Downloading updated software
Cardbox 3.0: Build 4292, 10-Mar-2010. (History)
Cardbox Server: Build 159, 22-Feb-2010. (History)
Why are updates needed?
From time to time we produce an updated release (or "build") of Cardbox or the Cardbox Server. There are three reasons for producing updates:
- To correct bugs in Cardbox. These are rare and usually minor.
- To provide additional features. From time to time small enhancements are made to Cardbox, and an updated version is made available when this happens.
- To work round bugs in other software. Most of the "hard" problems with Cardbox that people report turn out to be the result of bugs or faulty documentation in other software components: sometimes in Windows but more often in other application programs or in device drivers. When it is possible to work round the problem by additional programming in Cardbox, we try to do so.
If an update is important enough to tell everyone about, we do so through the Cardbox News forum. We recommend that you subscribe to email alerts for this if you have not already done so.
If you contact us with a request for technical support and it appears possible that a bug may be involved, we may ask you to update to the latest build so that we can be sure that the problem is not one that has already been corrected.
Upgrading from Cardbox 2.0
The updates on this page are for people who already have Cardbox 3.0 installed. If you have Cardbox 1.0 or 2.0 and want to upgrade to Cardbox 3.0, please go to the Upgrade Now page to order an upgrade.
How can I tell if I need an update?
Check your build number
Every update that we put on the Web is identified by a new build number. To check the build number of your copy of Cardbox, use the command Help > About Cardbox.
The Cardbox Server has a separate sequence of build numbers. If you are running the Cardbox Server, you can check the build number by looking at the front page of the Cardbox Server control in the Windows Control Panel: the build number is shown as the last part of the version number at the bottom right-hand corner: for example, "3.0.0.121" means build 121.
Alternatively, you can move the mouse onto the cardbox3.exe or cbox3svr.exe program files, right-click and select "Properties" from the menu that appears, then look at the Version tab of the Properties box. With some versions of Windows you don't even need to click: just hold the mouse over the filename for a few moments and the version information will appear.
How do I download an update?
Click on the appropriate link below. The downloaded installer file for Cardbox 3.0 is about 4.5MB in size; the file for the Cardbox Server is under 1MB.
| Cardbox 3.0 installer | For Windows. Suitable for all editions of Cardbox: Professional, Home, and Client. |  |
| Cardbox Server installer | For Windows. | |
| Cardbox Server (Linux) | For Linux. Do not use the instructions below: follow these installation instructions instead. | |
| If for any reason you want
to download using the FTP protocol instead of the usual HTTP, press the
symbol next to the description of the file you want. Some firewall configurations
may need adjusting before you can use FTP. |
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The filename of the Cardbox 3.0 installer is instcbox.exe and the filename of the Cardbox Server installer is instsvr.exe.
| Note: Web browsers are variable and they change constantly, especially where security settings are concerned. The messages and procedures shown here may be slightly different on your system but the principles remain the same. | |
Internet Explorer: you will be asked what to do with the Application file called instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe]. Whether you choose Run or Save is up to you. Since you only need to install Cardbox once, Run is perfectly adequate; but we ourselves prefer to keep copies of the installers for all the software we download, so we normally use Save. Another reason for using Save would be if you wanted to download the installer once and then run it on multiple computers. If you choose Run, Internet Explorer will save instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe] to a temporary folder. It will then ask you for further confirmation before it runs the program for you. If you choose Save, Internet Explorer will save instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe] to a folder of your choice. Remember to make a note of which folder you have chosen! After the file has been saved, Internet Explorer may offer to run (or open) the program for you: if you want to install Cardbox on this computer, accept the offer. |
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Mozilla Firefox: you will be asked what to do with the Application file called instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe]. Accept the default option, which is 'Save to Disc'. Make a note of the folder where Firefox is saving the file, so that you don't need to search your hard disk for it afterwards. If you want to install immediately after the download, click on the Open link in Firefox's Downloads window. If a warning appears saying that instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe] is an executable file, press OK to accept it. |
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Opera: you will be asked where to save the file instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe]. Make a note of the folder where Opera is saving the file, so that you don't need to search your hard disk for it afterwards. The Transfers window will show you how far the download process has progressed. Once the download has completed, you can double-click on the filename instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe] to start the installation. |
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How do I install an update?
To start the installation process
Depending on the details of how you downloaded the installer, your web browser may have started the installation automatically. If it hasn't, then:
- Locate instcbox.exe [or instsvr.exe] on your hard disk (if you made a note of where it was saved, this is easy, otherwise you will have to use the search facilities of Windows).
- Double-click on it.
What happens next
If you are installing an update to Cardbox, close Cardbox first. If you are installing an update to the Cardbox Server, shut down the Cardbox Server first.
Follow the instructions given on the screen. You will be asked to say where you want the updated software to be installed - the installer will suggest the folder where the original software was installed, and you should accept this.
All existing licence codes will be preserved from your existing installation of Cardbox 3.0, so there is no need to enter new licensing information.
For the Cardbox Server: after the update has been installed, you can re-start the Cardbox Server.
What about networks?
Cardbox Server: you should run instsvr.exe directly on the computer which you are using to run the Cardbox Server.
Cardbox: there are two possibilities, depending on where you originally installed Cardbox. If you can't remember where this is, run Cardbox and do Help > About Cardbox. The report will list the locations of the Cardbox program files.
Cardbox installed separately on each individual workstation
You need to run instcbox.exe on each workstation to update the Cardbox program files.
Cardbox installed in a central location
If you have installed the Cardbox program in one central location, to which each workstation refers, then you should run instcbox.exe once, to update the Cardbox program files in that central location.
Most of the time this is all that you need to do. However, there is one exception:
- If you are upgrading from a build of Cardbox before Build 4267
- and you normally run Cardbox on a workstation not by opening the Cardbox program directly but by double-clicking on a Cardbox workspace or database icon,
- then, on each workstation, you need to run Cardbox directly once, by navigating in Windows Explorer to the location where the central cardbox3.exe is stored, and double-clicking on it there.
This only ever needs to be done once. The reason is that Build 4267 changed some of the Windows Registry settings that Cardbox uses, and updating the central Cardbox program files does not automatically update the Registry on everyone's workstation.