Error: "The Connection Manager could not start the database engine. The database engine reported an error."

1. Select Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then Services.
2. Right-click Sage 50 Database Connection Manager.
3. Select Stop.
4. Right-click Sage 50 Database Connection Manager.
5. Select Start.
6. If you get a message saying "The Connection Manager could not be stopped. You need administrator rights.", refer to Article Error: "The Connection manager service could not be started. You need administrator rights on this computer to start the service."
7. Try to open the company file.

Option 3: Reinstall the program.

1. Uninstall Sage 50.
   • Right-click on the Windows Start, Apps and Features
   • Find the Sage 50 version you’re trying to repair and click Uninstall
   • Follow the wizard to complete the uninstall
2. Reinstall Sage 50 following How do I reinstall Sage 50?
3. Verify that the company file will now open.

Option 4: Reinstall the Connection Manager.

1. Right-click the Command Prompt, then select Run as Administrator from Windows Start.
2. Type: sc delete "Sage 50 Database Connection Manager".
   • If you receive an error "[SC] OpenService FAILED 1060:" on the command-line type: "sc query type= service state= all" then re-enter "sc delete "Sage 50 Database Connection Manager"
3. Select the F5 key to refresh your Services list, you’ll see the service is gone.
4. Once you confirm the service has been deleted, bring up task manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) ◦On the process tab click or check Show processes from all users
5. End the Simply.SystemTrayIcon.exe process.
6. Go to the appropriate winsim folder.
   • 32-bit computers go to: C:\Program Files\winsim
   • 64-bit computers go to: C:\Program Files (x86)\winsim
   • Delete the Connection Manager folder
7. Repair the Sage 50 installation. See Option 1 in KB How do I repair the Sage 50 installation?

Option 5: My data is on Remote Data Access.

1. Re-download a copy of the company file giving the error from Remote Data Access by following the article How do I download a company file shared with Remote Data Access (formerly Sage Drive)?
   • Choose the location and file name you would like and click Save
   • If you wish to overwrite the existing file that has the error, select the same name and location the file was saved in and click Yes when it asks you if you would like to overwrite the existing file
   • After the company file finishes downloading and syncing, it should open normally.

Option 6: Move the files out of a cloud-synchronized folder.

1. To help identify if your data is in a cloud folder, see How can I tell if my files are synced to a cloud service?
2. If the files are in a cloud-synchronized folder, relocate the files to a new folder that isn’t synced. Follow How do I copy my files from one location to another in Windows Explorer?
   • The best folder location for your data is on the C:\\ Drive

Option 7: Verify that mysqld.exe exists.

1. Verify the mysqld.exe file exists in: C:\Program Files (x86)\winsim\ConnectionManager\MySqlBinary\8.0.27\mysql.
2. If it doesn’t exist, your security software (firewall or antivirus) may have quarantined the executable file or it was removed manually.
3. If the file was quarantined, contact the security software provider on how to restore or whitelist this executable. See article Third-party utilities, antivirus and firewall issues with Sage 50
4. If the file was removed manually, repair Sage 50 by following the article How do I repair the Sage 50 installation?

Option 8: Verify if the SAJ folder has a read-only attribute.

1. Close Sage 50.
2. Browse to the location where the company file resides.
3. Right-click the folder with the extension SAJ.
4. Select Properties.
5. Clear the Read-Only box if a checkmark is there.
6. Select OK.
7. Restart Sage 50 Accounting and try to open the company file again.

Option 9: Verify that all files and folders are visible in the SAJ folder.

1. Browse to the location where the company file resides.
2. Right-click the SAJ folder.
3. Select Properties.
4. Clear Hidden box checkmark if one is there.
5. Select Apply.
6. Select OK.
7. Open the SAJ folder.
8. Verify that all files and folders are located within the SAJ folder.

Option 10: Restore from backup.

1. Find a recent backup CAB file. See Solution 3 in How do I find my company file?
2. Restore the backup.

Option 11: Only 1 workstation is having a problem.

1. Map a network drive to the data by following the article How do I map a network drive in Windows 10?
2. Verify that you can open the company.

Option 12: Save the data files in another folder on the server.

1. Make a copy of the SAI file and the SAJ folder into a different folder on the server.
2. Verify that you can open the company.

Option 13: Start the Windows Event Log service.

1. Select Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then select Services.
2. Select Windows Event Log in the services list and double-click to open the Properties window.
3. If the service is Disabled, change the Startup Type to Automatic.
4. Select Apply and the Start button will become available.
5. If the service is available/automatic, select the Start button to start the service, then select OK.
6. If the service starts, open Sage 50.
7. If the service isn’t starting, or there’s an error 1053: Select Log On tab, then Add the local administrator.
8. Confirm the service status is started.
9. Try to open the company file.
   • If you get an "error 4201, the instance name passed wasn’t recognized as valid by a WMI data provider" open Command Prompt as administrator
   • Type: cd C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\WMI.
   • Type: rename RtBackup RtBackup2. If you get a 'access denied' error message, go to the next step, otherwise go to step 12.
10. In the "Start" menu, locate "Command Prompt". Right-click and choose "Run as Administrator". If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
11. Type the following commands, then press "Enter" to execute them one by one. (Please note the space before the command and its parameter.)
    • takeown /f C:\windows\system32\logfiles\wmi\rtbackup cacls C:\windows\system32\logfiles\wmi\rtbackup /G administrators:F
12. Exit Command Prompt.
13. Reboot the computer.
14. If the event log is still not starting, please contact your local IT person to fix this issue.