Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Got an "Unexpected Error Program Needs to Close" but instead of clicking Ok I clicked on the 'x' to close the message and the program DID NOT CLOSE! I was able to save my work. I closed and restarted the program to be safe. 5 Quote
RitaB Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 I've been clicking on that "x," too, cause dang it, I need to work more than the program needs to close. 5 Quote
jasdlm Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 This is very good to know, because I have lost major work twice to this 'error'. I have not messed with the autosave settings. I can't remember how to set the time to 5 minutes. The last time I lost something, the last restore was 3 hours old. Quote
Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Posted March 13, 2015 I have my Autosave set to 15 minutes but I press Ctrl+S after every W2 and whenever I switch forms. It's a habit I developed working with spreadsheets and word processors decades ago. This is why I hate that annoying message so much! The one you get after efing the extension. GRRRRrrrrr. 4 Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Computers here stay on 24/7. Each morning each workstation is rebooted. At lunch time, each workstation is rebooted. Late shift reboots at dinner break. This works around many of the system resource hogging problem of the tax program. Does not eliminate all, but has reduced major issues by 95%. If the program and computer are doing something very strange, FIRST step is to close all programs and reboot. This is a Windows problem that has existed since WIN95. This has been a public service announcement. 5 Quote
HV Ken Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Not convinced this is just a windows problem, Jack. Recently one day I logged each activity (open return, print, generate e-file, etc.) interacting with ATX and recorded the memory from the task manager at the conclusion of the task. With each activity, the memory footprint got bigger and bigger. When it gets to about 1,200,000 K, the program will crash and burn. It appears ATX has some memory leaks remaining. Quote
kcjenkins Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 I will double up on Jack's Message! For those of us in small or one person offices, especially, every time YOU take a break, REBOOT. It is amazing how much today's software keeps 'running in the background' with the aim of making changes back and forth faster. But they eat resources, and tax software, [ALL TAX SOFTWARE] requires a lot of resources. Rebooting closes all those lingering pieces of other activity, and the tax programs always run faster after a reboot. As Jack said, it is a Windows problem that has existed since WIN95. 2 Quote
Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Posted March 13, 2015 I have a program that blocks installs from creating programs that start automatically. it pops up and asks whether I want to allow it. I rarely do. I also check the Startup programs using Windows Task Manager, CCleaner, a startup control panel item I installed, and one other program I can't recall at the moment. Auto-starting programs are a plague on computers. QuickBooks is one of the worst offenders. Grab these while you still can: https://web.archive.org/web/20131106030702/http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml https://web.archive.org/web/20131105052937/http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml They still work fine in Win8. 2 Quote
Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Posted March 13, 2015 This is very good to know, because I have lost major work twice to this 'error'. I have not messed with the autosave settings. I can't remember how to set the time to 5 minutes. The last time I lost something, the last restore was 3 hours old. It creates a backup every time you close a client. I tell my employees to close large returns that take more than 30 minutes to do, every 20-30 minutes to make incremental backups. Close it if you take a break. Close it if you get interrupted by a call or a drop by. 1 Quote
Margaret CPA in OH Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 jmdaviscpa, do those programs (which look good) work on Win 7? They both say up to XP. Quote
Catherine Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Thank you jmdavidcpa! I have been looking for a startup tweaking program. I detest things running in the background; I am willing to wait the extra seconds when I want a program, as long as it doesn't choke my machine running in stealth mode. 3 Quote
Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Posted March 13, 2015 jmdaviscpa, do those programs (which look good) work on Win 7? They both say up to XP. I only have 7 on a personal laptop and I can't remember if I installed them or not, but if they work on 8, they should work on 7. I would use compatibility mode. Quote
Abby Normal Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Posted March 13, 2015 Thank you jmdavidcpa! I have been looking for a startup tweaking program. I detest things running in the background; I am willing to wait the extra seconds when I want a program, as long as it doesn't choke my machine running in stealth mode. You are welcome! Happy computing! 1 Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Not convinced this is just a windows problem, Jack. Recently one day I logged each activity (open return, print, generate e-file, etc.) interacting with ATX and recorded the memory from the task manager at the conclusion of the task. With each activity, the memory footprint got bigger and bigger. When it gets to about 1,200,000 K, the program will crash and burn. It appears ATX has some memory leaks remaining. The "memory leaks" would not be a problem except for this Windows trait. Quote
HV Ken Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 The "memory leaks" would not be a problem except for this Windows trait. As a programmer in a previous life (not windows), memory leaks are a problem regardless of the operating system! Quote
kcjenkins Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Hey, let's not get distracted here. Point is not why it happens, point is how to reduce the problem. Quote
jasdlm Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Is it possible for me to manually set my autosave to every 5 minutes? I know I did last year. I think Jack told me how, but I can't seem to figure it out this year. 1 Quote
Carolbeck Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Is it possible for me to manually set my autosave to every 5 minutes? I know I did last year. I think Jack told me how, but I can't seem to figure it out this year. Yes you can, it is in your ATX Preferences. Options, Preferences, Open Return, Auto-Save. Sorry my Chrome will not let me "Snip" and Paste the screen shot. Hope this helps! 3 Quote
TaxAlmighty Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 The "memory leaks" would not be a problem except for this Windows trait. or if they built the program to be less memory intensive. Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted March 13, 2015 Report Posted March 13, 2015 Hey, let's not get distracted here. Point is not why it happens, point is how to reduce the problem. Posted already... Take the advice or ignore it. It WORKS. Computers here stay on 24/7. Each morning each workstation is rebooted. At lunch time, each workstation is rebooted. Late shift reboots at dinner break. This works around many of the system resource hogging problem of the tax program. Does not eliminate all, but has reduced major issues by 95%. If the program and computer are doing something very strange, FIRST step is to close all programs and reboot. This is a Windows problem that has existed since WIN95. This has been a public service announcement. Quote
rfassett Posted March 14, 2015 Report Posted March 14, 2015 From a user perspective - not a programmer - re-booting, for whatever reason, as Jack points out, takes care of a myriad of issues. I reboot my workstation twice a day - first thing and again when I change venue and start working remote late afternoon. It has handled nearly all of my memory, well, my computer's memory, issues. On a completely separate note, and not to highjack this thread, but I have an issue on my server that started with the 2012 program and it has to do with the Raven database. Something is backing up every couple of minutes to the C drive on my server. It does not take long (about a week or less) to cause a space issue on the server. I have to go into the c drive in the windows folder and then the system 32 folder and then the backup folder and then the database folder then select all and delete everything there. This frees up about 8g on my c drive on the server. Again, I do this, actually multiple times a week. Any thoughts? Again, keep in mind my computer knowledge is limited. 2 Quote
Jack from Ohio Posted March 14, 2015 Report Posted March 14, 2015 From a user perspective - not a programmer - re-booting, for whatever reason, as Jack points out, takes care of a myriad of issues. I reboot my workstation twice a day - first thing and again when I change venue and start working remote late afternoon. It has handled nearly all of my memory, well, my computer's memory, issues. On a completely separate note, and not to highjack this thread, but I have an issue on my server that started with the 2012 program and it has to do with the Raven database. Something is backing up every couple of minutes to the C drive on my server. It does not take long (about a week or less) to cause a space issue on the server. I have to go into the c drive in the windows folder and then the system 32 folder and then the backup folder and then the database folder then select all and delete everything there. This frees up about 8g on my c drive on the server. Again, I do this, actually multiple times a week. Any thoughts? Again, keep in mind my computer knowledge is limited. Delete the 2013 beta test version you installed. Quote
rfassett Posted March 14, 2015 Report Posted March 14, 2015 Delete the 2013 beta test version you installed. I did not install the beta test version, Quote
Catherine Posted March 14, 2015 Report Posted March 14, 2015 There are some anti-virus programs that keep a running tally of everything they do and they bog down machines quickly. Kaspersky is a known miscreant in this regard. AVG to a lesser extent. Quote
Lee B Posted March 14, 2015 Report Posted March 14, 2015 From a user perspective - not a programmer - re-booting, for whatever reason, as Jack points out, takes care of a myriad of issues. I reboot my workstation twice a day - first thing and again when I change venue and start working remote late afternoon. It has handled nearly all of my memory, well, my computer's memory, issues. On a completely separate note, and not to highjack this thread, but I have an issue on my server that started with the 2012 program and it has to do with the Raven database. Something is backing up every couple of minutes to the C drive on my server. It does not take long (about a week or less) to cause a space issue on the server. I have to go into the c drive in the windows folder and then the system 32 folder and then the backup folder and then the database folder then select all and delete everything there. This frees up about 8g on my c drive on the server. Again, I do this, actually multiple times a week. Any thoughts? Again, keep in mind my computer knowledge is limited. I believe I remember a thread about this problem back in January ? Quote
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