In late 2018, Swiftpage, the makers of Act software CRM made an important announcement that and embedded third-party software component would be discontinued by the manufacturer.

Here is a link to that announcement: https://www.act.com/important-notice

So, what does this mean and what impact did it have on Act software users?

If you have a version of Act CRM prior to version 18, you will run into an issue if you need to reinstall your Act software on a new computer or potentially on a computer that suffered a malfunction (a component failure in that computer, for example a motherboard or hard drive failure).  When you attempt to install an older version of Act you might be able to install it for a 30-day trial.

When you install Act, it starts automatically with a 30-day trial.  At the end of the 30 days, you have to register the software and that is where that component from the third-party manufacturer no longer works.  When you attempt to register your software, you will not be able to do so.  Your Act data will still be there.  If you have been using Act your data is in folders on your computer.

So how do you get Act to work again?

If you have an older unsupported version of Act based on their obsolescence policy you will need to upgrade.  Depending on when you read this, you will have to examine your choices at that point in time.  There are still many users of Act software with older versions that are not aware of the fact that this issue exists.  Call me, Tony Holowitz at 781-728-9777 and I will help you by reviewing your choices.

At the end of the day Act has done their best to inform people based on the email address you registered your software with when you purchased it.  If you no longer receive email at that address, you most likely did not get this announcement.

What do I do if I currently own version 18?

If you have version 18 of Act software in need to reinstall it all you must do is install an update or patch that Act is provided to you via their website.  You need to install version 18.2 and you will be able to register your Act software.  Again, if you have version 17 or earlier you will need to purchase new software to keep Act going.  Please contact me and I will go over all your options and talk to you about the ramifications of this third-party component being discontinued.  Thank you.

Here are the most recent updates for Act version 18

Originally Published 2-11-2016

When you are installing Act updates, upgrades or Hotfixes always proceed with caution, especially if you are part of an organization with multiple act users.

This update makes improvements to the customer experience while not changing the database schema version. Coordination of client updates is not required. Act! Administrators are advised to read the section below named “Update will open KB article” as this information applies to private and shared database owners.

Update 5 contains the following bug fixes:

D-04024 – Fixes an issue where using the Global Toolbar Email command did not populate the TO: field with the target Contact email addresses.
D-04025 – Fixes an issue where Contact > Edit > Replace would fail on secured servers.
D-04034 – Yes/No fields will no longer be removed from a Layout after editing. (See DBFixer notes below)
D-04035 – Fixes an issue where Yes/No field types could not be renamed. (See DBFixer notes below)
D-04037 – Fixes an issue where focus on a new Contact was lost when saving, or when triggering an automatic save through another action. E.g., adding an Activity.
D-04039 – Re-enabled email commands for Chrome users. These users can set their email client preferences to “Use default email”.

Update will open a KB article:

Lastly, this update involves a DBFixer to implement the SQL stored procedure changes needed to fix the Yes/No field issues of D-04034 and D-04035. Using this approach allows us to fix the defect without changing the Schema Version – eliminating any need to coordinate the change by the Act! administrator or IT department. You may read the KB here: http://kb.swiftpage.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/38246  Note that any Remotes associated with master database should be recreated and distributed after the DBFixer change is applied.

The 18.0.501.5 update download is located here.
http://CDN.updates.swiftpage.act.com/updates/act18hf5c.exe