Sage Line 50 Performance Issues

Line 50 can run slowly for a wide variety of reasons and the problem often appears when the network or machines are upgraded to what are in theory faster machines which can be incredibly frustrating. In general, these problems are caused by factors external to the Sage program.

With experience gained through many installations of our products and Sage Line 50 we have identified a number of common configuration problems, some solutions to which are listed below. We also devised a performance testing program to help make everybody's life easier.

If you would like to join the 400 plus users who have successfully used our simple to use Sage Performance Testing program Transfix click here  - depending on your Sage version you will be allowed a limited number of free Trial runs which are normally sufficient to establish if you have a problem. Transfix can also be purchased online if you need to perform more extensive testing via the downloaded program. A Buy Now button will be available once the program is installed.

Following the recommendations in Transfix and on this web page can improve performance by up to 15 times in some cases.

The Performance Test program, Transfix, will provide a benchmark of your system making it much easier to see when a configuration change has improved performance. You can also see how your system compares to expected levels.

Download a short video file showing how Transfix works (wmv format - approx 1 mb)

Read on for help on resolving common Sage Performance issues...

We provide the information on this page as a courtesy for Sage Line 50 users and to assist users of our Sage Integration Products.

If you require specific advice you can call on 0771 388 2553 or email us (may be chargeable)

Please check with your Support team or supplier before making any changes to your configuration. All information is supplied "As is" and we accept no liability in any circumstances.

Most of the information presented here relates to networked systems with "Servers" of some description.

We would recommend that you work through all the suggestions even if they appear to be irrelevant and most importantly document each change that you make.

You can follow us on Twitter. or sign up to receive a semi regular newsletter of Sage 50 tips and tricks. (When you get really fed up check some of our favourite pubs as a consolation!)

Sage Data Corruption

If the Sage Data Maintenance checks reveal any errors it is essential that these are fixed. Sage offer a service to do this as do other Sage Developers. We recommend contacting John Donnelly of Leyburn Solutions for a fast and cost effective solution.

Before You Start...

Before you start, the Number 1 cause of slow performance is Anti Virus Software. Check this first. Make sure the client and the server are not scanning the Sage Data files or Folders including any Sage folders in Program Files \ Common Files and ProgramData \ Sage (on Vista and Windows 7). AV software can also cause problems running Sage Reports and multi user locking.

On Access scanning on Servers is a particular problem area.

Feedback suggests that it is sometimes not enough to simply disable the AV or exclude the Sage files form the scan and that the AV software must be completely de-installed. This seems to be because some AV vendors are now using mini filters. You can see the results of our AV Testing here. Please note we are not suggesting you do not use AV software, merely that you may need to de-install your current product to establish if it is causing the issue. If it is, then you will need to try an AV product from another vendor.

If your problem is suspected to be the network, try setting up Sage to access a copy of the Sage data on the local drive just to prove that this is in fact the case.

In addition, we found no differences in performance between using XP Professional as  a "Server" and Small Business Server 2003 (SBS2003).  Our tests were run on a dual boot machine with both Operating systems installed so the hardware configuration was identical in both cases.

To eliminate other factors the client machine was directly connected to the Server rather than via a switch or hub. So if you have moved to SBS and  performance has got worse it is almost certainly a configuration problem.

We also found that running and using Sage on the "Server" machine seriously degraded network access performance for the other clients.. We trust none of you are using a Windows Server as a workstation but this may be an issue in peer to peer networks as well.

If you have SBS2003 or Windows Server 2003 also check SMB Signing

Please note the newly announced Minimum Specifications for Sage Line 50

Record Locking Problems

We have identified some Record Locking issues particularly with Windows Server 2008 and mixed networks of XP and later machines caused by SMB2. Sage have confirmed this to be a problem.  Email us for more information.

It appears that SMB2 is a general problem with Sage causing Record Locking and Corruption issues. If your Sage Server is Windows 2008, Vista or Windows 7 we would strongly recommend that you disable SMB2 on the Server machine or clients..

Sage 2011 Problems

There is apparently a problem with Project Charges being posted to the wrong Account which Sage are working on a fix for.

Update 1 is now available (14/10/10) on the Sage web site https://support.sage.co.uk/default.aspx?page=25 and should be automatically downloaded by Sage Update. This should resolve the project charge issue.

As usual, we would advise waiting for a month or two before upgrading.

Sage 2010 Problems

We have seen some problems when updating to 2010. These manifest themselves as Sage crashing when you try to login with an sbddesktop error. This appears to be caused by the conversion process not creating all the files required. At Sage 2010 there should be 237 files in the Accdata folder that have an extension of .dta. If this is not the case Sage may crash.

Sage 2010 also appears to be slower than previous versions when loading lists of Accounts (for example when creating an Invoice). This seems to be due to Sage now loading much more data (from the Delivery Addresses) to perform this operation. This will be much worse on a network than if accessing data locally so it is essential that any network performance issues are identified and resolved. We understand that Sage are working on a fix for this issue. In the meantime our Transfix program can remove old Sage Delivery Addresses for Accounts that no longer exist which may provide some short term relief if you have many redundant Accounts.

We have also noted that in our testing saving a Sales Account causes a large number of Delivery Addresses to be read which will again generate a great deal of network traffic and might affect overall performance, particularly on a network.

Note - your results may differ. We have based our comments on extensive testing of a variety of datasets on our own systems. You should perform your own testing to verify that you have the same results.

If you have more than a 1000 or so Sales Accounts and are experiencing the problem where Sage is extremely slow to create Invoices call us on 0771 388 2553 or email as we will shortly have a solution available that makes this process virtually instant.

26/03/2010 - update - we believe Sage will be releasing a fix for the delivery address problem in the near future.

13/04/2010 - update - Sage have now released an update (Sage 50 Accounts 2010 Update 2 which can be downloaded from their website. At the time of writing the Sage Check for Updates feature doesn't identify the patch. Our testing suggests that it does fix the problem.

There also appears to be some problems with running Statements in Sage 2010 with some layouts taking an extremely long time to run. The same reports take seconds in Sage 2008. We also encountered this problem on Sage 2009. There is a Sage Reports update for Sage 2009 which addressed some problems with statements but we have not yet tested this. It may be the case that this update also works for Sage 2010. Make sure you backup before trying...

Sage Data File Update Message

Internet Explore 8 (IE8) Problems

If Sage hangs or crashes after installing IE8, check C:\Documents and Settings\username\Favorites.
If you see a folder called '��sorting Bookmarks' , rename this to remove the two boxes at the start so it now reads 'sorting Bookmarks'

You may need to delete the queue.dta file to enable you to logon again.

Sage Line 50 2008

Important Update 12th October 2007 - There is a Hotfix that must be applied to all systems that use the Sage Data Objects. This includes Third Party Products as well as Sage Job Costing, Manufacturing and Sage Practise Solution. The hotfix corrects a problem with Item lines on Invoices changing after they have been saved. This Hotfix was reposted by Sage in May 2008 so make sure this version is applied.

Sage Line 50 2007

There are some problems with the early versions of  2007. We strongly recommend that you contact Sage Support or visit the Sage web site before upgrading to this version. As of April 2007 most of the major problems appear to be fixed but you must apply all the Updates even if you have installed from a recent CD. Update 6 is the latest update as of 29th June 2007.

Click here to check the Sage Web site for Line 50 Updates

There are some reports of users other than administrator not being able to run Sage at all. The solution to this appears to be to ensure that each user has specific permissions to the Sage Folders. It is not sufficient for the users to belong to a group that has permissions to the Sage Folders. We haven't verified this but it is worth trying if you have this problem.

Windows 2008 R2

Make sure you have SP2 installed. This corrects a problem with TDI.SYS on machines with multiple processors that can cause slow performance. Some AV software makes use of this driver. There was a hotfix for Windows 2008. This problem also affected Vista SP1 and SBS 2011.

If you have a mixed network of XP and Vista/Windows 7 clients you might try disabling SMB2 on the Vista/Windows 7 clients.

Windows 7

Sage Line 50 2008 installs successfully on Windows 7. We did a standard install to the default installation folder in Program Files but used the "Run As Administrator" option to run the setup.

The Sage Data files are located in the same folder as a Vista installation i.e.  C:\Program Data\Sage\Accounts\2008

We have some reports of Sage running slowly on Windows 7 compared to XP machines on the same network. One client found that running Sage in an XP VM under Windows 7 was significantly faster s this may be worth trying especially as Windows 7 includes a downloadable fully licensed XP VM that integrates with the Windows 7 desktop.

Windows Vista

If you are using Windows Vista as the file server check the following Microsoft KB Article which describes a problem with the maximum number of SMB connections to the server.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937082/en-us

Sage's official line is that only Sage version 2007 onwards are compatible with Windows Vista.

You must ensure that you don't install to the default location of Program Files since Vista doesn't allow files in this location to be updated.

If you are having problems installing or running make sure you run the Install and actual program "As Administrator". (Right Click on the Items to select this option). We have successfully installed Sage Version 13, 12 and Version 11.1 on Vista using the above method and it appears to work but you are obviously on your own in terms of Sage support if anything goes wrong.

To install Sage in a location other than the default, choose the Custom Install option in the Sage setup.

There appears to be a problem with Sage versions prior to 2008 with displaying Customer and Supplier Accounts. When an account is selected from the List displayed in the Customer or Supplier module the details are blank.

The workaround for this is to select the account from the drop down list on the Details Tab. The Account information is then displayed.

Windows Vista SP1

SP1 appears to cause no specific problems with Sage. Tip : Sp1 won't appear in Windows Update until you have installed all other earlier Windows Updates.

So far, Sage 2008 installed prior to the SP1 Update appears to start and run OK.

Sage Data Paths in Version 2008.

 The default Data paths have changed at Sage 2008. These are now set depending on the OS.

NB – In pre Sage 2008 versions the Company file was in the Sage Program Folder. The actual data would be in a subfolder of the Program Folder i.e. C:\Program Files\Sage 2007\Accounts 

Windows Vista and Windows 7 – Data is in ->

 C:\Program Data\Sage\Accounts\2008

 Windows XP – Data is in ->

 C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sage\Accounts\2008\

 At Sage 2008 the Company file is also now in the above location.

Changing the Data File Location

The path to the Sage Data is held in the Company File (see above). You can edit this file in Notepad to change the path to the Sage Data files as required. You must use Drive Letters in the Company File, not UNC paths (e.g. \\Server\Data). If your Sage Data is on the Network you must Map a Drive Letter to the Shared Folder location. Make sure the Share has Read and Write Access (this is no longer the default in Windows).

 Sage Hanging or Crashing

We know of at least one site where Sage was hanging as a result of Anti Virus software scanning the Sage Data Files. Ensure that the Sage Files are excluded from local and Server based scans. Scanning of setup.dta can cause Sage to hang on login.

Wireless Networks

Don't. You should not use wireless for Sage. Or any other mission critical system.

Ethernet over Mains Adaptors

These seem to have poor performance when running data intensive operations. A search of 10,000 invoices to find 40 matching records took 25 seconds as opposed to 4.5 seconds on Cat-5. Thanks to www.pcutilities.co.uk for this feedback

Network Cards

Ensure that you have the latest drivers for your network cards.

Network Performance

Try pinging the server and note the Time taken for the reply. The higher the figure the worse performance will be. Also make sure that basic functions like browsing the network work at a reasonable speed or work at all.

Opportunistic Locking (OpLocks)

Oplocks in Windows Vista http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296264/en-us

This is a common cause of all sorts of network woes and is nearly always disabled on Servers running commercial database applications. If you  are not absolutely sure what you are doing then "step away from the registry, sir!" The Microsoft Knowledge base has a number of useful articles about Oplocks. Essentially, Oplocks are a means to speed up the apparent performance of a machine, but tend to cause problems with multi user applications.

On Windows Servers and workstations, oplocks are normally enabled by default.  As stated above many database applications require oplocks to be disabled to prevent data corruption in a multi user environment. Applications that can be adversely affected include Microsoft Access.

Disabling Oplocks can reduce Sage performance by 50% on a good link. If the network connection is already slow, performance can really slow down

If oplocks are disabled (achieved by a registry key), check why they are disabled before re-enabling them. You may improve Sage performance to the detriment of another application. It may be appropriate to just disable oplocks on the PC allowing them to still be used by other machines that may need them.

See the Microsoft KB Article Configuring opportunistic locking in Windows for how to Enable and Disable Oplocks on the client and Server.

For a Server the Reg_Dword value below enables (set to 1) or disables (set to 0) Opportunistic locking.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\EnableOpLocks

The value does not exist by default. If it already exists, a user or application has created it so you should check why before modifying the value. If it doesn't exist Oplocks are enabled by default.

Important Note re Oplocks and preinstalled versions of Windows

However there are some known issues with Windows installations that were set up using the SysPrep tool which can result in Oplocks not being enabled by default. See KB 812599 and KB 884054 for details. This means that it is probable that any Windows system that was preinstalled by the manufacturer may suffer from this problem.

In light of the above we would suggest you create the EnableOpLocks value to ensure that it is set as you expect rather than relying on the default which may not work.

Slow Reports and Slow scrolling through Invoice Lists

These problems are normally related to specific network configuration parameters in Windows.

You should try disabling SMB signing on the server via the Policy settings.

The Microsoft Knowledge Base kb 887429 describes SMB Signing. At Windows Server 2003 / SBS 2003 this option was turned on by default and can severely impact performance (it can also prevent older OS such as Windows 98 being able to connect to the Server at all). Although you can use Regedit to change these settings they may be overridden by Policy settings so you should change them via the Group Policy.

On SBS2003 use Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Domain Controller Security Policy . Locate the Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options.

Disable the following 2 options

Microsoft Network Server : Digitally sign Communications (always)

Microsoft Network Server : Digitally sign Communications (if client agrees)

These set the following 2 Registry Settings

EnableSecuritySignature = 0    (disabled)

RequireSecuritySignature = 0     (disabled)

in HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanManServer\Parameters.

It may be worth setting these manually rather than waiting for the Policy to be applied. Alternatively type Gpupdate at the Command Prompt to force the Policy to be applied.

Printer Drivers

One user has reported that the choice of Printer Driver had an impact on performance. Changing from the default driver (which happened to be HP in this instance) to another printer solved the problem. Another site experienced performance problems accessing Sage data across the network when a Dymo printer driver was installed on a client machine even though the printer wasn't physically connected (access to local sage data was unaffected). Removing the driver resolved the problem.

Slow Logon to Sage

If your Sage configuration specifies multiple companies and 1 or more of the paths is not available when Sage starts you will experience a delay before the Select Company dialog is displayed.

Performance Testing

If you would like to try our new Sage Performance Test software please drop us an email or if you have you have Sage 50 Version 11 to 2009 you can download the program. This program checks key registry settings and performs a speed test by reading the Sage Data files providing a useful benchmark. Please mention the version of Sage you are using.

Other things to try

We have also found that sometimes installing the Netbeui protocol can improve performance significantly. If you have XP, Netbeui is not listed in the available protocols. You must copy the required inf and sys files from the XP CD.

Boot the Computer into Safe Mode (press F8 during the system boot) and try running Sage or our performance testing software. If the performance improves then the problem is being caused by a component or driver. It is then a process of elimination to see what is causing the degradation.

Server Side Reporting

You can also use the "Server Side Reporting" option in Sage Line 50 to improve Report performance.

Note that this has changed at Sage 2007 onwards and must now be installed separately using the Sage Product CD. You must ensure all Sage patches are applied, edit the Company File to use UNC paths and make sure Port 5976 is not blocked prior to setting up Server Side Reporting.

On Windows 7 you will need to add the port to the Windows Firewall. Open Windows Firewall then -

1. In the left pane, click Advanced settings.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog box, in the left pane, click Inbound Rules, and then, in the right pane, click New Rule.

3. Follow the instructions in the New Inbound Rule wizard. You need to add Port 5976

The machines will also need to be set to use Network Reports. The Sage Report Designer is then used to configure the client. Sage suggest you check Ask Sage article (12635) on the Sage web site for information on how to configure Server Side reporting.

 Access to this seems to requires you to have Sage Cover which seems a little unfair.

Installing Server Side Reporting on Sage 2007+ will create a Windows Service on the Server machine. The machine used for Server Side Reporting doesn't have to be a "real" server. We have had it running on an XP Home machine. It will however need plenty of Ram.

We have a "How to" guide for Server Side Reporting. If you are interested in this please drop us an email or download the current version by clicking here

On Vista, Server Side Reporting gave an error  080001 - Cannot find all files in Data Path. This was resolved as a quick fix by giving "Everyone" full permissions to the Program Data Sage Folder. However, despite running on new machine with 3gb of ram, Server Side Reporting is failing with "Out of Memory" errors. Process Monitor shows a maximum usage of 2.2gb so it is likely that is a problem with the Server Side Reporting code when dealing with large amounts of data.

Also on Windows Vista at least, Server Side Reporting does not seem to release memory after it has processed a Report.

Overall, it may work for your specific requirements but seems to be unreliable on very large reports.

Directory Names

You should try to make sure that all the names for the Sage folders conform to the 8.3 naming standard i.e. don't use long folder names and try to avoid too long a path to the folder.

Service Packs

Make sure that XP and Windows 2000 machines have the latest Service Packs applied. If you are using Windows Server 2003 or SBS make sure SP1 has been applied. See Microsoft KB Article Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 list of updates

If you have Windows Server 2003 or SBS also check this article New registry entry for controlling the TCP Acknowledgment (ACK) behavior in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003

You should also make sure all Service Packs and Fixes have been applied for your version of Sage. You can check the Sage Web Site by clicking here. Sage Line 50 Updates. Please note that the patches aren't cumulative. You must install each patch in turn.

Data Maintenance

Clear out old transactions in Sage to reduce the size of the data files and ensure the files are regularly data checked. Line 50 is not a database or client/server application and performance will tend to decrease the more transactions you have.

DNS

If you are running a Small Business Server 2003, your client machines MUST be set to use the SBS Server as the DNS Server. If you don't know why this is essential, you shouldn't be supporting SBS without the assistance of someone who does know the answer. If you are the customer, ask your support guys to explain. If they don't know the answer, get  a new support company.

Hint: Windows now uses DNS for Name Resolution. If your client machines are set to use the ISP DNS you will in effect be asking your ISP where Resources are on your local network. The ISP of course won't know and this will delay the process significantly. What should happen is that the clients are configured to use the DNS on the SBS Server. This knows about local resources and should be configured to forward non local requests (for web sites etc) to the ISP. This concept is fundamental to the correct operation of an SBS network.

More Serious Stuff

If you have the experience, we would strongly recommend that you consider installing a network monitoring tool. There are a number available for free download.  We would suggest Ethereal as a very good free option for this purpose. Don't forget that there is a Network Monitor built in to Windows Servers as well.

Running a network trace will provide a good indication of whether the problem is the network. This is particularly relevant if there are significant performance differences when the Sage Data files are relocated  to a new location. Run a trace for each machine and see what the differences are.

We would emphasize that you really do need to know what you are doing to use these tools. You are going to need to be prepared to be very methodical gathering data and spend a good deal of time in interpreting the results.

Other Sage Problems

Can't Logon to Sage?

If you are unable to logon to Sage you can try deleting the Queue.dta file. All users MUST be logged out of Sage and Sage should not be running. Sage will recreate the queue.dta file when it is restarted. The Queue.dta file can be found in the ACCDATA folder for the Sage Company Data that is experiencing the problem.

Note that the "Username already in use" message from Sage can occur if Sage wasn't shut down tidily for that users session. If you are sure that the user is not actually logged in it's OK to allow Sage to clear the session and log in.

Corrections Unavailable

Make sure your Sage Username has Full Access. Sage 2010 may have changed the access to Partial.

Abnormal Termination Message starting Sage.

Try deleting or renaming the SGLCH32.USR and SGLCH16.USR files. These are in the Windows\System32 folder.

If this doesn't work check the TaskOpt folder in the Sage Program Folder. Delete any .XML files for the the user that is experiencing the problem. i.e. Fred.xmlH32.

Sage 2008 Installation fails  Error 1304 writing to file Sage.Expressions.Line50.dll

This is caused by the Dot Net Framework not installing correctly. Try installing Dot Net Framework 2 separately. This will highlight any problems with Dot Net. Once this is installed, rerun the Sage setup.

Sage Reports Hanging or Crashing

It may be worth trying the following - Uninstall Sage and the Dot Net Framework 2. Reinstall both and ensure all Sage Updates are applied. We have also heard of problems running reports caused (again) by AV software. Try temporarily removing the AV to see if it makes a difference.

Sage Slow over VPN

This will never work at an acceptable rate unless you are using Remote Desktop over the VPN. Otherwise the VPN is just a very very slow network connection. Don't go there.

File Permissions

If you suspect that Sage is having problems accessing some files (e.g. it works when you are logged on as Administrator but not when logged is a normal user) try using the Process Monitor tool which will show you what files are causing the error. For example, Sage Line 50 running on Terminal Server apparently needs to access files in Windows\System32 which can be a problem for non admin users.

You may experience problems logging onto Sage such as Invalid Password if users don't have permissions to the Crypto Folder.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA
 

Urban Myths

We often hear of all sorts of poor advice so here we will try to dispel a few common misconceptions.

You don't need to upgrade from  XP Home to XP Professional to improve performance. It will make no difference.

You CAN access a Server from XP Home even though XP Home can't be joined to a domain. Just make the XP Home Workgroup Name the same as the Server Domain Name and create an account on the server that matches the XP Home machine username and password. That's it.

Terminal Server - Sage Support frequently wash their hands of running Sage on Terminal Server - just draw their attention to Sage knowledge base article 8578 which clearly states that Sage Line 50 version 11 and above is fully tested and compliant with Terminal Server. You need to particularly vigilant with AV Settings in this scenario.the SGLCH16.USR files.

Should I upgrade to a different version of Sage?

Before looking at other more expensive Sage products such as MMS bear in mind that

MMS etc are totally different products, they are not just a bigger version of Line 50.

They are significantly more expensive to buy, implement and support. Spending some time and money on resolving the network problem will be much cheaper than upgrading the Accounting system.

Most accountants have Line 50 - your choice will be much more limited on a different package.

You may find it more difficult to find staff with experience of other packages

A new version of Line 50 is due that uses MySQL for its data files. This will probably resolve most of the performance issues experienced with the current versions of Line 50 which are in a large part related to Sage 50 not using an underlying database system. We understand that the MySql based version may be available in late 2010.

Update - The MySQL version will be called Sage 100 and is due for release in early 2011.

Update 2 - Sage have shelved this product as of October 2010.

And Finally

If these suggestions work for you or you have any comments, please let us know. It's only polite.

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