I copied this from the SmallbizIT newsgroup so I could find this easier. This summarizes a lot of what’s been going on with the latest version of QuickBooks. Enjoy! 😉
Summary of Quickbook problems
The following is information I have from various sources on some problems with the Quickbook programs.
Where I have comments from others on where they got the information or if they had the problem themselves I have mentioned.
I encourage anyone that has more up-to-date information or some correction to anything I have said to let me know.
I have not as of yet installed any 2006 Quickbook programs so I personnally have not had any of these problems except one that concerns needing Administrator rights in order to run the program. This issue has been a ongoing issue with Quickbook programs.
So in no particular order are the issues I am aware of:
- Quickbooks 2006 crashes the computer – At time of installation of Quickbooks 2006 the computer crashes. Currently we do not know why a particular computer (Intuit may know but I have not heard) will crash while other computers will not crash. It appears that the errors are based on problems when the program is making changes to the computer Windows registry. If someone wishes to install 2006 for any reason they should do a complete backup of any computer in which they wish to install QB2006 and do it prior to doing the install so that they will not lose any data or files on that computer if it should crash. I have heard that some recommend that just a full backup of the registry will allow a restore of the computer. This backup of the registry is not creating a restore point in Windows but doing an actual backup of the complete registry. It appears that the computers are crashing when QB2006 is installed so once you are installed and you can still use the computer then you are past this issue. I suggest you read further on other issues once it is installed.History of identifing the problem – In a email forward to me on Dec 6, 2005 and the email started from ADP (the payroll service used by Microsoft for SBA) stated “I wanted to relay a message regarding QuickBooks 2006. An accountant in San Diego had a client purchase the QuickBooks 2006 version and unfortunately discovered that there is a dangerous glitch in the software. This version crashed the client’s computer and was unable to get any files off the computer. The accountant called Intuit and the President of Intuit said that there have been close to 1000 computers crash, but Intuit still hasn’t taken the software off of the shelves.” Comments made by others that the sender was a reason not to consider this a valid statement but now it does appear to be a valid problem.On Dec 7 2005 I received this from Larry Hess, CPA of Albuquerque, NM and he states, “… I have been able to confirm with someone inside Intuit that the problem does in fact exist. Oddly, it apparently didn’t appear during the beta test phase. And, if it doesn’t happen upon the inital installation of QB2006, it won’t. The best advice to someone whose installation has failed and rendered their computer virtually useless, is to call QB support, who are familiar with the problem. Makesure the call is escalated to tier 2 or tier 3 support, although that should happen automatically. As of now, there isn’t a fix; and, maybe not even an understanding of the cause of the problem. I understand that Intuit has taken some fairly extreme measures to help affected customers recover from it.” Also in a second email that same day he further adds, “I can add that they said the problem messes up the registry not the hard drive or files other than the registry. One rescue approach apparently can involve lengthy editing of the registry. So, I think a bootable copy or mirror of the entire hard drive prior to installation of QB2006 would be the best insurance. By the way, if any beta testers are reading, so far no beta testers haveencountered the problem when installing the production release.”
On Dec 8 2005 Larry Hess, CPA further reports, “For those who are wondering whether or not to install QB2006, one further piece of advice:
Make a backup of the full registry (better than setting a restore point in XP) before installing QB2006. If the install causes Windows to go bad, Intuit Support can easily (they say) help you recover.” - Quickbook needs local workstation Administrator rights in order to run. – Currrently Intuit says that this will be changed in the 2007 program. This issue is an ongoing security issue as malware can install programs on that computer. The Administrator rights I am talking about is the Windows user needing Administrator rights. The user of the Quickbooks and from inside the program may not be an administrator but to get into Quickbooks that person needs to have Windows Administrator rights.History – SANS NewsBites – Vol: 7, Issue: 59In response to Newsbites’ recognition, Brad Smith, senior vice president of QuickBooks, confirmed on December 2, 2005 that this problem will be fixed in the next major release (QuickBooks 2007), scheduled for delivery within 12 months. One of the main issues with needing Admin rights is that “You are administrator on your machine and that means that malware can easily get in too. Jesper’s Blog : Malware and administrative rights
- Multi-user Mode Quickbooks 2006 – Problems this year for multi-user use of the program. It is recommended the program be installed on the server. For a good article on installing Quickbooks 2006 for multi-use see http://www.cpa911.com/installqb2006.pdfHistory – From a Tech listserve one of techie posted on Dec 7 2005 that “… QuickBooks 2006 will not switch to multi user like previous versions. I have found out I have two choices; first to installQuickBooks 2006 on the SBS2K3 server or second it has a new alternate mode a workstation needs to start up switch to multi user mode then remain logged on until the other workstations running QuickBooks 2006 are finished. The alternate multi user mode is a pain, but workable.” and then later he further posts that “It is the premier edition. I called QB tech support and the ‘script’ also said to install it on the server. Also this version is running much slower than previous versions. Especially in single user mode.” Then the next day this individual posted that “I just finished a support call to my client that is having QuickBooks 2006 problems that I wrote about on the SBS list Wednesday. I did not install QuickBooks on the SBS server, but the data files are located in a server network share. The interesting thing now is that when my client is using QuickBooks 2006 in the back office it is taking down their Retailer POS terminals.” He began considering reinstalling a earlier version of Quickbooks becauses of the problems. But another individual posts that “The 2006 is a brand new Sybase SQLanywhere database version and it’s not roll-back-able.”
Later another techie responds “I had a client with the same issue, she worked with Intuit for 2 days to get the alternate method to work but could not and they said she would have to put it on the server. I advised that as it is a new version and untested that I did not recommend it and could not guarantee that it would not cause issue.” Another posting by a techie was, “I could not agree more. This is not Enterprise, but Premier. I hate telling the client that every time they use this software in multi user mode they have to start it on one workstation switch to multi user mode then make sure to not log off that workstation until the other users are finished with the day. I see all kinds of issues. I would recommend to roll back to 2005 but the data is in 2006 format and that would mean reentering the data.”
It was posted that you can read more on this problem at:
QuickBooks Forums – Avoid QB 2006 network install
To read a article on how to install see
http://www.cpa911.com/installqb2006.pdf. - Further it was stated, “Do watch out for the network install… it’s like SBA (Microsoft Small Business Accounting) and has to be installed ‘on’ the server now.”On Dec 19 2005 these comments were made that state, “I had my first install of qb2006 last week onto a SBS2003 box. I could no get the remote computers to open the company file on the server unless the server actually had quickbooks running with the file open, from reading the docs it seems like that should not be required, anybody else run into this problem, the error I was getting was that the file on the server could not be opened, to try and open the file on the server and try again. with the qb open and running the file on the server it works fine on the remote computers.” Another techie points out to solve the problem he stated, “The fix is to give the quickbooks service account full control of the directory where the quickbooks data is residing. Also, the quickbooks sevice account should be excluded from the password policy. The account should be set to ‘password never expires”. After you make the rights assignment you will need to stop and restart the quickbooks service.”
This is another security problem for any computer running that way. It was stated that, “Gawd bless it…this is worse than local admin rights in my book now that they are having me hack up my server rights.” She further states, “When Accounting software is requiring this to be shared out on a network….quite frankly I’m getting a bit embarrassed by the lack of security planning and coding in our accounting applications. Is everyone aware that SANS listed Quickbooks as their first ever inductee into the Local Admin hall of shame?”
- ERROR: Connection Has Been Lost [99937] – When connecting to the company data file. As you may know, QuickBooks 2006 and Enterprise 6.0 are using a new network based database. This means that the programs rely heavily upon network connectivity to access the QuickBooks company file and to provide Multi-User access. Error 99937 is a generic error that will occur if the connection to the company file has been lost.SOLUTION #1: Restart QuickBooksIf this is the first time you have seen the error after connecting successfully in the past, restart the computer where the data file is stored and re-open the QuickBooks company file on each of the other computers. This will resolve most temporary network issues.
SOLUTION #2: (Most Common) Configure QuickBooks 2006 for Multi-User Access
SOLUTION #3: For more information on resolving this issue
Possible Causes include:
– The network connection to the host computer was interrupted. (For example if the host computer has been shut down for the day.)
– The QuickBooks database manager (QBDBMGRN.EXE) on the host computer was unexpectedly terminated.
– The QBDataServiceUser on the host computer does not have sufficient permissions to the folder where the company file is located. This is the user created by QuickBooks during installation that allows the program to successfully connect to the data file over the network.History – This is the broadcast email QB put out last week to alert proadvisers of this problem. Audience Affected: Some ProAdvisors and clients installing QuickBooks 2006 and experiencing “Error 99937” or “Error 1911” Action: Follow important steps outlined. A very small number of customers installing QuickBooks 2006 and Enterprise 6.0 have experienced a few issues of which you should be aware.
- ERROR 1911 – Error 1911 during installation (or Desktop icons turning white or missing after installing QuickBooks 2006/Enterprise 6.0)This issue is extremely rare, and it appears to be caused when program associations within the operating system are lost. This may be caused by viruses, corrupt files, or failing hardware. We are actively investigating at this time.If you experience this issue, where you get white or missing icons on your desktop, please do the following:
— don’t go past this point, and stop installation immediately
— run a virus scan
— contact technical support immediately at 888-333-3451History – this is from the same QB broadcase email as mentioned under item 4 above.
Conclusion
So it appears that the 2006 version of Quickbooks has several installation and running problems that users of Quickbooks should be aware of before upgrading and installing this latest version.
Some have said they do not recommend that their clients upgrade to 2006.
For the professionals we may not recommend to our clients to upgrade but if any one client does then you will be forced into upgrading just to be able to support that client.
Depending on these problems it is a question if Intuit can issue a “fix” for 2006 to solve these problems.
So buyer beware and to be safe professionals may wish to consider not recommending their clients upgrade.
Of course another solution is to see if the Microsoft SBA (Small Business Accounting) will meet their needs. (P.S. I have no relationship with MS other than having their programs – I get nothing for people buying or switching their programs.)
So have a nice day.
Jim