Installing QuickSnap

Owned by David Webster (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 31-08-2020
3 min read

Introduction

QuickSnap is a Windows Application, and will work on Windows 10, Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8. 

It doesn't require a lot of memory or processing power, and should work on any computer capable of running these operating systems.

There are a few pre-requisites (i.e. program which you need to install first), these are freely available Microsoft downloads.

Pre-requisites

Install these before running the QuickSnap installer.  Here is a list of the pre-requisites and links to pages on the Microsoft web-site where they can be downloaded.

Installing QuickSnap

Important Note

QuickSnap must be installed from the user profile in which you intend to use the software. For example, if your username is joe.smith, joe.smith must be logged in to the computer when the install is performed.

If you are not an 'administrator' on your computer, you will still need to run the installer from your profile, then have a user with 'administrative' privileges enter their details as part of the install process.

Procedure for Installing QuickSnap

If you already have a previous version of QuickSnap on your computer, you should first uninstall the previous version.

You will have been given (or downloaded) the installer which consists of two files:

  • QuickSnap_Installer.msi
  • setup.exe

Simply double click on 'setup.exe' and follow the prompts.  The default options will work, but you can choose an alternative installation directory if you prefer.  The installer will warn you if the pre-requisites have not been installed properly.

After installation an icon will appear on your desktop labelled 'AHSRI QuickSnap'.  Double click this icon to run QuickSnap for the first time.

Troubleshooting a QuickSnap installation

The most common problems with QuickSnap installation relate to the 'SQL Server Compact' database which it uses.

When you try to open the interactive grouper, or perform a batch grouping operation you will know you have a problem with your installation if you see a screen which looks something like the following:

If you click the 'Details' button, you will see more information about the error which occurred.

There are three you may encounter, this text will appear somewhere near the top of the error text:

  • The specified store provider cannot be found in the configuration, or is not valid. ---> System.ArgumentException: Unable to find the requested .Net Framework Data Provider.  It may not be installed.
    This error means that you have not installed the SQL Server Compact 3.5 pre-requisite. The link to download this software is provided above.

  • System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
    This error most likely means you have an outdated copy of the database on your computer. The best solution here would be to uninstall and then re-install QuickSnap from the install files.
    If that doesn't work, it may be more complicated and you are welcome to contact AHSRI for some help.

  • System.Data.EntityException: The underlying provider failed on Open. ---> System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeException: The database file cannot be found. Check the path to the database. [ Data Source = C:\Users\{your_userid}\AppData\Roaming\SNAP\snap_compact.sdf ]
    This error occurs when QuickSnap was installed using a different user profile. There are two solutions for this problem:

    • 1 - install QuickSnap on this user's profile

    • 2 - copy the file 'snap_compact.sdf' from the user profile where QuickSnap was originally installed, into the corresponding folder on this user's profile. (That folder is C:\Users\{user_id}\AppData\Roaming\SNAP)

These are the three known errors which occur with QuickSnap installations, and hopefully the resolutions listed will solve them for you.