Another Peachtree User is Using the Same Serial Number

After I had to kill a running instance of Peachtree Complete Accounting 2002, because it was producing an error message that I couldn't stop from constantly repeating, whenever I tried opening a company file, I got the message "Another Peachtree user is using the same serial number". The window where that message appeared had a Register button. When I clicked on it the correct serial number appeared, but the registration number field was blank. Putting in the correct registration number did not stop the problem from repeating whenever I tried opening the company file.

I found instructions on dealing with the problem at an Abacus Plus Services, Inc. FAQ page. However, I found that I did not have to take all of the steps suggested on that page to eliminate the problem. I only had to kill the W32MKDE.EXE process, which is a process associated with Peachtree accounting which remained running after I killed the Peachtree application. The steps to alleviate the problem are as follows:

1. Hit the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys simultaneously.
2. Select Task Manager.
3. Click on the Processes tab.
4. Click on the column header Image Name to put the processes in alphabetical order.
5. Look for a process with the image name of W32MKDE.EXE. Click on it to select it and then click on the End Process button.
6. When you receive a warning about terminating the process, click on Yes to terminate it anyway.

I was then able to open the company file without any problems. The additional steps listed on the Abacus Plus Services, Inc. FAQ page are provided below, in case the steps above are not sufficient for you to resolve the problem should the information become unavailable on that website.

1. Look in the directory where your data is stored for files with names beginning with "Conn". If you don't know where Peachtree stores company data on your system, you can click on the Start button and then select Search to search for the files. Search for files beginning with "conn", i.e. conn*. Or you can look in pcw90.ini which will be in your Windows directory, usually C:\Windows or C:\Winnt. You can double-click on the file to open it in notepad. Then look for the "DATAPATH=" line, which will tell you the location of your data files. Note: the number after "pcw" in the ini filename may be different for other versions of Peachtree Accounting
2. Select all connco and conndp files from the data path and delete them.
3. Look for ShowStartup= in the ini file mentioned above, which is pcw90.ini for Peachtree Complete Accounting 2.0, but may have a different number after "pcw" if you are using a different version of Peachtree. If the value for the parameter is No, change it to Yes (a capital "Y" followed by lowercase "es").
4. Look for the LastCompanyOpen= line in the ini file. Delete everything after the equal sign.
5. Save the ini file (click on File and then Save).
6. Open Peachtree in a sample company. After the company opens, select File then Open Company and open your company data.

References:

1. Abacus Plus Services, Inc. FAQ

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Location of Peachtree Complete Accouting 2002 Data Files

I wanted to move the location of PeachTree Accounting 2002's data files to a new location. In order to have Peachtree find the files in their new location, you need to edit pcw90.ini. It will be in your Windows directory, which will usually be c:\windows or c:\winnt. Note, if a nonstandard location is used for Windows, you can find out the location by typing echo %windir% at a command prompt.

You can double-click on pcw90.ini to open it in your default editor for ini files, which will normally be notepad. Change the DATAPATH= line to point to the new location and reopen Peachtree Accounting.

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