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gerdgoebel
June 2, 2026
Question

QBD 2020 - Getting error: Verify has detected a problem that prevents backup from continuing.

  • June 2, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 34 views

I am still using QBD 2020 Prem

I have QB running on a W11 Pro VM using Parallels on a Mac. The DB is stored in a Mac folder.

I wanted to move my QBD R17 to a new W11 VM, got everything installed, everything works, but when I now try to backup my database I get this error "Verify has detected a problem that prevents backup from continuing." and the backup does not finish.

I went back to the old VM, opened QB there and tried the backup, but now get the same error as well.

There are no additional error messages.

I ran a rebuild, the backup finished, but then I still get the error that verify has detected a problem, but the result screen shows no issues found.

After I use QB every day I have to assume something happened after creating the new VM. The old VM was no active at the same time..

Any idea what I can do to find out what the error and and how to resolve it?

Thanks for you help in advance.

Gerd

2 replies

JenoP
JenoPQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
June 2, 2026

This can happen if your QuickBooks Windows application is running inside a Parallels Virtual Machine while your data file is stored natively on the Mac. This forces QuickBooks to access the file over a virtual network share.

 

Please note that QuickBooks 2020 is already an unsupported version of the software. Because of that, it is increasingly prone to these types of environment-driven technical glitches.

 

To check if this is a data file corruption or a Parallels configuration or pathway issue, test it entirely within the Windows ecosystem. Here's how:

 

  1. Open the Mac Finder and locate your QuickBooks company file (.QBW).
  2. Copy the file, then paste it directly onto the Windows 11 desktop (inside the VM environment, ensuring it's on the local C: drive).
  3. Open QuickBooks inside the VM.
  4. Go to File, choose Open or Restore Company, and then select the copy from your Windows desktop.
  5. Create the backup now.

 

If the backup succeeds, your data file is completely healthy. The error is purely caused by the program reacting to the file being hosted on the Mac filesystem over the Parallels network.

 

In this case, you can create a portable company file. QuickBooks uses less strict file-structure verification when creating a portable file than it does for a full backup.

 

Then, restore the file and overwrite/rename the file back into your Mac folder.

 

Let me know if you have other questions. We're always here to help.

G
gerdgoebelAuthor
June 2, 2026

First of all, I have this running on my Mac for years without any problems. And since yesterday there were no Mac OS nor W11 updates. On the Mac I am on Tahoe 26.5, on Windows I am on 25H2 with latest security patches.

Yesterday, I imported our daily sales transactions, did the backup with Quicker Verification, then the backup completed without any errors, and I closed QB.

I have several backups of the QB database on external SSD. 

I copied yesterday's database to the Windows desktop, opened it, started the backup with quicker verification, but get the same error here as well. 

This is now on the old VM that I have used yesterday and the days before.

I get the same error as before. Then I restored a QB backup from last week, did immediately a new backup with quick verification and did NOT get the error.

Just now I restored the QB database from yesterday to the Mac folder I always use (on the new VM), the restore went find, and an immediate backup with quick verification was done without any errors.

At the moment I have no idea why I got this error, thinking about it had something to do with the new VM, or with me not logging onto my QB account, but QB is at least running again.

I now do yesterday's sales transactions from our store again (like I did this morning), then see if the new backup works correctly.

G
gerdgoebelAuthor
June 2, 2026

I just imported yesterday's sales transactions, did a backup and it finished without any problems.

The only thing different on the new VM was the Saasant Importer. I had downloaded the latest version, it sure worked correctly doing my various imports, but then I got the error I posted.

I have replaced the Saasant Importer with the previous version (the one I had on the old VM), and todays imports were done with the older importer.

I don't want to speculate, as the Saasant importer is a very reliable app and I have used it for many years. If it would have anything to do with the error, then I should not have gotten the error after copying yesterdays database from my external SSD back (just with copy/paste, which I have done often as well).

 

SIAB
SIAB
Level 2
June 2, 2026

@gerdgoebel 

Install the trial version of QB Desktop 2020 Enterprise or QB Desktop 2021 Pro to isolate the problem.

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