Resolve the Sage 50 “Could Not Start the Database Engine” Error with this Effective Guide

admin
September 26, 2023
Fact checked by
Munish

Being the third-most-popular accounting software in the world, Sage 50 has become the industry standard tool for all businesses. It is commendable how it manages and simplifies everyday tasks related to finance and accounting. However, despite this, when your entire (business-related) work is dependent on the Sage tool then, it can be heart-wrenching to know that the tool has encountered an error like “Could not start the database engine.”

This error in Sage 50 accounting software means when you’re opening the Sage’s any company file, you get an error message saying “Can’t open Sage company file as there’s an error connecting to its database.” It is because the Sage 50 ‘Connection Manager’ could not start the database engine due to any of the below-mentioned reasons. So, in order to have a better understanding of this Sage 50 error, continue reading further!

Root Causes Behind Sage 50 Showing Error While Connecting To The Database

Cause 1: When the Sage connected folder may have a read-only feature.
Cause 2: When the Sage connection manager may be blocked by your Windows firewall settings.
Cause 3: When Sage is unable to locate the file or folder that you’re trying to connect because that file or folder is missing.
Cause 4: When Sage connection manager or mysqld-nt.exe/mysqld.exe is detected by the available antivirus in your Windows operating system as a threat and because of that the Sage folder or file is deleted.
Cause 5: When Windows Event Log Service is automatically disabled.
Cause 6: When there’s an issue with the .NET framework.
Cause 7: When Sage uses the UNC address.
Cause 8: When there are issues with the SAJ envelope.
Cause 9: When the Sage connection manager is not installed properly or when it is not started on the server.
Cause 10: When there’s a permission issue with the Server’s shared data location.
Cause 11: Last but not the least, when there’s a corrupt, damaged or deleted data issue.

Now, as enough has been listed about why Sage 50 could not start the Database engine; time has come to start the troubleshooting guide to fix this error in order to restart the Sage 50 Connection manager once again. In the below-mentioned troubleshooting guide, there are a total of 7 solutions that you can follow accordingly. So, let’s start:

Solution 1: Turn off Firewall and Disable your Antivirus

As mentioned above in the root causes, Firewall and Antivirus both can stop the Sage Database engine; so what you can do is resolve this issue either by turning your firewall off or by disabling your antivirus programming.

To do so, open your Windows ‘Control Panel’ and from it navigate to ‘Windows Firewall.’
Then, click on ‘Turn Windows Firewall off or on’ in order to choose ‘turn off Windows Firewall.’

Solution 2: End the Sage 50 Connection Manager Programming

To do so, first you need to close the Sage 50 tool from every framework.
After that, open Windows Task Manager that hosts Windows Database.
Once you open it, click on the ‘Process Tab.’
Then from the name list of processing programs, click on the “Sage 50 Connection Manager or mysqld-nt.exe/mysqld.exe” to end it.
That’s it! Now, try to revive the Data File and if you’re unable to do it, try another given solution.

Solution 3: Restart Sage 50 Connection Manager once again

In order to restart the Sage 50 Connection Manager, first log on to your computer as the ‘Administrator.’
Once you logged in, simply go to your system’s ‘Control Panel’ and from it select ‘Administrative Tools’ and after that ‘Services.’
Then, you have to click right on the option named ‘Sage 50 Database Connection Manager’ in order to select ‘Stop.’
Afterwards, again click right on the ‘Sage 50 Database Connection Manager’ to select ‘Start.’
Now, try to open the company file in order to check whether it will open or not. If not then, move on to other solutions.

Solution 4: Start the disabled Windows Event Log service

To do so, open your Windows ‘Control Panel’ and from it select ‘Administrative Tools’ and then ‘Services.’
Afterwards select ‘Windows Event Log’ from the services list and then double-click the same in order to open its ‘Properties’ window.
There, check whether ‘Windows Event Log service’ is disabled or not. If yes then change its startup type simply to ‘Automatic.’
Then, click on ‘Apply’ so that the ‘Start’ button will become enabled.
Now, select the ‘Start’ button to simply start the service and then click on the ‘OK’ button to check whether you’ll be able to open the Sage 50 service or not.
However, if doing so, you get another error called 1053 then in this scenario what you have to do is select the ‘Log On’ tab and then click on ‘Add’ the local administrator.
After that, confirm whether the service status is OK or not.
If it is OK then simply try to open the company file to ensure that you’ve successfully resolved this error or not. However, if you are still not able to resolve it, then also there’s nothing to worry about as you can try other given solutions.

Solution 5: Check if the SAJ folder has a read-only feature or not

To check and verify that the SAJ folder is a ‘Read-only’ or not, first close the Sage 50 program.
Then, you have to ‘Browse’ the company file location.
Once you are able to browse it, click right on the folder that has extension SAJ.
From the contextual menu, select the ‘Properties’ option in order to see if the ‘Read-only’ box is check marked or not.
If check-marked then simply clear it and then click on the ‘OK’ button.
Now, restart your Sage 50 tool and try to open the company file once again. Other than this, you can also try the next given solution as sometimes, this doesn’t work.

Solution 6: Verify If All Files & Folders Are Visible in ‘.SAJ’ Folder

Similar to solution 5, you have to browse to the location where the company file resides.
After that, click right on the same folder with the SAJ extension in order to select its ‘Properties.’
Then from its properties, you have to clear the ‘Hidden’ box check mark (if there’s any).
And, afterwards, select ‘Apply’ and click on the ‘OK’ button to open the same folder in order to ensure that all the folders and files are there within the ‘.SAJ’ folder.

Solution 7: Reinstall Sage 50 Program

Now, if nothing works, this solution will surely work! To do so, simply ‘Uninstall’ your Sage 50 accounting software and then in order to ‘Re-install’ the latest Sage 50 software, download it from its official site & install it into your Windows operating system with the help of using on-screen instructions. Afterwards, if you’re able to open your company file, then it simply indicates that you’ve successfully resolved the Sage 50 “Could not start the database engine” error.