Ive been telling Sage many years about all sorts of 'problems' with there software such as this.

I have yet to hear from anyone. Instead I always get the 'upgrade' option to fix my problems. And it never does.
Frankly this type of marketing is crooked. And with each upgrage they are taking control of your software... payroll being the latest scam.

Yout best solution is stop upgrading and just use the software as is, and maybe find another. Cat all ties with SAge, you are only going to get sucked in deeper and deeper. Money, more money... suck you dry.