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Budget Friendly Bookkeeping
January 26, 2019
Question

Adding or Editing Rules Stalls or Freezes

  • January 26, 2019
  • 78 replies
  • 120 views

I am using my client's brand new Windows 10 4GB Laptop which doesn't show any speed issues.  I am also using QB Pro 2017.  My issue is with adding or editing rules.  I go off and do errands around the house while I'm waiting for the pop up window to appear.  During this time, running Task Manager doesn't show any significant signs of Memory, CPU or Hard Drive abuse.  At first I thought it was the 200+ auto created rules, so I deleted all of them except for the dozen or so I created.  I did change the COA to use numbers as well as some description names, which is why I thought it was stalling when I had all those auto entered rules.  However, if I'm adding a brand new rule, I can't see why my new COA would impact this.

 

Any ideas, as I'm charging this client by the hour and each entry isn't worth $875 per hour ;).

 

Thank you in advance as always.

    78 replies

    A
    Anonymous
    January 26, 2019

    Hello there, @Budget Friendly Bookkeeping.

     

    Let me help determine what's causing this unusual behavior in QuickBooks Pro. 

     

    First, let's try this process on your sample company file in QuickBooks to check if there's a freezing behavior when adding or editing rules. If you didn't encounter the same issue, then it's possible that this behavior may be caused by the following:

     

    • Your company name is too long.
    • Damaged or missing QBWUSER.INI file.
    • Corruption on your hard drive.
    • Damaged program files or QuickBooks Desktop installation.
    • Damaged Windows operating system.

    Let's try using the QuickBooks Diagnostic Tool to get this working. 

     

    Here's how:

     

    1. Download the QuickBooks Install DiagnosticTool.
    2. When prompted, save the file to the local Desktop.
    3. Close any open programs and run the QBInstall Tool.
    4. Restart the computer after running the tool to ensure the components are properly updated.

    If the issue persists, please refer to this article for other troubleshooting steps: QuickBooks Desktop won't open, has stopped working, or not responding.

     

    As always, you can contact our Desktop Support if you need help in going through the steps. They also have helpful tools that can isolate this issue further. 

     

    Here's how to get their contact information:

     

    1. Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
    2. Choose your QuickBooks Product.
    3. Select your QuickBooks Version.
    4. On the Contact Us page, click a topic.
    5. Click on the Get Phone Number button to see the support number.

    Let me know if you have other questions about adding rules in QuickBooks. I'm here to help however I can. Happy weekend. :)

      D
      DigitWizard
      New Member
      March 26, 2021

      Nonsense.  This happens regularly in QBD when editing rules, not creating them.  The first few are fine and then it slows to a crawl the more rules you edit.  Close the file and reopen it, and you can edit a few more before it slows again.  This is endemic with QB Desktop and happens on every file I work on right up to QB 2021 (the latest version).  Whatever the cause, it needs a fix

      J
      JoeAverage
      October 8, 2021

      I can help you fix the error you've encountered when trying to use your QuickBooks Desktop, @slicksds.

       

      To resolve this, let’s run the Verify and rebuild tools. The Verify Data will identify any data issues within your company file. Then, the Rebuild tool will self-resolve it. Check the steps below:

       

      Verify data:

      1. Go to File, then Utilities and choose Verify Data.

      If it will detect an error, proceed and Rebuild your data:

      1. Go back to File menu and then Utilities and select Rebuild Data.
      2. Choose OK if you’ll receive a message to back-up your company file.
      3. After creating the back-up file, the Rebuild Data utility will run automatically.
      4. Click OK when you get the message Rebuild has completed.

       

      For detailed guidance, see this article: Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop.

       

      You can also refer to the following article to help you resolve issues when trying to open QuickBooks Desktop: Solutions for when QuickBooks has stopped working. 

       

      You can leave a comment below if you need further assistance or help about your QuickBooks. Take care and have a wonderful week!


      Rebuilding does not fix this problem.

       

      This has been plaguing us for about a decade.

       

      This specific problem has cost Intuit much more in Sales than it would have spent in IT fixing it, they're just too stupid to get it.  I've told many prospective buyers to never consider Intuit specifically because of this single unacceptable painful wasteful "Adding or Editing Rules Stalls or Freezes" problem.  Why should we be spitting and cussing at our accounting software?  Because of one reason:  Intuit doesn't give a crap about the users of its software.  Once a sale is made, it's "Screw you".

      J
      jerseyshoretax
      June 21, 2019

      Just curious what is COA?

       

      J
      jbauman01
      July 24, 2019
      I rebuilt the file a few times and then restored from one of the back up files created during the rebuild things are moving faster now.
      Angelyn_T
      Angelyn_TModerator
      Moderator
      July 24, 2019

      Hello there, @jbauman01. 

       

      It's my pleasure to know that you're now able to get back to business and work things faster now by rebuilding your file.

       

      In case you'll encounter issues about QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) stop working/freezes in the future, you may also check these articles to resolve the issue: 

       

       

      Our doors are always open here on the Community page, stay posted if you have any other QuickBooks concerns. I'm just a post away to help.

      I
      ike4
      July 31, 2019
      THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE TO HAVE TO REBUILD A FILE EVERY TIME THIS HAPPENS WHICH IS EVERY MONTH.
        D
        DANZI
        August 21, 2020

        Problem still exist in QB Pro 2020

          AlexV
          AlexV
          Level 10
          August 21, 2020

          Good day, DANZI.

           

          Thanks for joining the thread.

           

          I understand that you'd like to resolve this issue. It's best to reach out to our Technical Team if none of the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this thread fixed it.

          1. Go to the Help menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
          2. Click the Contact Us button or the QuickBooks support hyperlink.

          I'll be here if you have other concerns. Wishing you all the best!

          D
          DANZI
          August 21, 2020

          I have been using QB for 20 years. In the past I helped the tech support for solving some of the problems. Let me tell you something the freeze is a Quick Book problem and not a computer or Operating systems problem.

          I suggest to intuit to work on fixing this problem otherwise they are going to lose many customers.  This freeze happen when you try import the .qbo files. I think they should work on the Rule list capability of exporting and importing the list to Excel or word or text file where some one will be able to do the editing in that tools or making the edit rule in quick book more flexible easy  where some can find and search and replace ... etc.

            J
            JayTurner3251
            November 10, 2021

            There is obviously a memory leak. Quickbooks is spending longer and longer looking for free memory to open the Edit Rule dialog. The immediate solution is to close and reopen the company file. However, Intuit can easily fix it. It is just a bug. There is no need to rewrite the program in a language that avoids memory leaks. 

            T
            ttonella
            November 27, 2021

            Has anyone come up with a solution to this yet?  It is literally driving me INSANE. I have hundreds of rules to edit and I can wait 1-3 minutes for each to open.  Because I'm using QBDT hosted on a cloud, opening and closing the application takes a long time.  I can't believe everyone using this - millions of users - aren't experience the same thing and beating down QB tech support for a fix!  

            J
            JayTurner3251
            November 10, 2021

            Correction. Need to close and reopen QuickBooks, not just the company file, to restore the free memory pool for use by Edit Rule

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