Summary
Cause
- Actian is running as a pre-load or is damaged and needs to be reinstalled
- Permission settings over the network are preventing Sage 50 from running with full control
- Slow network speed
- Data size is over the recommended size for optimal system performance
Resolution

Section 1: Uninstall and reinstall Actian Zen
Section 1a: Switch ini file to look at shared network drive instead of UNC path
Section 2: Sharing permissions & security
- If the shared data folder's permissions and/or security have not been set properly, it can cause slowness; refer to Verify my data file permissions are correctly set.
- Make sure that the network drive at each workstation is mapped directly to the shared folder and not a sub-folder (for example, Sage 50 is shared, but the drive is mapped to Company); if it is, disconnect and remap the drive.
Section 3: Sage company size
- The size of a Sage company directly affects program performance; large databases can result in longer load times for the program.
- To check a company's size, select Help, Support Utilities, and then File Statistics.
- Large companies should be purged to remove old transactions/inactive records and decrease the company size; refer to When should I purge my data?.
Section 4: User Account Control (UAC)
- In Windows 8.1 or 10, UAC can cause slowness by not allowing Sage to properly access the shared data files and/or program files.
- See How to disable User Account Control (UAC).
Section 5: IPv6
- If using Windows 8.1, or 10, disabling IPv6 will significantly improve Sage's performance but can causes issues with Windows OS.
- Instead configure Windows OS to prefer IPv4 addresses over IPv6, refer to How to set Windows 10 to prefer IPv4 over IPv6
- Consult with your Local IT or Network Administrator for assistance with this.
Section 6: Anti-virus and firewall software
- See Files to allow through firewall and antivirus
- Contact your IT professional or your security software's manufacturer for instructions on configuring the exceptions list.
Section 7: Network connection
- Sage is not supported on wireless networks. Use on a wireless network can result in performance and/or data integrity issues. It is strongly recommended to use a hard-wired connection with the program.
- Verify the server and workstation(s) are on the same domain or workgroup.
- Verify the server can ping the workstation by name and receive a response from the correct IP address and that the workstation can ping the server by name; refer to How do I ping the server from a workstation or vice versa?
- Check the network speed; follow How to check network speed
- Network-related issues can be confirmed by changing one of the workstations to a local data path and opening a sample company. If the performance issues desist after bringing the data to the local machine, contact an IT professional to troubleshoot across the network; refer to How to change a workstation into a standalone temporarily after a server failure
- Verify there are no bad or faulty network cables or network cards in the environment. Replace any damaged equipment.
- If the computer experiencing performance issues has dual network interfaces (active wireless and wired network connections), disable the unused interface.
- Consult with your IT professional to diagnose and repair network latency.
Section 8: Memory & processor speed
- Make sure each computer meets at least the minimum processor and RAM requirements for Sage; refer to System Requirements: Sage 50—U.S. Edition 2023.
- At the server, you should increase your amount of RAM in correspondence with the number of workstations accessing Sage; a good rule of thumb is to have 2GB of RAM per workstation.
- More memory/processor speed will also be required if working in multiple companies at once.
- Check Sage's performance at the server; if the server is slow, every workstation will also be slow.
- Verify the processor and memory resources have not been artificially limited by pressing Windows+R keys, type msconfig, and then click OK.
Note: If prompted to allow the program to make changes, select Yes. - Select Boot tab.
- Select Advanced options.
- If either Number of processors or Maximum memory are selected, clear them.
- Select OK.
- Select OK again.
- Restart computer.
Section 9: Hard Drive space and virtual memory
- Each PC's hard drive should have a minimum of 1 GB or three times the company database size, whichever is larger, of free space.
- Running Windows' Disk Cleanup and Defragmenter utilities at each PC will optimize free disk space.
- Each computer's virtual memory should be set so it at least matches the amount of RAM on the machine.
- As with RAM, the more virtual memory a computer has, the better it will run.
- Follow the link in Additional information, below, for Microsoft instructions on checking and changing the amount of virtual memory.
Section 10: Background applications
- Other programs and background applications running at the same time as Sage may cause slow performance.
- Try rebooting your computers into Selective Startup to verify if background programs are affecting Sage's performance; follow How to boot into selective startup
- If performance improves after doing so, start re-enabling services and startup items one at a time until the one causing the issue is found.
Section 11: Data entry
The following changes can improve performance but are not always necessary. It is best to make a few changes and then work in Sage to test the results.
- Change Global Options
- Select Options, and then Global.
- Select General tab.
- Check one or more options under Improve Performance.
- Clear Smart Data Entry.
- Select OK.
Note: When entering transactions, use unique reference (invoice, check, etc.) numbers.
- Change Action Items settings
- Select Tasks, Action Items.
- Select Options, and then Transactions tab.
- Clear each Create Event option.
- Select Start Up tab.
- Clear Display Action Items each time a new company is opened.
- Select OK, and then Close.
Section 12: Compatibility settings
- Right-click Sage Icon, and then select Properties.
- Select Compatibility tab.
- If Run this program in compatibility mode for is selected, clear it.
Note: If the check box is grayed out, just continue to the next step. - Select Change settings for all users.
- If Run this program in compatibility mode for is selected, clear it.
- Select Run this program as an administrator.
- Select Apply.
- Select OK.
Section 13: Microsoft .NET issues
- See How do I check for Microsoft Framework .NET Errors using Sage Advisor Diagnostic Tool?
- Contact an IT professional or Microsoft support for assistance installing/reinstalling Microsoft .NET 4.0.
- If using Windows 8, Microsoft .NET 4.5 is built into the operating system, so instead of reinstalling it, disable it, reboot, and then re-enable it.
Section 14: User does not have the correct access
Each user in the network needs either Administrator or Power User access.
Section 15: Oversized form (.FRM) file(s)
- Check the Forms and individual company directories, sorting the files in the directory by size.
- Any large forms can be moved out of the Forms and individual company directories.
- If these are custom form files, they can be re-customized.
- Verify the program is more responsive.
Section 16: Uninstall and reinstall Sage
- Follow How do I uninstall the program?
- Reinstall Sage; refer to Installation Instructions - Sage 50—U.S. Edition
Section 17: Windows Update:
- Check for any pending or needed windows updates, Contact an IT professional or Microsoft support for assistance.
- You can view your Windows updates in Windows 10, by typing updates where it says Type here to search on your bottom taskbar.
- On the menu that appears you can then click Check for updates.