Installing the Software

Minimum hardware and software requirements

To run Comprehensive Software applications we recommend the following configuration:

An IBM-compatible computer with a 550MHz Pentium III processor
4GB RAM for Windows 10
At least 100MB of free disk space for installation. Additional space will be required for your data.
SVGA video card and monitor supported by Windows with minimum 1280×800 resolution
CD/DVD drive
Windows 7/10 operating systems

The software may work on lesser hardware and operating system configurations but performance cannot be guaranteed.

Single user, multi-user network or internet-hosted

Comprehensive Accounts is a Windows-based software application which is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 (32-Bit and 64-Bit) operating systems. It can be installed on a single PC or on a server network or network of peer-to-peer PCs. We can also offer the software as a service, hosted on our dedicated Remote Desktop platform – click here to read more

What licence do I need?

To determine the licence you need, consider the following:

Limited or unlimited companies

The limited licence restricts you to 50 companies for which you can produce accounts per year.
The unlimited licence does not impose a limit on the number of companies.

Single-user or multi-user

A single-user licence will allow only one user at a time to access the database of companies.
A multi-user licence will allow up to the identified number of users to access the database of companies concurrently.

Single PC or network

Will Comprehensive be installed on a stand-alone PC or on many PCs (workstations) on a network?
On a single PC installation, Comprehensive is installed only once on the PC and the licence is identified only to that PC. Of course, this is a single-user licence.
On a network installation, many PC workstations access the same database of companies. The database of companies will typically be installed on the network server and all PC workstations will access that same database on the network server. One licence covers the whole network installation.
N.B. you can have a single-user licence on a network installation. In this configuration, many PC workstations can access the database of companies, but only one PC at a time. This is possible, but not the envisaged use of Comprehensive Accounts.

Are you an ICPA member?

ICPA members enjoy a discount of the licence fee.

Licence fee

You incur one licence fee per stand-alone PC licence you require or per concurrent user you require on a network installation. There are volume discounts for three or more licences / concurrent users. Some examples:

a single-user, single PC licence would incur one licence fee and entitles you to install the software on one PC only.
a two-user, two-PC network licence would incur two licence fees (for the two users) and entitles you to install the software on up to two PCs on a network.
a two-user, four-PC network licence would incur two licence fees (for the two users) and entitles you to install the software on up to four PCs on a network.
a four-user, five-PC network licence would incur four licence fees (for the four users) and entitles you to install the software on up to five PCs on a network.

Installing the software

This knowledge base includes sufficient explanations and instructions to install the software on a stand-alone PC, peer-to-peer network or server network. If you are in any doubt, you should consult a competent IT professional to install Comprehensive Accounts, especially if this is to be on a peer-to-peer network or server network or at least consult the person who configured the network. We cannot provide help with installation other than the explanations and instructions provided in this knowledge base.

Number of users and Workstations

No. of users

Comprehensive operates a concurrent-user licence model. For a single-user licence, no. of users will be “01” and you may have only one instance of the software running at a time. On a multi-user network of PCs, no. of users may be greater than “01” and will determine the number of users that are able to use the software and access common data at the same time.

No. of Workstations and Workstation ID

This identifies the number of PCs on which the software may be installed under the licence. For most single-user licences, there will be only one workstation (i.e. the single-user PC) and Workstation ID will be “01” so the software may be installed on only one PC. On a multi-user network of PCs, Workstation ID may be greater than “01” and will determine the number of PCs (which includes the server) on which the software may be installed under and licence. Each PC workstation on a network must be licensed individually with workstation ID “01”, “02” and so on.

Read the other articles in this knowledge base section to determine the number of concurrent users and workstations that you need for your purposes.

Multiple workstations on a network

Typically this will apply to a multi-user network installation. On a multi-user network of PCs, you must first activate the server with workstation ID “01”. Then activate the first workstation with ID “02”. Then activate the second workstation with ID “03” and so on. It doesn’t matter which order you activate the workstations, but the server must be activated first with workstation ID “01”. Every workstation must be activated in order to operate under the common licence, to enjoy all the available features and to disable the 90-day trial period expiry.

Installing on your own PC, server network or peer-to-peer network

The installation process is the same whether you are installing on a single-user PC or a server or workstation on a network. For a network installation, you must take care to ensure you make the correct selections during the installation process as described below and that the location to which the software data is stored is accessible by all network PCs that are going to use the software.

If you have an installation CD, put the CD into the CD or DVD drive. The installation program will start automatically. If it doesn’t, click Start > Run and enter X:\SETUP into the dialog box, where X is the drive letter of your CD/DVD drive. Click OK.

If you have downloaded the installation file from our website, Click Start > Run and enter the path of the downloaded file into the dialog box. Alternatively, browse to the downloaded folder path in Windows Explorer and double click on the setup.exe file. Click Next.

Licence Agreement

You must click accept to click Next.

Select Destination Location

Choose the path to which you would like to install the software.
We recommend C:\Program Files\Comprehensive Accounts.
Click Next.

Select Installation Type

‘Single (Standalone) PC or Server’ – Select this for a new or upgrade installation on a single PC or the server on a network.
‘Workstation’ – Select this only for non-server installation (new and upgrade) on a network.
Select the required installation type and click Next.

For a network installation, first do a ‘Single (Standalone) PC or Server’ installation on the server followed by ‘Workstation’ installations on other PCs on the network. It is very important to select the correct installation type for server and network PCs. You may install several Workstations, but the number of concurrent sessions will be limited by your software licence.

Select Start Menu Folder

Setup will create the program’s shortcuts in this Start Menu folder.
We recommend that you accept the default folder.
Click Next.

Select Additional Tasks

Including these additional icons will make operating the program easier and is required for Windows Vista and 7 onwards
Again, we recommend that you accept both these default options.
Click Next.

Ready to Install

Check the details and click Install.

The installation is now complete. Click Finish.
To start a program session double-click one of the shortcut icons you created above or follow these steps:
1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar.
2. Select Programs.
3. Select Comprehensive Accounts.
4. Select the program name.

Workstations on a network

When you open a Workstation installation for the first time you will be met with the Select Directory form. This is because no data folders are installed on a Workstation and you must tell the program where the data folders are stored before the program can start. Use the usual Windows navigation to select the path of the folder to which you made your server installation. Your Workstation must be connected to your network and have read/write access to your server to do this. Once identified for the first time in this way, the Workstation will automatically link to this selected data from now on. You should contact your IT network administrator if you cannot locate the data folder.

How do I activate/register my licence?

The program installs in demonstration mode and must be activated before you can use the full functionality of the software.

If you have installed a free trial version, before you register your licence, you must first install a full version from our downloads page. This is explained in the emails we sent you after your purchase and is because the free trial version is restricted and will ignore your licence details if you try to register them.

The licence is activated from the Activation item in the Help menu.

You must enter the following details in the appropriate boxes:

Licensed user: A name of your choice of up to 40 characters
Licence number: A unique 10-character code
No. of users: “nn” – a two-digit number
Workstation ID: “nn” – a two-digit number

These details will have been agreed with you when you purchased your licence.

Single-user PC, server network or peer-to-peer network

The licence process is the same whether you are licensing a single-user PC or a server or workstation on a network. For a single-user PC, No. of users and Workstation ID are both “01”. For a network installation, you must take care to ensure you activate your server and workstation licences with the correct details and in the correct order as follows:

first, activate the server licence with workstation ID “01”
then activate a workstation licence with workstation ID “02”
then activate another workstation licence with workstation ID “03”
and so on, activating workstation licences until you have activated as many as are permitted under your licence

Only the workstation ID is different for each activation step above; all other licence details don’t change. You can activate the workstation PCs in any order, but you must activate the server first with workstation ID “01”.

To save time you can install the software and activate the licence on the server and each workstation as you go. Either way be sure to activate the server first and to use the correct workstation ID.

Failure to follow these steps precisely could invalidate your licence for future release updates.

Internet Activation

If you have an internet connection, press the “Internet” button and the software will automatically populate the Activation key details. Then press “OK” and the software will advise you that activation is successful and that you must restart Comprehensive for the licence to take effect.

Manual Activation

If you don’t have an internet connection or if you experience any problems, press “Manual” and start a support ticket quoting the code given in the form. We will then advise you of your Activation key for you to type into the Activation form.

Activation Key

This is a unique code in the form xxxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxx and identifies the licence to the specific PC on which it is installed and activated. This is populated automatically by Internet Activation.

Please retain your licence details for future reference.

Why am I told that “a licence for this workstation is already activated”?

When you attempt to activate your licence, the details you enter are checked against the licence activation database on our web site.

The entered licence name, number of users and licence number must be exactly as was agreed with you when you purchased your licence and which was also confirmed to you in the licence details email we sent you.

If you have purchased a multi-user and/or multi-workstation licence, the entered workstation number must be unique to each workstation (i.e. PC) you activate on your licence – i.e. you can enter workstation “01” on only one of your workstations, “02” on only one workstation and so on. This identifies each workstation on your licence and permits you to activate Comprehensive on no more than the licensed number of PCs.

If you have entered any of these details incorrectly, you will receive an error message. Please check your entries carefully and re-submit.

When you successfully enter your correct licence details, the Activation key will be populated automatically and your licence activation on this specific workstation will be registered on the licence activation database on our web site.

Any attempt to re-register the same licence details on this or any other PC or different licence details on the same PC will be met with this “already activated” message as this PC and these licence details are already recorded and cannot be re-used.

If you legitimately need to re-activate your licence, for example to transfer Comprehensive to a new or different PC, you must contact us first so that we can clear your licence and workstation details from our licence activation database.

Please do this by starting a support ticket.

Installing a release update to an existing installation

All Comprehensive Accounts software updates are cumulative, which means that every release update includes all the features of the previous release updates.

For our customers that means that they can install the latest release to their existing installation at any time and the software will automatically update their existing data, whatever release their existing data may be.

You can download the latest release installation file from our Downloads page at:

https://prelude.software/products/desktop/final-accounts/download-latest-release

Simply follow the normal installation instructions, installing the release update to the same folder as your existing installation. During the install process, only old application files will be updated, leaving all your data intact. The next time you start the software after the release update, it will upgrade existing data to the current release.

How to uninstall Comprehensive

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

Before uninstalling Comprehensive, back up all company data that you wish to keep. This process is explained in this knowledge base article. Click the link to open the article in a new web page.

When Comprehensive is first installed an Uninstall program is installed alongside it. Use this to uninstall Comprehensive:

From the Start menu, select All Programs > Comprehensive Accounts > Uninstall Comprehensive Accounts. This will remove all the program folders and files that were created when Comprehensive was first installed and all the registry settings.
Then delete the following folders and all their contents, if they still exist:
- C:\Program Files\Comprehensive Accounts\
- C:\ProgramData\Comprehensive Accounts\ (only relevant to Windows Vista, 7)

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 Comprehensive 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.

How to move Comprehensive to a new computer

To move Comprehensive to a new or different PC will typically require the following steps in this order:

Back up all your Comprehensive companies to a different networked PC or server or a removeable media: e.g. CD/DVD, memory stick or external hard drive
Uninstall Comprehensive on the existing PC
Install Comprehensive 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 Comprehensive licence on the new PC
Restore your Comprehensive companies to the new PC

Some of these steps are explained in more detail below.

Back up your companies

Use the menu item, File > Backup and Restore > Back Up Company Data
This is explained in this knowledge base article. Click the link to open the article in a new web page.
Having created the backup files of all your companies, copy them to your chosen removable media

Uninstall Comprehensive on the existing PC

This is explained in a previous section.

Install Comprehensive on the new PC

Download the latest release installation file from our web site in the usual way
Install Comprehensive on the new PC, taking care to select the preferred settings in the installation wizard pages. This is explained in a previous section.

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. Click the link to submit a support ticket on a new web page.
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.
Why this must be done is explained below.

Activate your Comprehensive licence on the new PC

Use the menu, Help > Activation to activate your licence using your existing licence details
This is explained in a previous section.

Restore your Comprehensive companies to the new PC

Ensure the removeable media is connected to the new PC
Use the menu item, File > Backup and Restore > Restore Company Data
- Source: If you know it, type the path of the removeable media; otherwise click the ellipsis […] and browse to find it
- Backup files: Select from the list of backup files. These are restored one at a time for safety.
- Restore to: Select ‘Original company’, which will create the database from the backup
- Click Restore
When you access the restored companies for the first time, if you find that the Data menu items are disabled, grey or greyed out, simply open and close one of the parameters forms from the menu, e.g. View > Accountant Parameters.

Why must I contact you before I can re-install or move Comprehensive to a new PC?

When you activate your licence by submitting your licence details via the Activation form in the software, your details are registered on our licence activation database, which is on our web site.

Before you reinstall Comprehensive on the same PC you must first uninstall the software. Uninstalling Comprehensive removes the licence details from your PC but it does not remove them from the licence activation database on our web site. Therefore trying to re-license on the same PC or any other PC or laptop will fail as your licence is still registered on our database.

Before you can re-activate your licence – e.g. when transferring Comprehensive to a new PC or reinstalling to the same PC after a system crash – you must first contact us to request that we clear our licence activation database, which will then allow you to re-activate the transferred or re-installed licence.

To do this, please contact us by raising a support ticket explaining the circumstances and requesting that we clear our licence activation database.

This process helps us to assure you that only licensed users can use the full features of our software.

N.B. reinstalling the software is not the same as installing a release update, which is explained in a previous section.

The menu is disabled after data is moved to a new PC

When you use the software, as well as the data you enter, it records and updates variables and parameters on the PC which are used, among other things, to help manage the software menus and user interface.

Having re-installed the software, most of these variables and parameters don’t exist on the new PC and must be re-instated.

Some of these variables tell the software which of the companies you have created contain live data. If you have copied company data from your old PC, these variables will not be present on the new PC for these companies and the software menus will therefore be blank or greyed out as if it were a new company database.

This is easily remedied simply by opening each of the parameters forms from the View menu item. Press OK to close each form and you should then find that the menus are enabled. This must be done for each company database you have transferred from the old PC.

Other variables and parameters will be reinstated through normal use of the software and should not cause any issues.