Floating host problem again - qbteachmt can you provide additional info to resolve?

US QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions : 9.0: Standard

Floating host problem again. See the original question and response by qbteachmt at: http://community.intuit.com/posts/client-machine-being-accidentally-set-up-as-host-anyone-else-seeing-this

I have looked at the F2 screen as qbteachmt suggested. My Host PC with data base manager says hosting "local files only". The client machines say hosting if OFF.

If we have a power outage and when the power comes back on and I have not logged into my PC and opened QB's - a client PC can open QB's. I try to open QB's and I get a -6000, -80 error and I know we have a problem. The first PC to open QB's appears to become a floating host. We need to prevent this from happening.

qbtechmt also mentioned hosting listed on the F2 key could be hosting local files only, hosting OFF or Hosting for the company file that is opened.

To prevent a floating host, what should the PC hosting QB's show when viewing the F2 key? If it is the wrong setting how do I correct it?

Is there some sort of Admin account setting that will prevent client PC's becoming a floating host?

What is wrong in our setup that premits a client PC to become a floating host and how do I prevent this from happening every time we have a power outage and the host PC goes down for a short period of time?

Mary1838

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qbteachmt

Allstar, Accountant Community AllStar

06/24/11 11:26am PDT

Hi. I'm not a real networking guru but I can review a few of the considerations for you.

This likely is related to the computers that have QB installed in that they might also have the optional Host App installed, too.

So, for Hosting to occur at all, a computer is started. This computer either then opens QB or at startup the database manager app starts as a Service. This means this computer is ready to accept the Hosting responsibility.

If this computer is only running QB and opens the file, it has something I describe as First Ownership Rights. So, if it is hosting via QB, and that can be seen by looking at File menu > Utilities. If you see Host Multi-User, then this computer currently is not hosting this data file. If you see Stop Hosting, then this computer is hosting the data file.

If the system is set up correctly, and this computer is not supposed to be hosting, then this computer, when the file is opened on this computer as the first computer in the office using the file, this computer still should not be Hosting, so you should Stop Hosting. This would be true for each client computer, for each data file. I step through each combination and check everything.

The computer or server that is Hosting doesn't even need QB installed and never needs to open the company file, as the hosting is managed by the database manager app. But, if this hosting computer is a computer that also is used for QB as a client computer, it is the one that will be Hosting Local (I'm pretty sure this is how it shows). It still should host without QB needing to be open, though, because the App is supposed to run in the background and handle the file requests.

Here is what I set up:

Install only QB on each client computer.

Install both QB and the hosting app on the server or hosting computer.

I only install QB on the hosting computer so that occasionally I can run it and check for updates.

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Mary1638

Allstar

06/24/11 2:04pm PDT

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qbteachmt,

That is exactly how we have QB's set up. My PC is the host PC and it has QB's and the data base manager on it. I also work from this computer so it is showing host local files.

All client machines only have Qb's on them - not the data base manager. Presently all clients are also set up correctly.

The floating host problem seems to show up after we have a power outage. I normally leave my PC on at all times, but, I log off of the PC and the end of the day. When the power comes back up and a QB's client PC logs into QB's before I have an opportunity to log into Qb's - that is when I get the (-6000,-80) and I know there is a problem. The software seems to allow a client PC to become the floating host after the power has been restored.

I will double check to see if when any of the client PCs were set up if the person setting up the client PC may have accidentally also loaded the data base manager on the PC - I don't think so - but, can I scan each client PC to look for this file - just in case this might have happened?

Mary1638

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