Troubleshoot connecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database

In this article

Business Contact Manager cannot connect to the remote computer

My database is unavailable

Symptoms

Causes

Resolutions

Symptoms

Causes

Resolutions

Business Contact Manager cannot connect to the remote computer

When you attempt to connect to the shared database from your local computer, you receive a message saying:

Cannot access the shared database on computer name. For more information, click Help.

Note: Computer name is the name of the computer on which the shared database is located.

The following scenarios offer help for users who are having trouble connecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database. Click the sentence that best describes your scenario:

You are connecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database for the first time by using the Startup wizard

• Check the following (you may need to consult the database owner or the administrator of the remote computer):

• Is the remote computer turned on?

• Are your computer and the remote computer both connected to the network?

• Is Business Contact Manager for Outlook installed on the remote computer?

• Has the database owner shared the database?

• Has the database owner granted you access to the shared database?

• Have the firewall settings on the remote computer been adjusted to allow access to the shared database?

Note:  For more information about adjusting firewall settings, see How do I change my Windows settings so I can share my Business Contact Manager database with users on other computers?, or ask your administrator to review this information.

• Is your computer running the same version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook as the remote computer? To connect to a shared database, all the computers must be running the same version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook.

You are reconnecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database

Check the following (you may need to consult the database owner or the administrator of the remote computer):

• Is the remote computer running?

• Are your computer and the remote computer both connected to your company's network? Ask your administrator to confirm.

• Has the shared database been restored to a previous version or updated to a new version?

• Check the version number of Business Contact Manager for Outlook on both your computer and the remote computer.

How?

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on your local computer   

1. Click the File tab.

2. Click the Business Contact Manager tab.

3. In the About Business Contact Manager for Outlook section, see the Business Contact Manager version number.

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on the remote computer   

• Ask the database owner or the administrator for the version number.

The Business Contact Manager version numbers should match on all computers that connect to the shared database and on the remote computer on which the shared database resides.

1. If the version numbers do not match, install the most current version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 on the computers that need it.

If the version numbers do match, try a different solution from this article.

If the shared database has been restored to a previous version or updated to a new version, you must drop your local database (or offline database) — that is, remove the connection between your local database and the shared database — and then make a new connection to the current version.

For more information, see the Drop an offline database section in Work offline using Business Contact Manager.

Important:  Changes that you have made to your database will not be available after you drop it. To keep this changed data, select the Export and preserve your local data before dropping the offline database check box during the drop process.

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My database is unavailable

The following scenarios offer help for users who are having trouble finding a shared Business Contact Manager database to connect to. Click the sentence that best describes your situation:

You are connecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database for the first time by using the Startup wizard

Symptoms

In the Startup wizard, you click Connect to a Remote Database, enter a computer name, and then click Connect. You receive a message saying:

Cannot find any Business Contact Manager databases on computer name. For more information about possible causes, click Help.

Note: Computer name is the name of the computer on which the shared database is located.

Causes

There are several potential reasons why the shared database cannot be found on the remote computer. See the following sections for possible causes and resolutions.

Resolutions

Try the following:

• Because you can connect to an existing shared database only, confirm with the database owner that the database exists on the remote computer.

• Before you can connect to a database on a remote computer, the database owner must share the database and grant you permission to access it.

• If the remote computer is on a different subnet than the computer on which you are using Business Contact Manager for Outlook, the firewall settings on the remote computer must be changed to grant access to any computer. (A subnet is a network that forms part of a larger computer network. Subnets are connected through routers. Each subnet has a separate range of IP addresses.)

  For more information about adjusting firewall settings, see How do I change my Windows settings so I can share my Business Contact Manager database with users on other computers?

• If the firewall on the remote computer is from a third-party company, Business Contact Manager for Outlook cannot make changes automatically to grant access to users on the network. See the Help for the firewall program to change the settings manually.

• You can connect only to a shared database that has been created in the same version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook as the one that you are using.

• Check the version number of Business Contact Manager for Outlook on both your computer and the remote computer.

How?

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on your local computer   

1. Click the File tab.

2. Click the Business Contact Manager tab.

3. In the About Business Contact Manager for Outlook section, see the Business Contact Manager version number.

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on the remote computer   

• Ask the database owner or the administrator for the version number.

The Business Contact Manager version numbers should match on all computers that connect to the shared database and on the remote computer on which the shared database resides.

1. If the version numbers do not match, install the most current version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 on the computers that need it.

If the version numbers do match, try a different solution from this article.

You are reconnecting to a shared Business Contact Manager database

Symptoms

When you are working offline in your local copy of the shared database, you attempt to reconnect to the shared database on the remote computer, and you receive a message saying:

Cannot find any Business Contact Manager databases on computer name. For more information about possible causes, click Help.

Note: Computer name is the name of the computer on which the shared database is located.

Causes

There are several potential reasons why the shared database cannot be found on the remote computer. See the following sections for possible causes and resolutions.

Resolutions

Try the following:

Does the shared database still exist on the remote computer?

Confirm with the database owner that the database has not been deleted, removed, or updated on the remote computer. If the database has been updated, you must drop the offline database before you can reconnect to the latest database. For more information, see the Drop an offline database section in Work offline using Business Contact Manager.

Do you still have permission to access the database?

Confirm with the database owner that you still have permission to access the database.

Do you still have permission to access the remote computer?

Confirm with the administrator of the remote computer—or of the domain if your computer is part of a network—that you still have permission to access the remote computer.

Is the version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook on your local computer the same as the one on the remote computer?

1. Check the version number of Business Contact Manager for Outlook on both your computer and the remote computer.

How?

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on your local computer   

1. Click the File tab.

2. Click the Business Contact Manager tab.

3. In the About Business Contact Manager for Outlook section, see the Business Contact Manager version number.

Check the Business Contact Manager for Outlook version number on the remote computer   

• Ask the database owner or the administrator for the version number.

The Business Contact Manager version numbers should match on all computers that connect to the shared database and on the remote computer on which the shared database resides.

1. If the version numbers do not match, install the most current version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 on the computers that need it.

If the version numbers do match, try a different solution from this article.

Your database is on your local computer

If the database is on your local computer, verify that the MSSMLBIZ instance of the SQL Server service is started. For information about how to start an instance of SQL Server, see Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Help.

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