Ace Money Users - BEWARE! W

[Michaelangelo]

My desktop PC has died (probably my fault) so I've just installed
AceMoney on my laptop and attempted to open my existing AceMoney file
which lives on an external USB drive. I get this message:

"This file was created on a different computer with a high security
level. To share

--
Michaelangelo
There are twice as many giant pandas in Scotland than there are Tory
MPs

www.mikenagel.zenfolio.com

[Michaelangelo]

Michaelangelo leapt into action and said:
> My desktop PC has died (probably my fault) so I've just installed AceMoney on
> my laptop and attempted to open my existing AceMoney file which lives on an
> external USB drive. I get this message:
>

> "This file was created on a different computer with a highS

Sorry, posted in mid-flow. The full message is:

"This file was created on a different computer with a high security

level. To share this file with another user, it needs to be re-saved on
the original computer with "Permit access by multiple users" option
enabled in the "Set password" settings.

Apparently, this was a brilliant piece of extra security introduced by
MechCad with version 4.20. Pity they didn't tell us users about it when
that version came out (the current version is 4.35. I've Googled and
there seems to be no way round it. Nor do MechCad offer any advice as
to how to go about re-saving the file on a totally dead computer.

It seems that if I can find a pre 4.20 copy of the program it may open
my file but that's not going to be easy and is probably impossible.

This problem affects the daily saved file and the backup created with
the program. Be warned - check your settings before some disaster
befalls you.

[Indy Jess John]

On 18/09/2013 14:02, Michaelangelo wrote:
> Michaelangelo leapt into action and said:
>> My desktop PC has died (probably my fault) so I've just installed AceMoney on
>> my laptop and attempted to open my existing AceMoney file which lives on an
>> external USB drive. I get this message:
>>

> "This file was created on a different computer with a high security
> level. To share this file with another user, it needs to be re-saved on
> the original computer with "Permit access by multiple users" option
> enabled in the "Set password" settings.

<snip>

I can see why somebody thought this was a good idea for an additional
feature, but it is a bit naughty to make it the default without telling
users.

You didn't say how the PC died, but the probability is that the files
are still recoverable from the disc, and if you have XP then you can
probably still run the programs (After XP Microsoft tightened up
security and may have blocked that loophole).

What you need is a SATA docking station, which allows an internal drive
to be used as a USB drive. So you take out the disc from the dead
desktop and put it in the docking station and let the laptop open the
AceMoney program from the docked disc. It is a pretty safe bet that
there is a file somewhere which that copy of AceMoney looks at to see
that it had written your file, and then you can save it as a shared one.

If you have got a more recent OS than XP and that doesn't allow you to
just run the program by clicking on the .exe, then you could try just
copying the program's folder and any sub-folders from the desktop drive
to the laptop hard drive in the hope that that carries over all the
controls that AceMoney uses to decide what is secure and what isn't.

If your data is important to you, it is worth a try.

Jim

[Michaelangelo]

I have the files, Jim, they are on an external drive. The problem is
that when they introduced this new security idea MechCad also changed
the file format. The prohibition on opening the file on another machine
is built-in to the saved file and can only be 'unlockedx' on the PC
which created the file.

Fortunately 'pay day' was last Friday, I did a balance and still have a
hard copy of the downloaded statement I've used, so I can re-create my
accounts from this the 13th on. But I've lost all the previous stored
info and I'm going to have to trawl through the statement to dig out
all the direct debits. It's just annoying when I thought I was being so
areful by not saving to the internal HD and backing up every time I
changed anything.

When I get a new desktop I'll either install the HD from the old
machine, as a second drive, or invest in a USB caddy for it and,
hopefully, recover most of my other stuff.

[MCC]

Michaelangelo wrote:

> My desktop PC has died (probably my fault) so I've just installed
> AceMoney on my laptop and attempted to open my existing AceMoney file
> which lives on an external USB drive. I get this message:
>
> "This file was created on a different computer with a high security
> level. To share

Sorry to hear that, Mike.
I save my file to a Dropbox folder which allows me to access it from any
computer on which I have AceMoney and Dropbox installed.
Backups are made to a USB stick.
--
MCC

[MCC]

Just checked - no tick in "Permit access by multiple users".
No password set either.
--
MCC

[Michaelangelo]

MCC leapt into action and said:

> Just checked - no tick in "Permit access by multiple users".
> No password set either.

To tick the "Permit access" box you must have a password set. If you
were to replace one of your PCs I suspect you would be unable to access
your banking file on the new computer. What version of AM are you
running?

[MCC]

Michaelangelo wrote:

> MCC leapt into action and said:
>
>> Just checked - no tick in "Permit access by multiple users".
>> No password set either.
>
> To tick the "Permit access" box you must have a password set. If you
> were to replace one of your PCs I suspect you would be unable to access
> your banking file on the new computer. What version of AM are you
> running?

4.35.1
--
MCC

[Michaelangelo]

That's what I had on the dead desktop. More info here:

http://support.mechcad.net/knowledgebase.php?article=1

[Frogman]

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:02:29 +0100, Michaelangelo croaked:

> It seems that if I can find a pre 4.20 copy of the program it may open
> my file but that's not going to be easy and is probably impossible.

This any good it says it's 4.19,
http://acemoney.en.softonic.com/

--
Regards, Frogman.
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.
My website: http://www.itsmyspot.co.uk
BT connection blog, http://ukfrogman.wordpress.com

[Indy Jess John]

On 18/09/2013 14:50, Michaelangelo wrote:

> I have the files, Jim, they are on an external drive. The problem is
> that when they introduced this new security idea MechCad also changed
> the file format. The prohibition on opening the file on another machine
> is built-in to the saved file and can only be 'unlockedx' on the PC
> which created the file.

It is not the data files themselves but the program data that I was
trying to retrieve, because the decode key for the data will be in the
security set of the program which wrote it. It won't be hardware that
identifies the machine that wrote the data, it will be something the
program tucked away on the disc.

That is why I suggested running the original program via a docking
station. That is to rescue something completely separate from the user
data itself.

Jim

[Michaelangelo]

Frogman leapt into action and said:
> On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:02:29 +0100, Michaelangelo croaked:
>
>> It seems that if I can find a pre 4.20 copy of the program it may open
>> my file but that's not going to be easy and is probably impossible.
>
> This any good it says it's 4.19,
> http://acemoney.en.softonic.com/

Thanks for that, Froggie, but I don't think it will work for me. I
realidse now that with 4.20 they completely changed the file format and
I've been using the new format for months. I think I misunderstood the
, bit about older versions when I read it the first time. What they
were saying was that if you were still running an older version yhou
could transfer to another machine without any problem. I think the
newer versions of the program can read the older files but not the
other way round (naturally).

Anyway, I've set up a fresh copy on the laptop and entered all my DDs
etc, so it's all working now. Sadly, I've lost several years of past
financial records but maybe I'll never need them.

[Tickettyboo]

On 2013-09-18 12:49:31 +0000, Michaelangelo said:

> My desktop PC has died (probably my fault) so I've just installed
> AceMoney on my laptop and attempted to open my existing AceMoney file
> which lives on an external USB drive. I get this message:
>
> "This file was created on a different computer with a high security
> level. To share

Can you recreate the drive as a virtual drive using a back up copy of
the pc? Maybe that would let you in long enough to change the setting?
--
Tickettyboo

[Frogman]

On Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:51:47 +0100, Michaelangelo croaked:

> Thanks for that, Froggie, but I don't think it will work for me. I
> realidse now that with 4.20 they completely changed the file format and
> I've been using the new format for months. I think I misunderstood the
> , bit about older versions when I read it the first time. What they
> were saying was that if you were still running an older version yhou
> could transfer to another machine without any problem. I think the
> newer versions of the program can read the older files but not the
> other way round (naturally).
>

No problems,

> Anyway, I've set up a fresh copy on the laptop and entered all my DDs
> etc, so it's all working now. Sadly, I've lost several years of past
> financial records but maybe I'll never need them.

That's a blow and most annoying when you religiously create backup for such
an event only to find they are useless.

--
Regards, Frogman.
You tried and you failed, so the lesson is, never to try.