Upgrading a computer to Windows 10 with PetLinx

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25 August, 2015

Upgrading a computer to Windows 10 with PetLinx

Microsoft have recently released Windows 10 and offered it as a free upgrade for user of Windows 7 and 8/8.1. In most cases, computers with PetLinx installed (from versions 3 to 5) can be upgraded to Windows 10 and PetLinx will continue to work as normal after the upgrade.

However if a version of PetLinx 4 prior to version 4.60 (released on 1 December 2012) was initially installed on the computer, there may be some additional steps required before an upgrade to Windows 10 should be undertaken.

Versions of PetLinx 4 from version 4.00 to 4.53 made use of SQL Server 2005 to store the database. SQL Server 2005 is not compatible with Windows 10 and will not work after the upgrade, whereas subsequent versions of PetLinx use SQL Server 2008 which is compatible.

To check if PetLinx is using SQL Server 2005 and requires upgrading to SQL Server 2008 before you can upgrade to Windows 10, please do the following steps. Please note this only applies to the Single User and Multi User – Database Server installations of PetLinx 4 or 5, it is not required for Multi User – Client Computer installations or the Cloud edition.

1. Exit PetLinx if you have it open, then click the Windows Start Button, then choose All Programs. In the list of program groups, you may see one or more Microsoft SQL Server program groups listed. If you do not have a

“Microsoft SQL Server 2005” program group listed, then you are safe to upgrade the computer to Windows 10. Otherwise if you see a “Microsoft SQL Server 2005” program group listed, then continue to the next step.

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2. Click Microsoft SQL Server 2005, then Configuration Tools, then SQL Server Surface Area Configuration.

3. Click Surface Area Configuration for Services and Connections.

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4. This window lists all the instances of SQL Server 2005 databases on the computer, which may include databases used by other programs.

If you DO NOT have a “PETLINX” entry listed, then you are safe to upgrade the computer to Windows 10;

your PetLinx database is probably already stored in SQL Server 2008. To confirm this, choose Start – Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – Configuration Tools – SQL Server Configuration Manager and select SQL Server 2008 Services in the window that appears. You should see an entry for SQL Server (PETLINX) listed on the right hand side as shown below.

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Otherwise if you DO have a “PETLINX” entry listed in the Surface Area Configuration for Services and Connections window, then you will need to upgrade to SQL Server 2008; continue to the next step.

5. Open the PetLinx Backup and Restore program and take a backup of your PetLinx database. For safety, backup the database to a removable disk if possible.

6. Once you have backed up your database, delete your existing SQL Server 2005 database by choosing the Delete option then clicking Begin Delete. Once deleted, close the PetLinx Backup and Restore program.

7. Open the windows Control Panel (or Settings in Windows 8), and choose the Programs and Features option.

Locate the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 entry, and click Uninstall.

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8. In the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Uninstall window, click the circle next to the PETLINX instance, then click Next, and then Finish. After a while SQL Server 2005 will be uninstalled, when finished you may be prompted to reboot your computer which you should do at this point.

9. Back in the windows Control Panel, Programs and Features option, locate the PetLinx 4 or PetLinx 5 entry (depending on which version you are using), and click Uninstall. Follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation of PetLinx.

10. Download and reinstall PetLinx 4 or 5 from www.petlinx.com/?q=downloads. If downloading PetLinx 5, ensure you choose the “Full Install” download which includes SQL Server 2008. During the installation you should notice SQL Server 2008 being installed; if not, please contact us for assistance at [email protected].

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11. Once PetLinx has been reinstalled, run it. After a while you will be presented with the Welcome to PetLinx window. Select “Restore existing database from backup”, then click Choose Restore File and select the backup file you created in step 5. Click OK and your backup file will be loaded and PetLinx should appear as normal with your data.

Now that you have PetLinx running in conjunction with SQL Server 2008 you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 10 at your convenience.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact us at [email protected].