<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Frequently Asked Questions/ FAQs > How do I install/ upgrade FastMaint editions?

FastMaint can be installed and setup as one of three editions - Basic (single-user), Standard (single-user) of Professional (multi-user). It is possible to upgrade from Basic to Standard to Professional editions by buying the appropriate license. Upgrading to the Professional edition gives you a new 30-day trial before you have to purchase the license. You may be eligible for special upgrade pricing.

Note that you CANNOT "downgrade" from the Professional edition to the Basic/ Standard editions since the maintenance database formats differ. To go back to your previous edition, uninstall the Professional edition and remove any database files. Then re-install FastMaint the original edition and restore any pre-upgrade backups.

Basic and Standard Editions

1.If upgrading, backup any existing data.

2.Run the installer to upgrade or install the software.

3.Run FastMaint and click through the wizard, making sure to select the correct edition.

Professional Edition with built-in Microsoft Access (Jet) database

1.If upgrading, backup any existing data.

2.Run the installer to upgrade or install the software.

3.Run FastMaint and click through the wizard, making sure to select the "Professional Edition". (If you get this wrong, you can use the Administration menu, Application Setup option.)

4.Follow the instructions to use an internal database, then select the option to setup a new shared database.

5.Click the Change Database Location button to enter the shared drive/ network location you want the database files to be kept. 
If you are upgrading from the Basic/ Standard edition, your existing database will be upgraded and copied to this location.

6.Login into FastMaint using the “admin” account.
(If this is your first login, you will be asked to enter a new admin password.)

7.Use the Administration menu to create some user accounts and tailor their access.

8.Repeat steps #2, #3 and #4 on all the remaining destination computers.

Professional edition with Microsoft SQL Server

You should already own licenses for SQL Server and have it set up on your server.

1.If upgrading, backup any existing FastMaint data.

2.Using Microsoft SQL Server, create an empty database for use with FastMaint.

3.Create a database user account that has DDL administration as well as read+write access to the database (avoid using the SQL administrator account for security reasons).

4.In Microsoft Windows, under the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, select "Data Sources (ODBC)". Set up a System DSN with an SQL Server based data source. Point to the SQL Server database you created for FastMaint. Use the database user account you created (do not use Windows/ Integrated security). Test the connection.

5.Run the installer to upgrade or install the software.

6.Run FastMaint and click through the wizard, making sure to select the "Professional Edition". (If you get this wrong, you can use the Administration menu, Application Setup option.)

7.Follow the instructions to use an external SQL Server database. Specify the System DSN you setup in step #2.
The setup wizard will initialize the empty SQL Server database. If you are upgrading from the Basic/ Standard edition it can also transfer all your existing data over to the SQL Server database.

8.Login into FastMaint using the “admin” account.
(If this is your first login, you will be asked to enter a new admin password.)

9.Use the Administration menu to create some user accounts and tailor their access.

9.Repeat steps #4, #5 and #6 on all the remaining destination computers.