Installing QuickBooks

You install QuickBooks in the same way that you install any program. And how you install a program depends on which version of Microsoft Windows you're using. In general, however, recent versions of Microsoft Windows require that you place the QuickBooks CD into your CD-ROM or DVD drive. When you do this, Windows looks at the QuickBooks CD and recognizes it as a CD that includes a new, to-be-installed software program and starts the process for installing the QuickBooks software.

You don't need to do anything special to install QuickBooks. Simply follow the on-screen instructions. You typically are prompted to enter the installation key or installation code. This code is available within the QuickBooks packaging — usually on the back of the envelope that the disc comes in.

The QuickBooks installation process may ask you to answer questions about how you want QuickBooks installed. Almost always, you want to accept the default suggestions. In other words, QuickBooks may ask you whether it can create a new folder in which to install the QuickBooks program files. And in this case, choose yes.

If your version of Microsoft Windows doesn't recognize that you've stuffed the QuickBooks CD into the machine's CD or DVD drive, you have a couple of choices:

• You can wait. Probably, if you wait, Windows will recognize that you've placed the QuickBooks CD into the CD or DVD drive and, after a short wait (even though it may seem like an eternity), Windows starts the process of installing the QuickBooks program.

• You can manually force the installation of the QuickBooks program. Windows includes a tool that you can use to add or remove new programs (unsurprisingly named the Add/Remove Programs tool). I don't describe how this Control Panel tool works here, but you can refer to a book such as Windows XP For Dummies or Windows Vista For Dummies, by Andy Rathbone (Wiley Publishing, Inc.), or Windows online Help to get this information. In a nutshell, you simply open the Control Panel window, click the Add/Remove Programs tool, and follow the on-screen instructions for telling Windows to install a program stored on the CD or DVD in the computer's CD or DVD drive.

Warning

QuickBooks can work as a multi-user accounting system. This means that several people can use QuickBooks. The QuickBooks data file — the repository of all the QuickBooks information — typically resides on a centrally available computer or server. People who want to work with the QuickBooks data file simply install the QuickBooks program on their computers and then use the program to access centrally located QuickBooks data files. This multi-user system isn't complicated to run; Note that you need to own a separate copy of QuickBooks for each computer on which you install QuickBooks. You can also buy multi-user copies of QuickBooks that let you install the QuickBooks program on up to five computers. I mention this because you don't want to get involved in software piracy — which is a felony — as part of inadvertently setting up QuickBooks in the wrong way. The bottom line: You need a legal copy of QuickBooks for every machine on which you install QuickBooks.