ProSeries Basic 2020 not creating recovery data file

[wrightlj]

I'm having a problem with ProSeries Basic 2020 and wondering if anyone else has seen this.  

Saturday, I open a return and work on it, all seems fine.  I do other things on the computer, later I go to bed and the next morning, my laptop has rebooted (update or it just feels like it).

Today, I open ProSeries again, no recovery data file is offered AND all the data I entered is gone.  

I've checked in my options and Save every 2 minutes is checked.

Note:  this same thing happened last year.

Any thoughts?  Thank you in advance!

Laura

[Matt C]

Hi @wrightlj , are you saving the return at the end of the day? 

If you saved successfully, and the file has been lost when you wake up, it sounds like something outside of ProSeries is modifying your files.

Another potential issue is that you are working on a copy of the return. In your HomeBase, if you scroll all the way to the right, does the return's file path match what you expect? Do you see rows with the same client name, but with different file paths?

If you continue to see this issue, you may want to back up your files at the end of the day so you won't lose any work.

[wrightlj]

Hi Matt -

Thanks for responding.

I appreciate your suggestions but, under Tools, Options, General, about mid-way down, the user chooses how often ProSeries is supposed to save to Automatic Recovery.  I chose 2 minutes.  I've had it set in the past to as much as 10 minutes but set it to 2 last year on the advice of a tech support person at ProSeries.

There are no duplicate files, and no wonky paths.  Yes, I have saved successfully.  There's no rhyme or reason to this failure as far as I can see.

I've used ProSeries tax software since the late 80s and last year is the first time this has happened to me.  Last year it happened on business returns, and this year, so far, it's on a 1040.  I think something's up on the ProSeries end. There were a lot of changes and upgrades to the software between tax year 2018 and 2019.  Many of us needed to upgrade our equipment to accommodate those changes.

I work out of my home and there's not really an end of day for me.  Things happen and I'm away from the desk unexpectedly fairly frequently.  I might start work at the crack of dawn, or work until after midnight.  I agree that intentional saving of the file manually is a way to avoid this, but I shouldn't have to.  The software is set up to do it for me every 2 minutes, and if something more drastic happens, at next opening the software is supposed to, and has always, offered me a choice to either recover or discard a file that was closed unexpectedly.  My email saves to draft every few minutes.  Microsoft Office auto-saves documents seamlessly, as does every other good quality software package that I can think of.  

I see that you're an employee.  Do you think I'm the only customer who has reported this happening, either this year or last?  Can you put me in touch with someone who might be familiar with this bug?  Or look it up?  Or refer to my call last year about this same issue?  

Thank you.

[Matt C]

Sure thing @wrightlj. I can only imagine how frustrating this is, so I really appreciate your patience explaining your problem to me.

Thank you for checking for other files / paths - always good to rule this out.

Yes, you are 100% correct about the expected behavior with the recovery file; you should not have to manually save the file. That said, I highly recommend you do so while we investigate the issue so you do not lose work going forward. 

I suspect the environment changes must have something to do with the issue, as we have not touched this feature in years. 

Where is your ProSeries installation located? Can you provide the full path here?

Do you have write access to the entire installation folder?

Have you seen this issue happen often? Or is it the first time this season?

We will investigate, but my guess is that it will take some time given that I'm not able to reproduce it easily, and I have not heard of others having this problem. Thank you for your patience, and for letting us know about the issue.

[wrightlj]

Matt,

I'll tell you what I can.  Your questions are in bold italics:

Where is your ProSeries installation located?   I'm using a Microsoft Surface 3 Laptop with Windows 10.  ProSeries is on my C drive in BasWin20.

Can you provide the full path here?   C:\BasWin20\32bit\protax20.exe

Do you have write access to the entire installation folder?   I'm not sure I know how to answer that.  I don't have any reason to believe I don't, but ???  I guess I have whatever access customers normally have.

Have you seen this issue happen often? Or is it the first time this season?  Last year, when it was happening in the business returns, it was several times, but didn't happen every time.  This year, this was the first instance, discovered this morning.  Once was enough, so when it happened this morning, I asked for help.  Life (and tax season) is too short for this kind of worry!  So, this year, too, it doesn't happen every time - to test it, I put in some dummy figures, and closed the program after 2 minutes (when auto-save should occur) through Task Manager and when I started again, it did offer a recovery file.   Then I closed it again before 2 minutes, and upon starting again, it offered me a recovery file.  Apparently, I can't reproduce it either. 

I will make every effort to train my brain to save every 5 minutes or so and whenever I step away.  I'm glad you agree that I shouldn't have to do this, and I appreciate you trying to find out what's wrong.

Thank you.

[Matt C]

Thank you very much for all that information.

Unfortunately the bug is a slippery one, so we're going to need to add additional logging / troubleshooting info, and take another look when it happens again.

Data loss is a BIG concern for us, so we will definitely keep an eye on this one.

[wrightlj]

Matt,

Sigh.  Your response doesn't give me much hope.

Where does the additional logging/troubleshooting info come from?   It sounds like I'm on my own.

I did find my notes from my interactions with the tech support person last year, on/around 2/13/20.

I can photo these notes and forward to you if you'll give me an email address to send them to you.  

Most of it is entering data, close program, opened, data gone  or same steps and the data was there.  

And: Entered data, Ctrl-S, restarted computer, opened PS, data gone.

These were in the Business 1065 program.

So, where does that leave me, other than chronically nervous?  

Laura

[Matt C]

Additional logging / troubleshooting info is something we would develop - which would go out in a future release, which would eventually make its way back to us for analysis. I didn't mean to say you are on your own - just that it would take some time (and you will have to bear with the issue during that time unfortunately). 

Yes, that would be very helpful. Please send any relevant info to proseries_engineering@intuit.com . Please include your username in the email so it's easy to tie the email to you. 

While you are it, can you open ProSeries (TY20), and under the menu, do Help > Send Logs, and email us the zip file as well?

The issue you're referring to actually sounds like a different issue, though it is probably related. I will investigate as soon as I get your email.

As painful as this may be for you, I recommend you take routine backups of your client files to minimize the damage for now. No need for anything too complicated or expensive: copy pasting your client files to a USB drive should suffice. Even just copying the client files to another directory on the same machine might help. 

[wrightlj]

Matt,

I've just sent you an email with the notes from last year.  

Subject line reads:  user ID @wrightlj

Thank you for whatever you can do.

Laura

[EdgeCPA]

We started having this issue a few weeks ago....just lost a big file that we spent a LOT of time on and now I have to redo it and I told them I'd have it to the client tonight (we are in TX and the deadline is on Tuesday). NOT HAPPY. 

[wrightlj]

EdgeCPA - I sympathize, and I'm very glad someone has finally acknowledged that this happened to them, too.  I knew I wasn't the only one - thank you.  Anyone who experiences it, even once, needs to report it and insist on a constructive response.  

Last year, and this year, it happened to me only in the beginning of my tax work - first few weeks - after over 30 years of reliable file saving. 

Last year, the solution seemed to come after I reinstalled the software.  This year, I didn't reinstall, but it resolved anyway.  Makes me think the solution lies somewhere in the updates we have to apply during the season.  Does an update coincidentally fix it, or do they know about it, find a solution, pack it with other updates, and just not admit it?

It's difficult, in addition to the extra work needed, because when trust is broken, it doesn't bounce back easily.  Intuit ProSeries/ProSeries Basic needs to spend some time working on it.    Depending on the data file affected, for the preparer, it can either be an inconvenience, or it can be a serious setback.  It could cause a late return, and it could cause a loss of trust in us by our clients.  

I don't know if anyone is watching this thread, but maybe you should create a separate post about it to ensure you get some attention.  

Good luck!

Laura