This knowledge-base article relates to articles with errors like:

• “System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.   at MarcEdit.frmMain.DoUpdate(String URL)”
• “An error occurred.  You will need to download this file manually at: https://marcedit.reeset.net/downloads.
  Error: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Value of ‘xxxxx’ is not valid for ‘Value’…”
• “System.Exception….at MarcEdit.frmMain.DoUpdate(String URL)”

There are a handful of variations on this error.  In Sept. 2016, my webhost made changes to their system that caused the Header values that the MarcEdit automated updating tool relies on to provide user feedback were set to null.  Speaking to the engineers at my webhost, this change occurred to prevent DOS attacks, but the unintended consequence was that non-webbrowser traffic was being rejected.  After ongoing communications, I believe that I’ve come up with a workable solution — but this has been a long-running issue that has periodically affected the automated updating tool.  Between Sept. – Dec. 2016, I would correct the tool and ongoing changes would continue to invalidate the process.  On 12/5/2016, I posted an update that fundamentally changed how this process works so that in theory, the tool no longer relies on header values being set as it mimics traditional browser traffic.  This means that users should no longer see this error after updating on 12/5/2016…but I’ve thought that before.

If you receive one of these errors (or an error like this) as part of the automated update tool – you will need to download the program directly from the MarcEdit website at: https://marcedit.reeset.net/downloads.  You will want to select the version that corresponds to your operating system (32 or 64 bit).