This may be dumb question, but oh well. We have two computers on our network.
We want to download "Quickbooks" to the network. Is this possible? Will we
both be able to use the program at the same time? How do you do it?

nsem wrote:
I'm not sure what you mean by "download 'Quickbooks' to the network."

If you mean, [option one] can you install Quickbooks on one computer and
then use it via the network from the other, the answer, in general, is no.

The exception to the above is to use remote desktop.  The only catch is
that at least one of the networked PCs must have Win XP Pro.  Install
Quickbooks on the XP Pro box and then you can either run it locally or
via Remote Desktop from the other box.  I have a friend who does exactly
this with Quicken.  You will not, however, be able to run it locally and
remotely at the same time.

The second computer doesn't have to have XP Pro.  It can have Windows 95
or later.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Using-Remote-Desktop-Windows-XP-Pro.html
http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_index.html?/main/sbs-remote-desktop-overview.html


If you mean, [option two] can you install QB on each computer but have
the two separate installations use the same data files (located on only
one of the PCs), then the answer is maybe, depending on whether
Quickbooks lets you specify the location of its datafiles.  Even if you
can set both installations to use the same files, however, you will not
be able to use them at the same time.

Option 2 could also be achieved by having two separate installations,
each with its own local datafiles, and then synchronizing the datafiles
between the networked computers at the end of each QB session.  If you
don't automate the synch process by using a batch file or similar, you
could end up with mismatched data, not a good idea for a bookkeeping
application.  On the other hand, it creates an automatic backup of your
data.

nsem:

First, there's a Quickbooks forum:

http://forums.quickbooksusers.com/

Second, you'll need TWO copies of Quickbooks to do this.

- Intsall Quickbooks on the first PC
- Install Quickbooks on the second PC
- On first PC flag multiiuser mode
- On second PC, when opening company file, browse for it in the PC in the
network
- Make sure the data file is located in subdirectory made sharable

Two users can go on at the same time except for certain tasks. Only one user
can update the check register at a time, for instance.

The big advantage of two copies is besides using in multiuser mode, if one
of my PC's crash, I can restore the data file (from backup) and continue,
without having to buy another PC or fix one.


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