CS Connect updates fail to apply

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If CS Connect updates fail to apply updates in Accounting CS, Workpapers CS, or Practice CS, it will often appear that you are caught in an update loop. The steps you take will depend on where the updates are not applying, the main installation or on a specific workstation.

If you're using the Workpapers CS standalone application, replace the word "Accounting CS" with "Workpapers CS".

Important Notes:

  • All users must exit the application before these steps are taken.
  • These steps will not affect your data.
  • Download the latest version of Accounting CS, Workpapers CS, or Practice CS from My Product Downloads if it is not already saved on the database server.

Working with the main installation

  1. Browse to X:\WinCSI\Accounting CS or X:\WinCSI\Practice CS, where X is the drive the application is installed on.
  2. Right-click the CCUPDLOG file and choose Open or Open with, then choose Notepad. 
  3. Once open in Notepad, scroll to the bottom and look for a recently dated entry that contains, "Error Applying Old File...".

    If you DO see "Error applying old file".

    1. At the server, uninstall the Accounting CS Shared Files and the Accounting CS application or the Practice CS Shared Files and Practice CS.
    2. To uninstall, choose to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall or change a program.
    3. Right-click Accounting CS or Practice CS and choose Uninstall. Repeat for the Accounting CS Shared Files or Practice CS Shared Files.
    4. Reinstall Accounting CS or Practice CS using the saved download from My Product Downloads.
    5. Once the application is installed, apply the CS Connect updates.

    Note: When you open Accounting CS after reinstalling, you will see a message that says database FIRM cannot be opened because it was already opened in a newer version. Press OK and then you will be prompted to check for updates.

    If you do NOT see "Error applying old file".

    1. Browse to X:\WinCSI\Accounting CS\updates or X:\WinCSI\Practice CS\updates, where X is the drive where the application is installed on.
    2. Delete everything in the updates folder.
    3. Open Accounting CS or Practice CS and then download and apply the CS Connect updates again.

    Note: When you open Accounting CS after reinstalling, you will see a message that says database FIRM cannot be opened because it was already opened in a newer version. Press OK and then you will be prompted to check for updates.

Manually apply updates

  1. Verify that all users have Accounting CS or Practice CS closed.
  2. Choose Start > search for Command Prompt.
  3. Using Windows Explorer (Windows key + E), browse to X:\WinCSI\Accounting CS or X:\WinCSI\Practice CS (where 'X' is the drive where Accounting CS or Practice CS is installed).
  4. Drag the CSIUPD.EXE file into the Command Prompt window.
  5. Press the spacebar on your keyboard and type "update" without the quotes and then press Enter on your keyboard. The CS Connect - Applying updates window will appear and begin applying the updates.

Reinstall the application

If the previous steps did not resolve the problem, do the following:

  1. At the server, uninstall the Accounting CS Shared Files or Practice CS Shared Files and the Accounting CS or Practice CS application.
  2. To uninstall, choose to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall or change a program.
  3. Right-click Accounting CS or Practice CS and choose Uninstall. Repeat for the Accounting CS Shared Files or Practice CS Shared Files.
  4. Browse to X:\WinCSI, where X is the drive where the application is installed.
  5. Rename the Accounting CS and Accounting CS Data folders to "AccountingCS.OLD" and "Accounting CS Data.OLD", or rename the Practice CS and Practice CS Data folders "Practice CS.OLD" and "Practice CS Data.OLD".
  6. Reinstall Accounting CS or Practice CS using the saved download from My Product Downloads.
  7. Once the application is installed, apply the CS Connect updates.

Note: When you open Accounting CS after reinstalling, you will see a message that says database FIRM cannot be opened because it was already opened in a newer version. Press OK and then you will be prompted to check for updates.

You will not need to reinstall the application on each of the workstations after the updates successfully apply on the server. Once launched, Accounting CS or Practice CS will automatically apply the new updates.

Specific workstations not applying updates

If a specific workstation is not applying updates or giving an error message, use the following procedure to reinstall Accounting CS or Practice CS.

  1. On the affected workstation, choose to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall or change a program.
  2. Right-click Accounting CS or Practice CS and choose Uninstall.
  3. Browse to X:\WinCSI\Accounting CS\DESKTOP or X:\WinCSI\Practice CS\DESKTOP, where X is the server drive where the application is installed.
  4. Run the Setup.exe file.

Errors about C++ when running CS Connect for updates

CS Suite applications use Microsoft C++. In some cases, if Microsoft C++ applications are not properly installed or configured, errors referencing C++ may occur while running CS Connect. If such errors are experienced, review the following articles.

Failed to install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package

.NET Framework and Visual C++ Considerations for CS Professional Suite.

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From Erik Jacobson (originally in a feedback item sent to TC.): Many times the steps in here have not worked. In order to resolve, a few times I've had them uninstall the shared files, rename the Accounting CS and Accounting CS Data folders to Old in the WinCSI folder. Then reinstall Step 1 and 2 in the installer to create fresh folders in WinCSI. I have only done this step if the ones in the topic didn't work.

In some cases, you may need to put your .zpd files from the Updates folder into a zipped folder and send them to the firm through MKT. Once the firm receives that file, unzip it and copy the contents over to the WinCSI\Accounting CS\updates folder. Open Accounting CS and apply the update files.

Why do updates fail so often?

From Matt Wood: When an update is applied, we are updating files in the \WinCSI\Accounting CS\ folder in the shared file directory. Primarily we are updating the files in the Desktop folder, AccountingCS.exe, and the version.dat file. If any one of these files cannot be replaced by the update process, the update will fail.

Examples of why these files cannot be replaced include:

  • Network locks caused by someone attempting to open the program or run a Desktop setup while the updates are applying.
  • Antivirus scanning the files.
  • Permissions problems.
  • Less common: loss of connectivity, disk errors on server.

To see exactly which file could not be updated, open the CCUPDLOG file (see step 2 above for the location).