How to Resolve the FeedReader ‘gds software consistency check’ Error

Gary Eckstein General Technology 0 , , , , , , , ,

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FeedReader, in my opinion, is the best RSS reader available (and it’s free). I have used it for many years without any problems at all … until recently; I encrypted my hard-drives and everything worked as expected except FeedReader. I was getting an error like ‘internal gds software consistency check (can`t continue after bugcheck)’.

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I uninstalled and then reinstalled FeedReader however I still received the error messages/popups.

Why the GDS FeedReader Error Occurs

FeedReader uses the Firebird database to house the various settings and information.  The most likely cause of the ‘GDS’ error is that the database is corrupt. The solution to the FeedReader error is to repair or replace the SQL database (i.e. the Firebird database).

How to repair FeedReader after the GDS Error

The two options for resolving the FeedReader error are to repair the database or to completely uninstall FeedReader and then reinstall:

Fix the FeedReader Database

FeedReader includes a Backup Utility which, besides backing up and restoring the database, assists with database repair and optimization. The database holds such information as which articles in feeds have been read as well as other settings (it’s therefore preferable to repair the database rather than reinstall the application).

To run the FeedReader Backup Utility:

  1. Close FeedReader (you may need to go to Task Manager to do this).
  2. Click the Start button on your taskbar.
  3. Select All Programs.
  4. Click the FeedReader folder and select ‘FeedReader Backup Utility’.
  5. At the least ensure that ‘Fix possible database errors’ is checked however it is thoroughly recommended to ensure that ‘Tidy up database’ and ‘Make backup’ are also selected.
  6. Click the Details tab and make a note of the ‘Backup file location’.
  7. Click Start.

If a database repair doesn’t work then it will be necessary to completely uninstall and then reinstall FeedReader.

How to (completely) uninstall and reinstall FeedReader

Unfortunately, the database and/or reference information isn’t removed when FeedReader is uninstalled using the application uninstaller. If wanting to completely uninstall or reinstall FeedReader then all referenced to the database and the database itself need to be deleted.

Follow these steps to have a ‘clean’ install of FeedReader:

  1. From the Windows control panel, uninstall FeedReader via ‘Program and Features’ or however else you usually uninstall software.
  2. In Windows Explorer go ‘c:\users\YourLoginName\roaming’ (this location may be different depending on your Windows setup) and delete the FeedReader folder.
  3. In Windows Explorer go ‘c:\Program Files’ (this location may be different depending on your Windows setup) and delete the FeedReader30 folder.
  4. Install the latest version of FeedReader.

I certainly hope that this article on how to deal with the Feedreader gds error has helped!