Intuit uses 2 terms to describe QuickBooks: version and release. Version refers to the product and year (e. g., Pro 2009), while release refers to incremental updates to a version. Versions normally include significant feature enhancements and therefore must be purchased. Changing your version is a process that is referred to as an upgrade. On the other hand, releases normally include minor changes and bug fixes, which sometimes entail modification to the QuickBooks file structure. Often, there are multiple releases introduced over time, sometimes even after a newer version has already been introduced. Releases are typically provided free to users of a current QuickBooks version and are installed in a process referred to as an update. See our article for more information on how Intuit determines if your version of QuickBooks is current.
To update QuickBooks, click on the Help->Update QuickBooks… menu selection. On the Overview tab, click the Update Now button, which will take you to the Update Now tab. Alternately, you can navigate directly to the Update Now tab by clicking on that tab.
From the Update Now tab, click the Get Updates button.
QuickBooks will proceed to check for available updates and to download them if they’re available. Some updates may not be installed until you close QuickBooks and restart the program, and some updates may require you to restart your computer. Therefore, plan the update process at a time when you can conveniently complete all steps. If you’re running the latest release for your version, the Get Updates task will complete very quickly, usually in a minute or two.
If updates are downloaded that must be installed when QuickBooks starts, you’ll see the QuickBooks Update Service window the next time you launch QuickBooks; this window will appear before QuickBooks fully loads. Click the Install Now button to install the downloaded updates. Once the updates are installed, QuickBooks will load normally.
If you are running QuickBooks in a multi-user environment, be sure to update all computers to the most current release before that computer next runs the QuickBooks program. See our article for more information on updating your QuickBooks release in a multi-user environment.
A common question that arises in determining the need to update QuickBooks is “What’s my current version and release of QuickBooks?” To answer that and verify your version and release of QuickBooks, press F2 while QuickBooks is running to display the Product Information window. The Product field shows the version and release at the top left of the window. In the example below, Premier Accountant Edition 2009 is the version and R3P is the release.
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Can you please tell me if a backup that I made using QuickBooks 2005 Basic can be loaded into my newly installed copy of QuickBooks Pro 2010?
It should work, provided your 2005 company file didn’t have data corruption. We’ve seen it work, and Intuit says it should work, but we’ve also seen posts by others saying it didn’t work. If the original 2005 .qbw file was corrupt, the .qbb made from it might not work. The best way to know is to try it and find out. If you have problems and still have access to your QB 2005 program, rebuild the file using QB 2005, then make a fresh backup and use that backup as the starting point for QB 2010. You can also help yourself by having your .qbb file on the same hard disk as QB 2010, rather than multiple floppy diskettes. For users of QB 2005, out when floppy diskettes were more common, I’ve seen .qbb files that span a series of diskettes, and this just adds another problem area for restoring in QB 2010. Post back and let us know how it goes.