The latest update to Windows 10 appears to have “broken” some key elements of Sage 50 2018 and 2017, generating a “Sage 50 has stopped working” error, which then closes the Sage 50 application.

Sage Technical Support reports that the latest Microsoft update to Windows 10 (Windows version 1709) changed three critical Windows DLL files in the “dot net” portion of the Windows 10 operating system, which Sage 50 requires to operate properly. As a result, invoking certain functions in Sage 50 will cause the application to crash.

Sage is researching a fix for this issue, and expects to address the problem in their next Sage 50 2018 service release scheduled for March 2018.

In the interim, any users experiencing this problem should run the Sage 50 2018 or 2017 application in “Compatibility mode” for Windows 8. This is relatively simple to configure:

1. “right-click” on the Sage 50 icon that you use to open the Sage 50 application (on desktop, task bar, or Start menu)
2. Select “Properties” from the right-click menu
3. Click on the “Compatibility” tab from the Properties menu
4. Place a check in the box that says “Run this program in compatibility mode for”, and if it is not already selected choose Windows 8 from the dropdown menu.

To read the full text of the error report and the temporary fix published by Sage 50, click on this link.

If you experience this error and are not able to complete the steps outlined above, consult with your IT service provider for assistance, or give us call at 610-941-2116 so that we can help implement this temporary workaround to the Sage 50 error.