Windows 7 to Windows 10 Migration and Troubleshooting

Overview

With the recent announcements from Microsoft about discontinuing support for Windows 7 and you are looking to update your machine with the latest Windows 10 release, you can use this helpful guide to direct you in ensuring your CardExchange and TrustID v4 data is transferred over safely without messing up your workflow.

Table of Contents

Microsoft on Windows 7 Support:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-windows-7-support

The following will no longer be available for Windows 7 users:

• Technical support for any issues

• Software updates

• Security updates or fixes

Microsoft is providing help options for Home, Business, and Enterprise users

Before updating the Operating System

CardExchange Producer and its OEM versions are functionally the same when it comes to migrating the software. There are two major parts to the migration that you should know about before making any changes to your computer’s operating system.

The Data Folder

The Data folder would contain your card templates files (.ced, or .cedx), database definition files (.dtd), and the Internal Database (the application preinstalls this). The following file types may also be housed in the Data folder that you should be aware of:

1. Cardholder photos, signatures, and biometric images

2. Your own Database file (SQL, Access, MySQL, etc)

3. Encoding definitions for MIFARE contactless encoding

4. Additional Plugins and scripts used by the application to perform additional actions

The Software License

There are two parts to license activation information: an up to 6 digits Serial Number, and a 32 character Activation Code.

These license details can be reused to reactivate the application when you reinstall it on the new OS. When you activate these details, a local license file is updated with encrypted information that contains those license details, and for troubleshooting purposes can be sent to a support technician for review.

Note that this license file contains information about the license and is only valid on that machine only! Moving this license file to another computer in hopes it will reactivate it will most likely not work.

Standalone License

A license that is installed and activated to a single computer, expected to stay on the installed computer for an extended period of time. Installation instructions are only to enter the serial number and activation code into the application and the program will automatically install the correct license. No further actions required. You can check the application to see what type you have.

About CardExchange® Example:

Open

 

Network SBS Licenses

There “SBS” licenses are installed to a license manager, preferably on a “Server” computer that can also host and manage the application Data Folder for shared data capabilities, and manage multiple applications attempting to license themselves. A single serial number and activation code can contain multiple licenses for use. You can check the application to see what type you have.

About CardExchange® Example:

Open

About SBS License Troubleshooting:

The first part of this troubleshooting guide will go through walking through the process for Standalone licenses first, information for troubleshooting SBS licenses will be provided towards the end of the document.

Locating Your Data and License

Depending on the application and version installed, the Data and license folder may be contained in the default location, or in a location defined by the applications configuration .ini file. You will want to confirm this location by opening the .ini file and reading the directory location lines within. This configuration .ini file is found here:

As explained previously, copying over your License file may not activate the application properly. If you have lost your license details or cannot find the matching activation code for your serial number, you will need to contact our Support Team to determine where you purchased your license so that a license recovery can be performed. You can read more about what to do if you’ve lost your licensing information and how to recover it by reading our help article here: Activation Limit and Lost licenses

Backing Up

Once you’ve located your Data folder and your license folder, you will want to back these up to a safe location that the Windows system cannot touch. With a backed up Data folder, you can reinstall the same software on any machine and swap the preinstalled Data folder with your backup and the application will load all previous templates and configurations available without having to reconfigure or setup again.

You may find a few other Data folders named “Data (Before upgrade to X.X.X.X)” with X being the version number. These are automatic backups created over time if the user at any point asked to update the application. The folder just called “Data” is your most recent up to date Data. You are welcome to back up these folders as well if you so wish, simply rename it to “Data” when you want to reinstate it as your active Data folder.

Migrating to Windows 10

Once you’ve successfully backed up your information to a safe location, you can begin updating your Operating system to Windows 10. If you are performing an update of the machine to keep your existing files and information, it is possible that you may not need to relicense or reinstate a Data folder as the update will keep all existing information and allow you to get back into the application. In this case, you’re done!

However, if you or an IT admin is performing a clean system installation or formatting, then you will need to have the application reinstalled, and your Data folder information reinstated if you wish to pick up from where you started. Alternatively, this may be a good opportunity to start a new fresh workflow.

You’re now ready to reinstall the application!

Reinstall the correct version of the software that you have a license for and a Data folder with. Download the correct version you have a license for from our Downloads page here:

https://cardexchange.support/resource/downloads

Once downloaded and installed, a new Data and License folder will be created in the location defined by the installer, by default it is set to this location:

When the installation is complete, start the program. You are checking to see if you are still able to get into the application data and see your card templates and database records without any issues. Depending on how you migrated from Windows 7 to Windows 10, you’ll want to do the following-

• If you have formatted your PC and want a new installation:

1. Open the application to make sure it can run the trial version at least without any errors or issues occurring while the default Data folder is installed.

2. If this is working, then activate this installation using the activation window that appears when it starts up and asks you to Evaluate or Activate, or going to the Assist Tab (or Support Center Tab depending on the version) and selecting the Activation Window button.

3. Restart the application to make sure it is still working after activating the software.

4. Finally, you can reinstate your Data folder by navigating to the existing Data folder, renaming it to “DataOLD” or “DataCLEAN” and placing your back Data in its place.

   1. Make sure the application is closed during this time.

• If you updated the operating system, do the following steps:

1. Start the application and see if any errors or issues occur. Issues can occur either from the License file no longer being valid, or if the installed Data folder is now corrupt after the update.

2. If you are able to start the application, first check the license in use by the application by going to the Assist Tab (or Support Center Tab depending on the version) and selecting About CardExchange (or [Product Name])

3. In the About application window, compare the serial number currently installed to the serial number of the license you own.

4. Next, check to make sure you are able to select any card templates in the application without receiving any errors from the card template or database connection files.

   1. If errors are occurring here, you will need to look at the error and resolve the issue. The most common problems could be no longer able to find the Database file or database connection file.

   2. If no templates show up after the update, and no database records are available, it may be that the Data folder is corrupt and you may need to reinstate your backup

5. Finally, check your Print tab and Printing Options to make sure you have your correct printer selected and try to print to it.

Data Folder Troubleshooting:

During the initialization splash screen of the application when it is starting up, the program checks for a few things. One is the validity of the license, and the second is the validity of the Data folder. If a Data folder is not installed when the application starts, the program will create a “Data” folder but it will not contain all of the necessary information in order for you to get started again.

If your application is experiencing issues trying to display your card templates, or if card template information is missing, it could be that the currently installed Data folder does not have all of the correct or necessary files needed in order for it to load properly. It could also be that some information within the Data folder is corrupted. There are a few things we can do in this case, but this is a case by case basis and would be best to ask for some advice from our support team if you are uncertain.

The application will check the following files in order for the application to start up properly:

• Metadata.cdd

  • This file contains information about what card templates are assigned to and belong to the installed Data folder. You cannot load your card templates and database connections without this metadata file.

  • A backup of this Metadate file is keep anytime changes are made to the Data folder in a file called “metadata.cdd.bck”. You can rename this file to Metadata.cdd to replace the current Metadata file if you believe it may be corrupted.

• cegateway.sqlite

  • Contains database structure information and stores important information about the application settings including user authorization profiles and settings, and settings for CardExchange® Visitor

If you believe that your Data folder may not be representing the correct information, renaming the entire Data folder directory to “DataOLD” and enstating a clean installed version of the Data folder in its place can help troubleshoot some problems.

A “Clean” Data folder is installed when the application is installed. If a Data folder already exists in the location of the installation path indicated in the installed, the Data folder will NOT be overwritten and will be left alone. Meaning, if a bad Data folder is already in place, installing the application again will not replace it. You must physically remove the folder from its location before a new Data folder can be written to the location.

When the application is uninstalled, the Data folder is not removed. This is for backup purposes so that users can still retrieve their card data folder even if the application was uninstalled and bring it over to a new computer. These Data folders can be moved around and swapped with existing ones if you need to get into a new Data folder project containing different templates, definitions, and databases.

Standalone License Troubleshooting:

As mentioned before, the two main parts to the application are the licensing and the Data folder. On startup, the application first checks the validity of the license that is currently installed on the machine. It then checks and loads several database files and metadata files contained in the Data folder to bring the card templates to load when the application starts.

• If you are experiencing issues with your license, the following can be happening:

  • Your license file installed maybe for another computer

  • The installed license file is no longer valid due to it being activated to another computer

  • The installed license might be blacklisted to the specific machine-id being read

If you believe any of these issues may be occurring, you can do the following:

1. Rename the currently installed license file ‘lservrc’ found in the License folder of the Public Documents to ‘lservrcOLD’ or anything else, really.

   1. If the installation path was changed, open the CardExchange.ini file in Program Files (x86) to confirm the LicenseDirectory= path line.

2. Restarting the application will attempt to look for a lservrc file on startup, and if one does not exist it will create and write a new one as a default license with the serial number 31000

3. Reactivate the application either by entering the serial number and activation code you have for the application, or import a license file using the Advanced file browse option.