You might be encountering one of several causes for QuickBooks internal backups not working, including a few errors that Intuit apparently is aware of, but have yet to resolve.
Let’s start with some of the simpler causes, and then work our way toward some points of frustration. For most of these, the fix simply is to resolve the reason behind the backup failure. In a few cases, you need a bit more instruction, and even the ability to laugh at technical support's recommendations.
By the way, these are all related to the internal backup process of QuickBooks Desktop. These are not intended to address any issues related to the use of Intuit Data Protect or any other external backup for QuickBooks files.
file name too long
File Name Too Long
Yes, having a Company file name that exceeds 65 characters definitely can be the cause of your backup failing. We also have seen this when the file name has a lot of spaces, underscores and special characters.
Sybase recommends that data-file names never exceed 30 characters and have no spaces or special characters. Your file name does not need to mirror you Company’s DBA (doing business as) or Registered (legal) Name.
For example, the John and Betty Hodges Irrevocable Trust for Jimmy Hodges, David Hodges and Susan Hodges should never, ever be a QuickBooks .QBW Company file name. I'd definitely shorten this name to HodgesIrrevocableTrust.QBW. That’s plenty to describe the file.
File Path Too Long
If you bury your Company files in a sub-directory-of-a-sub-directory, of-a-sub-directory-of-a sub-directory within a directory that's not on the root drive, expect to have problems. The same applies if you're trying to store your backup file to such a layer of sophistication that's "lost in space" like the Robinson Family on Jupiter 1.
File Too Big
If you're attempting to backup a QuickBooks file that's more than 3 GIG in size, you're out of luck. It’s time for a smaller file if you expect to use the QuickBooks backup feature.
Improper Drive or Insufficient Access Rights
Nothing will stop a QuickBooks Backup faster than attempting to shuttle it off onto an external drive or flash drive, or into a directory where not only you, but the QuickBooks Database Server, hasn’t received the necessary Windows access rights (full permissions). Always make your backup to either a directory under the root drive or the Computer desktop, then cut-and-paste it to your desired storage location, even if that is on a "my cloud drive" at Tranquility Base, 1 Moon Avenue, Earth Satellite.
Preference Setting Conflict
Another cause for automatic or scheduled backups failing stems from the use of the "Keep QuickBooks running for quick startups" feature. While QuickBooks goes through the motions of creating the backup until the very end, it never actually finishes. In these cases, a .tmp file is usually created in the QuickBooks directory where your file is resident.
In this case, you can turn off the preference to "keep QuickBooks running…" and the backup may proceed normally from that point on. Okay, so you give up "speedy startup" for the "reliable backup." Is that a fair trade or what?
User Name Conflict
It seems that one of the most common reasons why scheduled backups don’t work is that they have not been properly configured in the setup process. Most of the time, this improper configuration deals with the User Name and Password entered.
A lot of users think this has to do with a QuickBooks User Name and Password, but that isn’t true. It has to do with the Windows User Name and Password for the computer where the backup is being run. Furthermore, if the computer where QuickBooks is scheduled for backup is on a Domain, the Username must be a fully qualified User name (Domain\Username) and the associated password.
QuickBooks Hosting Conflict
This probably is the second most common reason why scheduled backups don’t work. If QuickBooks is setup for multi-user operation, and hosting is enabled, the hosting function must be local to the computer running the scheduled backup. This means workstations cannot run the scheduled backup – only the QuickBooks host computer (typically the server computer) can run the scheduled backup.
Since a lot of Client-Server installations of QuickBooks only have the QuickBooks Database Server installed on the Server and NOT the full QuickBooks application, the ‘scheduled backup’ is unavailable and will not run properly if you attempt to perform that function from a workstation.
Application Conflict
It seems that after installing a later version of QuickBooks on your computer, some earlier versions (if you're using multiple versions like many accountants and corporate users) will experience a problem with the AutoBackupEXE ability to perform either automatic backup at the closure of a file or a scheduled backup.
I have noticed this lately even in QuickBooks 2017 after the last release update in a few files. Several times I have gotten just an "Error" box (nothing else displayed) when the Backup routine gets to the actual point of starting the backup. The steps for verification and preparing for backup seem to proceed normally, and then suddenly just an "Error" box without any message. On a few occasions, I received a message saying the AutoBackupEXE application encountered a problem.
Intuit Technical Support is telling people to update to the newest release of their affected version, but I'm on the latest releases for all my versions. Their second remedy is no remedy at all. They simply tell you to disable the automatic or scheduled backup feature and perform manual backups.
There you have it. The most common reasons by QuickBooks internal backups fail, whether they're automatic, scheduled or otherwise. Just remember, "The only bad backup is the one that didn't run", so get these issues resolved.
And, as my good friend Mario says, "Backup, backup, backup."