ATX Software lockups

[jasdlm]

Anyone else having problems?  It's becoming almost unusable.  Constantly 'could not connect to the server' - 'try again' - the software freezes up or has a HUGE delay moving between fields.

I have restarted the software, restarted the machine, prayed to the tax software Gods, and done a 'connectivity ceremonial dance'.

Any other suggestions?  My software is up to date, but is there a separate patch or something I'm missing?

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

Mine has been working fine all season. Maybe it has something to do with your antivirus. I am sorry that you are having these problems. This is a really crappy time to have these problems.

[Lee B]

Make sure that ATX and all related files are excluded from scrutiny by both your firewall and probably your security program,

especially if you are running one of the large security suites. Minimize the number of programs that you have running in the background,

especially the ones that automatically run when your system boots up. ATX is a real system hog, so you need to create as much room as possible!

[Margaret CPA in OH]

So sorry, jasdim!  Like NECPA, mine has been fine so far.  Well, there is that miscalculation in the health care expense deduction in the Ohio return that has been known and reported (but not to us!) for some time, grrrr.... But no other problems here.  Check your task manager.  Maybe that will pinpoint the issue.  And this is assuming you have LOTS of ram, latest chip, all that jazz.  Maybe you missed a few dance steps, too.  Or maybe call for tech support and see if they or your local tech guru can remote in and check.  So sorry, hope it gets better soon.

[Yardley CPA]

3 hours ago, jasdlm said:

I have restarted the software, restarted the machine, prayed to the tax software Gods, and done a 'connectivity ceremonial dance'.

 

Consider not dancing anymore?  Maybe Software God's took offense to it?   

[FDNY]

I assume you did the restart of services for all years on your computer 

[jasdlm]

58 minutes ago, FDNY said:

I assume you did the restart of services for all years on your computer 

Thanks so much to each of you for the help and levity!  I'm not certain I know what 'restart of services for all years' means.  Does that just mean restarting ATX for the years I'm using?

[Abby Normal]

Well, when you reboot your computer these services are all restarted anyway, but you restart them in Windows Task Manager in Control Panel Services.

Speaking of task manager, keep it running so you can see which programs or hardware (CPU, Memory, Disk) are causing the slow performance. You can sort by CPU usage, memory usage or disk usage so the programs are sorted by whichever us using the most of that resource.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Yes, what I said - task manager.  Report back later, inquiring (nosy, caring) minds want to know!

[Loretta Francis]

12 hours ago, jasdlm said:

Anyone else having problems?  It's becoming almost unusable.  Constantly 'could not connect to the server' - 'try again' - the software freezes up or has a HUGE delay moving between fields.

I have restarted the software, restarted the machine, prayed to the tax software Gods, and done a 'connectivity ceremonial dance'.

Any other suggestions?  My software is up to date, but is there a separate patch or something I'm missing?

I am having the same issues.  Frequently getting  a message  program has encounted an error and has to shut down. Accessing a client takes a long time. It seems to be stuck in a cycle and then finally opens the return, This is a brand new PC using Windows 10 with nothing else on it except the tax program and Microsoft office. 

I haven't prayed to the gods yet but it does make me nervous.

[MarlonH]

I get the 'could not connect to the server' message too.  About one day a week, often lasts all day.  Rebooting occasionally resolves it.  And if opening any years prior to 2019, more often than not I can't get in the software for the same reasons.  I am also occasionally getting the encountered an error and must shut down message.

[Abby Normal]

Newbies need to learn that you should close ATX after every return. If you have a good computer, closing and restarting ATX should only take 15-20 seconds.

I sometimes close ATX in the middle of large returns because I can feel it slowing down.

[Pacun]

Install more memory on your computer... it seems you might need 32G or buy a new computer with at least 16G.

 

[rscpa]

On 4/13/2021 at 8:36 AM, Abby Normal said:

Newbies need to learn that you should close ATX after every return. If you have a good computer, closing and restarting ATX should only take 15-20 seconds.

I sometimes close ATX in the middle of large returns because I can feel it slowing down.

This is bull, the point is we shouldn't have to do this.  Have a new machine, all software up to date .  64g of ram, had ATX install the large whatever file and still crashes 25 times a day.  Even if the memory for ATX is at 800mb, you go to print and goes over 1000 and bam crashes.    Takes longer than 15-20 seconds to reboot ATX and enter login info.  I do not have it remember the user name for security purposes...

[Abby Normal]

3 minutes ago, rscpa said:

we shouldn't have to do this

It's part of the bargain. If you like the software enough, you'll learn to live with it. If you can't live with it, find other software. Complaining on forums might make you feel better but it's not going to fix anything.

If you want it to not crash while printing, close it before printing. Or print only to PDF first like many of us do.

Search this forum for installing Large Address Aware instructions. It does help.

This problem has existed for almost 10 years and the likelihood of it being fixed anytime soon is nil.

[Pacun]

52 minutes ago, rscpa said:

This is bull, the point is we shouldn't have to do this.  Have a new machine, all software up to date .  64g of ram, had ATX install the large whatever file and still crashes 25 times a day.  Even if the memory for ATX is at 800mb, you go to print and goes over 1000 and bam crashes.    Takes longer than 15-20 seconds to reboot ATX and enter login info.  I do not have it remember the user name for security purposes...

Most of us have a decent computer and it crashes a few times a month. In my case, it has solid state hard drive, 16G of RAM and this is my work machine. I don't play games or watch cool videos that my friends send me. I don't allow programs to stay resident and I don't have cool screen savers or other cool programs that are not needed for my work.

If ATX would have programming errors, then most of us would suffer more than you because not all of us have 65G of RAM... not even half.

Remember also that the default printer, its driver, its age, its memory, it firmware update, the connectivity between your computer and the printer, and its manufacturer have something to do with this crashes.

 

[Randall]

I don't know why this person is having so many problems.  There must be something unique going on.  Like others, I haven't had this problem.  Only once in a while with large print jobs.  But nothing like previous years.  The software is a little slow but I think that's because it is a spreadsheet based program or that's what I've heard.

[Lee B]

This is all related to ATX choosing a shareware database which was not suited to this kind of program,

when they did a total rewrite of ATX 9 years ago.

[Lee B]

1 minute ago, Randall said:

I don't know why this person is having so many problems.  There must be something unique going on.  Like others, I haven't had this problem.  Only once in a while with large print jobs.  But nothing like previous years.  The software is a little slow but I think that's because it is a spreadsheet based program or that's what I've heard.

The spreadsheet  program was the old program that CCH inherited when they bought ATX, which ran really well!

[jasdlm]

20 minutes ago, Randall said:

I don't know why this person is having so many problems.  There must be something unique going on.  Like others, I haven't had this problem.  Only once in a while with large print jobs.  But nothing like previous years.  The software is a little slow but I think that's because it is a spreadsheet based program or that's what I've heard.

I'm trying to figure out if I have some sort of configuration error or what could be going on.  I've used ATX since 2002.  I had problems in 2013 (we all did) and now this year.  I have a brand new Windows machine (set up by my tech people last fall), and I'm running ATX on my local server.  I have 8 licenses (I'm the only preparer, but I have people who do data entry, checking, etc.).  I'm restarting multiple times/day, closing the software often, and trying to minimize other uses of the computer (let's face it, sometimes one has to be in QB and ATX at the same time), and I'm struggling with the time suck.  When I restart, for example, it takes several minutes to open and then to populate the Return Manager and Rollover Manager screens.  SEVERAL minutes.  Grrr.  I have special tech talents.

[Abby Normal]

2 hours ago, Pacun said:

Remember also that the default printer, its driver, its age, its memory, it firmware update, the connectivity between your computer and the printer, and its manufacturer have something to do with this crashes

And printer utility software that comes with printers should never be installed. If you buy a new printer, just connect it to your computer and let windows find it and install it.

[Randall]

1 hour ago, jasdlm said:

I'm trying to figure out if I have some sort of configuration error or what could be going on.  I've used ATX since 2002.  I had problems in 2013 (we all did) and now this year.  I have a brand new Windows machine (set up by my tech people last fall), and I'm running ATX on my local server.  I have 8 licenses (I'm the only preparer, but I have people who do data entry, checking, etc.).  I'm restarting multiple times/day, closing the software often, and trying to minimize other uses of the computer (let's face it, sometimes one has to be in QB and ATX at the same time), and I'm struggling with the time suck.  When I restart, for example, it takes several minutes to open and then to populate the Return Manager and Rollover Manager screens.  SEVERAL minutes.  Grrr.  I have special tech talents.

I'm sorry.  I have a new computer but I'm a stand alone.  So I don't have as much going on.

[Abby Normal]

Another important thing to do (and something IT techs often ignore) is turning off all that crap that runs automatically without asking you. There are several places to manage "Startup" programs in windows but the only way to see everything is to download and install Autoruns from Microsoft/Sysinternals.

I turn off all 'update' programs that run 24/7 in the background, and lots of other stuff that I don't need or use, including a lot of Google, Adobe, QuickBooks, GoToMeeting and even some Microsoft programs.

The leaner and meaner your machine, the better off you will be.