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That... doesn't seem correct. But I've never left ATX, so I can't speak from experience. I do, however know that the ATX database resides on your computer, so all of your information should still be there. I'd run the database repair files, first.

If she has the full database, I'm almost certain that she can reinstall that year's ATX and it will work. If she just has exports or ATX backups, it will not work.

Hello all, We've had some (very few, but more than zero) issues where database tables have crashed during times of heavy load on the server. These load spikes are usually related to other sites that I'm responsible for that happen to share resources with the ATX Community. These haven't been significant issues, and in fact have been very easy to resolve when they arise, but it does cause brief downtime on the Forum. So, in the interest of constant improvement, I would like to move the ATX Community to its own server (VPS) with its own dedicated resources. There are other server configuration changes/challenges that I'll tackle at the same time. Because this is the only forum I maintain, I am less experienced with performance tuning for this software than, say, more standard website content management systems. All that to say, I am expecting it to be a slightly bumpy transition but with improved speed and stability in the long term. There might be as much as one or two days of downtime followed by intermittent hiccups until everything is smoothed out. I'm aiming for mid-May to get this work done, but there is no hurry on my end. If there are business reasons to put it off longer, please speak up! Thanks!

Both good points. Even in a situation where the site is cached for logged out users, the TTL would be set to a low value, likely to an hour or less, so they would still see almost all of the most recent content. Then, after that period of time, the cache expires and the next hit generates a fresh copy. It would go a long way to dealing with all of the bot activity that the site sees. Every hit from one of those bots is processed like any other, which generates multiple database queries. Serving them a static file would be tremendously more efficient. In any case, I'll know more once the move is complete, and I've had time to work on the server/software configuration for a little while. There's a reasonable chance we'll be able to get away without the caching layer at all.

Oddly, I can't find the ATX Database Repair batch files for 2022 or 2023. In the past you could edit the batch file for the most recent year, and change the year in the script, but I'm left wondering if ATX has another database repair method now.

Tom, I did an advanced search on this forum for "database" specifically posted by Joe. See if any of these helps: https://www.atxcommunity.com/search/?&q=database&quick=1&author=Abby Normal&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy The link is safe to click. It will take you only to the search results within this site.

I use Backblaze. It's fast, works well and it's reasonably priced. But I've heard that a database like ATX might be unusable when using an online backup because of the way both databases and online backups work. Some online service have a separate database backup option.

@Abby Normal Any chance you can give me a primer on how to stop and start the database? In my defense, it has been 3 years. Tom Longview, TX

Hey there, I’m trying to open ATX 2017, however, I’m unable to get it open. I keep getting a Database Server Error that reads “Unable to self-repair the database. Prior status was attempting self-repair”. The UDP Server started, as did the Web Server. The SlidingWindow Server however, is stuck on starting. Also get BackupRestore Server, which is just stopped, and also saying the error message “Database not available”. Any ideas on how to fix this?

ATX has had memory leaks ever since the program was rewritten with a shareware database called "Raven" back in 2011, sometimes referred to as the "2012 Debacle".

I use LibreOffice and have for over 10 years, used to use OpenOffice but when they announced it would no longer be updated I made the switch. They are both open source programs and based upon an old Sun Microsystem program. I just use the Writer and Calc programs which open Word and Excel files but it has a database and other programs included. Years ago on an MS Office upgrade they wouldn't allow you to open certain file types - LibreOffice would do it so I made the switch. Also, Libre will open .numbers files I believe in case a client is using Apple. LibreOffice does everything I want except customized labels on pie-charts. I like to be able to manually move the label and it use a line to direct to the wedge - Libre doesn't allow that. I find it FAR superior to Google Sheets but my wife uses Sheets and says it's better than it used to be.

Are you looking online, or do you have the actual document? Around here, a lot of the older records (and yes, in many towns 1999 counts as "older" for records) the online database transactions are recorded with dates and names but no prices.

Yes. ATX is a database and the server must have the ATX software installed to make the database available to other users (AFAIK). And the other users will might need to point to the new database if the location is not identical.

Upon starting ATX 2017, I get a database server error that prevents the program from opening. All my services for 2016, 2017, and 2018 are running. 2018 and payroll work fine. This happened out of the blue. Tried rebooting, etc. Any ideas before I go to support?

If clicking on Browse doesn't show your database, you'll need to reinstall or run the database repair batch file. Does ATX even have the 2022 batch file up yet?

Article on multiple news sites today: "The Marriott International hotel chain said on Friday that the database of its Starwood reservation system had been hacked and that the personal details of up to 500 million guests going as far back as 2014 had been compromised. The hotel group, which runs more than 6,700 properties around the world, was informed in September about an attempt to access the database, and an investigation this month revealed that unauthorized access had been made on or before Sept. 10, Marriott said in a statement. The hotel chain said that personal details including names, addresses, dates of birth, passport numbers, email addresses and phone numbers for hundreds of millions of guests may have been compromised. The investigation found that “there had been unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014,” and an “unauthorized party had copied and encrypted information, and took steps toward removing it,” the statement said. Hackers also obtained encrypted credit-card information for some customers, but it was unclear if the hackers would be able to use those payment details. Marriott said it wasn’t sure how many passport numbers and dates of birth were stolen but said that it was a “subset” of the larger number of affected consumers. The hack affects customers who made reservations for Starwood hotel brands from 2014 to September of this year. The properties include Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, Four Points, Aloft, Meridien, Tribute, Design Hotels, Elements and the Luxury Collection." The hackers seem to be winning. Saw an article a day or two ago that said during 2017 one out of every 6 personal bank accounts had at least one fraudulent incident during the year.

Greetings group - Forgive the naive question here, but.... Bought a new PC this offseason and about to install ATX2018. I'm a solo office and install the program as "standalone" not on a server. I read this article and watched the video... https://support.cch.com/kb/solution.aspx/000048812 Is the process the same for standalone installs? The article/video mentions stopping the ATX service/server on both the old and new PC. But I don't have ATX installed yet on the new PC. I'm really just wanting to be able to rollover returning client data. A bit confused and appreciate any insight. Thanks! AF

IRS can do the matching after the return is filed (assuming they have the manpower to do so). But going back to Sara, how are WE supposed to know when we are preparing the return? Will our software be pre-loaded to disallow the e-filing because they have the same database as the IRS? Maybe so, but that's asking a lot of the tax software.

Does AICPA keep a public database? Does the IRS keep a public PTIN database?

I called IRS PPL this morning to work on a client representation issue. I filed the POA with the CAF unit in 2012. I have been working with this client for years, and had multiple contacts with the IRS on their account. In 2015, we got an installment agreement. This week, the IRS sent a notice that they need a new 433-F, and they need it in 10 days (of course they do!). So I call PPL to ask for an extension because my client is recovering from major surgery. They don't have my POA on file. Literally, I have had at least 15 contacts with the IRS on this client and they all could see my POA when I called. Until today. So I send an e-fax with the POA's, and of course, e-fax comes back with an unsuccessful transmission due to line busy after 15 minutes on the line. IRS said call back when your fax machine works. Sucks to be me today. This is the third client that I have had to re-send my POA over for, and all of them are clients that I sent in the forms to the CAF unit. I don't understand why my POA's are disappearing from the database. This happening to anyone else? Tom Modesto, CA

Copy your data first. Don't use ATX backups or exports. Copy the ENTIRE DATABASE FOLDERS. Then when you install ATX, it will see the database and not try to create a new database. This will work flawlessly most of the time. If not ATX has database repair batch files you can download and run. If you search this forum, you'll see my post from January of 20(?) where we moved all years of ATX to a new Win10 computer, and I provided step by step instructions.

We really need an IRS site to look up the Name Control in their computers. It's stupid that they make us guess what they have. I had several trusts I couldn't efile for name control rejection for years, and finally the IRS fixed the name in their computers and we were finally able to efile. I kept putting the reason for paper filing as the IRS has an error in the name control database, and I guess someone finally took a look and fixed it.

I have ATX 2012 - 2016. They all have always been working fine in the past. I have windows 10 and recently just added a separate admin profile and a user profile on the computer. After doing so I came across the database server error. When I try to open ATX 2016 or 2015, the server progress box comes up saying database server error. "Could not open transactional storage: C:/ProgramData/CCH Small Firm Services\ATX 2016 Server\DataStore\Data" This keeps coming up and I've tried everything and it doesn't seem to work. Like I mentioned before, everything was working before I decided to add a admin and a user profile on the computer. I just don't see how that would effect it. I tried opening them as admin and it still doesn't work. Any suggestions?

This Corp was established last year. LLC filing as a C Corp. Got a letter from the IRS about 2 months ago that the return electronically filed last year could not be processed because the 8832 was not included with initial return. Had the client re-submit the 8832. Trying to file the 7004 for 2022 and I get this error that I think is related to the 8832 not being processed yet by the service. F7004-904-01Federal Extension Form 7004, the tax year ending date ('TaxPeriodEndDt' specified in the Return Header) must match the data in the e-file database unless one of the checkboxes in Line 5b - "Initial Return", "Final Return" or "Consolidated return to be filed" is checked. Is there some way to fix this? Client needs to make a 10K estimate payment. Can I have them mail in the 7004 with a check and hope it all works out by the time I file the return? Thanks Tom Longview, TX

New client with a duplex. He has done his own taxes for years (first mistake) and doesn't think he ever took depreciation on the rental portion of the building. He made extensive renovations to the rental property in 2022 and those will be depreciated properly. The proper thing to do, maybe I think, is to file Form 3115 and claim the missed depreciation for the rental all in 2022. The issue of how to do that now gets tricky. The town does not have any useful information on the online assessor's database about split between land value and building value. The client may have a bill from the last year or so showing the current land/bldg value split. But he bought the property in the mid-70's, and there is no way to know if that % value split is roughly the same or wildly different. And all of this for a whopping $45,000 purchase price back in the 70's, for a duplex. Opinions? Figure half-and-half land/bldg value on the half of the duplex? That would mean a one-time correction of $11,250 for depreciation plus something trackable for the future instead of papers from a half-century ago gone for good. Or just ignore the whole thing under the heading of not inadvertently double-dipping on depreciation expense?