Symptoms
On new machines pre-installed with Windows 11, you receive the following message at FireCAD startup:
There is an issue with your installation. Please contact support.
This error can indicate a simple installation problem, but it is more often caused by the disk sector size on the new machine — certain 4KB-native disks prevent the SQL Server LocalDB engine from starting.
Resolution
Microsoft has acknowledged this issue and published a workaround that enables 4KB disk sector size emulation via a registry setting:
Troubleshoot OS 4KB disk sector size
Before attempting the fix, contact FireCAD support to schedule a remote session. We'll verify the root cause of the error before making any registry changes.
For advanced users, the Microsoft article details the registry entry that enables 4KB sector size emulation. After setting the registry key, restart the machine for the change to take effect.
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