Fixing QuickBooks Desktop update errors 12045, 12157, 12038 and 12037
Wrong clocks, blocked connections and overzealous download tools sit behind QuickBooks Desktop update errors 12045, 12157, 12038 and 12037.
A QuickBooks Desktop update starts, stalls, and dies with a four-digit code. Codes 12045, 12157, 12038 and 12037 form one family of update failures, and they share a signature. The software cannot complete the download, so it stops and reports a number instead.
The awkward part of this family is that the fault rarely lives inside QuickBooks. The fix that clears these codes spends its time on the PC around the software: the clock, the connection settings, the download tools and the security software that decides what QuickBooks may reach. We have set the steps out in the order that resolves these codes most reliably, cheapest check first.
Start with the date and time
An incorrect system date or time interferes with the update process. Secure downloads rely on your computer agreeing with the clock at the other end of the line. Certificates carry expiry dates, and a computer that is even a little out of step reads a current certificate as an expired one.
To check it, right-click the clock on your desktop and open the date and time settings. Set the current date and time, then select OK twice to save and close. Close QuickBooks completely, reopen it, and run the update again.
Give QuickBooks a clean connection
QuickBooks can borrow your computer’s internet settings or keep a set of its own. When its private settings drift out of shape, updates fail even though your browser works normally.
Open the Help menu and choose Internet Connection Setup. Select the option to use your computer’s internet connection settings when QuickBooks accesses the internet, then choose Next. Open Advanced Connection Settings and, on the Advanced tab, choose Restore Advanced Settings. Confirm, finish the setup, and run the update again. The restore button returns the advanced connection options to their defaults, which clears changes other software may have made along the way.
Test the connection while you are there. Open a browser and load a secure website. If secure pages will not open, QuickBooks will not fetch updates either, so sort the connection out before blaming the software.
Download accelerators deserve a mention as well. They split a download into streams to speed it up, and the update process does not cope well with that. Disable any accelerator before you retry. If you cannot tell whether one runs on your line, your internet provider can confirm it.
Let the QuickBooks processes through
Security software watches programs, not windows. QuickBooks runs a set of background processes that handle downloads, the database and messaging. A firewall or antivirus that blocks one of them will stall the update with a coded error. The list is long because the work is split between the program you see and services that run quietly in the background.
If you manage your own exceptions list, these are the QuickBooks components to allow:
- AutoBackupExe.exe
- Dbmlsync.exe
- DBManagerExe.exe
- FileManagement.exe
- FileMovementExe.exe
- IntuitSyncManager.exe
- QBCFMonitorService.exe
- QBDBMgr.exe
- QBDBMgrN.exe
- QBGDSPlugin.exe
- QBLaunch.exe
- QBServerUtilityMgr.exe
- QBW32.exe
- QuickBooksMessaging.exe
Some of these run even when QuickBooks is closed, which is why a silent block can be hard to spot. Once the list is in place, close and reopen QuickBooks and run the update again.
Dial-up and AOL still matter
Some reported cases trace back to older connections, and the fix sequence covers them plainly rather than skipping them.
On dial-up, the connection needs a minimum speed of 28.8 kilobits per second for the update download to complete. Anything slower risks a timed-out attempt and the same four-digit code.
If you connect through AOL, sign in with the primary account name where you can, and make sure parental controls are turned off. The controls can block the download. The switches live in the AOL account settings themselves.
If every step fails
Suppose the clock is right, the connection is clean, the accelerator is off and every QuickBooks process is allowed, and the same code still appears. At that point the fault sits beyond your machine. The update files live on Intuit’s servers, so Intuit’s own support desk is the remaining stop once the causes on your side of the exchange have been cleared.
Most of these codes end long before that point. The clock and the connection settings are where the sequence begins, and they remain the two checks worth repeating whenever a later update fails the same way.