Here's the story:

Microsoft Service Denies Some Users Access to Software

By NAKISHA WILLIAMS and ROBERT A. GUTH
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 29, 2004 9:40 a.m.; Page D2

Some users of Microsoft Corp.'s Money personal-finance service have
been unable to access their financial records for several days, the
company said.

Microsoft officials said the problem was caused when the company
upgraded a computer server earlier in the week. Microsoft believes it
has fixed the server, but some customers were still unable to access
their personal information late yesterday. A Microsoft spokeswoman
said she didn't know how many customers were affected by the problem.

"There appears to be a breakdown in communication between our
servers," said Goca Micic, marketing manager for consumer software.

Microsoft said it expected to restore full access by sometime late
tomorrow.

Jim Coburn, an executive at a logistics firm in New Jersey, said he
hasn't able to access his bank accounts all week. "I've been using
this program for years. All my banking is through this [software],"
said Mr. Coburn, who first discovered he was locked out from his
accounts on Monday.

Microsoft Money is a personal-finance software program that helps
users manage finances, pay bills and track investments by allowing
them to access account information from multiple financial
institutions. Versions of the software cost $29.95 to $89.95.
Microsoft declined to say how many people use the software.

The outage had some of the program's users, both individuals and small
businesses, worried that they would overdraw their accounts or be
unable to process new sales.

"I have about $3,000 worth of checks that I haven't been able to
deposit because I can't credit the money to the customers' accounts,"
said Kenneth Van Wie II, a computer consultant in Atlanta who does all
of the invoicing for his company through Microsoft Money. Mr. Van Wie
said he waited more than four hours to reach Microsoft's customer
service on Monday.

Microsoft said the problem shouldn't raise concerns about the security
of personal-financial information. The company said that none of their
customers' data had been lost or compromised.




On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 11:05:10 -0700, "Kenneth"
<anonymous[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

- quote -

I like that...the idea of choice. This is an important matter, in a broad
sense. So that's good design. Kudos to Money and Microsoft.

"Bob Peel, MVP" <Bob_PeelNO SPAM[at]kiandra.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:uAM6p$$dEHA.1656[at]TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
- quote -

It's your choice. You can have a "local only" file that resides on your PC
and onto which you download share prices and bank statements. Alternatively
you can have a centrally held file which you can access from any Internet PC
(with appropriate security).

--
Regards
Bob Peel,
Microsoft MVP - Money

For UK tips & fixes see
http://support.microsoft.com/default...d=fh;EN-GB;mny.
For wishes or suggestions see
http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp
or for UK wishes http://www.microsoft.com/uk/support/money/feedback

"John B" <jb[at]noapam.com> wrote in message
news:10gqcme959iljc8[at]corp.supernews.com...
- quote -

Not exactly a flattering report.
I'm considering migrating from Quicken to Money. The important data for
Quicken is stored on MY hard drive, not some remote site. I just assumed
that Money is similar in this regard. Sure, Quicken has all sorts of
accessibility to personal bank account info, via the internet.

So are my data kept locally, or elsewhere, for Money?
Thanks

"Kevin" <anonymous[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6a0401c47599$1a1c39c0$a601280a[at]phx.gbl...
- quote -

Thanks. I did find the article in today's WSJ - page D2,
Column 4.
- quote -

I just received a phone call from my contact at the Wall
Street Journal that the MS Money story ran today on page
D2. Just thought I would let you all know.