Dear Group, First off, thanks for being here to answer questions. I am a PC Technician that has been hired to help a customer setup QB 2006 for multiuser. I am also a QB pro 2006 user for my business.
The customer has a simple peer to peer network with 2 XP Home boxes. The desktop is where the data file is located and the laptop is where he is trying to connect in from. The desktop stores the data file in a shared folder that the laptop can read/write to with no problems. The user has, so far, been opening the data file on the desktop, selecting to be opened for multiuser, and then trying to connect from the laptop. On the laptop, he goes to file then open and then browses to the mapped drive (of the shared folder on the desktop) and tries to open the file (in non multiuser mode). When he tries this, it takes forever, then comes back with an error message on the laptop (i forget exactly what it says), then an error on the desktop that talks about losing connection to the file. He then closes QB on the desktop and reopens it to find that his data file is now corrupt.
My task is to help him get this running, so I have been searching the forums, downloaded the QB 2006 Network Installation Guide, and am now wanting to ask you a few questions.
Based on what I have read, I have a few questions:
- Is it possible to do multiuser networking with 2 XP Home machines? I read from another user that the machine with the data file has to have XP Pro (bare minimum).
- The network install guide on page 7 talks about user accounts. I am kind of confused because it says that each machine has to have a different username but that the main machine with the data file has to have the username from the 2nd machine added as an administrator (or poweruser). So if the desktop logged in as Bob, and the laptop logged in as Sue, I would just need to add the Sue account to the desktop, with the same password and all should work right?
- The network install guide also talks about passwords being essential (i think it was the install guide). Currently, the user doesnt have passwords on either of the machine's login accounts. When he turns them on, they go immediately into windows. I assume that a lack of passwords could be another problem he is having?
- Lastly, the Network install guide (page 6, #5) talks about having to configure QB to host files (opening in multiuser mode) and enabling the database server. Other than opening the file in multiuser mode (and checking that its hosting by pressing F2), do I need to do anything else to satisfy the "enabling the database server" it talks about?
Thanks so much for reading this post. Unfortunately, I only have (1) single licensed 2006 pro, so I can't test these solutions on my own off site in order to answer them for myself. Thanks again!
Andrew