This problem is usually caused by the program being shut down improperly, i.e. power failure, your computer froze up and you had to hit reset, closing the program in Windows by using the "X" in the top right corner instead of the "Quit" command in the program, etc.
When you receive this error message the following procedure should correct the problem:
1. Try pressing the Retry option and if that doesn't work, try the Fix option (if available) before Canceling or aborting. If neither of these options work proceed to the next step.
2. Press the Cancel or abort option to exit the screen and then quit the program. If cancel doesn't seem to be responding, hold down on the "C" key till the program closes itself down.
3. If your computer automatically runs scandisk on startup, close all programs and restart your computer then proceed to step 4. If you don't automatically run scandisk at startup or you're not sure if you do or not you need to run scandisk manually (you don't need to do the surface/through check, just the standard). In Win95/98 to run scandisk, click on Start, click on Run and type in "scandisk" in the open box & press OK, you need to check the c: drive with the type of test to run is the standard test. In Win3.1 or DOS 6.0 or higher to run scandisk, at a DOS prompt, type in "scandisk", press enter, when scandisk asks if you want to perform a surface check you can say no. The results to look for are either scandisk found no errors or was able to fix all that it found. In DOS 5.0 & lower versions, run "chkdsk" from a DOS prompt instead of scandisk.
4. If you were getting the File Opening/File Locked message prior to getting to your Loan/Contract Menu you need to perform the following step. Go to a DOS prompt and at the c:> type: "cd\payday\dbf" and then press enter. (this assumes you have Payday installed in the c:\payday directory, if not substitute the appropriate directory name). Once in the correct directory type in "hf *" and press enter, go ahead and "press any key to continue" if asked. (If you are in Payday version 4 you also need to type in "cd..\exe", press enter and type "hf *" in this directory also). If the last line shows that the number of bad files is the same as the number of fixed files, you can exit the DOS prompt and proceed to step 5.
5. At the same DOS prompt c:> type: "cd\payday\exe" and then press enter. Then type "fixcdx" and press enter. Type "exit" and press enter to exit the DOS prompt window. Restart our program and go directly to the Verify menu. Run option 91 - Complete Verification. Once this procedure is run successfully and you are returned to the Verify menu, you're problems should be solved!
6. Once you're able to go back into you're data, you want to check that the last couple contracts, deposits, etc. (Contract menu items 11-16) are still there. There is a possibility that some data is lost but normally only the last couple of records entered. All data entry screen automatically open to the last records in the file so if the last record you entered is not there, do a (S)earch by (E)ntry order and check to see what other records are missing from the end of the file and simply reenter the missing records.
This should solve the problem, if not give technical support a call at 303-741-9031.