Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Upgrading Microsoft SQL Server Express edition

Ensure compatibility, security, and performance by keeping Microsoft SQL Server up to date

As a best practice, Acctivate only supports versions of SQL Server that are supported by Microsoft. This ensures compatibility, security, and performance.

Acctivate distributes the free, Express edition of SQL Server. Therefore most installs of SQL Server can be upgraded at no cost.

If you have a paid version of SQL Server, such as SQL Server Standard edition, and you wish to update, you must purchase a license for the version you want to upgrade to.

This article outlines the options to upgrade the Express edition of SQL Server.

Getting Started

First, from within Acctivate, you can identify the version, architecture, and edition of SQL Server installed.

Next, compare the currently installed version against the Database Server requirements to determine whether SQL Server may need to be upgraded.

Upgrade Options

There are three SQL Server upgrade options available to you

  1. Install the next Acctivate update on the server - Best for existing 64-bit installs of SQL Server.

  2. Use the SQL Migration Utility - Best for existing 32-bit installs of SQL Server
  3. Manually manage the upgrade or migration - Allows for more control on which version is installed, however option 1 and option 2 are recommended.
All three options require a minimal amount of downtime, therefore plan the upgrade process accordingly.

Option 1 - Install the next Acctivate update on the server

The Acctivate installer will attempt to upgrade 64-bit versions of SQL Server Express running on Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, or later, to SQL Server 2022 Express 64-bit.

If your SQL Server install is a 32-bit instance, you must use one of the other methods in this article.

To upgrade SQL Server using the Acctivate installer:

  1. When the next Acctivate update is released, download the Acctivate update installer from the Downloads page.

  2. With all users logged out of Acctivate, install the Acctivate update on the server where SQL Server is installed. If you're unsure of which computer SQL is installed on, use Acctivate Database Maintenance to view the Database Source information.

If the Acctivate update is installed on the server where SQL Server is also installed, then both Acctivate and SQL Server will be upgraded.

Option 2 - Use the SQL Server Migration Utility

Note: This section applies to SQL Server 32-bit Express edition installs only.

Supported versions of Microsoft SQL Server are only available in the 64-bit architecture. 32-bit installs cannot be upgraded 64-bit, therefore we have created a utility that uninstalls the 32-bit instance of SQL Server, installs a 64-bit instance, and automatically moves the Acctivate database to the new instance.

This utility is available to you for free and the entire process can be completed with minimal steps in only a few minutes. 

  1. Download the SQL Migration Utility (SQLMigrate.zip) on the computer where SQL Server is installed and extract the contents by right-clicking SQLMigrate.zip and selecting Extract All...

  2. Have all Acctivate users log out.
  3. In the folder where the migration files were extracted to, double-click SQLMigrate.exe to run the migration utility on the computer where SQL Server is installed.

Check out the video below for detailed instructions.

 

Option 3 - Manually manage the upgrade or migration

For existing 32-bit instances

Rather than using the SQL Migration Utility (Option 2) to automatically perform the necessary steps, you can manually migrate the data to a new instance. There are many resources online, however the general steps are:

  1. Use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to backup the Acctivate databases. These include Acctivate, Acctivate$YourCompany, Acctivate$YourModelCompany.

  2. In SSMS, Detach the databases.
  3. Uninstall the existing SQL Instance.
  4. Install the new SQL Instance. Use the same instance name and password.
  5. Reattach the databases to the new instance.

For existing 64-bit instances

64-bit SQL Server instances can be upgraded in-place. There are many resources online, however, the general steps are:

  1. Backup the Acctivate databases.

  2. Run the SQL Server Setup file for the newer version. This will upgrade your existing instance.