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I'm looking for a way to access data in an ACT! database for a data migration to a custom application.

The ACT! software uses SQLServer 2005.

The data conversion script and new application will be written on a Linux system using Python and Postgresql.

My problem is getting my hands on the data !

I don't know how ACT! has their SQLServer installation configured.


Initially I installed Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express to see if I could view and query the data.

I currently have ...

  • Windows XP machine
  • ACT! 2009 version 11.0.0.367
  • Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express version 9.00.2047.00

There are two instances of the SQLServer running. One for the ACT! software and one that was loaded with the Studio Express installation.

In Studio Express I can connect to the latter instance but not to the SQLServer for the ACT! database.

Using the Windows Authentication login I get Login failed for user ... Error 18456.

I don't know what the SQL Server Authentication login would be.


  • Is there a way around the connection/login issue ?

  • Can the second instance of SQLServer be configured to see the ACT! database ?

  • Copy the database files ... ?

8 Answers 8

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We have a Customer who has the unfortunate need to use this program.

Sage purposefully makes it difficult to get to your data because they see that as a "revenue opportunity". (I guess they want to have all of the "lock-in" power of a proprietary file format combined with all of the convenience and performance of using SQL Server 2005...)

Read your license agreement. Sage demands you pay them additional fees to get access to the data. Legally, your only way of accessing your data directly is via their "licensed" means. (It's completely bogus, and makes me think of Sage software as a bunch of dirty, underhanded jerks, personally.)

They do some mean things to make sure that you can't get and keep "sa" privilege to the database easily, but since you physically control the box you can get around that.

I'm not sure how much I should say on here for fear of getting Server Fault into trouble and / or getting a cease-and-desist order myself. Suffice it to say there's a mode that you can start SQL Server in that allows "sa" access regardless of credentials. That's your back door to get in.

Sage: You're a bunch of bozos and your business model sucks re: ACT!. I hope that free and open-source and cloud-based alternatives drive you out of business.

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  • 1
    Next time tell us how you really feel :)
    – squillman
    Oct 23, 2009 at 17:40
  • Yeah, no kidding. I was so peeved when I found out that we had to use their silly "scheduler" to backup the database (legally) instead of just using our Backup Exec SQL agent like we normally would. Oct 23, 2009 at 18:05
  • Heh, wonder if this is why my wife's uncle is switching over to Exchange.
    – squillman
    Oct 23, 2009 at 18:28
  • I don't think Sage can't hold this over you as being proprietary or business secret knowledge. Are you speaking of single user mode? Will this still work if the built-in administrator account has been removed from sa? i always find resetting sysxlgns password hash works best no matter what. Oct 24, 2009 at 12:04
  • @Nick: Single-user mode it is, and it'll work regardless of what has been done to "sa" permissions. Sage has a nasty little stored procedure that removes "sa" privileges for the built-in Administrator (and any other accounts unless they match some string comparison criteria) again if you restore them. Oct 25, 2009 at 2:39
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or you can use the actreader.exe utillity that is included in the premium versions of act, to create a read only user for the act! database (I would advise against writing into act!s' databases anyway...)

simply start it, enter a password, and then connect using the username ACTREADER and the password you have chosen. done.

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Jus tattach the database to a different SQL server and you have access to all the data.

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Single User Mode works like a charm.

To start an instance of SQL Server with startup options

1.On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, point to Configuration Tools, and then click SQL Server Configuration Manager.

  1. In SQL Server Configuration Manager, in the left pane, click SQL Server.

  2. In the details pane, right-click the instance of SQL Server, and then click Properties.

  3. In the SQL Server () Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab, and then click Startup Parameters.

  4. At the end of the original text, in the Value column, type the startup parameters you want, and then click OK. Separate parameters with a semi-colon, for example, –c;-m.

  5. Stop and restart SQL Server for the parameters to take effect.

Then login with management studio and taddah!

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This is a very old post but I've recently come across the same issue with ACT! 17 PRO and people may need it as it goes out of support in November 2017.

If you only need the data then using DBeaver connect to the remote server.

The complete JDBC connection settings as follows :

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try this:

Stop the Sage installed SQL Server service, then copy the mdf/ldf files. Run up another copy of SQL Server & use SSMS to attach the md/ldf files by clicking on Database in object explorer & selecting Attach...

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I encounter the same problem too. The situation in my company is that we use different softwares to manage different aspects of the business, and all of them involve customer data. To avoid repeatedly enter customer data into different software and potential errors, we intend to develop our own CRM application which behave as the central point for data storage. So we contacted ACT and told that we could use the SDK to access the data in database, don't know if you have already looked at that alternative?

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I realize I'm a little late coming to this post, but I'm hoping someone can still help. I am trying to do the same thing with ACT 2007 and SSMS 2005. I followed the advice to detach and reattach to a different instance of SQL, and I can now export all the tables using SQL Server Import and Export Wizard. However, I cannot run a query or export any of the Views. I get this error: "Msg 8169, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 Conversion failed when converting from a character string to uniqueidentifier." Is there any way around this?

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