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LAST UPDATE 20th May 2022
If your Dynamics NAV or Dynamics 365 Business Central Windows Client does not start after a windows update, be sure to look inside Event Viewer Application Log and see if you find a stack trace like the following
SOLUTIONS
01. CUMULATIVE UPDATES
This event should have happened right after a Windows update and Dynamics NAV / Dynamics 365 Business Central Windows Client is a victim of this. Worth noticing that Web Client is not affected.
Some registry keys getting lost with that, unfortunately, which the application needs as it is checking during client startup if Microsoft Excel is installed and e.g., which version has been deployed.
Despite Dynamics NAV / 365 Business Central being a victim of these Office updates, product group has resolved the Excel problem within versions that are still in mainstream support that deploy also Windows client. Below you will find out the version and in which minimum Cumulative Update
- Dynamics NAV 2018 Cumulative Update 52 (May 2022)
|
432543 |
The Windows client crashes after an Office Update removes the registry keys. |
- Dynamics 365 Business Central 2019 Spring Release (version 14.x) Cumulative Update 35 (May 2022)
|
432594 |
The Windows client crashes after an Office Update removes the registry keys. |
Considering all other versions that are out of mainstream support that might be affected, up to and including Dynamics NAV 2017 (and also Dynamics 365 Business Central October 2019 13.x), we suggest implementing a script through a Windows scheduled task that is checking if these registry key exists, if not these are added within the script.
Needless to say, that Microsoft best practice is to upgrade to the latest and greatest on-premises version - currently Dynamics 365 Business Central 2022 Wave 1 (version 20.x) - or its SaaS equivalent.
02. WINDOWS CLIENT LAUNCHER
Another way of resolving this problem for all versions that do support Windows Client, is to implement Windows Client launcher.
You can download the Windows Client launcher here
NOTE: the executable and its source code are provided AS IS.
It is a launcher application for the Windows client. By using this, it first verifies and fixes the registry before launching the Windows client. That way it should be safe to use the older versions of Dynamics NAV without any out-of-band fixes to the actual product, if any.
How to use:
- Be sure to unblock the package after downloading it.
- Unzip the package – it contains the actual launcher executable.
- Open the installation folder containing the Windows client, e.g. “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\RoleTailored Client”.
- Rename these two files in the installation folder:
-
- Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe => Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.App.exe
- Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe.config => Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.App.exe.config
- Copy the launcher executable “Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe” from the Release folder of the unpacked zip-file to the installation folder.
Notes:
- The reason for using the existing Windows client executable file name for the launcher executable, is that the existing shortcuts, links, etc. will continue working without any modification on the user machine.
- The launcher does not support the ClickOnce setup.
03. RE-ADD REGISTRY KEYS
To resolve this problem manually (but it might resurrect at the next office update), you have to verify that these registry path and keys exists
If these are not existing, you have to add them manually or through a .REG file. (NOTE: these are related to Office16).
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON RE-ADDING REGISTRY KEYS MANUALLY:
1. If after adding the aforementioned key, windows client no longer crashes but the Export to excel icon is greyed out in the client, you also have to add the same registry key parameters to the current user:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppPaths\excel.exe
2. If you have some custom code that is actually targeting Word.exe and a specific version, then you might think of re-adding the very same keys also for winword.exe
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