Hi Joanne,

Coincidentally, I had occasion to re-install Sage Instant 2013 yesterday. It installed from disk and, at the finish, reported that it was checking for updates. It reported that the software was up to date. However, when I loaded a backup (I think it was a 19.1 backup) it immediately went checking for an update and reported that it had found a service pack to apply! As it was all on the original licensed machine, I just had to click and it went through.

This seems to support your assumption that a service pack was processed on the original laptop that hasn't yet been processed on the new laptop. The fact that you're not being prompted to apply a service pack makes me wonder whether you're stumped.

However, a couple of suggestions that might be worth trying are:

• load an older version 19 backup to verify that Sage is usable on that laptop with the licensing you have available to you and, if so, then try to restore the 19.1 version; or,
• provide your accountant with all your Sage accounts and transaction information in an Excel workbook  on the new laptop instead.  Many accountants know their way around Excel much better than Sage.

Regards,

Hi Joanne,

The lack of internet connection would be a problem. If it is a wireless problem, my temporary fix would be to plug the laptop into an ethernet connection on the router to get an internet connection. You can disconnect again after Sage updates (hopefully).

I did wonder if the service pack was only available to those with Sage Cover or whether the licence included such upgrades. However, so far as I'm aware, I don't have Sage Cover .

On the Excel thing, most of the providers do free 30 day trials. Even if you get the Sage sorted, you might find that the accountant would prefer Excel and would require less hand-holding to access what he's looking for? Maybe give him a printed Sage TB and an Excel workbook as well as Sage access this year to see what he prefers?

Regards,

-- Edited by Onion4Sage on Wednesday 11th of February 2015 01:12:58 PM

I did wonder if the service pack was only available to those with Sage Cover or whether the licence included such upgrades. However, so far as I'm aware, I don't have Sage Cover.

I hope not (and experience suggests not)! Otherwise anyone who has bought the software has a problem if they need to move their data to a new computer - any updates that have been applied to it won't be available, and their data becomes inaccessible.

Did I say experience suggests not? Yes, yes I did. I had to install Sage on a new computer about a year ago after the old one died - the computer was connected to the intertubes, and all updates were installed as necessary. I haven't had SageCover for a few years now.

With no internet connection, another solution would be to download and install the update manually. Using a different machine (one that is connected to the intertubes, obviously) pop along to Sage's updates page and download the update for the software in question. Put it on a CD or USB stick, take it along to the computer in question and install it.

I know this can be done because I've done it a few times at clients - a slight snag, though, is that I can't remember the URL of the page in question. I've checked through my own email archive and can't find any mention; probably because when I've had to do this, the email with the address of the page has been sent to them, not to me.

Another problem (which you might not consider to be one) would be that even though from your description the purpose is only for fairly brief use - so the accountant can access a backup of the data while you're working on the current, live data - it would still be a use that breaches Sage's licence terms. (A Sage licence granting concurrent use on multiple computers specifies [and taxes] the number of users, and works across the network so that all users are accessing the live data).You didn't specify which version of Sage you're using - you said 2013, but I mean whether it's Sage Instant or Sage 50.

If it's Sage 50, the cheapest way to stay legal might be to purchase a copy of Sage Instant to put on the other machine; as long as it's the same version (year) or later, it should load the backup. (If it's a later one, you wouldn't be able to go back the other way, but if you're continuing to work on the data in your version, that shouldn't be an issue - it's not going to go the other way.)

If it's Sage Instant, Sage do sell two user licences IIRC - that should be cheaper than a new copy. However, I could be remembering incorrectly.

Edit: Oi, forum software, if I hit the return key, it means I want a line break in the post as it appears on the site, as well as in the editor window!

All updates (minor version numbers) are publicly available, the earlier versions are no longer listed on the sage website, but if you need them I have them.