QuickBooks 2010: The Missing Manual

Appendix A. Installing QuickBooks

QuickBooks’ installation procedure seems to gain or lose a few steps—and clicks of the Next button—with each new version. Still, you only have two basic options: install the program from scratch or upgrade from a previous version. When you upgrade, you can run both versions on your computer at the same time, which is essential if you’re an accountant or bookkeeper who works with company files from several different clients. But if you use QuickBooks to run your own business, there’s not much point keeping two versions around. Once you open your company file in a new version of QuickBooks, it won’t run in the earlier version (see the box below). Either way, this appendix walks you through the installation process.

POWER USERS’ CLINIC: Installing Multiple QuickBooks Versions

If you work with clients running different versions or editions of QuickBooks, don’t panic: QuickBooks versions and editions can run on the same computer mostly without squabbling with each other.

For example, you can run QuickBooks Pro 2009, QuickBooks Pro 2010, and QuickBooks Premier Edition 2010 all on the same machine. As long as you access each company file with only one version or edition of the program, you’ll be fine. However, QuickBooks updates company files in two situations, which means you won’t be able to use the files in the previous version or edition:

• Opening a company file in a new version updates the file to work with the new version and prevents earlier versions ...