QuickBooks can still delete data, Intuit warns

Financial software maker Intuit warned Mac users that a bug that could cause its small business accounting to erase files from the desktop arbitrarily is still present, at least from some public hot spot locations, according to a posting on the company's support discussion forums.

A recent update to QuickBooks was discovered to have a major flaw -- it erased files from the Mac's desktop. The company quickly issued a fix for the problem, but has since discovered that it can still happen under certain circumstances.

"We have determined that the prior bug re-manifests itself when QuickBooks Pro 2006 for Mac is initiated at public Internet hotspots and a redirection error occurs (for instance, when you are at a cafe that requires you to pay to use its services)," said Ian Vacin, offering leader of Intuit's Mac financial software in a posting to QuickBooks Web site discussion board.

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Financial software maker Intuit warned Mac users that a bug that could cause its small business accounting to erase files from the desktop arbitrarily is still present, at least from some public hot spot locations, according to a posting on the company's support discussion forums.

A recent update to QuickBooks was discovered to have a major flaw -- it erased files from the Mac's desktop. The company quickly issued a fix for the problem, but has since discovered that it can still happen under certain circumstances.

"We have determined that the prior bug re-manifests itself when QuickBooks Pro 2006 for Mac is initiated at public Internet hotspots and a redirection error occurs (for instance, when you are at a cafe that requires you to pay to use its services)," said Ian Vacin, offering leader of Intuit's Mac financial software in a posting to QuickBooks Web site discussion board.

Vacin explained that an upcoming "R5" patch, expected to be released Thursday, fixes the problem completely by entirely disabling the product upgrade mechanism that caused the desktop file deletion in the first place.

For more Mac news, visit Macworld. Story copyright Mac Publishing, LLC.