Amazing Charts relies on five Windows services running quietly in the background on your server. They handle scheduling, appointment reminders, sign-in, and the connections between Amazing Charts and other systems.
If any of those five stops, Amazing Charts can't start the normal way. Instead it shows a message asking you to run the program as an administrator. Starting the stopped service is what actually fixes it.
Read this first
Everyone else: these steps are performed on the server computer, not on a workstation. If you're not sure which machine is your server, or you don't have administrator access to it, stop here and contact Technical Support rather than guessing.
The error you're seeing
The message looks like this. Note the Quit button in the bottom-right corner — you'll need it in step 5.
Before you begin
| Applies to | Amazing Charts installed on your own server |
| Where | The server computer |
| Access required | A Windows account with administrator rights on that server |
| Time needed | About five minutes |
Step by step
Go to the server computer
Sit down at the server itself, or connect to it remotely. The services you're about to check only exist on that machine.
Open Services
Click the search box on the taskbar, type services.msc, and press Enter. A window titled Services opens listing everything running in the background on that computer.
Find the five Amazing Charts services
The list is alphabetical, so scroll to the A's. You're looking for all five of these, and every one should read Running in the Status column.
| Service name | Status should read |
|---|---|
| Amazing Charts Admin Service | Running |
| Amazing Charts API Helper Service | Running |
| Amazing Charts Auth Service | Running |
| Amazing Charts Service | Running |
| Amazing Reminders Event Service | Running |
Start anything that isn't running
Right-click each stopped service and choose Start. If a service already says Running but Amazing Charts still won't open, right-click it and choose Restart instead.
Give each one a few seconds to change to Running before moving to the next.
Quit Amazing Charts
Go back to the error message and click Quit.
Open the Amazing Charts folder
In most cases the error message opens this folder for you automatically, off to the side. If it did, go straight to step 7.
If it didn't, browse to it yourself. The default install location is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Amazing Charts
- Ask the shortcut. Right-click the Amazing Charts icon on the desktop or in the Start menu, choose Properties, and read the Target box. That's the real path on this machine, whatever drive it's on.
- Check the other drives. Open each drive on the server and look for a folder named Amazing Charts, either at the top level or inside Program Files or Program Files (x86).
- Whichever way you find it, you're looking for the folder containing Amazing Charts.exe.
Right-click Amazing Charts.exe and run it as administrator
In that folder, find Amazing Charts (it may show as Amazing Charts.exe). Right-click it and choose Run as administrator. If Windows asks you to confirm, click Yes.
Check that it opens normally
Amazing Charts should now load straight to the login page, with no administrator prompt. Log in as usual.
If it doesn't work
| What you're seeing | What to try |
|---|---|
| A service won't start | Note the exact wording of the error Windows gives you and contact support. A service that refuses to start usually points at something that needs looking at directly. |
| A service starts, then stops again | Same as above. Don't keep restarting it — make a note of the service name and call support. |
| "Amazing Charts is already running" | The program didn't fully close. Click Quit on the error message, or close Amazing Charts from Task Manager, then try step 7 again. |
| All five are running, error persists | Work through steps 5 to 7 carefully. The run-as-administrator step still needs doing once, even after the services are healthy. |
| No Run as administrator option | Your Windows account doesn't have administrator rights on the server. You'll need someone who does. |
| Error keeps coming back | A service stopping repeatedly is a symptom, not the problem. Contact support so the cause can be found. |
Still having trouble?
Contact Technical Support and we'll take a look.