Error: "Cannot fine 'sorttbls.​nlp'" and ACT won't open

[AlexG2490]

Hello all!

I am installing ACT on a new machine but haven't been able to get it running. It's ACT 2009 and the computer is running Windows 7 Professional. I've installed on other machines with this same setup in the office before and not had an issue. However, this machine is throwing up the following error every time it's restarted:

Act.Outlook.Service

"Could not load file or assembly 'sorttbls.nlp' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the specified file"

A search of the board revealed that this is usually a .NET Framework error, so I did the following steps to be as thorough as possible:

1. Uninstall ACT

2. Uninstall .NET 3.5.1

3. Restart PC

4. Install .NET 4.5

5. Restart PC again

6. Install ACT

7. Restart PC 3rd time

I've tried to reduce the chances of anything at all going wrong with the multiple restarts. Even so, I still have the same error when I log in to Windows. Can anyone provide assistance? Thanks!

[ghollister]

Hello AlexG2490,
I believe that component is a .NET 2.0 component, and ACT! 2009 was built off of .NET 2.0. You will need to uninstall ACT!, remove .NET 4.0, re-enable .NET 3.5 in the Windows Features, reboot, then reinstall ACT!. There is no guarantee this will work as ACT! 2009 is not certified for Windows 7.

[AlexG2490]

Greig,

Thanks for your reply! If I'm understanding you correctly, I can't run ACT 2009 on a machine running .NET 4.0? That's going to present a problem, because we have other software that needs to run on that framework. I understand that .NET 3.5.1 runs as an OS component whereas 4.0 appears under add/remove programs. Do you know if the two can run concurrently?

I installed .NET 4.5 but here is a screengrab from another computer in the office that's essentially running the same setup - Windows 7 64 Bit, .NET 4.0, and ACT 2009. You can see ACT running in the background with no issues. Is 4.0 officially unsupported, or only 4.5 which I installed on the non-functional machine? I'm a bit confused as to what functions go with which version of .NET, what's supported with ACT and what isn't.

[Roy_Laudenslager]

The unfortunate thing is that after years of very good legacy support in the Windows operating system, with the release of Vista, MicroSoft started dropping much of their legacy support. The result is that it's much more dificult to have software that is out of step with Windows and their major components.