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sage instant account

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LisaJJones

I have had my year done by the accountant and he has restored all data onto my laptop and version of sage i have however tried logging on today - first time since the restore and it is bringing up a older version of date error message and not letting me open sage - any ideas?
 
One possibility is that the copy of Sage your accountant has run the year end on is later that yours - you need to get in touch with him and make sure that he used the same version.

So, for example, if you are using Instant Accounts v15, he must use either Instant v15 or Sage 50 v2009(15). If you are using v15 and the accountant has had the data in v16 then your copy will not be able to read it correctly.

John
 
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Thanks you for your reply
I believe my version is newer than his version but its quite strange as was able to view everything immediately after he restored it just not able to re open ?
 
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Its says - the data last used was on a later version do you wish to update - if i click yes its sayd i already have the most update version and if i say no it closes everything and doesnt open sage !!
 
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Go to the folder c:\programdata\sage\accounts\2010\company.000 and, in there, you will find a file called WATERMARK.XML - delete this file and you'll be able to get back into the program.

Note, by default, the ProgramData folder is hidden so, if you can't see it, go to Organize -> Folder and Search Options -> View and make sure the option to view hidden files and folders is selected.

John
 
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John

you are a star

thank you so much very much appreciated my accountant has not left me much time to get my VAT return done so really needed to access today

thanks Again
lisa:)
 
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This is error you get if your accountant restores your Instant Accounts into Sage 50 - it is not a version error normally, but a difference in the actual software used.

You used to be able to restore Instant backups in Sage 50 then take a backup from Sage 50 and open that in Instant again with no problems, but they introduced better security in V16 to try and prevent this happening, this is obviously something quite common done by accountants so they don;t have to run Instant and Sage 50.

JohnDon is obviously in the know and has told you the trick to overcome it! (They will tell you on support if you weedle it out of them!)
 
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It's not a security issue as such.

The file WATERMARK.XML is part of the auto update facility in Sage, it's been there since at least v2008 and basically tells Sage if it should be looking for an update or not.

Problem is, it forms part of the backup of data so if Instant data does go into Sage 50, you get the WATERMARK file from Sage 50 which contains details of Sage 50 upgrades which are not part of Instant. However, as Instant & 50 share the same code base, the update routine kicks in an expects to find updates.

By deleting the file, you force the program to recreate it based on the version currently running thereby solving the problem...

John
 
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Searched google for a solution and found this so thought I might as well ask here!

Recently bought Sage V16 - Previously had a really old version of sage that i was just using to get to grips with it, but when trying to create a new company in v16, it says
"Data has been found from a previous version. This will now be converted to the current version.
Do you want to convert this data?"
If I click no, the program ends.. Could anyone tell me how to remove the previous data?

Regards
Matt
 
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Say yes to upgrading old data andthen you can blow away the data you were experimenting with afterwards.

Once the data is converted and you are in sage - go to file - maintenance - rebuild- once you are there press the F1 key to bring up the help with the details on which bits you want to blow away and start again - you can wipe it clean and start from scratch.
 
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weebly_one said:
Say yes to upgrading old data andthen you can blow away the data you were experimenting with afterwards.

Once the data is converted and you are in sage - go to file - maintenance - rebuild- once you are there press the F1 key to bring up the help with the details on which bits you want to blow away and start again - you can wipe it clean and start from scratch.
Click to expand...

Excellent thanks very much! :)
 
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Was trying to do as above and restore a Sage Instant back up file .004 into Sage line 50 2011. I have deleted as recommended the watermark file but with no success. Has anything changed since this solution was posted? Error message is "This data is from a unsupported version of the program. It is not possible to convert this data directly." How is it possible to convert the data?
 
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Sage 50 v2011 can upgrade data from v11 of Sage 50 and Instant upwards so it would suggest that the data is from an earlier version of Instant. To upgrade the data, it would have to go through an intermediate version first. So, for example, it could be restored in to v11 of Sage 50 and then on to v2011.

An extension of .004 is also a little unusual - back in the days of backing up onto floppy disk that would have been disk 4 of the backup...

John
 
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Thank you. Data is from Sage Version 10 and the 004 is because it was the 4th back up that day and the extension was overwritten. Will progress based on what you say.
 
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when I log in to Sage 50 2013 it says that the last time it was used it was on an older veriosn of sage, would I like to check for updates. When I click yes it says no updates are avaliable and closes the program, when I click no the program closes.

It sounds like I have the same trouble as the first person who posted on here... Unfortunately I am not very good at using the computer and cannot find how to correct it.

I am using Sage 50 accounts 2013 on a mac (but using it through windows parallels... Anyone know what I can do?
 
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It says :

This date was last used with version of Sage accounts. You are currently using version 19.00.11.278. You must update this version of Sage Accounts before accessing the data.

Would you like to check for updates now?

YES NO

If I choose no the program shuts down. If I choose YES a message comes up saying "Update check completed. There are no new updates. Your Sage software is up to date."

The only option to choose is CLOSE which closes the program.

I have two companies on Sage, one will open but one won't. The last time it was open and being worked on was when I took it on my memory stick to the accountant (I am new to it so receiving training still)

I have even tried to open it from my memory stick, but the same message comes up.
 
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Kerri1109 said:
This date was last used with version **** of Sage accounts.
Click to expand...

Is there no number appearing where I've put the four asterisks? If not, it would suggest that the backup, unfortunately, might have been corrupt and, as a result, Sage is unable to determine the version number of the data hence the message...

You could try the following:

1. Open Sage and make a note of the data folder for the company in question.
2. In Windows, go to that folder and there should be a file WATERMARK.XML
3. Delete that file

If that still does not solve the problem if you are happy to send me the backup I'll take a look and see what can be done.

John
 
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I am having the same problem as above, but I only have one company set up. It was restored from a memory stick yesterday and worked but now when i try to open it it says 'this data was last used on a later version of sage. You must update sage before accessing the data' if i click yes to check for updates it says no updates if i click no it closes. The data was from the same sage 2010 package, the only difference is one computer runs on windows 7 and the 'problem' one is windows 8. I have looked for that watermark file and cant find it. Any help would be much appreciated!
 
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