Introduction
The extended use of QuickBooks sometimes leads to what I call 'burps'. In other words, a minor annoyance, that has to be dealt with. A few of them are simple to fix, others require computer maintenance. We are going to look at a few of these and the remedies you may need to implement.
1. "Switch or Retry" Box - Upon Opening QB File - Occassionally there will be a little dialog box opened that informs you that the server is busy and you cannot begin working in the file until this little box is gone. This box will have two buttons in it that read "Switch" or "Retry". Clicking these two buttons incessantly accomplishes nothing. Trust me, I've tried it. The Intuit Help desk has two basic theories about this error. First, it's a memory issue. QB requires 2 MB of RAM for minimal operation. I had more RAM installed on my laptop and still get this message.
But if you don't have at least 2MB, that may be the problem with your QB.Second, it's a problem with a Help window being open at the same time as the QB send email feature being open. If this is happening on opening the file, it's possible that these two windows were open when you closed out the QB file the last time. QB automatically opens whatever windows were open when it was closed last. If the help window and the send email, (invoice, statement, etc) windows are open, you could get this message. Make sure you close out of all windows before closing QB for the day.
2. Screen 'White-Out' - This is when your entire screen 'whites out' so to speak and the QB file is frozen as that blasted hourglass spins continually. I've seen this happen only to one client, and it's frustrating because it happens at odd times. My observation on this has been that in this particular client's computer he would have as many as 30 Word documents, 30 or 40 (at one point he had 72 open) Excel documents and dozens of emails open all at the same time. He closed out of everything but QB and Outlook and didn't have that problem again. So QB is an amazing program but you need to let it have a little oxygen once in a while and close out the video games and hundreds of emails you have so it can operate.
3. Word 'white-out' - This is when your screen is viewable and everything is working ok, but when you are entering an invoice, a bill or anything using pull down menus, all the words in the chart of accounts are invisible and you must scroll down the list to find the right account as only one account is visible at a time. There is no definitive answer on the Intuit help community for this one, but just on my own observations I have noticed that this only happens when my QB file has been open for an extended period of time. I don't believe any damage comes of continuing to use the file when this happens, but unless you have memorized the accounts you are using, it's really annoying. In un-techno speak, I think it's because the QB program is getting 'tired'. When this happens, I exit the file, close all the windows and turn off the computer for about half an hour. When I return, everything is normal again.
4. Inventory Item Disappears - You've entered a new inventory item or a few of them and you start entering the invoice for a customer and realize that the item you just entered is not on the list! This happens all the time so don't feel bad, most of the time, you have entered the item as a Non-Inventory Part because you were more focused on entering the data regarding what the item is it's price, cost to customers, etc. If this isn't it you may have an issue with the backup not saving current days' work, make sure your server is secure from intrusion and that each computer is left on for nightly updates from the server. If you are not on a network, you may have a memory issue with the computer.
Conclusion
Hopefully these tips have been a help to you. It is frustrating dealing with these little 'burps' but it could be far worse, you could be using Peachtree.