Symptoms

The local backup fails with messages like:

INFO: Uploading file: C:\Users\Finance\Company.QBW.ND
ERROR: 0x20010: An incremental backup cannot be performed because the server does not have the necessary information.

Note: Some systems might have similar problems and need similar steps for .QBW.DSN files.

Causes

This error is caused when the QuickBooks database manager software is monitoring a drive that is storing the local backup data. The QuickBooks database manager is overwriting the files generated by the backup with its own data for *.QBW.ND files, which confuses the backup engine. *.QBW.ND files are QuickBooks network descriptor files. These are temporary files that do not need to be backed up (the QuickBooks database manager software regenerates these files automatically).

Resolution

To correct the 0x20010 error with *.QBW.ND files on local backups, please follow these steps:

1. Open QuickBooks database manager. Configure it to not monitor the directory (or drive) that the local backup is storing data to.
2. Start Windows explorer. Tell it to search the directory where you are storing the local backup data for all *.QBW.ND files. Delete all of the files that it finds (send them to the recycle bin).
3. Open the online backup manager, go to the folders page.
4. For each folder that contains QuickBooks files, right click, choose Edit Policy.
5. In the list of rules in the lower-left corner, click the + button to the right of the rule list. From the drop down menu choose "Wildcard rule." Then change the wildcard rule so that it looks like:
   
   Exclude files whose relative pathname matches the following:
   *.qbw.nd 
   
   
6. Make sure that the option "destroy files excluded by this rule" is unchecked for this rule.
7. Save all changes.

The next local backup should no longer have 0x20010 errors when processing .QBW.ND files.

Note: Some systems might have similar problems and need similar steps for .QBW.DSN files.