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Downloading and installing Lacerte updates

by Intuit• Updated 2 weeks ago

Lacerte releases several product updates throughout the year. There are few ways to download these updates:

  • Download updates using the In-Product Lacerte Updates Utility.
  • Use the Update Scheduler to schedule automatic downloads.
  • Download updates using the Lacerte Web Setup Utility.

Prior-year product updates won't install on unsupported Operating Systems such as Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 2012. See here for what operating systems are supported by Lacerte.

Stay up to date on what's current! Bookmark the Lacerte Hot Topics page using Ctrl+D.

Download updates from within Lacerte:

  1. Open Lacerte to the Client List.
  2. From the Tools menu choose Lacerte Updates...
  3. If updates are available, you'll see a window containing a list of programs currently installed. Select Version Info to see what part of the program is being updated. select Update to start downloading the updates. 
  4. Once the update is complete, select Yes to close Lacerte and install the updates.
  5. When the installation is complete, the program will automatically launch.
    1. If you have a standalone license, the program updates are now installed and your program is up to date.
    2. If you have a network license and you installed the program to a shared network path, the next time each workstation opens the program, they'll see a message prompting them to install the updates.
    3. If you have the network license and you installed the program standalone on each of the workstations, you'll need to repeat steps 1 - 4 above to update all of the workstations.

Update the program through Lacerte Websetup:

In most cases, your standard program updates will keep you up to date, however if you can't sign into Lacerte, need to add additional state modules, or if the update fails you may need to run a Websetup.

  1. Close all open programs.
  2. From the Windows Start menu choose Programs and expand the Lacerte folder.
  3. Double-click the 20YY Lacerte Web Setup where YY is the year you need to update.
  4. Select Next to begin.
  5. Select the Programs you want to update:
    • Lacerte Tax
    • Lacerte Tax Planner
  6. Select Next.
  7. Select the States and Modules to update or install.
  8. Select Next.
  9. Review your choices and select Install.
  10. Once complete select Launch to open Lacerte.

Schedule automatic update downloads with the Update Scheduler:

The Update Scheduler is a way to automatically download updates.  You can schedule a specific time for the program to download updates, and see the dates and times when the program found updates. For more information, see here.

Potential errors when updating

If you encounter this message when attempting to update, it typically means there's another person working in Lacerte. If everyone has exited Lacerte and the message persists, below are some common solutions to clear up the stuck file(s) preventing the update.

Verify the Lacerte Program is not running in the background

  1. Close all years of Lacerte
  2. Open the Windows Task manager by pressing CTRL+Alt+ESC
  3. Select the Details Tab
  4. Search for any processes called w??tax.exe
    • These are the processes for Lacerte, so they should not be present if the program is closed.
  5. If any are found, select them and select End Task
  6. Once all w??tax processes are gone, update Lacerte again

Close the Update Scheduler

  1. Look in your System Tray to see if the Automatic Update Scheduler icon is present
    • The System Tray is the series of icons next to your clock.
    • You may need to use the ^ near the clock to see hidden icons
  2. Right-click on the Icon for the Automatic Update Scheduler
  3. Select Exit
  4. Update Lacerte

Remove Lock Files

  1. Open Lacerte and press the F10 key at the main Clients tab.
    • On some keyboards the F-Lock key may need to be pressed first.
  2. On the Technical Support Information window, take note of the Option Path and Program Path.
  3. Close Lacerte
  4. Browse to the Option Path using Explorer.
  5. Scroll down the list of files and delete any WURN files.
  6. Open the URN folder in this Option Path and delete the contents
    • These files will start with User, followed by a 3 digit number.
    • ex: User003
  7. Browse to the Program Path noted earlier.
    • This is C:\Lacerte\??tax\ most of the time.
  8. Delete the URN file
  9. Open the URN folder in this Program Path and delete the contents.
    • Similar to Step 6, these will be files starting with User, followed by a 3 digit number
  10. Open Lacerte and Update

Rename the Queue Folder

  1. Browse to the Option Path using Explorer.
    • This will be the same path you made a note of in Step 2 for Remove Lock Files
  2. Open the Queue folder
  3. Rename the Updates folder by adding old to the end
  4. Open Lacerte and Update

If all of the above solutions fail, it would be best to reboot the server, or the computer if this is a standalone setup. If it is not possible to reboot at this time, your IT may be able to clear any files locked in use on the computers. 

This situation is typically caused by damaged files in the the Updates folder.

  1. Open Lacerte
  2. Press F10 to open the Technical Support Information window
  3. Make a note of the Option Path.
  4. Close Lacerte on all workstations.
  5. Browse to the Option Path in your File Explorer
  6. Open the Queue folder
  7. Rename the Updates folder to Updates-old
  8. Open Lacerte
  9. Check for updates

Throughout the year, Lacerte will release updates that will are required for new calculations or e-file requirements. When we announce these releases, we typically provide a version number such as 44.0515 associated with the update. These versions are visible in the Technical Support Information (F10) dialog on the Versions tab.

On rare ocassions during the update process, an interruption doesn't prevent the update from completing, but the version does not update. When this happens, you can use the Reapply Updates function to reinstall the update:

  1. Go to the Clients tab
  2. Select the Tools menu
  3. Select Lacerte Updates.
  4. Select Reapply Updates
    • When updates are available, Reapply Updates will be unavailable. Instead you will be able to use the Update option to install the latest update
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