THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

When using QuickBooks 2006 or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 6.0 in a multi-user environment, *the one best thing to know* is that the new QuickBooks database requires new installation procedures with all machines running on Release 3 or above.

To help you support your clients with QuickBooks 2006 in a multi-user environment, Intuit offers:

   * White Paper on QuickBooks 2006 in Networked Environments  
     PDF file (313KB) 
   * Master Tip: Installing QuickBooks 2006 in a Networked Environment 
   * KBID on Troubleshooting Error (-6177,-0) 
   * Special for Users of Enterprise Solutions 6.0 
     See article below.

*Caution.* Please do not attempt to *Upgrade* QuickBooks, *Rebuild* a data file, or *Clean Up Company File** across a network. If you have clients in a networked environment, please work with them to make sure they avoid such actions.

The caution holds true *whenever* the file is being accessed from a remote drive. QuickBooks never supported major file operations across a network in earlier versions and does not support them in QuickBooks 2006.

Our technical support center has recently seen a spike in calls generated by this problem. For background on the issue, and instructions on how to proceed, please read KBID 118556, "Rebuild, Update, or Condense Takes an Exceptionally Long Time or Does Not Complete

*Warnings to Be Added in Future Release of QuickBooks.* Intuit will be adding a warning message in a future release to help avoid the problem. Then, when the software senses that a major file operation is being attempted across a network, the user will be warned first. (The warning was in earlier versions of QuickBooks and was omitted from QuickBooks 2006 in error.)

** Condense vs. Clean Up Company File.* What was called "Condense" in QuickBooks 2005 and earlier is now "Clean Up Company File" in QuickBooks 2006. In 2006, QuickBooks is using a new database structure for improved operations; however, the overall size of the file does not reduce significantly during cleanup. While old data is removed, the overall structure retains much of the same footprint, and therefore the action was renamed.

Release 3 (R3) addresses several rare issues that could be troublesome should they occur. We recommend you confirm that your clients have upgraded their systems to R3.

Specific R3 modifications include:

   * The "*Connection Has Been Lost [99937]*" error message related to
     network installation has been updated. The occurrence of such
     "Connection Lost" messages should be greatly reduced.
   * *Error 1911 *(when desktop icons no longer work after an
     unsuccessful attempt to install) *has been eliminated in the
     current release*. This situation is triggered when an installation
     of QuickBooks 2006 is attempted on top of a pre-existing
     corruption in the user's Windows system registry. While the
     problem is not unique to QuickBooks, a fix in R3 removes the
     potential that the error would arise in future installations.
     *Note:* If you or a client should experience this issue with a
     previous release, Intuit will help you resolve the issue.
   * C=224 errors should no longer appear when making a backup.
   * Icons listed in the Navigation portion of the Icon bar *can be
     removed or edited*.

For a complete list of the changes to QuickBooks included in the R3 update, see the release notes

*Note:* Release 4 (R4) is not meant for general use. R4 includes all issues addressed in R3 but makes an additional adjustment to work with one third-party application (ReportWiz). The vendor is separately alerting its customers on how to obtain R4. Other QuickBooks users on R3 don't need R4.

*Changes to Install Process: Read before You Install. *Because of the new database across QuickBooks 2006 and Enterprise Solutions 6.0, the install process in a multi-user environment will differ from previous installations. These issues are especially important when dealing with QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 6.0.

Bottom line... need to mess with that data file?  Drag it to a local drive for maintenance...fun huh?