Upgrade/transfer to new Vista PC problem

[carpino4]

My XP PC was running ver 7.x. Today I upgraded to ver 9.4. No problems encountered opening or closing FM.
Backed up portfolio to USB drive with no problems.
On the new Vista PC, I downloaded ver 9.4 and install went smooth.
While FM was still open, I restored from USB drive the files from the old PC. All was well at this point and I could see the portfolio and custom reports.
I closed FM and all seemed normal. When I tried to reopen FM it gave the following sequence:
Error 2 - cannot find specified files
Error 6 - handle is invalid
Error 0 - operation completed successfully
Then I hit cancel, and was sent to New Portfolio Setup.
The restored portfolio could no longer be seen.
I reinstalled FM from the Fix option, and restored same files again.
All seemed ok until I exited and tried to reopen. Same error sequence followed.
Any suggestions?

[Mark]

Hi carpino4,

I just saw this same problem on someone else's machine the other day. It turned out to be a permission problem reading/writing to the Fund Manager registry branch when running Fund Manager without admin permissions. Do you have Norton installed? I'm not sure how/why these permissions seem to be set incorrectly, but this is how we fixed it in the other case:

1) Uninstall Fund Manager

2) Use 'regedit' to verify the following branch is gone:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Beiley Software\Fund Manager

3) Re-install Fund Manager

[Mark]

Hi carpino4,

I looked at this some more, and believe the problem may stem from restoring registry settings that were backed up from another system/user. Try uninstalling Fund Manager, re-installing, but then do not do another restore. Just open the date you've already restored, or if you do need to do a restore, do not include the registry settings in your restore. We'll have to investigate the best way to prevent this problem in the future.

[carpino4]

I uninstalled Norton and have McAfee running now.

So you mean to
1] uninstall FM
2] delete the registry line as you show
3] then download and reinstall FM?

What will prevent the same thing from happening again?

[Mark]

Hi carpino4,

I believe the problem happened because when you first ran FM, you launched it from the end of the installation program, and then you did a restore. When you run it from the installation program, you start it with admin permissions, because that is the permission level of the installation program. When you later re-start FM, you are running without admin permissions (Vista with UAC on). So, to prevent it from happening again, try this:

1) Uninstall Fund Manager
2) Re-install Fund Manager, but at the end un-select the option to "Launch Fund Manager".
3) Start Fund Manager normally using the shortcut under "Start / All Programs / Fund Manager"

You don't have to worry about deleting any registry keys, this should get taken care of when you uninstall. I don't believe Norton is the problem here, so you can reinstall that if you'd like.

[carpino4]

The uninstall of Norton was not related to this. Just prefer McAfee as it is free thru my IS provider.

Ok, we have some progress.
Uninstall/reinstall went ok.
Opened from icon and no error messages.
Then tried to open (not restore ) the portfolios I had previously saved.
I opened the first one with no problem. But when I tried to open the second, I got a sequence of 2 messages:
1] "Access denied" then hit ok
2] "Portfolio autosave failed" then hit ok
3] then the operation to open the next portfolio was completed with no problems
When I tried to open the 3rd portfolio, same sequence of messages.
When I closed FM, same sequence.
I can now open FM and find the portfolios have been retained. Always getting the same sequence of messages.
Just seems no saving is taking place.
Have not tried to update any prices yet until we fix the existing problems.

[Mark]

Hi carpino4,

It seems you do not have permissions to write your data files. Where are your data files stored? If they are in the "C:\Program Files" path, you'll need to move them out of there, as Vista no longer allows regular users write permission anywhere underneath this folder. For more on this, see:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/vist ... sions.html

If this isn't the reason, check that you have permissions to write your data files. Make sure they aren't marked read-only, and that your user has 'Full control' over the files. Look at your files in Windows Explorer and open up the "Properties..." dialog.

[carpino4]

The original Restore put them in C:\Program Files\Fund Manager\MyData as I did not give it a path.

So now I can move them to my Documents folder, and then Open them from FM?

[carpino4]

Ok, that change seems to solve the problems.
Can I assume that it is doing the autosave on exit, since I am not getting the error?
I still don't feel it is as robust on Vista yet, as I got another error when trying to change some menu settings. It wanted me to start FM as the Admin, but I am already the Admin.
It seems that anyone migrating in the same way as me should likely have these same problems, as FM Restore is putting the files in a problematic location.
Thanks for the help.

[Mark]

Hi carpino4,

When you do a restore, you have 2 choices for where to put the data files:

1) In the same location as where they were on the machine when you backed them up (Original location). This location is shown in the restore window, when you highlight some investment or portfolio in your backup.

2) To any other folder you specify.

The default is the first choice, so you must have also had them in the Program Files area on your old computer. This is fine on all versions of Windows, except for Vista. Long ago, it was the default in Fund Manager to store the data files in the "My_Data" folder underneath the folder where you installed Fund Manager. It sounds like you've probably been using Fund Manager since that was the default, and haven't had a reason to change until now.

You can do a "File / Save Portfolio" to double check that you're able to save okay.

What menu setting wanted you to run as Admin? You need to be an admin in order to update the Fund Manager program, as you must have admin permissions to replace a DLL file in the Program Files folder.

Even though you are an Admin, you are really running programs as a more limited user. This is what "User Account Control (UAC)" on Vista is all about. When you start Fund Manager normally, you are not launching it with Admin permissions, even though you are logged in as a user with Admin permissions.

[carpino4]

You are right that the files on my old PC running FM 7.x were in the default location, whatever that was a couple years ago. That explains the location the FM 9.4 placed them.
The menu setting I was trying to change was "Portfolios in File Menu" at Options/GenPrefs/Menus. Seems ok now and it lets me change it without the Admin warning.
Thanks alot for all the help. It's great to get such quick and professional help.
Regards, Steve