Have you or your clients received a QuickBooks 2011 message window, when you are not connected to the internet, stating:
We can’t detect your internet connection, so we can’t verify your QuickBooks subscription.
I frequently receive this message and others when I work on my Vista laptop and it is not connected to the internet. Is QuickBooks 2011 “phoning home” to Intuit? I seriously believe that it is phoning home to Intuit on a daily basis – either that or I’ve found a bug.
Background:
QuickBooks Premier Accountant 2011 R3P with no internet connection on a Vista 32 bit laptop, a Windows 7 64-bit laptop AND a Windows 7 64-bit desktop; logged in as a Windows “Standard” User.
Details of the problem:
Boot computer normally. The Vista (or Windows 7) User Account Control window will appear, displaying the following message:
A program needs your permission to continue
QuickBooks Utility Application
When I click on the Details option, the following file name and location displays on Vista:
C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks 2011\DBManagerExe.exe, Start Server 256
When I enter the Admin password, QuickBooks launches automatically – without my doing anything – and a window appears stating:
We can’t detect your internet connection, so we can’t verify your QuickBooks subscription. Check that you are connected to the Internet and click Retry.
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Because I know that I’m not connected to the Internet, I click Cancel (clicking Retry only makes the message display again).
QuickBooks 2011 then loads, but loads “oddly” – meaning that it doesn’t load the Home page, the Icon bar, or even the last company file that I had open – only the Menu bar loads but even that does not load properly.
The ONLY items that are active on the menu bar are the File and Help menus.
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Using the File menu, I scroll down to the Open Previous Company option; which displays no previous files – when in fact it should display 9 different company files that I have been working with.
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In order to actually open a company file, I have to use the Open or Restore Company option and browse/select which file I want to work with.
This behavior has been happening consistently on my Vista laptop every morning this week (I use this machine in the wee hours of the morning on the comfort of my couch).
I decided to test my theory, so when I came to work this morning I unplugged my Windows 7 desktop and my husbands Windows 7 laptop (both 64-bit machines).
I experienced different results with these machines, which leads me to believe the following:
- If you have selected the option to Keep QuickBooks running for faster startups (Edit menu -> Preferences -> General Preference -> My Preferences tab) AND you are not connected to the internet; then you will experience the UAC Window for the QuickBooks Utility Application. If you turn this option off, you will not receive this any longer.
- I believe that the “Can’t Verify Subscription” message is due to having signed up for an Intuit Workplace Application at one point or another and canceled the subscription. My husband who has never signed up for an Intuit Workplace Application did not receive the “Can’t Verify subscription” message – while I have signed up to test Intuit Workplace Applications.
I have submitted this as a “bug” to Intuit.
I’m making this information available because I have seen others post about the same issues and thought that you would like a “heads up”.
Installing/upgrading QuickBooks is a fairly straightforward task, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that can trip you up along the way. Below are some “best practice tips”, based on our own technical support calls from our customers, that will help you to ensure a smooth installation/upgrade:
- PLAN AHEAD and make sure that everything is in order – do not install the new version of QuickBooks 2011 on the day that you need to run payroll, do billing, or perform any intensive task.
- Make sure that you (or your IT person) have read the Computer Requirements & Microsoft Office Compatibility information, you don’t need any surprises later.¹
- If you use 3rd party integrated applications, make sure that you contact the software developer (if they haven’t already contacted you) about compatibility with and update procedures for working with QuickBooks 2011.
- If you are running Window Vista or Windows 7, QuickBooks should be installed under a Standard User account and NOT the Administrator account.²
- If you choose to download the installation program from the internet be aware that while you can save the Download Manager anywhere that you like – the ACTUAL program is saved on the desktop of the Computer Administrator on Windows 7 and Vista. If you do not complete the installation after the download has completed you will need to log into the Administrator account, move the program to Public Downloads, THEN log in as a standard user and run the installation.
- If you are in a multi-user environment, install QuickBooks on the server first and then the other computers after.
- If you already have an existing version of QuickBooks installed on your computers, NEVER choose the option to “Replace the version selected below” during the installation process. ALWAYS install the new version to it’s own unique folder, on the server (if applicable) or on a single computer.³
Right click on this image to see important details.
- Rebuild your QuickBooks data file BEFORE you update it to the new version and then again AFTER you update it. (File menu -> Utilities -> REBUILD Data).
- Make at least two backups of your QuickBooks data file.
- After you have installed QuickBooks 2011 on all of your computers and everything is running fine, uninstall the old version by going to your Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP) OR Programs & Features (Vista & Windows 7) -> select the old version from the list -> choose Uninstall or Remove.
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¹ Not all versions of QuickBooks 2011 are compatible with Microsoft Office 2010.
² QuickBooks and any 3rd party applications that you use, should be installed and run under the Standard User Account in Windows 7 & Vista. They do NOT need to be run as Administrator. Since Windows Vista was released, we have handled numerous support calls which resulted in an 80040408 – Could not start QuickBooks error. In all cases QuickBooks and our 3rd party applications had been installed under the Administrator account. These same findings have held true since Windows 7 was released.
³ We have found that when a new version of QuickBooks is installed in the same folder (place) as an existing version of QuickBooks – files from the old version still exist and cause conflicts, and errors, when using our software. The only remedy that we have found it to uninstall and then reinstall QuickBooks.
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Using the Open Window List in QuickBooks is a huge productivity booster as it will allow you to quickly and easily go back and forth between tasks. It will also allow you to see just how many and which forms and reports you do have open.
Using the Open Window List is MUCH faster than opening and closing window or forms that you often use.
If you aren’t currently using the Open Window feature, you either close each form when you are done with it, or you always have a lot of windows open and don’t realize it. When you exit QuickBooks at the end of the day you may think that you only have one window open, but in reality you have maybe 8 or 10 – so when you start QuickBooks the next morning it has to load all of those open windows – quite possibly including several reports; this only adds to the amount of time that it takes before you can actually get to work.
Here’s how to activate the Open Window feature:
From the View menu -> click on Open Window List.
When you are working in QuickBooks on an average day, your Open Window List could show that you are working on Creating Estimates, viewing a Balance Sheet, Receiving Payments, working with your Chart of Accounts, working with your Item List, using Weekly Timesheets, entering Vendor Bills, viewing a Payroll Summary Report, looking at the Profit & Loss Report, working with your Payroll Item List, and even looking at an employee record. Each of these normal day to day activities creates a open window.
By utilizing the Open Window option, you can easily identify just how many form, report, and task windows you have open at the end of the day. A good habit to get into is to close all of these items before you exit QuickBooks. Close your open forms and reports by going to the Windows menu -> and choosing Close All. The next morning when you start QuickBooks you may find that it will load faster if you start with a “clean slate”.
