Problems opening Moneysoft Payroll Manager

Can anyone help please? "something outside of payroll manager is blocking access to this file"

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For some reason I cannot access our Moneysoft Payroll Manager to run a number of clients' payroll.

When I double-click to go into the program, it shows as an active program on the bottom of the screen but does not actually open.  I have tried opening the data file directly for a client but get the message "something outside of payroll manager is blocking access to this file" but there is nothing else open and looked in the task manager to see if anything else is running in the background which it isn't.  I've using Moneysoft quite happily for the last 6 years or so and used it a couple of days ago & everything was fine.

I use Bit Defender for our firewall & anti-virus and have enabled payroll manager as a "safe file".

I have also tried updating the software and also uninstalling and re-installing but nothing seems to work.  I have tried everything I can think of, have trawled the internet but I am at a complete loss.

Has anyone else come across this before or have any suggestions as I am really struggling...

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

 

Replies (28)

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By Matrix
30th Nov 2019 07:53

The only time I have had this problem is when it is already open, since it doesn’t like being opened again. But I assume you have restarted the computer so this is not the issue. I would probably get an IT specialist round. Also disable the firewall and email Moneysoft as their support is great.

If you have another computer you can install on there in the meantime, assuming the files are accessible in the cloud.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By alipearson
30th Nov 2019 08:28

Thanks Matrix .
Have restarted machine many times!

I have files in the cloud so will have to use another pc.
This is a relatively new machine (6 months old) as old machine was Windows 7.
Might have to dust that off & see if it will work otherwise it's down to PCWorld for me.

Really appreciate your help.

Thank you

Thanks (1)
ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
30th Nov 2019 08:36

We’ve had this a few times, it’s sometimes because the data file that you’re trying to open has corrupted and you need to open a previous version of that client’s data. I’m afraid I don’t know how to actually do that - my payroll girl sorted it out.
I can’t remember the other reason for it to happen. I think I might have just opened a another client, then managed to switch to the ‘dodgy’ one ok, but not sure about that...

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Replying to atleastisoundknowledgable...:
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By alipearson
30th Nov 2019 09:59

Thank you. I have tried opening other clients but I still get the same error.

Have turned off the firewall, uninstalled moneysoft and re-installed again but still no go.

Appreciate you replying on a Saturday - much appreciated.

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By SXGuy
30th Nov 2019 10:01

Try restarting the pc in to safe mode then see if it will open, if it does then you can be certain there is a running process blocking it.

Then load up pc again as normal.
Ctrl alt delete bring up task manager and force stop any running process that looks like it would cause an issue.

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Replying to SXGuy:
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By alipearson
30th Nov 2019 11:16

Thanks @ SXGuy - that's one I haven't tried!

I'll give safe mode a go....

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By bernard michael
30th Nov 2019 10:51

I had the same thing yesterday. I re-booted the program and it worked
Did you get the Pension information screen? If not click on the P at the bottom the screen as sometimes this produces it.

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By alipearson
30th Nov 2019 11:17

Thanks @ Bernard Michael - I have re-booted several times but to no avail.

I did get the Pension information screen but then it decides not to open.

Interesting....

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By Marion Hayes
01st Dec 2019 23:08

I had exactly the same issue with the same software combination a couple of days ago. Nothing corrected it. I restarted a couple of times to no avail. Turned off and left it overnight. Next day IT support couldn't fix it either so turned off again. Turned back on and lo and behold it had fixed itself.
No problems appeared since.

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By SXGuy
02nd Dec 2019 09:52

Just a thought, have you tried right clicking on the payroll manager icon and selecting run as administrator?

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By Varsha64
29th Feb 2020 12:13

I am having the same problem, unable to open my moneysoft payroll, tried everything, it is the weekend no support now

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Replying to Varsha64:
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By Matrix
29th Feb 2020 12:20

You can download it again onto another computer if none of the above have worked. Is it backed up to the cloud?

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By bernard michael
02nd Mar 2020 10:03

Maybe this helps if you haven't already done it
1. Click on the Moneysoft icon and the program screen will appear
2. Click on the Moneysoft icon at the bottom of your screen and it should show the pension increase information
3. Click on accept on the pension screen

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By PeterCrewe
27th Jan 2023 17:08

There can be other reasons for this, where you click on the Payroll Manager icon and it appears on the task bar below, but won’t open up on the screen.
Windows updates (possibly) may cause issues.
Moneysoft advisor advised!!
1) close all programs
2) right-click on the desktop and select "Display settings" from the menu that appears
3) in the Windows display setting look for the "Scale and layout" settings
4) set the "Change the size of text, apps and other items" to 100%
5) shut down and restart the computer
This sounds odd, but after doing it, Payroll Manager opened up. I did reset the Display settings to 125 afterwards. Wow.
Second time the same problem happened, I tried the above but it didn’t appear to work. After much stress, I noticed a small letter P in the bottom left hand corner of my screen. I clicked on it and maximised the box and bingo, everything was normal. I'm on Windows 11. That display setting change and and possibly hunting for a miniscule box on the screen really worked!
It’s worth trying next time you get the problem.

Thanks (2)
Replying to PeterCrewe:
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By armstrongbell
29th Mar 2023 13:34

thank you - that solved the problem for me.

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Replying to PeterCrewe:
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By Smarttax2019
03rd Feb 2024 23:55

Thank you, this is worked actually.

close all applications

1. go to display setting
2. scale and layout
3. change the size of text to 100%
4. close the specific company
5. change back the size to 125% for good view

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Me!
By nigelburge
26th Oct 2021 10:34

I know that this is a very old thread, but I have had exactly the same problem and have solved it, so thought I would post for the benefit of anyone else having the same problem in the future.

It seems to occur when PM is closed unexpectedly and it corrupts the payroll.ini file located at C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Moneysoft\Payroll Manager. (You will have to "show hidden files" to see the AppData folder)

Close PM, rename the file to payroll.old and then restart PM.

It will recreate the payroll.ini file and be back to normal but without some of your customisations from the setup menu which you will have to redo.

Hope this helps someone!!

Thanks (5)
Replying to nigelburge:
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By tinytiger
17th Mar 2022 13:09

I just had to thank you, just had this problem and it worked like a dream!!
I should also thank Google for bringing me here... but I won't!

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Replying to nigelburge:
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By Stephen Bloomer
12th Jan 2023 11:48

Huge huge thanks.
Worked a treat.
Should have remembered this trick, one of Paradox's games used to do this!

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Replying to nigelburge:
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By pinkmoon9
15th Jan 2023 13:41

I've not been able to open Moneysoft since last week, and now I'm finally able to use the program again. Thank you so much.

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Replying to nigelburge:
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By Brightjas
16th Nov 2023 21:00

Thank you so much. Honestly how did find out? Even the moneysoft people couldn’t sort it out. Thank you for taking your time to share with others. Great.

Thanks (1)
Replying to Brightjas:
Me!
By nigelburge
16th Nov 2023 23:20

Glad it helped. ☺
I discovered this by realising that even uninstalling and reinstalling had no effect.
So I realised that some files must have not been removed when it was uninstalled.
Once I found them, it all became clear.
Moneysoft is very careless in writing their uninstall program. EVERYTHING should be removed, not just the obvious bits!

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Replying to nigelburge:
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By Brightjas
17th Nov 2023 10:41

Thank you ☺️

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Replying to nigelburge:
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By Adzuk
12th Dec 2023 17:08

Hi sir
Thank you for this , however I am bit unsure which file needs to be renamed as "payroll.old" , Is it Payroll Manager program file or "Payroll.ini" ?
Please confirm ( sorry just want to make sure I am not doing anything stupid that might delete my payroll data. When I tried renaming "ini" file, got warning "If you change file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?"

Thanks (0)
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By Brightjas
16th Nov 2023 20:57

Thanks

Thanks (1)
Replying to Brightjas:
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By Adzuk
12th Dec 2023 17:46

Hi sir
Thank you for this , however I am bit unsure which file needs to be renamed as "payroll.old" , Is it Payroll Manager program file or "Payroll.ini" ?
Please confirm ( sorry just want to make sure I am not doing anything stupid that might delete my payroll data. When I tried renaming "ini" file, got warning "If you change file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?"

Thanks (0)
Replying to Adzuk:
Me!
By nigelburge
13th Dec 2023 01:26

Adzuk wrote:

Hi sir
Thank you for this , however I am bit unsure which file needs to be renamed as "payroll.old" , Is it Payroll Manager program file or "Payroll.ini" ?
Please confirm ( sorry just want to make sure I am not doing anything stupid that might delete my payroll data. When I tried renaming "ini" file, got warning "If you change file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?"

It is the payroll.ini file that needs to be renamed to payroll.old.

Don't worry about the warning. You can ignore it.

Thanks (1)
Replying to nigelburge:
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By Adzuk
13th Dec 2023 10:22

@nigelburge : worked like magic, brilliant :)
Thank you so much for replying especially in such a busy time :).

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