Performa

Here's my situation...
Running Quickbooks 2005 for Windows under Windows XP Pro on Virtual PC 7 on an iMac G5.
Since Virtual PC seems to be unable to use the Superdrive, I copy the Quickbooks backup file onto my Mac desktop and burn the backup CD from there.
I am able to restore from that backup using my copy of Quickbooks for windows.
BUT... when I sent that backup CD to my accountant (running a real windows PC) she says she is unable to open the file. She said something about it not being a valid Quickbooks file.
I am in dire straits here. I can't figure out why Windows under VPC can read it, but Windows on a PC cannot. Is the accountant doing something wrong? Should I zip the file first and then burn it?
Would copying it to a USB flash drive and sending that make a difference?
Thank you for any help with this problem.

gordguide

First of all, I would find out why VPC refuses to see the SuperDrive.

What are you using/how are you burning the disk on the Mac side? When you open the disk in Disk Utility, what kind of volume is it reported to be?

Zip (from within VPC) then burn to a PC-compatible disk format (ISO 9660 is perfect) should always work.

VPC sees my Superdrive without problems. However, keep in mind that VPC uses the Mac's hardware "drivers" to see the CD drive; just because you can open it doesn't mean another PC user can; VPC can use Mac-formatted disks just fine but your accountant won't be able to.

Performa

I am using the Disc Burner in the Finder to burn the disk. I thought that it automatically burned in a format compatible with both windows and Macintosh? Am I wrong?
I'm at work right now so I can't check the volume type in Disk Utility, but I'll check that later. Is there a way to specify that the disk be burned as ISO 9660? I don't have Toast to burn the CD.
VPC is seeing my Superdrive to read from, but I can't seem to burn from within VPC. Are you able to burn from VPC to the Superdrive?? I didn't think that was possible.
Thanks for the pointers. I hope I can get this figured out.

Performa

From Microsoft's support site:
"Virtual PC only supports the reading of data from CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs, and DVD-ROMs. Virtual PC only emulates a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

Virtual PC does not support burning CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs, or DVD-ROMs in Microsoft Windows even if the host Macintosh PC has the appropriate hardware and software to do so. Virtual PC also does not support the use of Windows-based CD-ROM or DVD burning software."

I guess that's why VPC can't burn to the Superdrive. I just can't figure out why my CD burned in the finder is not cross platform though. Apple's website says the following:
"Mac OS X automatically burns CDs that support the cross-platform ISO 9660 standard, which can be read by both Macs and PCs."

It sure is frustrating when things don't work as you think they should.

gordguide

Different versions of the OS will burn disks differently. If you have a recent version of OSX it should burn them as Joliet (which is Microsoft's version of ISO 9660) or both OSX and Joliet (which will also work fine with a PC or a Mac). But, when troubleshooting I never like to confuse "should" with "is". I'm pretty sure the format is fine, but humour me and check anyway.

From the QuickBooks for Windows forums, this seems like a common problem, even on all Intel hardware (error: "not a Quickbooks file, or damaged"). One suggestion from Intuit:

Have your accountant launch QuickBooks with the Control Key pressed (which opens the application without a company file). Then select your company file from the Open Company button at the bottom of the window (NOT from the list that appears).

Performa

Thank you so much for the replies. It turns out it probably was a bad disk. I burned another copy of the backup on the mac and sent it to the accountant. The accountant didn't have a problem opening it this time! I am pretty relieved.