FAQ

To move Prelude Desktop to a new or different PC will typically require the following steps in this order:
• Back up all your Prelude Desktop companies to a different networked PC or server or a removeable media: e.g. CD/DVD, memory stick or external hard drive.
• Uninstall Prelude Desktop on the existing PC.
• Install Prelude Desktop on the new PC.
• Restart the new PC.
• Contact us in order to release your licence from the existing PC in our databases.
• Activate your Prelude Desktop licence on the new PC.
• Restore your Prelude Desktop companies to the new PC.

Backup your existing data: It is vital to backup your existing data before you do any thing else. The backup menu option is on the File menu. Refer to File Menu – Backup Company Data. Ensure you can restore from the backup to the new installation.

Uninstall Prelude Desktop: It may be necessary to completely uninstall Prelude Desktop, for example, if you are moving the installation to a new PC or if the installation has become corrupted.

Before uninstalling Prelude Desktop, back up all the companies‘ data that you wish to keep – see above.

When Prelude Desktop is first installed an Uninstall program is installed alongside it. Use this to uninstall Prelude Desktop:
• From the Start menu, select All Programs > Prelude Accounts > Uninstall Prelude Desktop Accounts. This will remove all the program folders and files that were created when Prelude Desktop was first installed and all the registry settings.
• Then delete the following folders and all their contents, if they still exist:
o C:\Program Files X86\Prelude Desktop\
o C:\ProgramData\ Prelude Desktop \
Manually deleting the program folders and their remaining contents may be necessary as the uninstall program can only delete the folders and files that were created when Prelude Desktop was first installed. So, for example, company data folders created after installation must be deleted manually.

You might also have to manually delete the program shortcuts in the start menu and on the desktop.

Install Prelude Desktop on the new PC: • Download the latest release installation file from our web site in the usual way. We will advise you of the link by email after deactivating the account and creating a new activation which we will advise at the same time.
• Install Prelude Desktop on the new PC. Click on the executable file or install file if this is supplied as well. The install will start and you simply need to follow the instructions. As part of the installation you will be asked to select ‘Single (Standalone) PC or Server’. Select this option first on the server or if a single user then on the PC. The recommended path for installation is C:\Program Files X86\Prelude If installing on a new server ensure you have mapped a path to the server Prelude Installation. This will be required in the setup When adding PC’s – select ‘Workstation’ installation type.
Deactivate your current licence
• Before you can license your new installation, we must first update our licence activation database on our website to deactivate your current licence.
• Submit a support ticket to explain the circumstances and we will update our database. Go to https://support.preludeaccounts.com/index.pl? to raise a ticket – You may need to create a support account – just click on the link and follow the instructions – you will be able to create the ticket at the same time.
• Wait for a response from us to confirm that our licence database has been updated.
• You will be unable to activate your licence until this is done.

Activate your new Installation: Once you have received you new activation code go to the Help Menu > Activation and enter the details.

Restore your data: Your new software will open with no companies set up except 000. Go into 000 and go to File Menu> Restore Company Data. Locate the backup files and restore to their original company numbers. The version may be newer than your existing system so each company will be automatically upgraded which will take a few minutes.

The setup will create shortcuts and you will be asked to install in the Start Menu, by default. Please accept the default.

When you find that you can’t connect to your Prelude Desktop when you are on an off-site Wi-Fi network, it is very likely for one of two reasons:
-the Wi-Fi network has been designated as public by your device and your device is applying greater restrictions to public networks.
-the firewall of that network is blocking RDP connections from that network.

You can change the settings on your device to eliminate the first as a cause – you will need to google how to do this if you don’t know.

If the network is blocking RDP connections, this might be done intentionally by the network owner or might be a default configuration of their router/internet provider that they are not aware of.  Whichever is the case, it can’t be changed as you can’t anticipate or dictate the behaviour of the Wi-Fi networks that you visit.

There are two possible alternatives:
Create a second Desktop connection in your App, with exactly the same details except with the “:37389” omitted from the end of the computer name, and try that.
If that doesn’t work, you could use the mobile data of your phone  – when the network is restrictive like this or is too slow it works well.

This is not an issue with our Desktop platform.  It is a consequence of over-zealous security on some Wi-Fi networks.

You can log in to Cloud Desktop from pretty much any internet-connected computer, tablet or smartphone.

The tools and method you use are different depending on the operating system on your device (e.g. Android, iOS, macOS, Windows) and the type of device (e.g. Chromebook, Android Tablet, Android Smartphone, iPad, iPhone, Mac Computer, MacBook, PC, Laptop, Windows Tablet).

Click here to read the detailed instructions in our Knowledge Base.

The security permissions should allow JavaScript and Flash Player to run on the trusted web sites that you visit using Internet Explorer on your Prelude Desktop.

If you find that these are not working, first check that the web site you are visiting is a trusted site. You can do this by submitting a support ticket to request that this site is added to the list of trusted sites. If the site is deemed to be safe, we will add the site to our Trusted Sites zone quickly for you.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, it is likley that your Internet Explorer profile has become corrupted. This can be reset as follows:

• In Internet Explorer, click Tools > Internet Options
• Tools is the cog icon in the menu bar or press Alt-X
• In Internet Options, select the Avanced Tab
• Click Reset, then Reset on the next form
• You do not need to tick Delete personal settings
• Click Close then click OK
• Then restart Internet Explorer You should find that JavaScript and Flash Player now work. This will reset your preferences – e.g. your home page – but is the only way to resolve this issue if your IE profile has become corrupted.

This is a security measure to allow downloads only from sites that are explicitly added to a list of trusted sites that is maintained on the platform.

When you find a download is blocked from a site, send an email to [email protected]– so we can check and add the site to the list.  You can then log out and back in for the update to take effect.

Always check that the site on which you click the download link is actually the site from which the download is to be made, as often the link on the main site first redirects to a different site to start the download.

There are occasions when applications have a lot to do and sometimes the network thinks it should have finished and aborts the operation and this can be very frustrating.

This break in operation is often caused by ‘Timeouts‘. In some software timeouts can be controlled by the user – particularly if you are working on sensitive information and you are called away from the PC – a timeout will kick in to save your information (or not – depending on how the software is written).

Sometimes there is a dip in the power or a surge and these can cause an application to crash as can other network overload or sending/retrieving issues.

Whilst these cannot be entirely prevented Prelude have done as much as we can to minimise the effect by constantly saving your work to keep loss of data and re-entry needs as little as possible.

The problem is very rarely the platform itself. Before you contact us to say it isn’t working please check –

• Your Internet – see if you are having problems loading a web page – if yes check your router and, if necesary, any connections – run troubleshooter on your internet access (bottom RH of desktop).
• If everything else is OK try rebooting your PC.
• Then check your RDP settings.
• If all this fails please contact us – we can determine if there is a problem or try and establish what is wrong.