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The QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool is designed to troubleshoot networking and multi-user errors that can occur when you open a company file. If you’re experiencing H202, H505, or 6000 series errors, this tool can help.

Important: The QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool works only with computers running Microsoft Windows 7, WIndows Vista, or Windows XP with QuickBooks 2008 and newer or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 8.0 and newer. How do you know which version of QuickBooks you have?
The QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool is FREE to download and use. To help identify the source of network issues, first download, and then use the tool on the computer that stores the company file. This computer should have the QuickBooks Database Server Manager installed.

Instructions for downloading...


To download the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool:
  1. Close QuickBooks on the computer you want to use to run the tool.
  2. Enter your email address at the bottom of this page.
  3. Read the Terms and Conditions for downloading and using the tool, and then select the checkbox indicating your agreement.
    Note: You must agree to the Terms and Conditions before you can download and use the tool.
  4. Click the Download Tool button and save the Nettool.exe file to your desktop.
  5. Double-click the Nettool.exe file on your desktop to install the tool.
  6. Once the tool is installed, double click the QB Connection Diagnostic Tool icon on your desktop to run the tool.

Click the How to Use the Tool tab to learn how to use the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool and view a demo.

Email Address
I agree to the Terms and Conditions


Click the icon above to see a 4 minute demo of the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool.

Download and extract the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool, as explained on the Download the Tool tab. Double-click the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool icon to run the tool, and then complete the following troubleshooting steps.

Scan Folders tab

Important: The Scan Folders tab is available only when the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool is installed on a computer that has the QuickBooks Database Server installed.

Details...
If you run the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool on the server and there are only two tabs, the QuickBooks Database Server Manager is not installed. For the most stable hosting setup, Intuit recommends you install the QuickBooks Database Server Manager. If the company file is stored on the server and other computers access the file, you are running in Alternate Setup mode. Intuit does not recommend this setup because data damage and errors can occur. To install the QuickBooks Database Server Manager, open QuickBooks and choose File > Utilities > Host Multi-User Access.

To scan all folders on the server that is hosting the QuickBooks company file, and ensure that client computers can open the files:
  1. Click the Scan Folders tab.
  2. Click the Add Folder button to add all folders containing QuickBooks company files.
  3. Click the Scan button. If the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool finds damage in the QuickBooks Network Descriptor, it rewrites the file for you. The QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool also corrects or sets the permissions required for QuickBooks to operate in a multi-user environment.

    Note: The Network Descriptor file tracks the IP address of the computer that is hosting the company file, and whether it is in single-user or multi-user mode.

    More information...

    Two status fields appear for each file scanned: ND File Status and Permission Status. (The ND file is the QuickBooks Network Data file.)
    • A status of “Not Applicable” indicates that the ND File or the Permission check does not apply for that folder or file.
    • A status of “Success” indicates that the correct path or permission is already set for that folder or file and the tool did not make any changes.
    • A status of “ProblemFixed” indicates that either the ND File Path or the Permission was not set correctly for the folder or file and the tool fixed the problem.

      Scan folders tab 
Diagnose Connection tab

This tab lets you test the computer setup to ensure the company data file is accessible from a workstation, whether configured as single-user or multi-user. If permissions are not set correctly, or if firewalls or ports are blocked, errors can result.
 
Details...

The upper area of the tab displays basic system information.
  • The version of QuickBooks installed on the system. Note: If multiple versions are installed, the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool detects only one version.
  • Whether Multi-User Hosting is turned on.
  • Whether the TCP/IP protocol is enabled.
  • The total number of IP Addresses and Network Interfaces in use on the system.

    Diagnose Connection tab
 
The Firewall Status area displays basic information about the firewall.

Details...
  • If the Windows firewall status appears as “Enabled” in Blue, click the Open Ports button. This opens the required exceptions in Windows firewall that QuickBooks needs opened. Note: This opens the Windows firewall only. It does not affect any third party software. Contact your third party software company directly for support.
  • If the Windows firewall status appears as “Exceptions already configured” in Green, the required exceptions are already opened.

    firewalls
  • The second status item indicates whether a third-party firewall is detected. Currently, the QuickBooks Connection Diagnostic Tool can detect only the following third-party firewalls: Norton, McAfee, Zone Alarm, and Trend Micro.

The Test Connectivity area lets you test your computer's connectivity.

Details...

To test your computer's connectivity:
  1. Click the button next to the Company File field to locate your company file.
  2. Linux systems only If the network setup is in Alternate mode, select the Change Hosting Server checkbox.

    Note: Before you run the connectivity test, all statuses appear as “Not Applicable” in Blue.

    Test Connectivity

    After you run the test, the statuses appear in Green (no problem detected) or Red (problem detected).
  3. Click the Test Connectivity button once to test all five statuses at the same time.
  4. If the File Open Status appears in Red indicating that the test failed, the Advanced section will expand to display all areas that were checked. Click the What do these mean? link to learn more about the problem and what to do next. Note: You can also click the Interpreting the connectivity results link below to see the same information.
  5. When you have fixed the appropriate statuses, run the tool again to see if there are any additional problems.
  6. When the File Open Status: Successful message appears on the server, repeat steps 1 through 5 on each client computer that has QuickBooks installed

Note: The View Log tab displays the contents of the log file, which records unforeseen conditions, errors, and QuickBooks messages. The log file does not record Windows errors, or errors from other applications.
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