Managing Form Updates for Network Administrators

Warning: Turning off automatic updates on the network prevents the office from getting the latest forms updates and any software updates automatically. Someone in the office or the IT person would need to check periodically (once a week or once a month) for forms and software updates.

Update Manager- Network Admins

Try using the Update Manager it lives in the Essential Forms program folder (same folder where the efwin32.exe is launching from).

Double-click on the UpdateManager.exe (under Start>Computer, Windows Explore) which gives you the options to "Check For Updates", "Configure", Show Log". If you click the "Configure" button in that "Configuration" window you can uncheck the "Enable Download Software Updates" and "Enable Download Forms Updates" and click Ok.

Then, if you launch the Essential Forms program on the workstations click Configure>Preferences>Desktop tab, those boxes "Enable Download Software Updates", "Enable Download Forms Updates" should be unchecked and greyed out. Uncheck “Enable Updater as continuous background process” and click Ok. That suppresses the Updater from showing in the system tray or hidden icons.

Another option to suppress the Updater from showing on launch: Right-click the Essential Forms Updater (in the tray or hidden icons arrow ^) and click Options and uncheck, “Enable Updater as continuous background process” and click Save on all workstations.

The downside to using the Update Manager on a network:

By turning off automatic updates on the network it prevents the office from getting the latest local county and any software updates automatically. So, either someone in that office or the IT would need to check periodically (once a week or once a month) for forms and software updates by opening that "Update Manager" file in the Essential Forms program folder and clicking "Check For Updates". Then, allowing those Updates through by launching the program on the server after hours when everyone is out of the program. Software updates would be less frequent unless a system-wide fix was necessary for all customers. 

We still send out the January and July JC Update links for the major Updates, not for the local county packs unless the firm is adding a new county pack. Now, all the form updates that a firm subscribes to get sent via the Updater. 