How to update an existing installation of FileVista to a newer version

For an automatic update with the installer:

Download installer of the latest version (FileVista-vX.X.X.X-Installer.zip) from the download page:
https://www.gleamtech.com/filevista/try

Note that only FileVista v7.2.0 (April 24, 2016) and above comes with an installer which can update an existing installation of FileVista (if you also installed the older version with the installer).
Run the installer FileVista-vX.X.X.X.exe inside the downloaded zip and when installer opens choose the same "Web Site/Virtual Directory" and "Install to subdirectory" options as your existing FileVista installation. This will ensure the installer copies the new files to the same location of your existing installation. Complete the installation.
Click "Run FileVista" in the installer to run your FileVista instance (or access it via browser e.g. http://localhost/FileVista) and you will be shown the Update Wizard (update.aspx).
The Update Wizard may ask for your new license key (if license keys were changed for the new version), if so just enter it and proceed the update.
After a few seconds (or maybe up to 1 min for a large database), the update should be completed (it will automatically update your database).
After the Update Wizard is completed, just click "Run FileVista" and you are ready for logging into the new version.

For a manual update with WebDeploy package:

Download WebDeploy package of the latest version (FileVista-vX.X.X.X-WebDeploy.zip) from the download page:
https://www.gleamtech.com/filevista/try
Delete all files and subfolders except App_Data subfolder (and except any custom files/folders you created) under your existing FileVista installation folder.
Open the downloaded FileVista-vX.X.X.X-WebDeploy.zip and open the FileVista subfolder in the zip. Copy all files and subfolders from this folder in the zip to the existing FileVista installation folder.
Run your FileVista instance as you would do normally (i.e access it via browser e.g. http://localhost/FileVista) and you will be shown the Update Wizard (update.aspx).
The Update Wizard may ask for your new license key (if license keys were changed for the new version), if so just enter it and proceed the update.
After a few seconds (or maybe up to 1 min for a large database), the update should be completed (it will automatically update your database) and you will be able to login to new version of FileVista.
After the Update Wizard is completed, just click "Run FileVista" and you are ready for logging into the new version.

Changes after FileVista v7.2.0 (April 24, 2016) regarding updates:

Improved: The update process, the update wizard will automatically backup important files like FileVista.config and FileVista.vdb5 before starting an update. The backed up files will be zipped as "backup-X.X.X.zip" in "App_Data\Backup"" folder. This will make it easier to roll back your original configuration if something goes wrong while updating the database. In the past, you needed to backup these files manually before starting the update just in case.
Changed: Location of FileVista.vdb5 database file from "App_Data\Database" to "App_Data" for easier updates and migrations. This way, it will sit next to FileVista.config and you can copy only these 2 files to move your configuration to another instance easily. "App_Data\Database" folder will be deleted and not used anymore, note that this folder will be backed up with the new "automatic backup before update" feature as described above. If you are using SQL Server as a database then nevermind this change because in that case you will only have FileVista.config and not FileVista.vdb5.

For finding out your installed FileVista version:

After Version 7.9.0 - April 24, 2017: There is the "About Dialog" which shows useful information about the product such as exact version. "About Dialog" can be accessed with the new “About…” button on the toolbar of Administration page. The information is this dialog will be helpful when you want to update your version and when reporting a problem.
For older versions which does not have “About Dialog” in administration page (accessible from toolbar), you can open Properties dialog for the file bin\GleamTech.FileVista.dll In Windows Explorer and check "File version" property in "Details" tab for finding out your FileVista version.

For updating very old versions:

You can update an existing installation of FileVista to the latest version without losing your settings (e.g. license key) and data (e.g. users, groups, events and root folder definitions). The update wizard will automatically update your database structure for the target version. As the root folders are just pointers to the actual physical paths (e.g. C:\folder or //server/folder), FileVista will be able to access the root folders after the update as long as the pointed paths are not relocated. Please follow the below update instructions:

Download and save latest version of FileVista-vX.X.X.X-WebDeploy.zip from the download page to the target web server .
Go to App_Data subfolder under your current (installed and working) FileVista folder and open the configuration file FileVista.config with a text editor such as Notepad. Determine the type of database in use by looking at the value of the ConnectionString setting. The configured database can be either a SQL Server database or an embedded database (.mdb file for versions before 4.0 or .vdb4 file for versions after 4.0).
Make a backup copy of the whole FileVista folder so that you can roll back if anything goes wrong. If you have root folders stored under the FileVista folder (not recommended), then you can skip them when making the backup copy because only application specific files and folders will be changed (remember that these root folders should not be deleted in step 3). Delete temporary files in FileVista\App_Data\Temporary if any so that they do not unnecessarily increase the size of your backup. If your current installation is configured to use a SQL Server database (as you found out in step 1), then also make a backup copy of the SQL Server database with the help of SQL Management Studio. This step is required so that in the event of an update failure you can restore the working state of the old version of the application by simply restoring the backed up FileVista folder and the backed up SQL Server database if any.
Delete all files and subfolders except App_Data (and except root folders if any) under the FileVista folder. If you have custom files (e.g. custom language files), you can restore them after step 6 from the backup copy you made in step 2. When restoring these custom files, please make sure they are compatible with the new version (e.g. add the new strings to the language files if required). If you have custom settings in web.config, then move these specific settings to the new version of the file after step 6.
Open the downloaded FileVista-vX.X.X.X-WebDeploy.zip and browse the FileVista subfolder in the zip. Copy all files and subfolders except App_Data from the zip to the FileVista folder.
Go to IIS Manager and check .NET Framework version for the app pool that is assigned to your FileVista instance.
In older versions, this may be .NET 2.0, for the new version you should change it to .NET 4.0.
Also make sure it’s set to Integrated pipeline mode (not Classic pipeline mode)

If your existing version was using FileVista.mdb (Access Database) and not FileVista.vdb4 as the database (can be seen under App_Data subfolder) note that MS Access DB driver needs the app pool to be 32-bit. As you were running your old version and it was working, this is probably already set as 32-bit. If not you can temporarily set to 32-bit for the update.

Configure IIS to run in 32-bit mode as explained below. This way, you will be able to use the default Microsoft Access database.

Windows Server 2008 64-bit:

On IIS 7, there's an option to run applications in 32-bit mode. Open the Advanced Settings of the specific application pool that FileVista is running under and set the Enable 32-bit Applications option to true.

Windows Server 2003 64-bit:

To enable IIS 6.0 to run 32-bit applications:
1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts directory.

2. Type the following command and press Enter:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 “true”

3. Restart IIS by using the iisreset command from the command-line.

After the update you can revert the setting because it will no more use MS Acccess and so doesn’t need 32-bit, it’s better to run it on 64-bit for new versions.
Now when you navigate to FileVista in your browser, the update page (update.aspx) should be displayed automatically. Note that starting with version 4.1, minimum ASP.NET 4.0 is required so please make sure it’s installed on the web server and it’s the selected ASP.NET version for the application pool in IIS if you get an error on first access to update.aspx. When ran, the wizard will automatically detect and show your previous version. Before starting the update wizard, please also make sure the application pool identity still has Modify permission on FileVista\App_Data folder. When you click Next the wizard will apply the necessary changes to the database structure and files to match the new version. When updating from an old major version to a new one (e.g. from v3.x to v4.x), you will be asked for a new license key to continue the update wizard. You will be able to click a special link on the update page to see your license upgrade options (you may be eligible for a free license key). After the update wizard is completed, just click Run FileVista and you are ready for logging into the new version.