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ConQuest searches on Windows fail to get past 0%

Solution

​The search engine for ConQuest needs to convert "long" directory names to
their dos 8.3 format in order to work with them. Sometimes this system can go wrong causing searches to fail to start.

In order to solve the problem, please carry out the following steps:

1. Uninstall the CSDS system (both the software and data)

2. Delete the files .csds_defaults and .csds_defaults2 if they exist in your user home area (i.e. C:\Users\username). Also remove the csds_data folder if present.

3. Run the 2019 CSDS installer and select to install only the data (uncheck the software option). Install the data to a location that has only 8 characters, with no special characters, in it's full path (i.e. each folder is 8 characters or less, with no special character like a space). For example C:\CCDC

4. Run the CSDS installer again and install only the software (uncheck the data option) to the usual location - there is no restriction on the type of path for the software.

5. Now start ConQuest. It will ask you to create a new user account - do not use the default, but select something which also contains directories with only eight or less characters and no spaces (e.g. C:\CSDtemp).It will also ask where
the database files are - point it at the C:\CCDC\CSD_2019\CSD_540 directory.

You should then be able to run ConQuest