Version Errors When Trying to Open or Restore a File

With the latest versions of QuickBooks there have been significant new releases.  A release is a free “patch” that improves usability or fixes a “bug” within the software.  Quite often the releases are large files that resulted in significant changes to the data structure.  Once the release is down loaded and the software updated, the first time the data file is opened it will be converted to the new release. 

The releases, as they become available, are automatically downloaded to an “inet” folder when the computer is logged on to the Internet, if that option has been selected.

If not, simply click on the Update button and the software will automatically go to the Internet (after it has been set up the first time) and log onto Intuit’s web site to download any new releases for the version of the software you are using that may be available.  It is recommended that this process be done with some regularity if the choice is made to do it manually.  If the preference has not been set to perform the function automatically, once a month during the month-end procedures is often a logical time to download the latest release. 

QBRA-2002: File > Update QuickBooks > Options

Keep in mind that if files are being transferred between different computers, it is important that all of them are using the same version and release of the software.  The best alternative in this situation (and an important issue if not all the computers that are networked together have internet access) is to change the default in the options section of the Update feature to permit sharing of the downloaded files.

To check which release is currently being used, with the software open QuickBooks then press Ctrl > 1 together.  The first line will note the product and release currently installed.  The box in the lower left corner shows the version and release, along with the update date for the company file that is open.

Ctrl > 1

TIP: A version error message when opening a file may mean that the file was last used in a different version, or in a different release.  It is possible to convert the file to the newest version and release as detailed above.  However, once that process is complete, it is impossible to go back to an earlier version or release, so all users of the file must be updated as well.

TRICK: For versions prior to Version 2000, when downloading the update file for use by everyone on the network, open a data file that is on the network drive, then do the download.  By using this procedure, the first time each different computer accesses the data, the machine will be updated.  If a file is on the local hard drive (i.e. sample company) each computer will need to download the update individually.

TRICK: If there is a problem when trying to use the update function from within QuickBooks, it is possible to manually download the update via the internet.  To use this alternative visit: http://www.quickbooks.com/support/updates.html.

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