Can't install any version of Quickbooks on Terminal Server 2008

Wow... that's what I was afraid of... any workarounds?

As with all of Intuit's software and their OS compatibility problems, there's not really any way to solve the problem. I haven't tried running the setup program in compatibility mode for Server 2003 - but even doing that, I would say there's only a slight chance it will work properly and correctly.

I think on this one, if you don't want to mess around and corrupt the server too much with various installs of the software, we're going to have to wait for Intuit to sort the issue before we can do any more. No doubt only Quickbooks 2009 will support it though!

-tigermatt

How do you run Quickbooks install in Server 2003 compatibility mode when installing int for Terminal Server under the Add/Remove setup?

You would have to go to the EXE on the CD-Rom or network share and set the compatibility from there. I've not tried it myself though, so I doubt it will even work.

Ok, so then all I have to do is right-click on the setup.exe and set it to 2003 compatibility, right? I might have already tried that and it didn't work... It's been about 2 months since I've looked at this. Any other ideas?

Thanks for all your input.

Apart from compatibility - which probably won't work, although it's worth a shot - I don't think there's anything else you can do. You might want to contact Intuit and see what they have to say ;-)

We have it installed and running perfectly, once installed it needed an little tweeking but didn't have any install problems.

I assume you've made sure the box has all users logged off, you're logged on as a full Admin ?
What other software do you have installed on there ?
Just run the setup off the install CD.

Glo-Networks: I'm about to install QB2008 on terminal server and am wondering what 'tweaks' you needed to do.  Any helpful tid bits on the installation and increasing performance would be much appreciated.

Hey there Glo-Networks, I'm sure 2008 will work (since Intuit says 2008 and above will work...) but I was hoping to get 2007 (2006, 2005, 2004 & 2003) to work with TS 2008. Have you tried this setup?

Anyone?

This type of problem is almost always DEP.  Have you tried turning on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only?  Goto Control Panel > System and select Advanced system settings.  Under Performance, click settings, select the Data Execution Prevention tab and select the top radio button.  Restart the server and give it a try.

I have successfully installed QB Pro 2007 on clean installation of Server 2008 standard.
1. Log on as an administrator, I strongly recommend logging on as THE administrator.
2. You should be able to navigate to the CD and run the installer.
Before you run Quickbooks for the first time, you need to turn off the Internet Explorer enhanced security configuration.
Now, you can start quickbooks.
I did not have to play with DEP settings at all.

www.sbsdiva.com has posts on how to get QB up and running under TS desktop and App Modes.
Philip

As a follow up to my previous comment, I am using this in the Terminal Server environment (remote administration mode). The only problem so far is with sending anything by email--I currently only have it working when logged in as THE adminstrator.

Thanks for the replies everyone, But as I stated before, I had no problem with QuickBooks 2007/2008/2009 it's QuickBooks 2006 and older that I'm having a problem with. I just came back from a seminar and there was a Server 2008 "guru" who swore you could publish an app form a Terminal Server 2003 to a Terminal Server 2008 install via remoteapps. I've tried to research this, but the only thing I found was how to publish the apps list from another TS, but not the actual program.

This sounds like a complete change from the original question. This is the first I've read about publishing apps accross server platforms, and your last clarification stated you needed assistance with Quickbooks 2007. If I've misunderstood the question, I'm sorry.

Looking back at my original question, I can see that I didn't clarify my question very well. QB 2007,2008, 2009 work fine. QB 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 didn't want to install whatsoever.

OK, I may not be able to help, then.
This may seem like a silly questions, but why would you need older versions of QB to work on your server? The data files will automatically convert to the version you open them with--do you have clients that still access their QB files with these older versions that you must preserve the data files in that format?

Our problem is that we "officially" only support current year (2009) plus two (2008, 2007)... but a lot of our clients still use the older programs and they don't feel that they need to spend $200 dollars and upgrade. And as you know, the client/customer is always right! ;)

Jerry,
If I get you correctly, you are RUNNING QB on the SERVER?!? That is logged on as a domain admin to do book keeping?
Wow!
Um, I don't think so as this goes against every security practice ... please read the Security recommendations on the SBS 03 To Do list ... it states very clearly: Do not use the server as a workstation!
Philip

M,
You are a CPA firm or the like?
How many users need access to the older versions of QB?
You can setup a server with the Hyper-V role installed and configured, then install as many XP Pro desktops (FPP for licensing) as needed to run discreet desktop sessions that users can access via the Remote Web Workplace.
We support a number of CPA firms with setups like this and they love it. TS is a kettle of worms when it comes to QB.
Philip

Philip,

No, they run it under their own credentials in an RDP session... I've thought about just keeping the TS 2003 as is... the whole point to this was that I didn't want to have to install any instances of QB or Peachtree and allow them to run it in a RemoteApp session.

M,
Yes, I understood that you were working on a dedicated TS solution.
My point was in reference to Gerry's post above where he indicates that QB is on the SBS box and being used in that manner. The only way to do that is to give the users domain admin level permissions ... a big no-no.
Philip

I've given each user "power user" rights on the stand alone TS server (which is not a SBS or Domain server) and then I modified the rights to the "Intuit" folder and all the folders underneath and have given them Full Rights to these folders and on the TS2003 server everything works fine... but now that 2008 has RemoteApps, I wanted to "publish" these apps along with the older QB apps, instead of publishing an entire desktop, RemoteApps should have a smaller memory footprint.

Yes, have a look at the www.sbsdiva.com blog as Susan has TSApps specific information for QB.
I have not had the time to run through the process from start to finish yet, or we would have a post on our own blog about it ... and be able to provide you with more info!
It is high on the priority list as we plan on publishing our own QB08/09 via the Remote Web Workplace and TS Apps via a second server. Note that publishing via TSApps is on SBS 08, not SBS 03 as the RWW in SBS 08 is setup in such a way as to take advantage of TSApps on Win2K8 Server.
Philip

Philip: I do not have Quickbooks running on a SBS server, nor as a domain administrator.--I reviewed my previous posts; I'm not sure what gave you that impression. As for logging in as administrator, this is only to send out batch emails, not for regular use. I also foresee this as a very temporary solution, not permanent.

Gerry ... I misread it ... my apologies ... for some reason I got stuck on the post mentioning the e-mail not being able to fire off from the server ... and for some reason I hooked onto SBS ... bad brain day. :(
Again, my apologies!
Philip

Just in case anyone wanted the actual blog links from Susan's blog here they are:

QUICKBOOKS 2008's database manager on Windows Server 2008 (aka SBS 2008)
 - http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/06/07/quickbooks-2008-s-database-manager-on-windows-server-2008-aka-sbs-2008.aspx

Installing Quickbooks on Server 2008 for TS remote apps -  http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/09/04/installing-quickbooks-on-server-2008-for-ts-remote-apps.aspx

So I guess we can't install QB 2006 and older on a TS 2008 machine.

Very unlikely without a whole whack of hacks ...
Philip

What kind of "hacks" do you think I could attempt?

If you really want to get into that ... look into QuickBooks' Knowledgebase on installing 06 and older on Windows Vista. Susan has some info on that too on her blog.
It is not pretty, and may cause more problems than they solve.
If you absolutely need access to the older versions, get yourself a copy of Windows XP Pro retail and install it into a VM. Install the legacy QB into the VM. Put the VM on one of the powerful desktops on your domain and fire it up whenever it is needed.
You would domain join the VM and install A/V just as you would a regular machine. Once the VM is fired up and minimized on the workstation it is hosted on, you can use RDP to connect to it anywhere in the network or via the Remote Web Workplace in SBS.
Philip

We decided (for Vista Compatibility - which also applies to Server 2008 - it being the core of Vista) to purchase QB 2008 last year.  If you are running QB 2007 or 2006, I'd recommend spending the money.  It's not really that much.  Also - QB continues to march forward and new releases offer new features as well as greatly improved security.  For PICS compliance alone (if you use credit cards), you should upgrade.

No problem installing QB2008 on Server 2008.  Now to figure out how to publish it as a TSApp into RWW on SBS 2008 Premium!  (my next post)

Aaron

Thanks for the info everyone... but the reason I wanted to "remoteapp" the older programs is that way I wouldn't have to install/uninstall the older versions all the time... we always purchase multiple licenses of the newest version of QB... but the problem is that our clients do not! :) We still quite a bit of our clients on QB03-06...

You could purchase Vista Software Assurance on Open Value with a three year spread payment option.
SA gives you the ability to install 4 VMs (Vista and XP) on your workstation.

Add Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and a new feature coming down the pipe is the ability to put a QB05 icon on the desktop for the user to click on. They do so and a VIRTUALIZED QB05 runs on their system.

Vista SA + MDOP per desktop needed is very inexpensive = ~$85/year/desktop on Open Value Spread Payment.

Philip

"MPECSInc. quote:Add Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and a new feature coming down the pipe is the ability to put a QB05 icon on the desktop for the user to click on. They do so and a VIRTUALIZED QB05 runs on their system."

This sounds promising!!! Do you have any more info on this "feature coming down the pipe"?

It sounds like it won't run the entire virtualized "workstation," just the virtualized "app" installed on the virtualized workstation... am I reading this right?

Yes, you are right. The app is essentially virtualized along the lines of what Parallels can do on the Mac.

We are MDOP subscribers, and have not seen the virtualization app yet. It was announced to us at the MS Partner Program event this last week. A note has been sent to an MS contact connected to Vista and MDOP. When we hear back, I will post the info here.

Philip

You can actualy publish pretty much any application to a desk top right now using Windows 2008. Windows 2008 has a program called TS RemoteApp Manager and that effectlively creates an RDP to the server but hides everything bar the application your sending.

So effectly you put a QB shortcut on the desktops for your users but install nothing on their PCs. It's all run from a TS server but they don't know or care about that as it looks like it' coming off their PC like a normal App. We have had it working for QB 2008 and QB 2006.

Of course you can also use Microsoft Application Virtualization (Softgrid) to do the same thing. All these products are out there right now and work.

MPECSInc: Thanks a bunch!

Glo-Networks: That's exactly how I had everything running... but my problem was just getting QB2003-2006 installed... as soon as I would run the .exe or even the .msi it wouldn't do anything... it would just sit there.

The problem does not just exist for 2006. QB2007 does not load either. I have a 2008TS in which I am trying to load QB2007 single user so I can publish the app. It gets to the "starting services" and fails. I guees I am off to buy QB2008 too.

Anyone know of a free app to "push" out apps or maybe to visualize apps? I know Altiris has something but it seems a bit difficult to setup.

We installed QB 2009 Enterprise on an SBS 2008 server a couple weeks back.  It's had no problems.  I heard that QB 2009 Ent is the only version supported on Server 08.

Well, I guess it's a lost cause... Thanks anyhow..

There is no solution... Thanks.

Maybe I missed it someplace, but does everyone realize that QB Enterprise Solutions is the ONLY version of QuickBooks that actually support terminal service?!

That may be true, but on our two MS 2K3 R2 TS machines I'm running QB2003-QB2009 without any issues.