Converting ACT 6 to ACT 20 Etc Tip [ Edited ]

[ch1p]

Originally this said there was a way to still convert a DBF ACT database in ACT V20 with a work around. On more testing I do not recommended it so have removed the hint. Jon's answer below is what I now recommend.

[JonTaylor · Accepted solution]

Hi Chip,

This KB should detail the process, you'll notice it only is valid up to 19.1.

http://kb.act.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37884

The ability to upgrade from v6 to v19.2+ was removed from the software as the upgrade was unreliable at best, due to the difference in age of the products, as well as some of the libraries/files used in the conversion process causing problems elsewhere in the software.

Current recommendation is to upgrade via another version - i.e. upgrade to Act! 2012 first, and then on to v20.

[JonTaylor · Accepted solution]

Hi Chip,

This KB should detail the process, you'll notice it only is valid up to 19.1.

http://kb.act.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37884

The ability to upgrade from v6 to v19.2+ was removed from the software as the upgrade was unreliable at best, due to the difference in age of the products, as well as some of the libraries/files used in the conversion process causing problems elsewhere in the software.

Current recommendation is to upgrade via another version - i.e. upgrade to Act! 2012 first, and then on to v20.

[alanmlee]

Another key tip to help successfully upgrade an ACT 6 database is to run database repair on it in ACT 6 before you start.  We have done hundreds of these and many refuse to easily open up in a later version of ACT.  Sometimes you have to fix database corruption issues,  like orphaned records,  in the ACT 6 Database before updating it.  

Worse case would be to extract the ACT 6 data as separate CSV files.  Then, import tyme one at a time into a new ACT database.  We still have the needed tools and expertise to do this as a paid service for anyone that gets stuck.   I just updated someone from ACT 5 that had a wide variety of issues; it is doable. 

Alan

Alan Lee

1st ACC and still standing

www.OAKMerge.com