QuickBooks File Doctor: Fixing Company File and Network Issues

Running a business is no easy task, and what’s even more complicated is managing the company’s important data and keeping it as secure as possible.

The same applies to managing your accounting or financial data using QuickBooks software. You may experience errors, potential data loss or corruption when opening the company file, or losing customer, vendor or employee lists, and you may face network issues when hosting the company file. But there’s no need to worry, as Intuit developers make sure you don’t have to deal with such problems and introduce users to the QuickBooks File Doctor tool – which identifies and quickly resolves company file and network-related problems.

Let’s take a look at this detailed guide and learn how File Doctor works and what to do when it displays test results on your screen to resolve the issue.

It’s common to worry about permanent data loss or corruption if a company file suddenly fails to open or host on the network. But don’t worry; connect with our QB professionals at +1-866-500-0076, who are available to guide you every step of the way!

What is QuickBooks File Doctor?

QuickBooks File Doctor is a utility that helps identify and address company file and network-related issues mainly due to possible data damage or corruption.

Before September 2020, the utility was available to download separately, known as a stand-alone version. Now, you must download and install Tool Hub, which works as a launchpad for various tools and utilities such as QuickBooks File Doctor, Quick Fix my Program, QuickBooks Install Diagnostic tool and others.

The File Doctor tool helps troubleshoot the common company file and network-related network-related errors, which we are discussing below, along with the instructions for using the tool.

Errors You Can Fix Using QuickBooks File Doctor

As discussed, the QB Desktop File Doctor utility helps resolve the issues associated with the company file and network connectivity issues when sharing the file with other users over the network. Let’s get an overview of the possible errors and issues the tools help to address and in what scenarios they encounters:

Errors	Description
QuickBooks Error 6150	The error indicates a potential data integrity issue, which can be fixed by the QBFD or Verify and Rebuild Data utility. You may also see “We’re Sorry. QuickBooks couldn’t open your company file” on your screen.
QuickBooks Error 6000 82	The error appears when opening a company file, indicating a problem with the company file itself, such as a damaged file or an incorrect file extension.
QuickBooks Error 6000 301	The error indicates the failure to open the company file, accompanied by a warning message stating, “An error occurred when QuickBooks Desktop tried to access the company file. Please try again.”
QuickBooks Error 6147	The error occurs due to corrupted or incorrect file path when opening the company file.
Network or hosting related errors	Issues when hosting the company file on the network with a warning message, “This company file is on another computer, but QuickBooks needs some help connecting” with a possible error code such as QuickBooks Error H202, QuickBooks Error H303, QuickBooks Error H505.
Missing or blank customer, vendor, or employee lists	Missing your customer or employee data in QuickBooks payroll.

Fixing Company File and Network Related Issues in QuickBooks

Now, we know what QuickBooks File Doctor is and what types of errors it comes in handy for. This section explains how you can download or install QuickBooks File Doctor and run it to identify or troubleshoot any specific issues and network connectivity problems you may encounter while opening or hosting a company file.

a. Download and Install QuickBooks Tool Hub

The QuickBooks Tool Hub is a launchpad for various tools and features that help troubleshoot issues and errors in QuickBooks, interrupting your financial and accounting operations. One of them is QuickBooks File Doctor.

To access the File Doctor tool, you must download and install QuickBooks Tool Hub in the most recent version and ensure that you use the latest Windows version in 64-bit to get the best out of it.

b. Run Quick Fix my file

Running the Quick Fix My File tool helps to get the best out of File Doctor in fixing the company file and network-related issues.

• Hit on Company File Issues.
• Click Quick Fix my File.

• Select OK when it completes and launch QuickBooks.

c. Run QuickBooks File Doctor

The File Doctor tool identifies and runs a quick fix to the company file and network connectivity issues when opening a company file or hosting it on the network.

• Select Company File Issues in QB Tool Hub.
• Click on Run QuickBooks File Doctor. The tool might take up to one minute to open; wait until then.

Note: If the QuickBooks File Doctor doesn’t open, search for QuickBooks Desktop File Doc and open it manually.

• In QuickBooks File Doctor, choose your company file from the drop-down menu. If you can’t find the company file, click Browse and locate to the file.
• Hit on Check your file, then Next.
• Allow the access, entering the QB admin password and then click Next.

The scan time of QB File Doctor depends on your company file size and might even take 10-15 minutes. The scan may states its unsuccessful even if the issues are fixed. Once the scan finishes, launch QB and open your company file.

Resolve network issues with QuickBooks File Doctor test results

The QuickBooks File Doctor tool is designed to recover damaged company files and help you identify and address common network or hosting issues. Check the results below after using File Doctor and learn how to resolve them.

Below are the different sections of each test result and how to resolve them; let’s begin.

1. Hosting mode is off

If hosting mode is disabled, you will eventually fail to host the company file on the network. Follow the steps below to ensure that hosting mode is enabled on the server computer:

Note: The main or server computer hosts your company file; other computers are connected. Thus, you must enable the hosting only on the server.

• Launch QuickBooks on your server computer.
• Choose File from the top menu bar.
• Hit on Switch to multi-user mode to enable the hosting.

Now, check each of your workstations and repeat the above steps:

• Launch QuickBooks on your server computer.
• Choose File from the top menu bar.
• If the option is, Switch to single-user mode; don’t select it.

• Move to the next workstation, and if the option is Switch to multi-user mode, select it.

2. Folder containing the file is not writable or is not shared

Sometimes, the folder holding your company file does not have the right set of permissions to share with other users over the network.

Proceed with the below steps to set up a folder and Windows access permissions to share company files:

a. Setting up the folder permissions

Let’s set the QuickBooks file folder permissions correctly to ensure that the company file can be shared on a multi-user network:

Verify that permissions are set correctly

• Launch the Windows Start menu on your computer.
• Find the QuickBooks company file folder and right-click on it. Select Properties.
• Choose Advanced from the Security tab.
• Click on QBDataServiceUserXX then select Edit.
• Configure the following settings to Allowed:
• – Traverse Folder/Execute File – List Folder/Read Data – Read Attributes – Read Extended Attributes – Create Files/Write Data – Create Folders/Append Data – Write Attributes – Write Extended Attributes – Read Permissions

If the permissions aren’t set correctly:

• Locate the QuickBooks company file folder and right-click on it. Choose Properties.
• Click on Security and then Edit.
• Select QBDataServiceUserXX, then hit on Full Control, Allow.
• Choose Apply and click OK.

Change folder permissions

In case you want to adjust the file folder permissions:

• Open the Windows Start menu and search for File Explorer.
• Hit Enter to open it.
• Find the below company file folder and right-click on each: – C:\Program Data\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v8 – C:\Program Data\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v6.0 – C:\Program Data\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v5 – C:\Program Data\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v3 – C:\Program Data\Intuit\Entitlement Client – C:\Program Data\Intuit\QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions X.0 (X = version) or C:\Program Data\Intuit\QuickBooks 20XX (XX = year) – C:\Program Data\COMMON FILES\INTUIT – C:\Program Data\COMMON FILES\INTUIT\QUICKBOOKS – C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\FAMXX (XX = year) – C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files – C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Sample Company Files\QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions X.0 (X = version) or C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Sample Company Files\QuickBooks 20XX (XX = year)

Now, follow the steps below for each file folder. Keep in mind that you may not have all the folders, as some folders are version-specific.

• Right-click on the folder and choose Properties from the drop-down.
• Move to the Security tab and select Everyone.

Note: If you can’t find the Everyone option in the Group or User Name checkbox, select Add and type in Everyone. Then select OK

• Choose Full Control and click on Apply. The, select OK.

b. Set Windows access permissions to share company files

You must ensure that QuickBooks has the right set of permissions to prevent issues in the future when hosting or working with your company files over the network on Windows.

• Launch the Windows Start menu, type File Explorer and then hit Enter.
• Locate the QB company file folder and right-click on it.
• Choose Properties, click on Sharing and then Share Add.
• Find and select the corresponding version of QBDataServiceUserXX.
• Now, set the permission level of both users to Full Control and choose Share.

3. No network connectivity

Ensure to have at least one working TCP/IP adapter and the host-name of the local computer is resolvable.

4. Run IPConfig

The IPConfig tools verifies the TCP/IP configuration of your computer and helps to troubleshoot problems using QuickBooks on a network.

The most common IPConfig commands are:

Command	Descriptions
ipconfig	basic TCP/IP information
ipconfig /all	detailed TCP/IP information
ipconfig /renew	Renew the IPv4 address for all network adapters
ipconfig /release	Release the IPv4 address for all network adapters

To run ipconfig:

• Click on the Windows Start button.
• In the search field, type CMD and hit the Enter key.
• This will open the Command Prompt.
• Type ipconfig and press the Enter key.
• For more information on IPConfig, type ipconfig /? at the command prompt or you can also visit port.microsoft.com,Microsoft.com is not an Intuit website.

5. QBCFMonitorService/QBDBMgrN not running or Firewall is Blocking QuickBooks

You may fail to host your company file or encounter network errors if the firewall blocks internet access for specific QuickBooks programs or files. Updating the Windows Firewall to the latest release may also resolve the issue or you must configure the exceptions and ports needed for your Windows Firewall.

a. QBCFMonitor Service not running:

• Configure the firewall settings to allow the 8019 port for running tools and QuickBooks applications on the server and workstations.
• Check and ensure that hosting is enabled on the server computer.
• Ping the server, as it must be successful for a successful connection between the client and the server.

b. QBDBMgrN not running:

• Configure the Windows Firewall to open the dynamic database port for QuickBooks File Doctor and all other QB applications and tools. You should configure all client computers and your server.
• Make sure you have turned on hosting on the server.
• Ensure you can ping the server with IP and host-name on the server and all client computers.

Summary

Often, company file issues and network connectivity problems can hinder your operations, display unknown errors on your screen, and even cause potential data damage or failure to host the company file. Above, we explained how QuickBooks File Doctor will help you identify and resolve the problem and how to deal with network issues while hosting.

If the above steps seem challenging or require professional assistance, connecting with technical or QB professionals is advisable. Dial +1-866-500-0076 now to connect with a QuickBooks ProAdvisor!