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Windows or not? — How to replace your PC

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 23:09:02 GMT

rustleg
Wed, 03 Dec 2014 23:09:02 GMT

I have a UK version of Quicken 2004 which is very important to me. They aren't selling it any more in the UK. If I buy a new Windows machine, can I get that to run on it or is there some other way?

Neil Hutton
Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:29:51 GMT

Pull up a chair, this seemingly simple question is actually a rather involved... First the history of the problem: The software company Intuit used to sell a home money management package called Quicken in the UK. The only problem was, not enough people bought it and Quicken gave up with the last product being the 2004 version (Microsoft also gave up selling their equivalent package called Money about the same time for the same reason). This became a problem as in time people updated their computers and the newer version of Windows refused to run the grand old gentlemen that was Quicken 2004. At that time most of the UK users shrugged, gave up and did their accounts on a spreadsheet (or got a much more interesting hobby instead). However, a tiny and determined band decided they were going to stick with it. A few tried to buy the latest version of Quicken from the USA, only to find that the US and UK versions are not interchangeable and files made in one will not work on the other (different tax laws and the like). So what to do? Here are the options: 1. I t used to be that the only way around this was to upgrade your Windows 7 or 8 to the Pro version (about a £100 upgrade for the software and you may need to add more RAM to make the PC go faster) and setup XP Mode to run Quicken 2004 on that. All very technical, but it does work and I have done it many times. 2. Intuit will sell you their business product QuickBooks and it will import old Quicken files, but it's more expensive and more complicated. 3. More recently a company called moneysoft.co.uk have created a money management program that will import old Quicken files and it works in the same way that Quicken did. A number of my customers are using this and like it. So why not just use Moneysoft? Because it only runs on Windows. Obviously you want to avoid Windows unless you have to use it because of all the security problems. So what are your options: 1. Flip over to using spreadsheets. 2. Get a Mac and install Parallels on it so you can run Windows just for Quicken (just make sure you don't use the Windows bit for surfing the internet and anything else online). This is expensive. 3. Subscribe to the online version of QuickBooks (quickbooks.intuit.co.uk). You can run that on any type of computer from a Smartphone upwards. It's expsenive, but its cheaper than a Mac or sorting out an infection on Windows. 4. Buy one of the new bread of very cheap laptops (www.howtoreplaceyourpc/windows-laptop/ ) for just running Moneysoft and use a modern safe computer for everything else. That should cover it.

kyhtak
Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:47:12 GMT

Another option .. . We used Quicken for well over a decade. A couple of years ago (towards the end of 2012) we found a new program, YNAB (http://www.youneedabudget.com/). It has transformed the way we use money. We actually have money ahead now, instead of living "paycheck-to-paycheck. Quicken and it's kind are about keeping track of what you've already spent. YNAB is about helping you figure out where the money needs to go BEFORE it is spent, so that, when an emergency arises, the money is there to pay for it. (It's kind of like the ancient "envelope" system, except with the technological advantage of never having to "double-check" your addition and subtraction.) It is relatively simple to use, and there is LOTS of online help. The developer is far more concerned about helping people establish a budget and stick to it than about selling software. It is free to students, as long as they are students. (And only about $60 for the rest of us) You can download a trial version, and run it for free for 32 days -- enough to get you through a full month of money management . It works on both PC's and Mac's, and has an iPhone app. (It might work on other platforms; I've not had experience there.) You only need one copy per household (husband and wife can both use the same program). It uses Dropbox to automatically keep all data in sync on whatever computers have access to that Dropbox. I can enter data, and it shows up on my husband's computer. He can enter data, and it shows up on my computer. No, I do not work for the company. Neither does my husband. They don't even know we exist, except as a transaction somewhere back in their archives when we purchased the software. The only "drawback" I can see is that it doesn't transfer transactions from Quicken. You'll need to "start over" and "go on from here." We still have (I think) archived versions of our Quicken files, but, honestly, we never refer to them. The important stuff, that we use on a regular basis is at our fingertips -- BOTH of our fingertips, any time we need it. Yes, it takes a little while to make the transition, and we did refer back to Quicken a lot in the beginning, just to make sure we weren't missing something important. At this point, though, well, I can't remember the last time I had to refer back to Quicken.