Practice CS Installation Toolkit

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Follow the steps in this guide to ensure that the Practice CS installation is successful and to help prevent issues operating the program.

Pre-installation requirements

Before installing, complete the following items:

You need to sit at the server where the SQL database resides or will reside. You are responsible for determining which server that is; consult your IT professional if you are not sure about the location of your SQL database.

If you have a terminal server, see the Terminal server best practices for CS Professional Suite applications for installation requirements and best practices for setup.

For more information on this topic, see How to determine your user account type in Windows External link( What's this?).

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For more information on how to configure your antivirus software, see Antivirus guidelines for CS Professional Suite applications.

Do not temporarily disable your antivirus as an alternative to setting the recommended exceptions. Many antivirus programs continue to run after being disabled, which means that installation issues can occur. If you do have success installing with a disabled antivirus, re-enabling the antivirus could cause issues updating the program, as well as slowness operating the program and data loss.

For more information on how to configure your firewall, see Firewall guidelines for CS Professional Suite applications.

Do not temporarily disable your firewall as an alternative to setting the recommended exceptions. Many firewalls continue to run after being disabled, which means that installation issues can occur. If you do have success installing with a disabled firewall, re-enabling the antivirus could cause issues updating the program, as well as CS Connect errors and slowness.

For more information about permissions, see Permissions guidelines for the CS Professional Suite.

Install SQL

Practice CS works with both SQL Express and fully licensed versions of SQL. To see all the supported versions of SQL, see Practice CS System Requirements. You can choose to install SQL any of the following ways: 

  • Run the Practice CS Setup to install SQL Express 2014; the Practice CS installation comes packaged with SQL Express 2014 and you can choose to install it during step 2 of the Practice CS Setup. For instructions, skip to the "Practice CS installer" section and follow the steps through the rest of the article.  
  • Download and install SQL Express free directly from Microsoft. For instructions, see Upgrading or installing a Microsoft SQL instance. If you choose this option, review the Configuration requirements section below. Your firm's IT professional is responsible for configuring your SQL instance.
  • Purchase a fully licensed version of Microsoft SQL Server from Microsoft and follow their installation instructions. If you choose this option, review the Configuration requirements section below. Your firm's IT professional is responsible for configuring your SQL instance.

SQL configuration requirements

If you choose to install SQL Express 2014 by running the Practice CS Setup, you can skip this section. If you are installing using any other method, your firm's IT professional is required to configure your SQL instance as follows: 

  • Use Mixed Mode authentication, not Windows authentication.
  • Enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes protocols.

See SQL Server best practices for CS Professional Suite applications for more recommended configurations and procedures.

Practice CS installer

Download the installer

The installer is available on the CS Professional Suite download page. You'll need to sign in to your CS Web account to access to the download. After signing in, complete the following steps.

  1. Click the link to download Practice CS.
  2. Click the Proceed to Download link.
  3. Click the Download Now button.

    If you are given the option to Run or Save the download, choose Save. If you attempt to run the installation file rather than saving it, the program will not install properly and you may have issues moving forward.

Run the installer

Complete the following steps to run the installation file, which extracts the Practice CS Setup files:

  1. Navigate to the folder where the file was downloaded.
  2. Run the practicecsdownload.exe file.
  3. In the Choose Destination Folder dialog that opens, note the destination. You will use this Destination Folder location to re-run the installation later in the event that you need to restart the server or re-install. Click the Browse button to choose a different destination, or click Extract to use the default destination. We recommend using the default destination.
  4. If you receive a warning that the destination folder already exists, click Yes to overwrite the existing files; the files are not configurable so it's ok to overwrite them.
  5. Once the extraction is complete, the Practice CS Setup will automatically open.

Complete the Practice CS Setup

The Practice CS Setup opens automatically after running the installer as described above. You can start the Practice CS Setup on its own by browsing to the Practice CS xxxx.x.x Download folder (where xxxx.x.x is the version of Practice CS) and running the Setup.exe. The default location for the folder is the C: drive of the database server.

  1. With the Practice CS Setup running, click Install Practice CS.
  2. Answer the question on the Welcome to Practice CS Setup window. You must be sitting at the server where your database will reside, so you should move to that machine if you are not there already.
  3. Review the license agreement. If you agree, mark the I accept the terms in the License Agreement checkbox.
  4. If you receive a Pending Restart Detected window that prompts you to restart, you can choose the third option to Continue without restarting. If you see this warning repeatedly, you will need to restart.
  5. You will be taken to an Installation Steps window. See the next section for the rest of the instructions.

Installation Step 1, 2, and 3

The Installation Steps window may appear several times throughout the Practice CS Setup.

If Step 1, 2, or 3 has a green checkmark, it means that step is already complete. If you want to go through a step again (for example, to change the Step 1 path where the Practice CS shared files are installed or to link Practice CS to a different SQL instance) click the blue link to get to that step. If you click the Next button on this window, you will automatically be taken to the incomplete steps.

Step 1: Select where the Practice CS Shared Files reside

Use this step to indicate where the Practice CS shared files are installed. The Practice CS Shared Files are the system files for Practice CS; we recommend using the default WinCSI folder. You can also choose to enable Remote Entry during step 1.

  1. Click the ellipsis box to choose a location for the Practice CS Shared Files Folder. We recommend using the default WinCSI folder. Read the information on the Step 1 window for more tips on how to choose a location. Click Next once you select a location. 
  2. Choose whether to allow Remote Entry to be enabled on other computers. Remote entry enables you to enter time and expenses on your laptop when you are away from the office, and transmit those entries back to the office over the internet. If you choose to allow Remove Entry, after the installation you need to set up remote entry on the laptop(s) you want to use and create a Remote Entry database. See Remote Entry overview, for instructions on the rest of the process. Click Next one you make your choice. If you change your mind, you can run Step 1 again at any time to enable or disable Remote Entry. 

Step 2: Configure Database Server

Use this step to choose which SQL instance to use with Practice CS or to create a new instance (which will automatically link to Practice CS). Details on each option are below. 

Choose this option if you have a SQL instance already installed that you want Practice CS to use. This could be the case if you have a fully licensed version of SQL, if you already use SQL for another program and you want to share the instance, or if you already have a dedicated Practice CS instance that you need to re-link to

If you want to use this option, select it and click Next. On the next window, choose the SQL instance you want to use and choose the Connect using Windows authentication option. After this step is complete, move on to Step 3.

If you receive a warning that you are on a domain controller, you will need to exit the installation. See Cannot install Microsoft SQL Server on a Domain Controller for information on using Microsoft SQL Server on a Domain Controller.

Choose this option if you want to use a new Microsoft SQL 2014 Express instance with Practice CS. This could be the case if you do not have SQL installed, or if you use SQL Express 2014 but want a new instance for Practice CS.

If you want to use this option, select it and click Next. On the next window, name the instance and click Next. After this step is complete, move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Install Practice CS on this computer

Use this step to install a Practice CS desktop icon and create any files necessary to run Practice CS on the local machine.

  1. Choose Install Practice CS; despite what the Practice CS Setup window says, we recommend installing Practice CS on the database server as a troubleshooting tool. Click Next.
  2. This window is informational only and lists the components that need to be installed on the machine, if any. Click Next. 
  3. Wait for the installation to complete. If the installation completes successfully, you will automatically move to the next screen.
  4. If you need to install Practice CS on other machines in a network, read the instructions on the Practice CS Setup dialog. You can also find those instructions in Running desktop setup.

Completing the Practice CS Setup Wizard

When the Practice CS Setup is complete, you can mark the Run Practice CS option to start the program. Click Finish. Practice CS is now installed.

Installation issues

Common installation issues are listed below.

Practice CS: Application does not open or start

Practice CS: There is a problem accessing the SQL server

Error during step 2 of installation: Failed to locate OSQL.EXE

Error: System.InvalidOperationException

Login Failed for User 'CreativeSolutionsPracticeCsDatabaseOwner'

Practice CS was able to connect to your database server, but could not find an available Practice CS database to connect to

Trending issues and important information are posted on the Practice CS alerts and notices page. If you experience any problems with the installation not listed above, check the alerts and notices to see if your issue is a common one and read about possible solutions.

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