Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Summary: Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005, Service Release 2.1

Publication Date: December 2004

Author: General Manager, School Eligibility Channel, FSA ASEDS

Summary: Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005, Service Release 2.1


Posted on 12-28-2004


TO: All EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 Users

FROM: U.S. Department of Education

RE: Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005, Service Release 2.1

The Department would like to announce the availability of EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 Service Release 2.1, which adds necessary functionality to EDExpress to synchronize the software with upcoming changes to the ED PIN authentication process.

** Important: This service release MUST be installed immediately in order to continue using the EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 interface with the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site. **

Release 2.1 is an upgrade to Release 2.0, and is available on the Department’s Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at http://fsadownload.ed.gov.

You must already have Release 2.0 installed in order to install Release 2.1. Release 2.0 is also available for download from the FSAdownload Web site.

** Enhancements **

Beginning in late December 2004, authentication enhancements will be implemented on the ED PIN Web site to increase the security of the PIN. These enhancements, which affect current and new PIN holders, include the selection of a Challenge Question and Response and acceptance of a PIN Terms and Conditions Agreement.

The Department posted an Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site on December 16, 2004, titled “New PIN Terms and Conditions Activation Agreement and Challenge Question and Response Process To Be Implemented on December 26, 2004,” describing the new process.

You must install Service Release 2.1 to continue to take advantage of EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005’s interface with the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site once these security enhancements are implemented. For this reason, we recommend you install Service Release 2.1 immediately on your system.

** Downloading and Installing **

The Release 2.1 installation file, called Express45r21.exe, is available on the FSAdownload Web site. You should download the file to a network drive or a folder on your PC. Be sure to close Release 2.0 on your PC before installing the file.

You are required to have Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows ME or Windows XP as your PC workstation operating system in order to run Release 2.1.

NOTE: If you use Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must be an Administrator on your workstation to install Service Release 2.1. If you are not an Administrator, you will receive a warning or error message when you try to install Service Release 2.1. After an Administrator has installed Service Release 2.1, you can run EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 as a member of the Power Users group. If your database is on a network server, you must be a Power User or higher on the network (or “domain”) as well as on your workstation. There are no workarounds for these Windows rights issues. Consult with your school’s technical department if you receive a warning that an Administrator must install Service Release 2.1.

The Release 2.1 installation will not perform any updates to your EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 database (expres45.mdb). The installation file only updates EDExpress program files on the PC’s hard drive.

If you are running EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005 in a network environment, you should run the Release 2.1 installation on ALL workstations that use EDExpress, rebooting each PC as you finish installation.

If you receive any prompt during the installation indicating an existing file was found and asking if you want to overwrite it, click “Yes.”

If you have any questions, please contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 or via e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.