SBS 2008 – Multiple Lacerte 200X Install Initialization Procedure on One Workstation – Including 2003

We have posted about our experiences with installing previous versions of Lacerte on an SBS 2008 domain with 100% Windows Vista workstations:

• SBS 2008 - Migrating Lacerte 2006 onto Windows Vista

• SBS 2008 – Lacerte 2005 Install

• SBS 2008 – Lacerte 2004 Install

We now have Lacerte 2003 and up installed on all of the Windows Vista workstations with the databases stored on a network share. The procedure was the same as the 2004 version.

What we did to install all versions on the same system:

1. Install Lacerte 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 in that order.
2. Only reboot after the Lacerte 2003 install completes using the 2006 reboot dialogue (leave dialogue open).
3. Answer NO to the reboot question in the 2005 version install and down.

Once the workstation has rebooted after the 2003 install, each version of the program needs to be initialized.

We found that if we ran through firing up each of the programs, one at a time, from 2006 on down, we ran into problems with the 2004 and 2003 versions hanging on a double click of their shortcuts.

When we reversed the order, that is starting the initialization process with the 2003 version, then the 2004 version and so on, we were able to initialize each program in order without any problems with a program hang.

Keep in mind that each program needs to be opened individually and not simultaneously during the initialization steps. Also, the 2004 and 2003 versions can take a lot longer to start up for the first time relative to the newer versions.

So, keep a Workstation Install check list handy for each installed version as well as each version that has been initialized when installing to more than a couple of workstations.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac!

Windows Live Writer