QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Chapter A.  Installing QuickBooks

QuickBooks doesn’t have a lot of options in its installation procedure.You either install from scratch or upgrade a previous version. When you upgrade from a previous version, you can choose to run both versions on your computer at the same time. This option isn’t as helpful as you might expect, however, because once you open a company file in a new version of QuickBooks, it won’t run in the earlier version.

If you use QuickBooks Pro or one of the Premier or Enterprise Editions, several people can access your company file at the same time. This multi-user access adds a small burden to your installation because everyone must run the same version ( QuickBooks 2005, for example). In addition, your choice of where to store your company file affects performance. Although the QuickBooks Startup Guide that comes with your software CD is surprisingly thorough in its coverage of installation, it goes too far and includes information for installing every edition from QuickBooks Basic to Enterprise. This chapter distills what you need to know to install QuickBooks Pro.

Tip

The list price for QuickBooks Pro 2005 is $299.95 ($199.95 for an upgrade), but you can purchase the program at a discount from your local office supply store, Amazon.com, or any number ofother retail outlets. Accountants can resell QuickBooks to clients, so it’s worth asking yours about upgrade pricing.

Before You Install

QuickBooks Pro requires at least a 350 MHz processor, at least 96 MB ...