QuickBooks 2011 – 10 Tips for a Successful Installation/Upgrade

Installing/upgrading QuickBooks is a fairly straightforward task, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some things that can trip you up along the way.  Below are some “best practice tips”, based on our own technical support calls from our customers, that will help you to ensure a smooth installation/upgrade:

1. PLAN AHEAD and make sure that everything is in order – do not install the new version of QuickBooks 2011 on the day that you need to run payroll, do billing, or perform any intensive task.
2. Make sure that you (or your IT person) have read the Computer Requirements & Microsoft Office Compatibility information, you don’t need any surprises later.¹
3. If you use 3rd party integrated applications, make sure that you contact the software developer (if they haven’t already contacted you) about compatibility with and update procedures for working with QuickBooks 2011.
4. If you are running Window Vista or Windows 7, QuickBooks should be installed under a Standard User account and NOT the Administrator account.²
5. If you choose to download the installation program from the internet be aware that while you can save the Download Manager anywhere that you like – the ACTUAL program is saved on the desktop of the Computer Administrator on Windows 7 and Vista.  If you do not complete the installation after the download has completed you will need to log into the Administrator account, move the program to Public Downloads, THEN log in as a standard user and run the installation.
6. If you are in a multi-user environment, install QuickBooks on the server first and then the other computers after.
7. If you already have an existing version of QuickBooks installed on your computers, NEVER choose the option to “Replace the version selected below” during the installation process.  ALWAYS install the new version to it’s own unique folder, on the server (if applicable) or on a single computer.³
   

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8. Rebuild your QuickBooks data file BEFORE you update it to the new version and then again AFTER you update it.  (File menu -> Utilities -> REBUILD Data).
9. Make at least two backups of your QuickBooks data file.
10. After you have installed QuickBooks 2011 on all of your computers and everything is running fine, uninstall the old version by going to your Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP) OR Programs & Features (Vista & Windows 7) -> select the old version from the list -> choose Uninstall or Remove.

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¹ Not all versions of QuickBooks 2011 are compatible with Microsoft Office 2010.

² QuickBooks and any 3rd party applications that you use, should be installed and run under the Standard User Account in Windows 7 & Vista.  They do NOT need to be run as Administrator.  Since Windows Vista was released, we have handled numerous support calls which resulted in an 80040408 – Could not start QuickBooks error.  In all cases QuickBooks and our 3rd party applications had been installed under the Administrator account.  These same findings have held true since Windows 7 was released.

³ We have found that when a new version of QuickBooks is installed in the same folder (place) as an existing version of QuickBooks – files from the old version still exist and cause conflicts, and errors, when using our software.  The only remedy that we have found it to uninstall and then reinstall QuickBooks.

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