A lot of people are now migrating to computers using the Windows 10 Operating System released at the end of July. Despite the fact that QuickBooks 2014 was released almost 3 years prior to this new Windows Operating System QuickBooks users believe that QB (2014) should run perfectly under the OS from first install. In my own ProAdvisor practice we have been receiving ‘distress calls’ from people using older versions of QuickBooks, especially people still using QuickBooks 2014, who are having problems when they attempt to install those versions under Windows 10. In many of these cases users are having problems installing QuickBooks 2014 and getting it to open, configure or run properly. Our firm has dealt with primarily two specific problems with these client installations.
In part one of this series we examined the first problem we have had reported, Error 3381, -11118 dealing with a corrupted Entitlement Client file. In this article we will look at Windows-10 Permissions Errors which may prevent and/or limit the way QuickBooks 2014 operates under Windows-10.
Windows Permission Errors
QuickBooks can display a variety of error messages (similar to the one below), all relating to a lack of access to the file (which is the result of insufficient or improper Windows Permissions.)
Errors may be displayed when attempting to open a file, or use a specific feature such as printing, even when the file is already open and in use. In some instances the file may lock-up or become unresponsive without resolution.
Note: While Intuit insists that the QuickBooks 'File Doctor' will resolve all of these problems, we find that it frequently either does not, or only configures a portion of the files properly. Once you have done this a few times, it will probably take the skilled ProAdvisor less time to perform the steps manually for all the affected files than the time required to download, install and run the File Doctor. You would still still need to verify all the files are properly configured after running File Doctor.
Step-by-Step Procedure
These steps instruct how to modify various QuickBooks folders under Windows 10 to ensure they have the proper read/write permissions necessary for QuickBooks to function correctly.
To repair this problem you must be able to access the hidden Windows folder containing the encrypted data. Therefore you must insure that you have set the preference to ‘show hidden files’ in your file display options.
1) Insure that QuickBooks is closed, and that all QuickBooks ‘services’ are shut-down. This may require you to launch Task Manager and shut down all QuickBooks/Intuit services shown under processes.
2) Navigate using Windows Explorer to C:\Program Files (X86)\
3) Right-click on the Intuit folder and select Properties, and then click the Advanced button.
4) Ensure that the Users group is displayed within the Owner field at the top of the Advanced window. If you see SYSTEM, or anything other than Users, you must take ownership of the Intuit folder.
- To take ownership, click Change for the Owner field under the Advanced Security Settings for Intuit permissions window.
- Type USERS and press Enter.
- Place a check-mark in the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check-box.
- Select Users (Your Computer Name/Users) Full Control and then click OK.
5) On the Security tab of the Intuit folder properties window click the Edit button.
6) Select USERS (Your Computer Name/Users) and make sure Full Control has a check-mark in it.
7) Click OK to exit the Intuit folder properties window.
8) Repeat the above steps for each of the additional QuickBooks related file folders shown below:
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit)
- C:\ProgramData\Intuit
- C:\Users\Your User Name\AppData\Local\Intuit