Filesize is 1GB - Quickbooks failed to open after server reboot; required restore from backup. Best ways to shrink the file?

I-Already-Had-A-Username · ‎August 03, 2021

We're running Quickbooks Enterprise (pro service) 21.

I've been worried about our file size for a while now. We're just about to crest 1GB. Is the built in Condense Data utility good enough to get it back to a manageable size? Other details: (Total Transactions: 299,634); (Total Targets: 671,299); (Total Names:55,380) We don't use payroll, timesheets, inventory, billing, etc.

A long story follows...looking for input on whether file size could be the cause for these maladies or if I need to look elsewhere.

Friday night I rebooted our server (Windows 2012) to install server patches. Usually I'm smart about making sure nobody's in the file and to take a manual backup. This time I was lazy and did neither of these things. When the server came up, Quickbooks refused to open the data file and gave error code -6010 -100. Couldn't find anything on this out there. File doctor would error out, database server manager said there were no files, bad times. I rebooted the server a second time and the data file was completely gone. I had a backup from 1PM that afternoon, which I was able to restore, but not without more effort. File doctor still found problems with it. If the file was opened in Single User Mode first, it could not be switched to Mutli User Mode. It would give errors relating to the file being on another computer, and to run the database server manager. Funny thing is that I was opening it directly from the server. The file then could not be re-opened. Had to restore from backup again and take care to open it in Multi User. So now I'm scared to death of anything that would necessitate rebooting the server, or our accounting staff needing to use Single User Mode.

katherinejoyceO · ‎August 03, 2021

Hello there, @I-Already-Had-A-Username.

Thanks for sharing detailed information on your concerns. I appreciate all the troubleshooting steps you've performed to fix the error.

At this point, let's perform the different solutions found in this link: Unrecoverable Error: General Troubleshooting Steps. Follow the steps attached depending on the scenario that you encountered.

For future reference, use the Condense Data tool to streamline your company data file.

Feel free to message again if you need further help. I'd be glad to get back and offer more options.

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎August 03, 2021

@I-Already-Had-A-Username

The Enterprise version was designed to handle a much larger data file. We have many clients running
smoothly to date with data files over 1 GB. You should run the Verify/Rebuild Data and Condense Data utility.

As an additional option, consider purchasing a 3rd party file optimization service. Company files larger than 500 MB need to be optimized every 6-12 months to ensure they run at top performance. There is no internal functionality in QB Desktop to optimize the company file other than running a condense. Our optimize operation will copy all data into a new data file, remove unwanted temporary data, and audit trail data to bring down file size by 25-40%. This will improve the performance and stability of the data file.

I-Already-Had-A-Username · ‎August 18, 2021

@Fiat Lux - ASIA wrote:
@I-Already-Had-A-Username
The Enterprise version was designed to handle a much larger data file. We have many clients running
smoothly to date with data files over 1 GB. You should run the Verify/Rebuild Data and Condense Data utility.

As an additional option, consider purchasing a 3rd party file optimization service. Company files larger than 500 MB need to be optimized every 6-12 months to ensure they run at top performance. There is no internal functionality in QB Desktop to optimize the company file other than running a condense. Our optimize operation will copy all data into a new data file, remove unwanted temporary data, and audit trail data to bring down file size by 25-40%. This will improve the performance and stability of the data file.

Fiat - Thank you for the information. Do you know of any resource that vets or recommends these third-party services?

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎August 18, 2021

@I-Already-Had-A-Username

Check our profile name and send your business email address in a private message to us.

Topics

Training

Community

Resources

Filesize is 1GB - Quickbooks failed to open after server reboot; required restore from backup. Best ways to shrink the file?