QuickBooks Errors File Repair Procedures
Here is your fastest, easiest and most complete list of QuickBooks Errors, QuickBooks Error Codes and the QuickBooks File Repair Procedures that you can use to quickly fix many of these problems. Please click on the links below or ^F search this page for what you need. Note that Rebuild is more fully explained under the File Repair Procedures link.
- Diagnostic procedures (disable Dr. Watson)
- Error codes - Introduction
- Error codes - C =
- Error codes - Other
- File repair procedures
- File incompatibilities
- File upgrade procedures (QuickBooks upgrades)
- Getting help from Intuit (QuickBooks)
- Opening damaged files
- Password Recovery
- Your comments & questions
Diagnostic procedures (disable Dr.Watson):
Dr.Watson is a useful part of Windows. It also can prevent you from seeing QB error messages. To disable it click Start | Run | Regedit | OK. Then browse or search to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAeDebug.
Export the AeDebug Key and then delete it from the registry. Reboot and Dr. Watson no longer loads when Windows starts. You may not get Windows error messages once you do this (so consider doing it only temporarily).
Error Codes - Introduction:
Most QB error messages say Fatal or Unexpected Error
and things like:
V7.0D R3P
M=1153, L=133, C=43, V=28 (FFFFFFF4).
Many such codes are only useful to computer programmers. They put codes and related tests in programs to stop program crashes and make it easy to correct crash problems. Thanks to good programmers, effective quality control and extensive pre-release (beta) tests by people like us (we repeatedly win #1 national Intuit prizes) QB usually has few bugs. Most errors relate to problems with your data or system. You can fix many o them once you understand some of this. See the table below to understand:
|
V7.0D | This is the version of your QB program (V7=QB99). |
| R3P | This is the maintenance Release number of your QB program. QB usually releases several free updates for each version. The releases available and the problems they fix are sometimes listed at http://www.quickbooks.com/. If you have QB problems check that you are using the most current release. If not, download it. This may fix many problems. |
| M=1153 | Module number. |
| L=133 | Line number. |
| C=43 | This is an error code number. We list more below. If you get repeated error codes then back up or copy your file and confirm you have a complete backup (restore it). After restoring the backup, click Windows, Closeall, File, Utilities, Verify Data and Rebuild Data. |
| V=28 (FFFFFFF4) | Some debugging value, often in hex, that a programmer thought might be useful. |
Error Codes - C =
| 0 |
This may be due to an outdated Wininet.dll file on your computer when trying to access the Internet Connection Setup. The .dll version should match or be later than your Microsoft Internet Explorer version. Run the Internet Explorer repair tool, which may detect the outdated version, or update to the latest version of Internet Explorer. In the Internet Explorer Help menu click the link pertaining to program updates. |
| 1 | For example, M=1028, L=1743, C=1,V=0 [0], in QuickBooks V5.0/R4, after a backup and restore to a new system. This may involve non-standard video settings. Check to make sure you are in a standard set (e.g. 640x480 or 800x600) and 256 colors. It also may involve custom invoice form that must be copied in addition to the data file. |
| 3 | According to one report this means the program is unable to open a Quicken file on a Mac. This should happen only on Mac versions. Free up HD space. Reopen and close the file using Quicken for the Mac. Then try again. However, a second source says this relates to QB having a full or nearly full hard drive. |
| 9 | Unable to read from an auxiliary file at the OS file system level. Copy the data file to another disk or drive. Possible damaged disk. |
| 10 | Unable to write to an auxiliary file at the OS file system level. Should only happen during backup/restore, export, mail merge or other operation which write to a data file. Free up hard disk space and try again. Possible damaged disk. |
| 19 |
Unable to delete a transaction, because it is incomplete (probably data error). Happens during Condense Data. In later versions, rebuild the data file. |
| 21 |
QB is trying to close a data file while the program thinks it is in the middle of recording a transaction, but probably isn't. Check to see that the last data you recorded is still in the file. Get the latest release of QB for your version. Moving data, reinstalling, and rebuilding has no effect on this. |
|
32 | Also Error -35. The file was used in a newer version of QB and cannot be used in an older one. Each new version (and some Releases) of QB has an updated data structure. QB files can?t be used after conversion in a new version of the program. (not used since version 4.0). |
| 38 | Unknown, but related to
backup, as in
V7.0D R1 (M=1352 L=968 C=38 V=30 (FFFFFFE2) |
| 43 |
Error reading a transaction or memorized transaction. This can be caused when QB is trying to navigate a report or report-like data, or by data damage. If restarting QB and repeating the action causes the error again, it is probably damaged data. Then rebuild. C=43 also occurs when printing 1099 and W2 forms (V6.OD R1 [M=1477, L5203, C=43, V=2(2)). If the font looks like Russian letters it often relates to losing the OCR-A font is by installing TurboTax (also from Intuit). You must delete all OCR-A fonts and reinstall QB. |
| 44 | Error writing a transaction. Possible data damage or out of memory. Restart Windows and try again. If error persists, Rebuild. |
| 47 | Trying to remove a transaction from a report or report like feature. Trying to locate a transaction that has been modified, but could not find it. Harmless. Close all windows and continue. If this does not work, try Verify and Rebuild. |
| 51 |
Appeared in QB 3.0 and was described as a benign error (keep going) or: exit QB, exit Windows, and start again; verify in release 7 or later; or Rebuild data. |
| 53 |
Some entry in a list should be deleted, but for some reason was not deleted. Rebuild data may work, but don't expect much. If it does not, Restore last backup. If you get this often it may be time to upgrade to a new version. |
| 55, 64 | The network temporarily went down. It then probably came back before it was noticed, except for QB, which cannot handle that. |
| 88 |
Error writing to the QB file on the QB file level. Rebuild. If the problem persists try to free memory and try again. |
| 147 |
Benign error ( keep working). |
| 184 | Unexpected Error - February report days mismatch (28 & 29) |
| 210 |
Appears in files with Error C=53 (also Error 210, -210) |
| 212 |
File has been used in later version. Comment at C=32. |
| 224 | QB tried to read an invalid split line for a transaction or memorized transaction. The data file may be damaged or QB may be confused. Delete the first split transaction error, in the QBWIN.LOG file. |
| 225, 260, 265 |
Try Rebuild. You will probably have to call the QB Support Network. |
| 304 |
QB could not create an image (.qbi) file, due to lack of disk space or network limitations. QB creates this file when a company file is opened and deletes it when the file is closed. |
| 315 |
Assertion failed miscellaneous error. The program should not be here and is not sure what to do. It is used lots of places so it is hard to say how bad it is or what is the root cause. If you get it in list activities or reports it indicates a list problem. Try to Re-sort the list. It also can be low memory or conflicts with other programs. Shut down other programs & see if problems disappear. This error appears in older versions of QB and Windows. |
| 339 |
Memory is too full to send any other message. See C=47. |
| 342 | Please restart QuickBooks and try again, preferably with a new data file. In Microsoft® Windows XP users should verify compatibility settings. Scan your system for viruses. If you are able to open other data files: rebuild yourcompany data file without opening it. If you continue to receive the error after completing these steps, restore a backup of your company file. |
| 387 | This may be an invoice template problem. Go to Lists, Templates, at bottom Show All in case a template is inactive. Select a template and click Open Form. Repeat until a template has an error (some templates show no name). Then close the form. In the Templates window, select the template with the error, click Templates, Edit and Default on the right. When you get "All your Header, Fields, Columns, and Footer Settings will be returned to their original default ... ", click OK. Click OK again to save changes. You should now be able to open an invoice with no error. Custom templates will need customizing again. |
Error Codes - Other:
| 117
146 | Unknown Client-Specific Tax Form Print Error. Uninstall and reinstall QuickBooks. |
| 15212 | Common payroll or program upgrade problem: a shared download location mapped to an unavailable drive; file opened from a non-mapped location while Shared Download is OFF; or hard disk does not have sufficient space. Restart computer and re-map data file to network drive (see Map Network Drive). If you still have the problem Update QuickBooks from the QB File menu. Click the Options tab. Share Download OFF and then ON. Click Save. If the problem persists it is likely that a hard disk you are trying to download to does not have sufficient space. |
| 80004003 80004005 | All 8xxxxxxx numbers are Windows error codes (in hex). In QB2000 it related to an invalid pointer.error when clicking an icon in the opening splash screen. |
| Balance sheet out of balance | This is due to data corruption. See the above File Repair procedures. |
| Balance sheet net income not equal to Profit & Loss net | If the balance sheet is in balance, but the income on it does not match the income of the P&L, then one statement is on the Cash Basis and the other is on the Accrual Basis. Modify or Customize memorized reports, depending on the version of QB. Also Edit (File) | Preferences | Reports | Cash (or Accrual) to set the default Preference for future reports. |
| Chart of Accounts delete error | See list item delete error below. |
| Cursor, letters in title bar yellow, faint, hard to see | Some say the Windows color definitions change. Due to WordPerfect 6. Apparently fixed in WordPerfect 7. The solution is to exit and re-start Windows without using WordPerfect or to use WordPerfect 7. |
| Data
from new QB version-cannot use
nbsp; OR Cannot upgrade some workstations for network data file | This is easy to fix. Each QuickBooks version & some free interim releases upgrades data file formats so you cannot use the files with older programs. All you need is the new QB version or release. QB6 R3, QB99 R3 and QB2001 R2 upgraded file formats. The interim upgrades causes big problems for QB ProAdvisors dealing with many QB versions, releases and clients, so Intuit tries to minimize them. Note that once you upgrade a QuickBooks network data file you may not be able to get into it to upgrade all workstations. In this case open a QB Sample file in the local Intuit Program Files folder. |
| Erroneous credits in A/R Aging report | See Unexplained Errors below. |
| IE (Internet Explorer problems) | Installing some
versions of QB try to get you to install a version of IE earlier than
the one you have. You can add this to the top of the qbw.ini file for
some systems and operating systems: [Misc] IE5Override=-1 It works |
| Illegal operation | For example, "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. Details: QBW caused a general protection fault in QBWPR.DLL.? The Windows, Closeall, File, Utilities, Rebuild procedure may help. However, you also may get more information if you disable Dr.Watson (see top of this page). You also might uninstall and reinstall QB. |
| Invalid page fault | For example, "QBW32 caused an invalid page fault in module QBTXN32.DLL at 017f:0042f188." See above. |
| Link Error Code: 00001 | This appears in
messages like: Link Error Code: 00001(HEX), UNKNOWN (15), linkRecNum =
48387, sibling = 48386, key (m1) = 40518, tOne = 40524, mTwo = 48378,
tTwo =48382 It usually relates to transactions to be found and deleted to fix QB files. |
| List Item delete error | The error says something like, "This account is associated with an item. It cannot be deleted." This applies to Items, Customers, Vendors, Employees, Payroll Items and the Chart of Accounts. You cannot delete such items if referenced by transactions or other items. For example, you cannot delete an account that is referenced by an Item or Payroll Item, even if no transactions reference it. You can only delete or change such items (accounts, etc.) after removing all references to them. |
| Map Network Drive (common problem) Within QB | File, Open Company, Look in drop-down list - My Network Places. Double-click Entire Network and the QB file drive. Right-click the folder with it and select Map Network Drive. Select an unused drive letter, Reconnect at Logon and Finish. From the Look in drop-down list select the drive assigned, the main window, Open. the QB file name and Press Ctrl+1 for Product Information. The path in File Information : G:QuickBooks Pro[company name].qbw. |
| Map Network Drive (common problem) In Windows Explorer | On the Windows toolbar, right-click Start and then Explore. From the Tools menu select Map Network Drive. Click the Browse button. Click the plus signs until you locate the folder that contains the QuickBooks data file. Select the folder and click OK. Select an unassigned drive, Reconnect at Logon and Click OK. Start QuickBooks, and from the File menu, choose Open Company. From the Look in drop-down list, select the drive letter assigned, choose your company file name and Open. When the file opens, press Ctrl+1 to open the Product Information window. Look at the path under Location in File Information .The file location should be like:G:QuickBooks Pro[company name].qbw. |
| OL-2XX | These errors relate to remote network/server problems (despite saying contact Intuit). QB2000 correctly says contact Financial Institution. The key is how often they occur. It may be a transient problem (delays in the Internet between you and your bank or a problem with the bank server). Try again, preferably at a "less busy" time. QB2000 OL-206 says "try again later. If it still fails, contact the financial institution. |
| Other program busy |
For example, "This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choose 'Switch to' to activate the busy program and correct the problem. Doing so may result in this error message, "QBDagent.exe, MrtInitialize failed - 7." Clicking OK makes this go away for the moment. It relates to QB Marimba automatic background download capability, criticized as an invasion of privacy. Remove QBDagent from the Windows startup menu. Turn off automatic downloads in QB. |
| Printing | Make sure the printer works with Start | Settings | Printers | right click printer | Properties, Print Test Page (lower right). Then check print spool setting. If this fails install a new printer driver from Windows or e Internet sites. If you still have problems check File | Print Setup and Print Forms settings in QB. Also see errors 117 and 146 and next. |
| QB freezes when printing | You may have a Print Reports or Print Lists window ( with a printer name & Portrait/ Landscape, etc.) off the screen. QB does not respond to a mouse after you print or Printer Setup. Rebuild has no errors and other programs run OK. The W2000 Task Manager does not show QB as Not Responding. A Processes view shows 9%+ idle and no CPU time for qbw32.exe. Reports that Preview will Print. The solution: hold down Shift & click File, Printer Setup. Print Reports, etc., screens are centered on the screen. Move them slightly by dragging the top blue bar to create a new on-screen default. |
| Server busy | QB does not release its file lock as soon as you exit, so anyone trying to use the file too soon gets this message. To avoid it use the Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and Process to End these processes: Axelbridge, Axelbridge1, QBDagent, QBDagent, QBupdate and QBserver . Alternatively, open a Sample or dummy file before exiting. A QB2002 fix was to be available by 2/15/02. |
| Spool32 |
This may occur when printing. Someone suggested typing Ctrl -1 in QB to get version and miscellaneous information. However, it probably relates to a printer not being properly set up. |
| There was a problem loading registration support | c:windowstemp{2b02f82e-a9b9-458c-80e5-3ea8c0de8471} mfc70.dll Error... This occurs if you are use Microsoft Windows 98 First Edition and did not install Microsoft Active Accessibility. |
| Trans # | This appears in
messages like:
Trans # Type Date Num Name Payroll Item Wage Base Amount |
| Unexplained Errors | Many unexplained errors relate to corrupt data, which you (or we) can usually fix. See File Repair Procedures and Comments below. |
| W32.Blaster.Worm | "Error C=342," "RPC Server is unavailable," or "QBCenters could not find a critical file" Run a full dscan with your anti-virus program, after updating it. |
File repair procedures:
If your balance sheet is out of balance or QB ends with an error message you have a damaged QB file. You can easily repair some damage.
Enter Windows, Closeall, File, Utilities and Rebuild. That usually solves problems. If you discover problems right after upgrading, STOP. Go back and rebuild and repair the file in the earlier version as much as you can. Later versions may fix problems that earlier versions cannot fix, but they also may make them worse. Upgrades rarely work if there are any errors and you may soon be unable to open a file with errors if you keep using a damaged file.
PLEASE FIRST MAKE A COPY (OR TWO) OF YOUR QB FILE. If the problem is not fixed then delete QBWIN.LOG in the QB program folder. If the backup required by Rebuild causes a fatal error copy the data with Explorer after closing QB. Then run Rebuild while holding down the control key. This does the Rebuild without backup. After the Rebuild, check the new QBWIN.LOG with WordPad to see if there are errors like these:====================* BEGIN REBUILD LOG* ====================
Rebuilding data, file name: J:My DocumentsQuickbooksBoat.QBW
Tue Mar 06 12:46:41 2001
Error: Verify Account list. Duplicate name encountered. Name: Accounts
Payable Records 70 (4) and 136 (5).
To fix, edit this element in the list and change its name.
Error: Verify Account list. Duplicate name encountered. Name: Accounts
Receivable Records 74 (7) and 137 (8).
To fix, edit this element in the list and change its name.
Error: Verify Account list. Duplicate name encountered. Name: Payroll
Expenses Records 68 (86) and 1 (87).
To fix, edit this element in the list and change its name.
Verify TARGET: Major not followed by minor. Rcrd = 105917.
Type: paycheck txn#: 08905 date: 01/26/2001 doc#: 102982
Distrib accnt: Uncategorized Expenses $: -197.68
=====================* END REBUILD LOG *====================
The above messages indicates chart of accounts duplicates. Go to the chart. Make sure Show All is checked if you have inactive accounts. Then edit one of the affected accounts and change its name.
The next error line is in accounts receivable. Change a duplicate
to something
like 1 and save it. Then edit it again, giving it the same name as the other
accounts receivable. When it asks you if you want to merge them, say yes. Do
the same with the others. If you don't mind having two A/R, A/P and
Payroll Expenses, just name them something slightly different and do not bother
to merge
If any entries are bad use the Audit Trail or Find to find THE
FIRST bad entry. Write down its details before you delete it, so you can
enter it later. Deleting one entry may
let QB Rebuild fix many entries, so only delete the first bad entry. Deleting
several entries at once may make things worse by deleting later undamaged
entries (even though QBWIN.LOG says they are bad). Repeat this procedure until
there are no errors.
If you have a payroll error in a recent version of QB chose Run
Payroll Checkup in
the Employees menu. On the Payroll Data Review page of the Payroll Setup, click
Continue. QB first summarizes actual and possible problems with your employee nbsp;
setup & your payroll item setup. When it does wage and tax verification, QB
displays a progress bar, indicating it is scanning your
payroll data. When scanning is complete results appear on the Wage and Tax
Verification Results page.
If you are having problems you should almost never delete list items, as opposed
to transactions. They very rarely contain errors & you may need them for
hidden QB audit trail and other transactions. Yes, I know QB should not let you
delete a list item used or referenced elsewhere in QB, but I know many cases
where QB let itself to get corrupted this way.
In some cases errors do not show up in QBWIN.LOG until you rebuild, so do this. If none of this works either start a new file or pay Intuit to see if they can repair it. Once the Intuit Developer version (QB2002) helps create many more QB Add-ons we should be able to do more about repairing and condensing QB files.
You can only upgrade an error free file. Many errors that occur on conversion relate to hidden damage in files that only appears when you upgrade. If your cannot read your partly converted data file you can usually use your old QB to restore the backup QB forces you to make before upgrading. Rebuilding this file, with the old version, fixes many problems that show up on upgrading.
You also can import from Quicken, but not export to it. You must give later versions or releases that are not file format compatible permission to upgrade the format (say YES or OK). They make you make a backup in the old format. The QB2001 R2 format had to be changed to fix a bug, as Intuit knows such changes cause problems when clients and accountants cannot read each other's files. This made QB2001 R1P unable to read R2P and later files. You also can Restore a Backup copy of the file, like the one you had to make when you upgraded, provided it is not damaged.
You cannot get around file problems by exporting QB to
Access. It is relatively easy to use http://datablox.com/
to do so. The problem is a scrambled QB files would probably provide a scrambled
Access file and you can fully get Access back into QB. You also may use my
website link to go NetLedger. Once there you can pretend to be a trial prospect
and import your QB file into NL. If they cannot read it, after human
intervention, you are unlikely to be able to fix it.
If these instructions are too complex you can contact
us for fast inexpensive help. If we cannot help your last chance is a
QuickBooks Data Services specialist (see next section).
File incompatibilities:
QB lets you download interim releases free. To see your version AND release enter Windows, Closeall, Ctrl 1. Look right near the top of the window. QB5, 6, 99, 2000, 2001 and 2002 are incompatible with older versions. You can go up, not down. In addition, some interim releases are not file compatible with earlier releases. For example, QB 2001 Release R2P files are not compatible with the R1P Release initially sold. This also applies to QB6 R3 and QB99 R3 (not file compatible with QB6 R2 and QB99 R2).
File upgrade procedures (QuickBooks upgrades):
You often cannot upgrade damaged QuickBooks files. However, QuickBooks upgrades often improve error checking. You may then need old versions to fix the problem. This is one of several reasons to install new versions of QuickBooks in new folders (despite the contrary standard install procedure)..
If an upgrade does not properly install you may not be able to use your data with your program. This is because each QuickBooks version (and some free interim releases) upgrade your data file format so you cannot use the files with the older program. This includes QB6 R3, QB99 R3 and QB2001 R2. This type of interim upgrade can cause big problems for QB ProAdvisors, who deal with many QB versions, releases and clients, so Intuit tries to minimize them.
Once you upgrade a QuickBooks network data file you may not be able to get into it to upgrade all workstations. To see if this is the problem, check the QuickBooks data file in the program with Ctrl -1 (hold down Ctrl while tapping the #1). Also do this in any system that cannot access the network file. The version and release appear on the top line. Also do this with a Sample file, on a workstation unable to access the network file. If you have differences you must upgrade everyone to the latest version.
Open the QuickBooks Sample file in your local Intuit Program Files folder. Try doing the upgrade while in this Sample file. If you still have a problem then try a Windows, Closeall, File, Utilities, Rebuild and any needed File Repair Procedures. You next step is exit QB and delete the INET folder beneath the data file folder. Then return to QB and try the upgrade in the Sample file again.
If even after this you cannot upgrade go to:
This lets you download and apply the update without .using QuickBooks, which almost always works. If it does not work your last step is to uninstall and reinstall QuickBooks, followed by an upgrade.
Getting help from Intuit (QuickBooks):
For QB Data Services call (888) 320-7276 weekdays (6 A.M. to 4 P.M. Pacific) or click www.quickbooks.com/support/programs/data_recovery.html (Premier members call the for a Data Recovery Support Engineer). There is a non-refundable $75 minimum, plus:
Standard
$250 10 business days
Express $750
2 business days
Opening damaged files:
Hold down the CTRL key while double-clicking the QB icon. Keep holding it down until the program completely opens. This opens the program without opening the bad file. Then open the sample.qbw company (in the QB program folder) or some other working QB file. Switch to single-user mode if necessary.
In QB99 and earlier, enter File, Preferences (In QB2001 enter Edit, Preferences). Then enter General Preferences, My Preferences and then Don't Save Desktop. Then click OK. Next, in the Reminders preference on the left, enter My Preferences and clear the check Show Reminders List when opening. Then click OK. Then click File, Close Company and Open Company. Click your company file once. Hold down the ALT key and click OK. With a password, release the ALT, enter the password and then hold down ALT again before clicking OK. This opens the companyso you can run Verify or Rebuild or delete a transaction. If even this will not let you delete a transaction, as opposed to a list item, only the QB file recovery service can help.
For 10+ years none of our QuickBooks expert friends were able to do anything more than this to open damaged QuickBooks files. However, here is a very well documented systematic approach. It often works when other methods fail.
Password Recovery:
Intuit charges $65 to $150 for this, depending on how fast you need them to do it. See http://www.quickbooks.com/support/programs/password_removal.html. We do it for $20 for QB6 - 2001 with Qpass or other programs at http://www.quickbooks-add-ons.com/
Your comments and questions:
We are always look for new QB error recovery procedures and codes. If you did not find an answer please post to news:alt.comp.software.financial.quickbooks. If these instructions are too complex or do not solve your problem (or if you have corrections or suggestions), PLEASE contact us for fast inexpensive help.