MS Accounting 2007

**Zonie** · May 19th, 2009, 10:24 PM

Have a client with the software installed on (1) PC only. This is in single user mode. It has been used for several months now with no problems. There are (2) company files which are maintained. When they tried to open one of them, this error message popped up:

"The company could not be opened. Please ensure the SQL sever exists, the service is running, and that the access has been granted." I have looked at all the instants on google I could find, but most were related to multiuser problems. Any suggestions?

**NooNoo** · May 20th, 2009, 03:47 AM

Tried these?

**Zonie** · May 20th, 2009, 08:37 AM

Thanks NooNoo, will double check this info later today and get back to you.

**Zonie** · June 3rd, 2009, 06:58 PM

NooNoo, have not made it out to the client's yet. It's a family owned business and they decided to have some vacation time. Will try it when they get back and post the results.

**NooNoo** · June 4th, 2009, 04:37 AM

Whenever you are ready.

**Zonie** · June 28th, 2009, 02:18 PM

Was able to catch their office open and tried all the methods suggested. None of them worked. Figured possibly the datsbase maybe corrupted as well since I am able to open the other company file they have with no problems. I suggested for them to get Quickbooks for their database, client information and inventory tracking.

**slgrieb** · June 28th, 2009, 02:56 PM

Zonie, just like Quickbooks, MS Office Accounting includes tools to repair database errors. They are under the Files, Utilities, Data Utilities menu.

When it comes to Quickbooks, I sorta feel like one of those guys who rants about how he'll never use Word or Excel because of how evil Microsoft is. But that's exactly how I feel about Quickbooks. Except that Intuit has worse support than MS, and really locks you into mandatory periodic upgrades if you use any of their business services such as payroll or credit card processing.

If the company data is so corrupted that it can't be read by MS Office Accounting, migrating them to Quickbooks isn't going to change that; they will still have to do a lot of manual data entry to rebuild the file. Moving them to Quickbooks would just add the cost of the software to the investment in time.

**Zonie** · June 28th, 2009, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by slgrieb

Zonie, just like Quickbooks, MS Office Accounting includes tools to repair database errors. They are under the Files, Utilities, Data Utilities menu.

When it comes to Quickbooks, I sorta feel like one of those guys who rants about how he'll never use Word or Excel because of how evil Microsoft is. But that's exactly how I feel about Quickbooks. Except that Intuit has worse support than MS, and really locks you into mandatory periodic upgrades if you use any of their business services such as payroll or credit card processing.

If the company data is so corrupted that it can't be read by MS Office Accounting, migrating them to Quickbooks isn't going to change that; they will still have to do a lot of manual data entry to rebuild the file. Moving them to Quickbooks would just add the cost of the software to the investment in time.

I agree and side with you, however this person has messed this account up twice before. Their wattage is about 15 watts, but they do know how to use quickbooks hence the suggestion to use this instead.

**NooNoo** · June 29th, 2009, 03:32 AM

hmmm which is cheaper, training the screwup or getting locked into quickbooks which in turn locks you into a particular OS and way of doing things?

**CeeBee** · June 29th, 2009, 08:29 AM

I take it there is no backup of critical data???

**Zonie** · June 29th, 2009, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

hmmm which is cheaper, training the screwup or getting locked into quickbooks which in turn locks you into a particular OS and way of doing things?

Realistic, cheaper in this case to go with the Quickbooks for this person. Her part of the business is just for the inventory of wrinkle reducing creams, sun protection, and invoiceing for the products. No online access to the bank or anything critical.

**Zonie** · June 29th, 2009, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by CeeBee

I take it there is no backup of critical data???

Despite the warnings I gave about backups, Quote(" I just haven't had the time yet") hence no backup.

**CeeBee** · June 29th, 2009, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Zonie

Despite the warnings I gave about backups, Quote(" I just haven't had the time yet") hence no backup.

Automated daily backup on an external drive or tape??? I mean come on...

**Zonie** · June 29th, 2009, 11:10 AM

Hey, I am just the messenger, you can lead a horse to water.........., if they don't want to purchase an external backup drive, sooner or later the message will get across.

**NooNoo** · June 29th, 2009, 02:02 PM

NO, what will happen Zonie is that YOU will be blamed. You didn't warn them properly, you didn't make them do it so they are not going to use you again and tell all their friends what a useless tech you are... Unfair? Absolutely.

Write them a document of a backup recommendation which states what they might lose if their hardware goes down and have them sign it. Then if they do blame you, you can remind them of the paper they signed when you sue them for damages