Sage 50 Accounts hangs or closes on the opening splash window

Summary

How to troubleshoot issues when opening Sage 50 Accounts.

Description

NOTE: Follow our troubleshooting installations article if you see this issue after you install your software. If the issue occurs after uninstalling and installing an earlier version of Sage 50 Accounts, follow the Application failed to start, side-by-side configuration incorrect article.

Resolution

Troubleshooting steps

Follow the steps in each section below and retry opening your software after each section.

▼ Check the Windows System Information app

If your software hangs on the splash screen after login, it could be an issue with the Windows System Information app.

In the Windows search bar enter system information, then click System Information

If this window appears, as shown in the image below, there's no issue with the System Information App. Follow the steps on the Reset Microsoft.NET Frameworks section.

▼ See screenshot

If the System Information window is blank or displays an error message, this indicates an issue. To resolve this:

In the Windows search bar, enter cmd then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
Type net stop winmgmt then press Enter.
To continue press Y if asked, then press Enter.

▼ Unable to stop winmgmt?

If you're unable to stop winmgmt:

Hold down Ctrl, Alt and Delete on the keyboard and select Task Manager.
Go to the Services tab and locate Windows Management Instrumentation, right-click and select Stop.

Type winmgmt /resetrepository then press Enter.

This will report that the repository has been reset.

Type net start winmgmt then press Enter.
Close the Command Prompt.

This can report that the WMI Service has already started, this is normal.

Open Sage 50 Accounts and log in to the company. If the issue persists, continue to Step 6.
Uninstall then reinstall Sage 50 Accounts.

If the Windows System Information app is still blank, then contact your IT administrator for further help.

▼Check Windows Theme

Follow these steps only if the program doesn't launch but SBDDesktop.exe appears in Task Manager.

To check, right-click the taskbar, select Task Manager

If the app runs but doesn't open, ensure the Windows theme is set to a default theme:

In Windows, go to Settings, then Personalisation, then Themes.
Select any image in the Current theme section.
Try opening Sage 50 Accounts again.
Choose your original theme in Settings, then Personalisation, then Themes.

If the issue persists, follow the next sections.

▼ Version v33.0 64-bit

If you're using Sage 50 Accounts v33.0 64-bit, you can download and replace the Sage.Accounts.Startup.UI.dll file to resolve the issue.

Download the Sage.Accounts.Startup.UI.dll file.
Open your downloads folder, right-click and select Copy on the file.
Browse to your installation directory to locate the current file.

TIP:

To check your installation directory, right-click the v33 software icon on your desktop, select Properties, then note the path in the Start in field.
Right-click the current file, select Rename, and change it from Sage.Accounts.Startup.UI.dll to Sage.Accounts.Startup.UI.OLD
Right-click a blank space and select Paste to add the new file from your downloads.
Press Close on the Windows Explorer window.

▼Version v31.0, v31.1 or v32.0 aren't opening

End all instances of SBDDesktop.exe

Right-click the task bar.
Select Task Manager.
Under Background Processes, find SBDDesktop.exe.
Right-click SBDDesktop.exe and click End Task.

Once complete, download ToolkitPro1120vc143.dll to copy to your installation directory.

▼32-Bit

Download dll file.

If your browser blocks the download, right-click the link, choose Save link as and select Keep to save the file

Go to the download location.
Right-click ToolkitPro1120vc143.dll and select copy.
Press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
Browse to the program directory.
The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage\Accounts, but it can vary based on your chosen installation directory.
Locate ToolkitPro1120vc143.dll, right-click and select rename and change to ToolkitPro1120vc143.old
Right-click in a blank space and select paste.
Open Sage 50 Accounts.

▼64-Bit

Download dll file.

If your browser blocks the download, right-click the link, choose Save link as and select Keep to save the file

Go to the download location.
Right-click ToolkitPro1120vc143.dll and select copy.
Press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
Browse to the program directory.
The default location is C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts, but it can vary based on your chosen installation directory.
Locate ToolkitPro1120vc143.dll, right-click and select rename and change to ToolkitPro1120vc143.old
Right-click in a blank space and select paste.
Open Sage 50 Accounts.

▼ Log on to the computer as an administrator

The issue could simply be the access level on your Windows user. To test this, log on as an administrator and try to open Sage 50 Accounts.

If you can't log on as an administrator, try to run Sage 50 Accounts as an administrator:

Right-click the Sage 50 Accounts shortcut then select Properties.
Select the Compatibility tab.
Under Privilege Level, select the Run this program as an administrator checkbox.
Click OK, then open Sage 50 Accounts.

▼Check your Sage Accounts shortcut

If there are any other Sage 50 Accounts shortcuts on the desktop, try these first.

Try to open the software using Programs in the Start menu.

▼Check for any software updates

To check for any updates to your current version, visit our Sage 50 Accounts updates article. You can then download and install any required updates.

If your software is up to date, continue to the next section.

▼ Rename the licence files

The software creates these files after it runs on the computer.

Close Sage 50 Accounts.
Rename the folder C:\Program Data\Sage\SDK Licence to C:\Program Data\Sage\SDK Licence OLD
Browse to C:\Program Data\Sage\Accounts\**version number** and delete the sage.usr file.

Remove the account number from the registry:

Hold down the Windows key and press R, then type regedit and click OK.
In the left-hand pane, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sage\Line 50
In the right-hand pane, double-click AccountNumber and delete the contents and click OK.
Click File then click Exit.

▼ Run the software from the sage.exe file

Browse to the Sage 50 Accounts program directory, by default:

32-bit operating system - C:\Program Files\Sage\Accounts
64-bit operating system - C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage\Accounts

Right-click sage.exe and click Run as administrator or, if this isn't available, Open.

If the software opens successfully, create a new shortcut:

Right-click the sage.exe file, click Send to, then click Desktop(create shortcut)

▼ Rename the sglch32.usr, SAGE.INI and LaunchpadSettings.xml files

If you haven't done so already, reset the Sage 50 Accounts subscription key.

The software creates these files only after it runs on your computer

Close Sage 50 Accounts.
Rename the following files to <>.old:

64-bit operating system	C:\Users\Relevant User\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\Syswow64\sglch32.usr C:\Windows\SYSWOW64\sglch32.usr C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\sage.ini C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\LaunchpadSettings.xml
32-bit operating system	C:\Users\Relevant User\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\System32\sglch32.usr C:\Windows\System32\sglch32.usr C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\sage.ini C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\LaunchpadSettings.xml

▼ Reset Microsoft .NET Frameworks

To reset Microsoft .NET Frameworks, you need to turn them off, then turn them back on again, or if necessary, uninstall and reinstall them.

NOTE: The following instructions are for guidance only. Note, we don't support the installation of Microsoft.NET Frameworks. If you require help with this, you need to contact your local IT support or Microsoft support.

Windows 10 and 11

▼ Uninstall Microsoft .NET Frameworks

Hold down the Windows key and press X then click Control Panel.
Click Programs then click Programs and Features.

If the Control Panel has the view by icons setting, click Programs and Features.
Click Turn Windows features on or off.
Clear the .NET Framework checkboxes then click OK.
If prompted to restart your computer, click Restart now.

▼ Reinstall Microsoft .NET Frameworks

Hold down the Windows key and press X then click Control Panel.
Click Programs then click Programs and Features.

If the Control Panel has the view by icons setting, click Programs and Features.
Click Turn Windows features on or off.
Select the .NET Framework checkboxes, so they show as or , then click OK.
Click Download files from Windows Update, then if prompted, click Restart now.
Also download and reinstall the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 from the Microsoft website.

▼ Check for data-related issues

If you're able to open the Company selection window, check for data-related issues, see if you have the same problem when opening Demonstration data.

To open the Demonstration data:

Open Sage 50 Accounts, select Demonstration data, then click Open Company

If the Company Selection window doesn't appear, browse to C:\ProgramData\Sage\Accounts\ and delete the sage.ini file. You can now see the Demonstration data when you next open the software.

If the problem doesn't happen, your company data is likely the issue. This means the data could be corrupt, so create a company from an error-free backup.

If the same problem occurs opening Demodata, continue to the next section.

▼ Are you using Malwarebytes?

If you're using Malwarebytes, the sg50End.dll file can be quarantined in error in v29. You'll need to update your Malwarebytes as they've now allowed this file.

▼ See the message

The pop-up message below from Malwarebytes displays when opening Sage 50 Accounts v29.

This indicates that a file used by Sage 50 Accounts has been quarantined. To fix this:

Click Open Quarantine to display the list of quarantined items
Select the tick box to the left of the sg50End.dll file, then click Restore

Select the Allow List tab, click Add, then add the C:\Program Files (x86)\Sage folder to the allow list. See below:

Once you add the Sage folder to the allow list, try again to open Sage 50 Accounts.

If the issue persists, you'll need to uninstall and reinstall your software.

▼ Repair install your software

If the above steps haven't resolved the issue, you'll need to repair your installation Sage 50 Accounts.

▼ Check your antivirus software

If you have antivirus software, check if it has quarantined any Sage files or folders. Add them to the antivirus exception list if so. You can then either restore the quarantined files from within the antivirus software, or reinstall Sage 50 Accounts.

NOTE: For help with your antivirus software, contact your local IT support or your antivirus software support.

If this resolves your issue, also modify your antivirus software to work alongside Sage 50 Accounts.

▼ Check for the sg50fil.dll file