Troubleshoot data service issues

Summary

How to resolve data connection issues when opening Sage 50 Accounts.

Description

One of the following messages may appear when you open the software:

Unable to connect to Sage Data Service on machine [computer name]
Data service unavailable messages

These messages appear if the service isn't running or if there's been a problem connecting to the service from Sage 50 Accounts.

Install and run the data service on the computer that holds the data. This may be your local computer or a server.

NOTE: If you need help with any of these steps, refer to your local IT support.

Resolution

Follow the sections below in order. If the issue persists, continue to the next section.

Restart the Sage Accounts data services on the machine where you hold your data

NOTE: Use our Data Service Manager which makes this process easier. To find out more, visit Using the Sage 50 Data Service Manager in v31 and above.

Check if the services are installed.

Access the computer that holds your data and press the windows key + R on your keyboard.
Enter services.msc, click OK and from the list of services, then check the relevant service:

Stop the Sage Accounts Data Service

Right-click the relevant service and click Stop.
- Sage Accounts v30 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v30
- Sage Accounts v29 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v29
- Sage Accounts v28 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v28
- Sage Accounts v27 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v27
- Sage Accounts v26 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v26
Right-click the relevant control service and click Stop.
- Sage Accounts v30 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v30
- Sage Accounts v29 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v29
- Sage Accounts v28 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v28
- Sage Accounts v27 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v27
- Sage Accounts v26 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v26

Services stuck on the Stopping status?

Start the Sage Accounts Data Service

Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard then enter Services.msc and press Enter.
Right-click the relevant service and click Start.
- Sage Accounts v30 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v30
- Sage Accounts v29 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v29
- Sage Accounts v28 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v28
- Sage Accounts v27 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v27
- Sage Accounts v26 - Sage 50 Accounts Service v26
Right-click the relevant control service and click Start.
- Sage Accounts v30 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v30
- Sage Accounts v29 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v29
- Sage Accounts v28 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v28
- Sage Accounts v27 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v27
- Sage Accounts v26 - Sage 50 Accounts Control v26

NOTE: If the service is disabled, right-click on it, click Properties then click Startup type and from the drop-down, choose Automatic and click OK.

If the service isn't showing

You need to install the service:

Download and install the relevant file:
- v30 (32-bit) Sage50Accounts_30_Dataservice_32bit.exe
- v30 (64-bit) Sage50Accounts_30_Dataservice_64bit.exe
- v29 - Sage50Accounts_29_Dataservice.exe
- v28 - SageAccountsDataService28.exe
- v27 - Sage50Accounts_27_Dataservice.exe
- v26 - Sage50Accounts_26_Dataservice.exe
To complete the installation, follow the on screen prompts.
To install the latest updates for the data service, download and install the following relevant file:
- v29 - No update needed
- v28 - No update needed
- v27 - Sage 50 Accounts v27.1 update
- v26 - Sage 50 Accounts v26.3 update

If the service is showing

To ensure the service is running correctly, stop and restart the service.

To do this, right-click on the relevant services for the version of Sage Accounts that you’re using:

Sage Accounts v30	Sage 50 Accounts Service v30 Sage 50 Accounts Control v30
Sage Accounts v29	Sage 50 Accounts Service v29 Sage 50 Accounts Control v29
Sage Accounts v28	Sage 50 Accounts Service v28 Sage 50 Accounts Control v28
Sage Accounts v27	Sage 50 Accounts Service v27 Sage 50 Accounts Control v27
Sage Accounts v26	Sage 50 Accounts Service v26 Sage 50 Accounts Control v26

Click Stop, right-click again and click Start.

Restart the computer where your data is held

You may need to refer local IT support for assistance with this.

Ensure all updates are installed

This message may appear if you install an update on some of your computers but not on the computer where you hold your data. You must download and install the update on all computers:

Sage Accounts v31 - No update needed
Sage Accounts v30 - No update needed
Sage Accounts v29 - No update needed
Sage Accounts v28 - No update needed
Sage Accounts v27 - Sage 50 Accounts v27.1 update
Sage Accounts v26 - Sage 50 Accounts v26.3 update

Disable 'Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption'

Press the Windows key + R.
In the Run window, enter secpol.msc then click OK.

The Local Security Policy windows appears.
Expand Local Policies and click Security Options.
Scroll down and double-click System cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing.
Select Disabled then click OK and close the Local Security Policy window.

Clear the contents of the .Net folder

Installation issues can be resolved by deleting the contents of the .Net folder

NOTE: You must Stop the Data Service or lock Remote Data Access before you delete the contents of this folder.

Browse to the folder:

C:\Windows\Temp\.net

NOTE: Administrator permission is required to access this folder.
To select all files and folders within the .Net folder, hold down Ctrl + A.
To delete the files, press Delete then click Yes.
Try to open Sage Accounts again.

Check for network password

On the client computer, hold down the Windows key and press R.
Type \\ and the IP address of your server, for example \\123.456.121.323
Click OK and, if prompted, enter your network password.
Open Sage Accounts again.

Configure your firewall

If the service is running but the error message still appears, then configure your firewall.

Check your firewall doesn’t block the Sage Accounts Data Service, by ensuring the following ports are open:

Version	Sage 50 Data control service	Sage 50 Data service
Sage Accounts v31	TCP 34231	TCP 32331 & 32231
Sage Accounts v30	TCP 34230	TCP 32330 & 32230
Sage Accounts v29	TCP 34229	TCP 32229 & 32329
Sage Accounts v28	TCP 34228	TCP 32328 & 32228
Sage Accounts v27	TCP 34227	TCP 32227
Sage Accounts v26	TCP 34226	TCP 32226

You can configure the ports for specific IP addresses. On the server, add the IP addresses for the client computers to the inbound and outbound rule for the port. On the client computers, add the IP address for the server to the inbound and outbound rule for the port. You can't apply this when using dynamic IP addresses.

Steps to add inbound and outbound rules to the Windows Firewall

Use this process to add inbound and outbound rules to Windows Firewall for the Sage Accounts Data Service. In Step 3, choose Inbound Rules or Outbound rules as appropriate.

Click Start then click Control Panel, System and Security and then click Windows Firewall.
From the left-hand column, click Advanced Settings, then click Inbound Rules and New Rule. To add outbound rules click Outbound Rules, then click New Rule.
Select Port and click Next.
Select TCP and Specific Local Ports and enter the relevant port numbers
- Sage 50 Accounts v31 - 34231, 32231
- Sage 50 Accounts v30 - 34230, 32230
- Sage 50 Accounts v29 - 34229, 32229
- Sage 50 Accounts v28 - 34228, 32228
- Sage 50 Accounts v27 - 34227, 32227
- Sage 50 Accounts v26 - 34226, 32226
Click Next.
Select Allow the connection and click Next.
Select all of the check boxes: Domain, Private and Public.
Enter a name and description for the rule: Sage Data Service then click Finish.

Check your data path, folder permissions and run the software as admin

There are several areas to check in terms of access and permission, please follow the steps below:

Check for any mapped drives and change to UNC path

Open Sage Accounts and from the Select Company window, note the data path then click Cancel.
Press the Windows key + E browse to the path you noted, check that the path isn't a mapped drive or none of the folders in the path are Windows shortcuts.
If your data path currently uses a mapped drive or shortcut, check the full path to your data then proceed to step 4.

Press the Windows key + E and browse to the following location on the computer where you use Sage Accounts:

Sage 50 Accounts v31	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024
Sage 50 Accounts v30	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024
Sage 50 Accounts v29	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2023
Sage 50 Accounts v28	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2022
Sage 50 Accounts v27	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2021
Sage 50 Accounts v26	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2020

Double-click the Company file and choose to open with Notepad.
Change the path in the Company file to point to the full data path without the shortcut. You must enter the relevant UNC path for this. For example, if your data is on a computer called Server and your shared folder is called Sagedata, the UNC path is \\Server\Sagedata
Click File and click Save, click File then click Exit.

Check the user's Windows permissions

Use our Windows permissions and Sage 50 Accounts guide.

Add security permissions to your data folder on the server and client computers

On the client computer, open Sage Accounts.
In the Select Company window make a note of the data path for the relevant company.
Browse to the folder that contains your data folder, for example, if the path noted in step 1 is s:\sage data\company.001, browse to s:\sage data\

If you're prompted, enter your network password.
Right click the data folder, in our example s:\sage data\company.001 click Properties then click the Security tab.
Click Advanced, then click Change Permissions and Add, then click Object Types and select the include Computers and Services/Service Accounts, then click OK.
In Enter object name to select, type system then click Check Names, select SYSTEM then click OK.
Click OK then under Allow select Full control, click OK, click Apply then click OK.

Run the software as administrator

To do this, right-click the shortcut then click Run as administrator.

To permanently set the shortcut to run as administrator:

Right-click the shortcut, click Properties and click the Compatibility tab.
Click Privilege Level and select Run this program as an administrator then click OK.

Delete the queue.dta file

NOTE: Use our Data Service Manager which makes this process easier. To find out more, visit Using the Sage 50 Data Service Manager in v31 and above.

Delete the queue.dta file to rule out any issues with this file.

NOTE: Stop the Data Service or lock Remote Data Access before you delete or rename any files or folders.

Open Sage Accounts.
From the Select Company window, select the relevant company and click Open Folder Location.
Open the ACCDATA folder and delete the QUEUE.DTA file.

Check access to the required IP address

Amend the Sage Accounts company file to use your server's IP address, providing the IP address is static.

Check the IP address on the server

At the server computer, click Start, then click Control Panel.
Press the windows key + R and enter CMD, then enter ipconfig /all
The IP address appears next to IPv4 Address, look for the 'Preferred' option. If there is more than one, note them all.
At the client computer, connect to the server using the IP address(es) you noted in step 3. You may be required to enter network credentials, this is the Windows password for the server.

Amend the company file to use the IP address, on your computer

Browse to the relevant folder:

Sage Accounts v31	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2025
Sage Accounts v30	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2024
Sage Accounts v29	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2023
Sage Accounts v28	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2022
Sage Accounts v27	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2021
Sage Accounts v26	C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\2020

Double-click the Company file and choose to open with Notepad.
Change the paths in the company file, replacing the server name with the IP address. For example, if your server IP address is 123.456.789.111, and your shared folder is called Sagedata, the UNC path is \\123.456.789.111\Sagedata
Click File and click Save then click File and click Exit.

Clear the DNS cache

Your Domain Name Server (DNS) cache on Windows stores the locations by IP address of pages you've recently viewed. You can’t access the page if it's location changes before you update the entry in your DNS cache. The IP address for the Sage Accounts Data Service is dynamic therefore may change. If the DNS cache has stored the IP addresses and doesn't update with the new IP address when it changes, this may cause an issue connecting to the service. Clearing the DNS cache can resolve this.

Stop the Sage Accounts Data Service.
Press the Windows key + R and type ipconfig /flushdns then click OK.
Start the Sage Accounts Data Service.

NOTE: Use our Download and install the Sage Accounts Data Service guide to start or stop the Sage Accounts Data Service.

Install the full program on your server

Instead of just the Sage Data Service, install the full program on your server to check if it can connect to data when installed locally.

For help installing, please visit the Install help centre.

Check if the server has both Sage 50 Accounts and the separate Sage Accounts Data Service installed

NOTE: Ensure you have a current backup of your Sage 50 Accounts data before following the steps below.

On the server computer, press the Windows key + R and type Control Panel then click Enter.
Under Programs and Features look for Sage 50 Accounts and the Sage 50 Accounts Service.

If both Sage 50 Accounts and the Sage 50 Accounts Service appear in the list, you must uninstall both, then reinstall only Sage 50 Accounts.

Select the Sage 50 Accounts Service and click Uninstall then click Yes and click Finish.
Select Sage 50 Accounts then click Uninstall and select Remove then click Next, click OK, click OK and click Finish.
Reinstall Sage 50 Accounts.

For help installing, please visit the Install help centre.

Check key permissions - Sage 50 Accounts v28 or above

If you're using Sage 50 Accounts v28 or above, as an additional step you should also check the Data Service key permissions.

Further Troubleshooting steps

We advise that these steps are followed by your local IT support.

Remove read only and hidden attributes

Obtain address of company.0** folder, for example S:\SageData\Company.000
Start, click Run, then type CMD then click OK.
Type CD and the path to the data, for example CD S:\SageData\Company.000, then press Enter.
Type attrib -h -r /S /D, then press Enter.

NOTE: The -h removes the hidden attribute, the -r removes the read only attribute, the /S ensures this applies to all files in the folder and the /D ensures this also applies to all of the sub folders.
Close the command prompt window.

Check access to the required IP addresses

Check the following:

Test access to 127.0.0.1 (local PC) to check for tcp/ip faults on your network adapter
Test the server IP address from the client computer to ensure they're not using distributed file system and that the data service is installed where the files are being distributed from

To test access to the IP addresses you require, on the client computer:

Start, click Run, type CMD then click OK.
At the Dos prompt, type ping 127.0.0.1, then press Enter.
For the server, repeat this replacing 127.0.0.1 with the server IP address.

To check the server IP address, on the client computer:
1. Start, click Run and type CMD, then click OK.
2. Enter C:\ping servername, then press Enter.
If you receive the following message, the data service cannot be found on the server or there's a fault with the network adaptor:

'Ping request could not find host xxxx.sage.com'

Check for mapped drives on a computer and change to UNC paths

TIP: This also advises how to get the IP address of the server.

Press the Windows Key, type cmd, right-click cmd.exe, then choose Run as admin.
Type Net use, then press Enter.

This shows all mapped drives for the computer you run the command on.
To get the server IP address, enter nslookup servername.
Change any mapped drives to UNC paths.

IPv6 addressing

In some circumstances, the problem is related to the customer using a IPv6 IP address. To resolve this either switch to the IPv4 IP address, or disable the IPv6 address on the local network. For further help with this, please refer to your local IT support.

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R.

2. Type Control Panel, then click Network and Internet.

4. Click Network and Sharing Centre, then click Change adapter settings.

6. Right-click your connection and go to Properties.

7. Clear the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) checkbox.