RitaB Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm getting a new computer in the next couple weeks, I may not set it up till after tax season. If I need to set it up now, can I use Windows Easy Transfer and do it myself? I understand I have to download Easy Transfer to the XP computer. It's already on the 7 computer. I understand I have to install all the programs and that it's really copying files (not transfering), they'll be on both computers. Stop laughing. And I don't need any, "If you have to ask..." I would NEVER entertain the thought of trying it myself if I had not already lost three weeks of time. We have one computer guy in this town, and we are lucky to have him. This is not about saving money on hiring a professional, it's about saving time. He will keep the computers for at least a day. I get that. Just like I am not about to call somebody to pick up 30 minutes after they drop off. I am not about to ask him to work on Sunday, which is my day off, and probably his. He is worth what he charges, that is not the point. If I were not in a pickle because of other issues it wouldn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Rita, they are two different operating systems. I went through the same thing this year. For now, just install the program from the installation disk. Do the updates. Then, export your tax files to a jump drive and import them into the program on the new computer. You will also have to do this with the 2011 program if you want to roll over returns. However, if you have switched programs, I don't know what the setup is for Proseries. Can you export/import or backup/restore? A new computer is really not something for a novice to try setting up. I wouldn't attempt it. Remember that you have to make a startup disk; remove a lot of junk. I don't think you have the time involved to waste during this stressing tax season. I am sure that the techies will be jumping in on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yes, I know they are different operating systems. XP and 7. Agree, I am a novice. Probably should explain that I use Peachtree, MS Works, MS Office, ATX, Drake. Yes, I shelled $1500 to get Drake, am slow as smoke off cow$%^& figuring it out. Customer service and support are a thousand times better than ATX, but if your program works, that's not an issue. Love ATX2011, not loving Drake yet, but I've had it 12 hours and I slept thru five of them. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4503 http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+easy+transfer+xp+to+7+you+tube&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_enUS454 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Have you considered having two split systems? I have one XP computer that has ATX 2005 to 2008, my second computer has 2009 to 2012. If I need take a look at an old file, I just turn on the computer and turn it off when done, saves resources on the newer computer. Same goes for my quick books program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yes, I thought about that, and it may be exactly what I do. Like I said, I may wait to set up new computer till after tax season. If I don't have a breakdown, I will wait and call the geek, no doubt about. I really did not need the computer yet. I read too much and thought too much. Even though I knew it was not my computer, I had that nagging doubt. It may also turn out that I didn't need Drake, either, who knows? I know this is not the time to be dinking around switching software and computers. Just really wanted to hear somebody say, "Yes, Microsoft is not lying, and all the videos on how to do it were not put out there cause people got tired of watching 'Gangnam Style'". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I don't use Drake, but people have mentioned that you can use a forms-based entry that's closer to ATX but not the original Drake mode, so maybe you have to switch modes somehow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yeah, I have done that. It's still incredibly different to me. Seems less efficient (than ATX2011, but nothing is less efficient than 2012), but I am obviously not familiar with Drake, and it's gonna take a while. I wish I was learning this in November. And, I should have said support is a thousand times nicer and more professional than ATX. The jury is out on whether they all know how the software works. I looked at everything I could think of because I wanted to delete a C-EZ. Support tried to get me to suppress all EZ's globally, she didn't know this, but that means always use C instead of C-EZ, 2106 instead of 2106-EZ, etc. I told her, no, we just wanna delete this one Sch C-EZ from this one return. So then she has me suppress C-EZ in the return. Now I have a C to delete. Puts me on hold, terrible music, while somebody tells her how to do it. You would think this has come up before. I honestly thought she was gonna tell me to put a dollar for income and not worry about deleting it. But she was nice. And honestly, I'm not sure I would have been nice to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Do NOT use the XP- WIN7 transfer program from Microsoft!!! Danger Danger Danger!!!! Spoken from 1st hand experience. Start with the new computer and have a techie reinstall programs and move data manually. Transfers and conversions by Microsoft in this situation are catastrophic!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Rita, when I set up new computer in early January, we moved three years. Installed disks, and did the backup/restore on a jump drive. It worked amazingly slick. On the other hand, I left all of the years back to 1999 on the XP compter just because. I am hoping that computer will never die because I have a lot of other programs on it that are not compatible with 7. I print all of my business cards, labels,. etc from that computer. I do bookkeeping on there and various other things. I did have to buy updates to a couple of programs that would work with 7 when I got my laptop because that goes back and forth with me to another location. I put as little as possible on the new 7 desktop. Of course, my techie friend was a great help. He did end up maxing the Ram to 16 G when we started having issues with ATX 2012. Didn't really make all that much difference, but you try whatever you can. I do complete backups of the XP computer to an external harddrive as well as complete backups of the new 7 machine to a different external drive. I just happen to Iomega Ego drives. My XP computer has a zip drive and I miss that terribly. With what we are doing for a living and the world we live in; one computer is no longer enough. On the other hand, I would never consider networking as I, too, am a one person office. I do the updates separately on each computer and do the updates from the web site. Actually, my problems have been minimal compared to what others are telling me. I do know that I am very lucky to have a friend who knows how to help me out and he has the patience of a saint. He is also a client of mine. The one thing he is adament about is to always do a reboot any time you do a new installation of an update. I am religious about that. I hope that some of this helps someone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I think Marilyn and I are twins. About 90% of what she wrote reflects my situation. I don't use a laptop for business, though, and I only have 8g Ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I think Marilyn and I are twins. About 90% of what she wrote reflects my situation. I don't use a laptop for business, though, and I only have 8g Ram. We might be twins, Margaret. I always wanted a sister and never got one. Anyway, I have the laptop because I can move files from the desktop via jump drive, to the laptop when we take a weekend away to our Getaway home. NO constantly ringing phone enables me to get a lot of work done there and when I get home, I can move the updated file back to the desktop so ALL files are in at least one location. Have a great tax season in spite of everything. I am still keeping a positive outlook as I have really not had huge issues, but some very annoying ones. If you think about it, you can work around a lot of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I see the issue - I don't have a Getaway home. Next year's wish list, for sure! But then I couldn't afford my dive trips to exotic places to get away. Both, now that would be nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 I moved from my old laptop with XP to my desktop with win7 in 2009. One thing to do, which I found out the hard way, is to load your old ATX programs oldest to newest. All the old programs run in win7, but if you load backwards, as I did, older than 2008 won't load your data files. I was hoping to be able to wipe all the old programs off my XP machine to save hard drive space, but now I need to keep them. Btw, I loaded from my archive CDs. Other programs and data I migrated using a flash drive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 At the same time, when loading those programs from oldest to newest; be sure to update each one as you go. Then , move files from old computer to new computer on a jump drive. It is so easy and works so well if you have retained the archive disks for all past years; which of course you have. Even my tech was surprised that I knew how to do this because ten years ago when we moved everything from Win 8 to new XP computer, it was a much more involved process because neither of us knew. That is one of the benefits of this board..............the learning curve is awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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