Pastel Accounting software won't run on Vista

[Yvonne]

I never ever read the full license agreement and just click on accept.
Yip! I know - ignorance is bliss!

When is a QBooks license "valid"?

If a person purchases a program, and for some reason no longer needs it, is it illegal to give the program to another person, after having uninstalled it on your own computer?

Also Dave you say that the QBooks 2003 is no longer supported.
Just curious, have you ever needed assistance and support from QBooks?


Thanks
Yvonne

[Yvonne]

Has anyone tried the Microsoft accounting package, presumable this is written for Vista.
Are Microsoft hoping that we will change to their program if QBooks and Pastel are not compatible?
I heard it was free software, but do not really know anything about it?

Yvonne

[Dave A]

Also Dave you say that the QBooks 2003 is no longer supported.
Just curious, have you ever needed assistance and support from QBooks?

No. The software comes with a help facility that has met my needs every time. And despite having numerous staff over the years put it through all kinds of abuse, I think it has decided to close down because it has a problem on a total of about 5 occassions. And every time reopening had everything just perfect, except the transaction that was in the process at the time of the crash was absent - no problems there either

It really has been incredibly stable.

Has anyone tried the Microsoft accounting package, presumable this is written for Vista.
Are Microsoft hoping that we will change to their program if QBooks and Pastel are not compatible?
I heard it was free software, but do not really know anything about it?

I was toying with a Vista machine this morning at Makro and quietly noticed that. But I didn't get round to running the biz package. More browsing to see what was on as opposed to how good it might be and it does seem to be part of the Vista essentials or premium (?) package at least. (The basic business packaged version).

But now I'm going to take a closer look next time I get the chance.

[duncan drennan]

If a person purchases a program, and for some reason no longer needs it, is it illegal to give the program to another person, after having uninstalled it on your own computer?

It really depends on the particular end user license. I just remember from the QuickBooks one that you couldn't transfer your license to someone else without written permission from them, but that was with the 2006 version.

[Dave A]

Well, I'm going to be transferring a copy from one machine to another over the weekend, so I'll double check it then.

Thinking about it, without the written permission aspect, there's potential in a second hand licences dealership
And I wonder what the legal position would be on the transfer of ownership being unreasonably withheld. Part of Quickbooks marketing is that there are no renewal fees.

[Dave A]

Update: Indeed, according to the EULA you may transfer ownership with 2003 - you just need to inform Quickbooks within 15 days and not keep any copies.

[Dave A]

I've just received an unsolicited email from Pastel - it seems someone went to the trouble of adding me to their email list. It does contain some very pertinent information in relation to the title of this thread, so I'm not complaining too much. However, the fine print at the bottom says I cannot reproduce, disseminate blah blah any of the information contained therein.

So clearly I am not supposed to pass onto you the content of the email or any part thereof. Which is not too much of a problem because it is pretty non-commital anyway. ie. It does not say that Pastel does run on Vista. But it doesn't say Pastel doesn't run on Vista either. It does mention that Pastel does use a particular database and that installations may become complex.

Here is a list of potentially useful links that you might want to give a try if you have any interest:

Windows Vista : Capable and Premium Ready PCs

Read about Microsoft Vistaâ„¢ system requirements

Read about some of the pertinent changes in Microsoft Vistaâ„¢

Read more about setting up Pastel Partner when using Microsoft Vistaâ„¢

Read more about troubleshooting Pastel Partner when using Microsoft Vistaâ„¢

Pervasive.com

[amym]

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]

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.