I can share some insights about this concern, @ironspirit.
Just to give you an idea, the two software work independently, so it doesn't matter whether the other version you have is active or inactive. They have completely different database and will work separately on its own.
With that being said, we will need to make sure we're able to resolve any issues that may cause the problem why your desktop version is not working. For now, I do recommend that you end the task for QBW32 then you run it as an administrator after. This will help launch QuickBooks in fresh state without other processes running in the background. Here's how to end te background process for QuickBooks Desktop.
- Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager.
- Go to the Background Processes section, and look for the QuickBooks logo.
- Select the QuickBooks processes one by one and click End process.
- Make sure only QuickBooks processes are ended and then close the Task Manager.
Once done, right-click the QuickBooks Desktop icon on your desktop, then select Run as Administrator. Try to run QuickBooks and see if it doesn't do the same behavior.
If it persists, use the steps from this article: Fix issues when QuickBooks has stopped working.
Please update this thread after trying out the troubleshooting. I need to know if the solutions have worked to fix this loading issue. Also, I'll be right here if you need anything else.