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Level 1

13 points

Desktop GONE.

I had 4 - 4.5 gigs free. I had a few applications open. I started up Quickbooks. It said there was an update. But that it couldn't download because my disk was full. I immediately checked my finder and I thought I saw the "available space" number blink but wasn't sure - it said I had about two gigs free. I quit a bunch of apps thinking that memory was filling up my disk space. Then I noticed that my Desktop was blank.

I normally have a ton of junk on my Desktop. I pulled open a finder window. Desktop was gone from the sidebar. I went to my home directory and looked. Desktop was gone as a directory. Nothing in my Trash.

I logged out and logged back in. Desktop gone.

I restarted. Desktop gone. Now I have over 5.5 gigs free.

Any way to get this back at all? I have a backup but it's not recent enough to get everything back; desktop is kinda my dumping ground.

And why, why, why did this happen? It's highly unsettling. It could have been any other directory on my computer, most of which are much more valuable.

Macbook 2ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Dec 15, 2007 10:52 PM

121 replies

Dec 16, 2007 7:14 PM in response to tangrams

QB 2006 for me too.

Dec 16, 2007 7:16 PM in response to cgriffith17

I am using Quickbooks Pro 2006 v8.0.3 R4 for the Mac.

pcgs

Level 1

8 points

Dec 16, 2007 7:27 PM in response to NeilShapiro

I just tried your workaround Neil and it worked like a charm. I can't believe that I actually backed up using backup yesterday. I don't always do that so this is going to work fine for me. When I got the message that my drive was full, even though I saw that I had room, of course I went in and threw a bunch of things away and emptied my trash, etc. So now I can restore what I lost, however going to wait a bit since you never know what the fix will bring. I may just get the original files back unless they really were destroyed. But I'm not convinced on that issue just yet.

Thanks again.

beatejl

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 7:43 PM in response to jamesjames

Not good enough. I had same issue this morning about 2AM.
When I got message I clicked "cancel" but it deleted my desktop anyway...
Yep, a weeks worth of work - gone. (and many other things)

BTW- I've tried every utility I had and nothing recovers the files. It's like the updater just zapped 'em. I don't have much faith that anyone can come up with a solution. I think the data is gone for good.

beatejl

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:00 PM in response to NovemberBaby

It's a QB 2006 issue.

acallen

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:03 PM in response to tangrams

We should mark this day as "Intuit Gate". I am a victim. Same deal. Only diff is I did the update on purpose so I could be a more responsible business owner ... TM not hooked up yet and just purchased a drive before the incident.

LA Woman

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:13 PM in response to tangrams

OK same issue here QB. I took my laptop into the Genius Bar today. They ran diagnostics but could not find anything and suggested I reinstall QB. They had no answer for the missing files on the desktop other than to search for them. HA HA. I ended up buying QB2007 instead of reinstalling the old version. When I installed it had the same issue regarding not connected to the internet.

However, I cannot do anything with the desktop. I cannot create new folders, move trash files to the desktop or move any files to the desktop. Everything shows a lock icon when trying to move over to the desktop. It also erased my background and put up a default one. Anyone else notice these issues?

Unfortunately my desktop files were temps and foolish me no backups. But nothing real important. But I want my desktop back anyway but it's totally locked up.

Janice C

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:27 PM in response to LA Woman

Same issues: QuickBooksPro 6.0 on Mac, all items deleted from desktop, desktop inaccessible/can't use.

I am tired of being jerked around by Intuit and its half-assed Mac products. With only two weeks to a new fiscal year, I am so ready to switch programs.

Can anyone recommend a small business bookkeeping and time tracking program for Macs that will import 10 years' worth of timesheet data from QuickBooksPro?

Dec 16, 2007 8:27 PM in response to NovemberBaby

QB Pro 2006 here, too.

acallen

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:28 PM in response to tangrams

I thought if mac users have a forum so should QB users. Check this thread out.

http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/webx/forums/mac/1907

This is getting interesting. Either there is a fix or we are screwed...

drbeckmd

Level 1

5 points

Dec 16, 2007 8:57 PM in response to acallen

same exact problem, 2006, 10.4.11 hosed desktop, no ability to stop or disable feature, and no update needed as I have r4 installed already. Lost all my desktop files. We have to sue them.

Dec 16, 2007 10:26 PM in response to tangrams

I'm not sure why no one else has picked up on this..

This reeks of a Trojan Horse virus....or...

Some disgruntled idiot at Intuit may have thought it would be really funny if they left a little "calling card" in the latest update (maybe sometime before they quit) that would go in and alter the users Desktop Folder. If there was no new update available, then it was imbedded into the program itself on the previous update or during the initial writing of the software. I'd lean more towards the last update.

vtec2007

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2007 10:46 PM in response to tangrams

I wish I found this earlier, but I did try dam hard to find the files. Earlier today a new client called me that they lost there quickbooks database and entire desktop folder on two computers.. hmm..
I assumed it was quickbooks update, but after this I post I can now verify the same issues.

before I knew I tried all this. I thought at first it was a hard drive issue nope.. next checked permissions... nope... next used diskwarrior on these computer using target disk mode... nope. dam.. what next o.k. .. listed entire file system then grep it.. nope. can't find those dam desktop files. no backups.. oh no..

what next.. I feel really bad for this business. Anybody recommend a raw data file recovery utility ?
oh and both systems where on tiger os x. one laptop and one desktop --

-Vt

pcgs

Level 1

8 points

Dec 16, 2007 11:03 PM in response to tangrams

Hey everybody, I know this is frustrating but I want to encourage you to watch that link at Intuit that was posted earlier in this thread.

<http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/webx/forums/mac/1907>

There is now a post from an Intuit employee. Misguided as she is to type the entire post in all caps, she promises that this issue will be addressed tomorrow as they have nobody who works their forum on the weekend. Registration is free. I just joined because they want to get feedback from users. I'm going to post my info there now. I encourage you to do the same.

So don't give up hope. Get some sleep and lets see what we find on the Intuit forum tomorrow afternoon.

Dec 16, 2007 11:03 PM in response to tangrams

I, too, experienced the Great Desktop Destruction of 2007. I submitted a bug on the Intuit website and got a phone response in about 90 seconds. The operator said it affects QB 2006 and 2007. QB 2008 isn't out yet or it'd probably affect that, too. For what it's worth, this is a nasty bug and Intuit should have a fix soon.

Thanks, Neil, for the work-around!

Wrt recovery, lots 'o luck. I repeated it several times and the files are gone, not even in the Trash. Now may not be the best time to mention it, but I make a compete backup with SuperDuper to an external driver every night, so I didn't lose anything permanently.

Desktop GONE.