Pastel Accounting software won't run on Vista

[Chatmaster]

Yvonne, have you ever had a look at Turbocash? My wife uses it in her bookkeeping business.

[IanF]

Yvonne
If you are looking have a look at econoaccounting I use the lite version as I have a estimating system which goes up to invoicing. The downloading of bank statements is one of the best features.

[duncan drennan]

Yvonne, is your problem that you can't get QBooks to work on Vista? I did some digging (as I have 2006 and it also "does not work" on vista) and managed to get QBooks 2006 working without any major hassles. Let me know, and I'll look up what the necessary settings are.

[Yvonne]

No, it is not related to Vista, I discovered that problem previously when I purchased a new PC. so took that into account.

We have made sure that the server and new computers are all Microsoft Windows XP - but Windows compatible later should QBooks update to Vista.

We have an excellent IT consultant, and I do have total confidence in him.

We eventually got it sorted, had to remove the program from the server, and put it back on one of the stations, and we now have the access of two users, but now for some strange reason the program will not permit me to export a file into Exel!

Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated,

Yvonne

Yvonne

[Dave A]

Sorry, I've been kinda busy and haven't got to all the new posts for a couple of days.

Did you manage to reload it on a new computer using your existing license? or were you forced to purchase an upgrade?

As long as you uninstall on one machine, you won't have any problem installing onto a new machine using the same activation code. I've had to do that lots of times over the years. But it looks like you're already on top of that.

I am really reluctant to incur additional costs for an updated program which has nothing new to offer us and not available in the program we already own.

I know that feeling. I felt the same way when I got my first Quickbooks. I was so chuffed that you had it for life, and pretty much everything else available at the time was for rent - well, a pretty steep annual fee at least.

However, it was single user and when I needed a multi-user environment it was all over. I ended up giving that old one away and it is still being used to this day.

Nowadays I pretty much accept that there is a lifespan in any product, and sooner or later you'll probably need to replace/upgrade it.

[Yvonne]

Dave,

Please think long and hard before you upgrade to QBooks 2008, and whatever you do, do not uninstall your present program and have plenty of backups!
QBooks 2008 is not Vat compatable without having a QBooks consultant fix a data problem!
It handles Vat in a different way to previous versions, personally I don't see this as an improvement!

I had to purchased the QBooks 2008 for a server and 2 users, in order to be able to get support!
Never needed it in the past!
The software cost R7,499 and we have been trying to get it up and running for 2 days!

Not possible to run from the server!
We were told prior to the installation that there would be a problem with the Vat! (After the purchase naturally - no support information until the new purchase!!!!)

Therefore this is not "my" problem as I see it but a very definite QBooks software incompatability with previous versions!

I am going to start preparations to move to a new program from now as I will never again purchase another QBooks product, after being a loyal user for approx 10 years.

Yvonne

[amym]

Pastel & Vista

Pastel can run on Vista. You need to make sure that you are using Pervasive version 9 or higher and Pastel version 9 or higher. You will have to upgrade to the latest versions if you are using older versions of these products.

When you install Pastel, also remember to right click and choose the option to install as administrator.

Hope this helps.

Amy

[Marq]

From my experience this past year - if you have to run anything as the administrator in vista then the product is not properly vista compatible. This seems to be a fault with most accounting packages

Pastels Pervasive did just that to my machine and I was only looking at their one demo package. It took over and I had server problems and sql problems and hanging stuff. The product itself didnt look that great to me and also seems to rely on Excel and other third party products for reports. The demo disk went south pretty quickly.

I last had a look around when Qbooks bombed in vista last year (yes I was also told where I could put my problems after having used qb since ver 3 many years ago - I also will convert to that 'something else' on my next upgrade.) I couldn't find anything successful then mainly as a result of the suppliers selling off the shelf licences rather than products. Accpacs simply accounting was one of these (I dont know if they still are or whether they came to their senses.)

So be careful out there as some of these 'packages' are annual licence stuff and you will pay for the product over and over every year. They rely on the fact that you have a years data and set up on your machine and its a real problem to convert to something new.

What to get though? I do not know at the moment - I only know that it will not be qbooks or pastel for me. It will be interesting to see where your research takes you.

[Alta Murray]

Help has arrived! Our accounting package is available and a download available at
www.rapidaccess.co.za. Our web-site is not ready, it is not finished, but just speed reading through this thread and seeing how you struggle made me change my mind. So if you hit a snag on the site, please call me at 082 8231065 or Jakes/Koos at 0825700962 or JP at 0723715540 and we'll help you to download. Our web site is NOT ready, so when you download, pls be patient, and don't click twice, it will download.

The demo version is a single user multi-company, but of course you can get the multi-user version as well. It comes with all the bells and whistles as standard, so you don't end up paying for add on's, standard means full deck. It is Vista ready and runs on T-Speed. An added benefit is that we offer on-line assistance and even find your mistakes for you if you don't balance, easier for us to do as we work from the bottom up.
For that you will need a DSL or broadband connection. Additional feautres : ur reps can get onto the system at the client and make out invoices or check for stock availability etc.

The business accounting package also checks why you lose money, and this is NOT my diagnostics package! But at least you get a good foundation to start doing analysis from.

No help desk - you speak to the developer and we speak English. We play around with new technology and we even have a cheaper ISP available than MWeb that we have pushed and it works.

And check out the prices!! RE the thread where we had the debate about software, see, it can be cheap. And it can be better.

Something else that is cool -- the software evolves from the standard package around your specific needs, so if you want changes it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

[Alta Murray]

Hi Marq,

We don't make use of SQL, or any other 3rd parties, you don't need to upgrade, you don't need anything special to make our systems run. And as for hidden costs -- there is none! I am laughing as I type this, boy, they sure know how to milk a cow.

We can even help you to see our system in action if you like, so you can see someone working on the system from where you are at.

The system has no limits on records as it can handle up to a billion records. The system auto-backups your data at year end, and is always available, year after year. The package allows you to e-mail statements,orders,invoices etc. directly from the system on the screen that you are at.

We have been exclusive thus far, and we have clients all over the world that we service.

As a business owner, the coolest thing to my mind, is that I can check on my business from where ever I am. (This is the data server option, which requires a little bit of technical set up, but nothing major)

All our reps are making out their invoices from our clients premises by only using a memory stick. You also have the feature where you can restrict certain people from viewing data that you think might be sensitive for ex. we don;t want our reps checking out our net profit and cashbook.

We will be happy to answer any questions, and please remember that I believe there is no thing like a stupid question, so let it rip.

[Alta Murray]

No life-span as you know it on our products Dave. We work it a little bit different, but by then you should know me, I always tend to do things differently, and it needs to work!!

[Dave A]

Hmm. Rapid it ain't.

Alta, I couldn't resist taking a peak. I hit the download link and it looks like it is trying to set up the application on your server as opposed to my PC.

[Dave A]

Hmm. The downloading is a bit wierd (apparently this is an IE7 thing - Firefox users should have less trouble). My only suggestion is to create the folder to save in before downloading - I'm used to doing that on the fly.

Anyway, time to play...
Now I'm not going to get any work done

[Alta Murray]

Very sorry bout that, like I said the web site is NOT ready, but at least you can take a look. And I did say when you download please be patient honest to a T I am. However, the rest is rapid! Comments will always be welcome though, and I really hate the colour of the site, never mind that it is not up and running properly yet. Yuk! Great to hear from you though!

[Dave A]

The rest is indeed rapid. Very rapid!

My first suggestion - have a sample company available with sample data for trial downloads. Loading sample data to get a handle on the functionality is soooo boring