How do I stop these automatic updates

In the Master Options, in each module (you should have it password protected) go to the Trustee Rights tab. Highlight the "Default Rights" on the left and remove the checkmark by "Lacerte Updates". That will take care of any new users. Now do the same for all of the users on the left except yourself.

When they do the workstation install on the Lacerte Internet Update Notifier screen have them answer "NO, I will check for updates on my own". You of course may want to answer Yes for yourself.

Thanks for the reply.
In the master options -nobody has the rights to update except the administrator (myself).
And we make sure that NO is selected after the updates -each office has a contact that goes to the computers to make sure the icon is NOT enabled in the startup (lower right).
To add to this - I requested that nobody update until this is figured out and when entering ANY client Lacerte msgs that there is an update available -one person selected yes. And even though everyone was in Lacerte -it pulled an update to the server. Now when staff exit and reenter -it says there is a new server update (which I did not install) and doesn't give them a choice but to update. What a NIGHTMARE! I assume if we weren't on DSL this wouldn't be as big of an issue.
Appreciate any additional suggestions.
I do understand that automatic updating is Lacerte's Enhanced New Feature -but on multi network environments, standardization is even more of an absolute feature.
Thanks

I agree - what a Nightmare! And when we did realize that there was an update that automatically installed and that we would have to update all our network workstations, it would not let us update at the same time or if someone else was in the program. We would get the message that one of the other workstations was in the program as well as ourself and then we would have to refresh the list and retry. I also wish that when there was an update to the program that we would not have to restart our computers. Other software tax programs that we use will update the workstation without having to reboot. Hope the situation is resolved soon.

In our office nobody has automatic updates installed and no one has "trustee rights" to update the program, yet everybody is being said to update the program when an update or no update is available....

This is really getting on my nerves.....one user clicked "yes" at 7:00 pm EST and I had to stay until midnight to update the servers and workstations.

Since Wednesday, the Lacerte 06 tax software is asking all users to update when no update is available. Truth is there is an update; don't know what it is and Lacerte has bugs as said here:
http://www.lacertesoftware.com...

Lacerte software is getting buggier and more annoying by year.

We spend 10K in licenses each year (Unlimited efile for federal + 3 states, unlimited Corp filing, 25 network licenses, etc). We expect good software!!!

We have been using Proseries since 1990 until 2001 and Lacerte since 1998-now
It might be a good time to switch to better software?

You better take those annoying "new features" away before I make up my mind.
By the way I am the IT Systems/Network Administrator and decision maker of the company, so better do as customers tell you to.

Oh! I almost forgot: The process of updating workstations has gotten 100% worse since Lacerte 2004. It requires "administrator" rights to update workstations, before it needed "Power User" rights to do it.
Since we work 24/7 I have to stay on SUNDAYS from 8:00pm to 2:00am+ in the MORNING updating your software.......thanks!

Can't you do better programming and update like CFS Software does?
-Update on server
-Server copies files/settings to workstations.

PD: When I was writing this down I got 2 calls from users telling me that the Lacerte 06 software "froze".
We have Pentium D 3.2GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, SATAII HD's, gigabit network, L2 Gigabit switches with gigabit fiber uplinks. Don't tell me it's our systems/network.

Written by:
A mad Sys/Net admin
gosh....really....I have been wanting to get that off my chest for a while, thanks for the forums!

we have been customers of Lacerte for 11
years and this is the first year we have
not gotten any satisfaction with a major
problem-we are getting an update message on
every module before we can enter any of our
clients. after calling Lacerte three times
and being told there was nothing we can do
about it but update every day and then stay
off the internet for the rest of the day we
are going to look at other programs after
tax season is over. The update message even
says no updates available and still wants us
to update.

Late last week, my users starting getting a message telling them updates are available that apply to a client each and every time they opened a client file. I, too, had Internet Updates disabled on every computer and the Server (I ran it manually). I double-checked both individual and master options and nothing worked. I spent hours on the phone with Lacerte tech support working on this. I just came up with a solution that works for me (and hopefully might for some of you).

Go to your server location. If you have the same problem as me then under 06TaxOption06, you will see a file named Install.xml; change the name of the file to Install.xml-old (DO NOT delete the file). Now try opening your program. The update message should have disappeared.

Alternatively, if you are only getting the updates message on certain computers, look in the C:Lacerte folder for the Install.xml file and change the name there.

Oh, and if for some reason you can't see the .xml at the end of the file name while you are in My Computer, do the following: Go to Tools - Folder Options - View and uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types" box.

Hope this makes someone else's life easier. :)

Tess

Too late now...I stayed until midnight yesterday "SUNDAY" updating an update that does not exist!!!

Anyways, thanks for the tip. Next time that annoying little thing shows up I'll use it!

Thanks for the tip. I am currently testing this workaround in our main office and so far, so good. I will do the same in our other offices towards the end of the week.
Thank you again -
On another note: These 'enhanced features' are just not designed for tax season. I would like to ENCOURAGE Lacerte to do a better job letting people know about these changes ahead of time vs trying to work thru them once tax season hits.

So, if you have this issue, try Tess's workaround. Seems to be doing the trick for our firm.

Tess,

thanks for the workaround. I'm going to try it right now. I agree these enhanced features are the pits...especially the pop-up when going into any client when there aren't even updates available. I think we're going to be looking to switch to either ProFX or Creative Solutions next year. After 14 years with Lacerte, we've had it with where they're going.

What trends do you have in mind that are so disturbing? I would be interested in hearing what they are rather than just a blanket statement.

We are well aware of the Netware vs Microsoft issue (see http://intuitaccountants.com/w...) but IMHO the Lacerte tax software is worthy and we'll probably set up a Windows server for it.

The customer support has gone downhill over the years. Back when Lacerte wasn't owned by Intuit their support and the functionality of the product was superb. They responded to customer advise and didn't try rolling out new things part way into tax season. It seems they respected their accountant-buyers a lot more. I just think Intuit doesn't have the focus on this piece of software that used to be around. One other reason we're considering switching is to have all of our accounting, practice management and tax software from the same vendor.

I agree that in the past Lacerte support was extremely responsive, but I haven't tried it yet this year so I don't have an impression of the new management yet. The Lacerte support people always responded well to praise and thanks.

Using software from a single supplier sounds attractive, and we've discussed it, but I still have a best-of-breed mentality.

I'm with you lag6267.
We have most of CS products licensed and we are moving away from QuickBooks and Lacerte.
It will take a couple of years to move all our clients from QuickBooks to CS.
Next year we'll use CS Tax Software instead.

Who's to blame? Lacerte itself!

Just to be fair: we're entirely new to Lacerte this year, and so -- perdictably -- we needed a good deal more hand-holding than more experienced users would likely require. I must say that the several times we've used Lacerte's technical support, it has been excellent. No, wait, ONE guy was out of his league. But on two separate occasions we needed help getting current and back-year editions to operate on our (tiny) 3-system peer-to-peer network. We'd kind of messed up the installation to begin with, making the work of the tech even harder. The two different people we've dealt with on that spent a LOT of time on us, and provided admirable service in helping us clean it up.

We may switch next year anyhow, depending on a number of other factors. But tech support is not one of them.

We have been customers since 1988. . . when Lacerte was in its infancy. I knew Intuit would eventually mess with the software and take it down a road that we would not like. The update feature is a night mare. . . do they honestly think we have time to reboot PC's 5 times a day. . . I have told my users to not reboot each time. Also, the way it is pushed, some receive the update while others may have to exit program the reenter before it will pull down the update. Also, the lack of documentation relating to this is awful. The phone support side of Lacerte has also gone downhill. We actually tried ProSystemFX back in 2000 and quickly jumped back to Lacerte due to capabilities and dependability. Not sure at this point what we will do. . . I am hoping the powers that be at Intuit - Lacerte Division are reading these forums. There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the product this year. We also called to get our money back on the Sourc Doc-Auto Entry - which is definitely a beta product at best. Very dissappointed. . .

Thanks for the work around, Tess.

I had tried to disable the internet update and even restricted user rights with no luck. I, too, am sick of having to reboot all the time. My users get very whiny if I tell them to reboot all the time.

We are probably going to be switching software, mainly because of the Netware issue. It still frosts me that Lacerte is dropping Netware, after working on it for years. I really don't want to have to get a windows-based server and be hacked to death and have it full of bugs, either.

When you say "dropping" I am curious to know how you interpret the communications you've seen. When it says "no longer supporting" systems like NT, Windows 98 SE. and Novell, it doesn't mean the software won't work. It means there are too many variabilities in the systems for technical support to keep up with. This is not Lacerte being mean or discriminating, this is typical in the tech support realm. I suspect you'll still get many years from your network software and hopefully you'll have the support you need to support it. Lacerte will always do the best they can to support the product, but there are going to be limits to the number of years they can support all the varieties of network and operating systems.

Judging from past experience with Intuit, I don't have high expectations.

Novell was not supported for QB 2006 and you could get into the company file ONCE and then never again. The message about QB 2006 is very similar to the message about Lacerte. I don't think I want to install the software next tax season waiting to see if Lacerte WILL work or not.

You are all welcome; I am glad there are others who the workaround helped. :)

I'd like to weigh in on the customer support issue. Our company was one of the 1st 200 Lacerte customers. Customer support has been wonderful for years. Last year was a little off, but I got good responses by going through our salesperson. This year ... well, I have not been impressed. I've consistently encountered tech support personnel in the networking/updating section who don't even understand what Windows permissions are (a key issue with our network setup). After SEVEN hours and three phone calls attempting to explain our latest DMS problem to, frankly, ignorant technicians, I finally got a manager on the phone and persuaded him to get the research team working on my problem. We were then able to determine my problem involved permissions on the Registry keys themselves - a fairly unique issue.

What really upset me wasn't the amount of time. It was the fact that it was clear to me, as a Systems Engineer, that the tech people I was speaking to weren't knowledgeable enough to solve my problem within 20 minutes but they insisted on trying all their steps first (one even wanted the firewall brought down!). And one kept asserting that there wasn't any higher level of tech support available, which my own experience proved was untrue.

The Lacerte tech support personnel that you reach with your first phone call rarely have more than a couple of years experience using the program or dealing with its bizarre installation issues. They're nice and they try hard, but they don't know what they're doing beyond the basics. I've had to push over and over to get more sophisticated help. When I get it, they're wonderful.

So, if you really need more help and aren't getting it, get a manager on the phone. Once I told the one I spoke with how many hours I'd been dealing with this (and how much my time was costing the company), he booted me up a level right away.

Give it a try if this gets exhausting - it might work for you. :)

Tess

I've used Lacerte since my first year in business in 1993. You always expect a few little wrinkles to pop up but this year's download process is the pits. Extremely timeconsuming, even on our fastest DSL speed, annoying as we've done everything possible to limit other workstations from being able to do "updates" (things the master option choices used to help limit but not this year). I am so fed up with the entire download fiasco that I will make it a strong focus to look for other software for next year. This is ridiculous to have every workstation getting update notices all day long and then having to spend an hour or more at each workstation downloading updates that appear to be going to the workstation harddrives instead of the server drive as in prior years. Maybe that's Intuit's way of speeding up the program - having more of it on each workstation harddrive - but I'd settle for a little slower response and going back to last year's easier download-once-to-the-server and then the quick workstation updates. It does not work that way this year and it has become a detriment to getting work done. I'm glad to see I'm not alone on the frustration with this - we should all ensure Intuit/Lacerte hear from us on this problem.