkmark in the boxes directly under, and that will put a checkmark above
  6. Click OK, wait for Windows to make the changes, and then click Close
  7. Answer Yes if prompted to download updates from Windows update
  8. Click the “+” in the box to expand “.NET Framework 4.6 (or 4.8)
  9. Put a checkmark in the boxes directly under, and that will put a checkmark above
  10. Click OK, wait for Windows to make the changes, and then click Close
  11. Answer Yes if prompted to download updates from Windows update

 

Enable SMB 1.0/CIFS Fire Sharing Support

  1. Right-click “This PC” (on the desktop), and select Properties
  2. Click Control Panel Home at the top left, and select Programs and Features
  3. Click Turn Windows features on or off on the left side of the screen
  4. Click the “+” in the box to expand SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support. Put a checkmark in the boxes directly under (which will also put a checkmark above). Click OK, wait for Windows to make the changes, and then click Close. mceclip7.png
  5. Answer Yes if prompted to download updates from Windows update

 

Enable Services in Windows for network browsing

  1. Right click on Start Button and select Run. Or use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type in msc and click OK
    mceclip8.png
  3. Set the following Services to Automatic and make sure to Start the service. Right click on each of the following service names and click on Properties. Where it stays Startup Type, change to Automatic, then Start, then OK.
    • Function Discovery Provider Host
    • Function Discovery Resource Publication
    • SSDP Discovery
    • UPnP Device Host
      mceclip9.png

 

Network and Internet Settings

  1. Go to Start > Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet
  2. Double click on Interface and change profile to Private
    mceclip10.png
  3. Click on Network and Sharing Center
    mceclip11.png
  4. Click on Internet Options (bottom left of screen)
  5. On the General tab, set the homepage to https://www.microsale.net
  6. On the Advanced tab, under Security, uncheck SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0 TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1. Check Use TLS 1.2
    mceclip12.png
  7. Select OK
  8. Back under Network and Sharing Center, go to Change Adapter Settings
    mceclip13.png
  9. Click on Local Area Connections and then click Properties
  10. Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties
    mceclip14.png
  11. Set the IP address, Subnet mask, Default gateway and Preferred DNS Server. You can wait until installing the system to set the static IP address.
  12. In the same area, click Configure
    mceclip15.png
  13. Click on the Power Management tab > uncheck the setting “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”. Click OK, Click Close and exit back to the desktop.
    mceclip16.png

 

Display & Windows Settings

  1. Click on Start > Settings > Display. 
    Note: Do not move the slider bar under “Change the size of text, apps, and other items”
  2. Click Advanced display settings, select 1024 x 768 for the Resolution, and Exit
  3. Click on Start > Settings > System > Power & Sleep
    1. Select Never for both the “Screen” and “Sleep” settings
    2. On the Advanced tab, uncheck Prompt for password when resuming from standby
  4. Click on Start > Settings > Time & Language
    1. Set the date, time, time zone, and enable daylight saving changes, if applicable.
    2. Turn Off both “Set time automatically” and “Set time zone automatically” – MicroSale will automatically sync the time in Windows with the file server. It is okay to configure only the file server to “Set time automatically”
  5. Click Start > Settings > Update & security
    1. Click Change active hours. Set a window of time around the merchant’s normal business hours so that Windows will not try to update or restart the computer during that time, and click Save.
    2. Click Restart options, verify it is set to Off, and click the back arrow.
    3. Click Advanced options
    4. Uncheck “Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows”
    5. Enable/ Check “Defer feature updates” (will not affect security updates)
    6. Uncheck “Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device….”
    7. Click Choose how updates are delivered, and verify that
    8. “Updates from more than one place” is set to Off, and then Exit

 

Folder Options

  1. Select the Start button, then choose File Explorer
  2. Select View and Click on Options to the far right
  3. In the Folder Options window on the View tab:
    1. Enable “Show hidden files, folders, or drives” and uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”. Leave “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” enabled.
    2. Uncheck “Use Sharing Wizard” if it is currently enabled.
    3. Click Apply, then click the Apply to Folders button above, click Yes, and click OK.
    4. Click OK twice to exit back to the System Properties window Advanced
      mceclip17.png

 

Windows Recovery

  1. Go to Control Panel > System
  2. Select Advanced system settings (1), select the Advanced (2)tab, and select Settings (3)in the Startup and Recovery area
    mceclip18.png
  3. Under “System failure”:
        • Enable “Write an event to the system log”
        • Uncheck Automatically restart
        • For “Write debugging information”, select Kernel memory dump
        • Click OK twice to exit back to the Control Panel, but do not restart the computer yet
    mceclip19.png
  4. Right-click “This PC” (on the desktop), and select Properties.
  5. Click “System protection” on the left, and click the Create button on the bottom of the “System Protection” tab.
  6. Type a name or description such as the word, “Installation” with the date
  7. Click the Create button, and wait while the Restore Point is created.
  8. When you see the message, “The restore point was created successfully”, click Close. It is a good idea to create another Restore Point at the end of the installation

 

Install, configure, and test software for remote technical support (optional)

  1. Install TeamViewer or implement the TeamViewer QuickSupport module
  2. Test the TeamViewer connection with MicroSale Tech Support

 

Copy all necessary installation files onto the local hard drive for easy access

  1. Create a folder called M$CD on the root drive.
  2. Copy all of the installation files into this M$CD
  3. Copy any other required software and drivers into the appropriate sub-folders

 

Installing and configuring anti-virus software

You are welcome to use any anti-virus software, however, we recommend Avast or Malware Bytes. It is important to configure your anti-virus to only perform scans weekly, and only when it will not interfere with the performance of the software (i.e. when the system is in use).

 

Install printer drivers in Windows, and print a test page

  1. Install local printer (Receipt)
  2. Install network printers (Kitchen, Bar, etc.). Use generic text/ only printer driver for Receipt and remote printers
  3. Install office printer (if applicable), share it, and set it as the default printer

Important: If a physical office printer will not be used, install a virtual printer on the XPS port using a standard office printer driver for MicroSale to properly format reports and send reports via email.

 

Installing MicroSale

Complete these steps on each terminal.

  1. Install MicroSale and share the Micro$ale directory for full read/write access. You can either download the MicroSale program from the FTP site or from the  M$CD folder with the MicroSale program installed in the previous instructions
  2. Run setup.exe
  3. Click Next, and Install, and then wait for the installation wizard to complete. Click Finish. You do not have to restart the computer unless prompted onscreen
  4. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\ and right-click the Micro$ale directory
  5. Select Properties, click on the Sharing tab, and click on Advanced Sharing
  6. Enable Share this folder, click the Permissions button, and click Add.
  7. Type Administrators, and click OK.
  8. Highlight Administrators in the list, enable Full Control, and click Apply
  9. Click OK, Apply and OK again, and Close

Important:

  1. Right-click the MicroSale icon on the Windows desktop, and select Properties
  2. Click on the Compatibility tab, and click the button Change settings for all users
  3. Enable the Compatibility mode check box, and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3) for the drop-down box under “Run this program in compatibility mode for”
  4. Click Apply and OK, and then OK

 

Activating the software license and configuring MicroSale

 

Install the site license file

  1. Note: You should have received this via email after ordering the software.
  2. Copy the license file (“sitename&address Terminal.90x or .10x”) into the Micro$ale directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Micro$ale\ for 64-bit operating systems

 

Install any preconfigured files

  1. Copy any files you have preconfigured (Menu databases, Discount, Register Options, .opt files, or company logo (image files for reports) into the Micro$ale
  2. If you do not have any preconfigure files, you can create the menu, register options, etc., after activating the license

 

Activate the terminal’s license

  1. Launch MicroSale, and verify that the site name and address appear onscreen mceclip0.png
  2. From the ID Screen, enter 9137 > Managers Menu > Register Setup > Activate License / Deactivate
  3. Click Activate POS Terminal License for standard point-of-sale terminals click Activate Back Office License if this is the back office computer
  4. Click Yes, and click OK to the message, “Activated Program Will End”, then relaunch MicroSale
  5. Verify that the terminal shows Licensed in the top right corner of the ID Screen

 

Configure the terminal name in MicroSale

  1. On the ID screen of MicroSale, Enter 9137 > Managers Menu > Register Setup > Terminal Configuration
  2. Click Load Network Name to load the Windows network name of the computer
  3. mceclip1.png
  4. Click Save (top left on toolbar), click Exit, and click Exit to Windows
  5. Restart MicroSale and verify that the correct terminal name is displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the ID Screen (to the left of the license status)

Configure Remote Terminal Names and Number of Users

Remote Terminal Names

  1. On the ID screen > enter 9137 > Manager Menu > Register Setup > Terminal Configuration
  2. You can either type the remote terminal names or you can use the Load Remote Stations button to find it through Windows mceclip2.png
  3. Select Save Remote between each Remote Register name Entry

  4. Note: MicroSale will test for read/write access of the shared Micro$ale folder. If the test fails, repeat the steps for the “Sharing MicroSale” section of this document

  5. Add all terminal names into the remote register list (except for the terminal you are currently on)

 

Number of Users

Note: The Number of Users tells the system how many remote terminals are on the network and will constantly ping the terminals to look for menu changes. Each remote terminal only needs to worry about itself. Setting the Number of Users to 1 still allows other registers to pick up check details, tabs, etc. If any menu changes are needed, you must complete the changes from the file server.

Setting the number to the same as the number of users on the license will slow down the system if a terminal/table is offline, as the software is attempting to pull data from the offline machine.

Number of Users on Remote Registers

If you are currently staging a remote register (not the file server) select 1 for “Number of Users” from the dropdown. mceclip3.png

Number of Users on the File Server

If you are staging the file server or main POS station, set the Number of Users to the same as the number of users on the license (the dropdown menu stops at the highest number of users). This will allow menu changes to deploy to all terminals. If the restaurant has tablets, exclude the tablet users. Tablets are extremely volatile on the network and can affect the speed of the software; tablets may be turned off during slow times, have dead batteries, etc.).

Example: If a restaurant has a back office, 2 POS stations and 3 tablets, set the Number of Users to 3 (1 back office + 2 POS stations). You will be able to sync menu data to the file server from the tablets (covered in “Number of Users on Tablets”.

 

Number of Users on Tablets

Each tablet only needs to worry about itself. Setting the Number of Users to 1 still allows other registers to pick up check details, tabs, etc. To sync the tablet with the most updated menu changes, go to Misc Setup > Sync Data With > Browse to terminal transfer > and choose the file server.mceclip4.png

 

Download and Install SQL

Note: The MicroSale SQL Tools button installs SQL Server for you.

  1. Click Manager Menus > Register Setup > Terminal Configuration
  2. Press the Download SQL Tools button
  3. Choose SQL 2008 **this may take several minutes, depending on the internet speed**
  4. Follow the Prompts to Download, extract and install. Once SQL is installed you will be able to move on to the next section.
  5. Once the SQL install is complete, click the Find SQL Servers  button to locate the SQL instance on your network. This will display all terminals on the local network that have SQL Server or SQL Server Express currently running
  6. Once the sql server is found, click on the server name on the right side of the screen (example below) then click on the following fields to populate your register name:
    1. Check File Server
    2. SQL Connection
    3. Gift/House/Frequent Server
    4. mceclip5.png
    5.  Decide if you want to use the IP or Terminal Name, the Main Server box and Gift/ House/ Frequent Server box. Decide if you want to use the IP or Terminal Name. MicroSale will auto-populate the boxes with the IP or terminal name.
  7. Press the Default User Name and Password, to auto populate the information from the download you used and installed earlier (or if you used the batch file from the ftp site download). The check marks to enable SQL will also be marked at this time.
  8. Click the Test Financial Connection button
  9. Click the Test Main Connection button
  10. Click the Test Connection button next to the Gift/ House/ Frequent Server box *** All of the tests should return the message, “Good Connection To Server”. ***
  11. Select Save
  12. You will be prompted to Attach/Update SQL Database?
  13. Select Yes.
    1. Any DB’s in the directory already will be imported automatically into SQL at this time. This includes menu, discounts, employee, rpm, time records, and product history.
  14. Exit the mssqlsetupv10.exe window, if opened, and double click on the MicroSale desktop shortcut to start MicroSale.

Importing a menu, discounts, employees, etc., that may have been created previously on another device:

If you have already create your menu, discounts or employees on another device, you will need to add them into this newly installed MicroSale computer.

  1. Copy the mdb files (the databases on the computer you used to build the menu, discounts, etc.)
  2. Paste the mdb files into the Micro$ale directory on the newly installed MicroSale computer
  3. Launch MicroSale
    1. Go to Managers Menu > Register Setup > Terminal Configuration > select "Import Files from Access". The files automatically upsize; no other steps are needed.
    2. images.jpg

Alternatively, if you are starting fresh and would like to wipe any demo data and start building your menu with this new device, please complete the following steps:

  1. Managers Menu > Register setup > Terminal Configuration > Misc System Configuration Page > Misc Utilities > Create New Menu >  select “New Menu” and then “New Modifier File”.
  2. After each selection, it prompts for the back door admin code (to prevent end users from inadvertently wiping their menus).
  3. 2.jpg

Configure Register Options by Terminal

  1. Go to Managers Menu > Register Setup > Terminal Configuration > Register Options
  2. Go to Quick Service, Full Server or Cashier Station
  3. You must first select the pre-configurated button first (such as Set as Cashier Station, etc.) and select Save
    mceclip6.png
  4. After setting the pre-configuration, set any remaining options that are needed. Save when finished.

  5. Important: You MUST set the following options:

    • Set the Terminal Register Number on the General The REG# needs to be different for each terminal at the site. Go to the General tab and select a number from the “Register Number” dropdown list
    • Set the Business End on the General tab
    • Set the System First day of Week on Time Clock/Misc.
    • Save when completed

For more information on Register Options:

https://microsale.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001344268-Understanding-Register-Options

 

Assigning MicroSale printer names to actual printers in Windows

  1. Go to Manager Menu > Register Setup
  2. Select Printers / Devices Setup
  3. In the teal area, type in the Printer Name – such as Kitchen
  4. Under Available Printers, choose the appropriate printer. If your printers are not setup in Windows, choose None.
  5. Select Save
  6. Continue adding Printer Names until you added all necessary printers.
  7. Select Exit

For more thorough instruction on printer names, please review this article.

 

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