Don't update, condense, or rebuild a data file over the network. When you perform major data file operations across the network, the tasks take an exceptionally long time, and sometimes fail. You should not perform these operations from a remote computer. Instead, either open QuickBooks on the computer that holds the file and perform the tasks at that computer, or copy the file to your own computer. Use the following guidelines before performing a major operation on any data file. Let other users in a multi-user environment know the file will not be available for a while. If anyone is using the data file, ask them to close the file. Make a backup of the data file before beginning the task. Copying the File to Your Own Computer Locate the data file, which has a file extension .QBW. If the folder in which the data file resides is a mapped drive on your computer, open My Computer and double-click the Mapped Drive to display the contents of the folder. In a Windows Workgroup, open My Network Places, select View Workgroup Computers in the left pane of the window, and double-click the computer that holds the data file folder. Double-click the shared folder that holds the QuickBooks 2006 data files to display the contents of the folder. In a Windows Domain, open My Network Places, select Entire Network, and double-click the computer that holds the data file folder. Double-click the shared folder that holds the QuickBooks 2006 data files to display the contents of the folder. Right-click the data file, and choose Copy. (See the section "Changing the Original Filename" to learn how to change the filename so that no users can use this file while you're working on it on your own computer.) On your own computer, open My Computer and navigate to the folder you want to use to hold the copy of the data file (you can use the local hard drive). Right-click the folder (or drive) icon, and choose Paste. The file is now available on your own computer, where you can run the utility safely. Running the Utility Open QuickBooks on your computer, open the file you copied to your computer, and run the utility. Never cancel any of these utilities (rebuild, update, or condense) once they have started. Even when you are rebuilding, updating, or condensing your data file on your local hard disk, the process may take some time, especially if your data file is large. It is important that you let the utility complete. Even if Task Manager shows the QuickBooks program as Not Responding, the QuickBooks program is probably still working, and canceling the utility can cause unrecoverable data damage to your file. Changing the Original Filename If any user opens the file on the original computer, the work that user does will be lost when you copy the file to its original location, because the file you copy back after you're finished your work overwrites the existing copy of the file. Also, if the file is open and in use, Windows will not let you copy the file back. If you're comfortable working with filenames in Windows, you can make sure users do not open the file while you're working on its copy on your own computer by changing the filename extension as follows: After you Paste the file in a drive or folder on your own computer, return to the file's listing on the remote computer in My Network Places. Select (highlight) the file. Press F2 to put the filename in Edit mode. Press the RightArrow key to move your cursor to the end of the filename (the highlighting disappears, so you can edit any individual characters in the filename). Press the Backspace key once to delete the last letter of the file extension (the "W" in .QBW). Enter another character to replace the W in the file extension (it's common to use a number, such as "1"). Press the Enter key to save the new filename extension. Windows displays a warning about changing filename extensions; click Yes to confirm your change. A user who tries to open the file from the Open Previous Company command, or opens QuickBooks expecting to see the file because it was the file in use when QuickBooks was closed, sees an error message that the file is not available. A user who selects File | Open Company won't see the company listed in the Open A Company dialog, because only files with appropriate QuickBooks filename extensions are displayed in the dialog. Copying the File Back to the Original Location After you finish working on the file on your own computer, choose File | Close Company to close the file. If you closed My Network Places, use the steps in the previous section to navigate to the folder on the remote computer that holds the original file. If you changed the filename extension, change it back to .QBW. This ensures that when you copy the file from your computer to its original folder on the remote computer, you will be warned that you're overwriting a file, and you won't have an extra oddly-named file located on the remote computer. On your own computer, right-click the listing for the file and choose Copy. Move to the folder on the remote computer that holds the original file (in the My Network Places window). Right-click on any blank spot in the folder and choose Paste. Windows will ask if you're sure you want to replace the existing file. Click Yes to replace the file with the file you worked on. Notify other users that the file is now available.