Glitch Locks Out Money Users

It's the end of the month--bill-paying time--and some Money 2004 users are wishing they'd kept their cash in an old mattress instead of relying on Microsoft's financial software. A snafu with a couple of Microsoft servers has frozen users' access to their own financial data, even though the encrypted files are on the hard drives of their own PCs.

Microsoft officials acknowledge the ongoing problem, which began Monday, and say they hope to have it fixed by midday Friday. Meanwhile, unable to view their budgets or pay their bills, many affected users are livid.

Angry Customers

"Clearly they screwed this up and have cost all of us time, and money!" says one user's post on Microsoft's Money Community Newsgroup.

Kenneth T. Van Wie, II, a computer consultant in Atlanta, agrees. "It is unacceptable that this could happen," he says. "While I have been inconvenienced by not being able to access my financial records, what about the small business that use this program for their day-to-day financial operations?"

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