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Help Clients with Backup Files in QuickBooks 2009 By: Intuit Product: QuickBooks Financial Software Tip Category: Shortcut/Best Practice

Situation

Most of your clients will have no problem with hard drive space when upgrading to QuickBooks 2009. However, because claims on a client's hard drive are ever present, you may find that the occasional client will be pinched for hard drive space. We want to provide some suggestions for your use in working with any such clients. As a practical matter, the shortage of available hard drive space may only become problematic as the client makes repeated backups of the QuickBooks 2009 company file.

Clients most at risk are those who were already close to pushing the limits of hard drive storage with QuickBooks 2008.

Background

Company data files will not increase significantly in size after converting to QuickBooks 2009.* Users will see a slight increase as shown in the below table. (This slight increase is driven by enhancements in QuickBooks functionality.) If there is a negative impact on clients, it would more typically occur upon storage of multiple backup files.

Backup Files. While backup files in QuickBooks 2009 are still typically smaller than the company file, as the company file gets larger, the backup file grows increasingly closer to the company file in size. Note below that the 36MB QuickBooks 2009 company file only compresses to 32.3MB in the backup file. Smaller files will have significantly smaller backups.

Overview of Changes in File Size from QuickBooks 2008 to QuickBooks 2009

Response

You have a number of options in advising clients on how to approach their backup situation, whether they are about to upgrade to QuickBooks 2009 or they have already upgraded. Those options can be explored in three phases:

1. Review the client's computer system and hard drive.
2. Work to improving available space on the hard drive.
3. Explore alternatives for data backup.

(A) Review the Client's Computer System and Hard Drive

There are several ways to determine the amount of available hard drive space available on the client's computer system. One way is to right click on the hard drive or hard drives as shown in the My Computer folder. This approach will be shown in the next section.

Requirements for program installation are available for each version of QuickBooks 2009 and depend on implementation. You may determine at this point that no further action is required. Assuming that you do find the potential for the hard drive space being used up, proceed to the next step.

(B) Improve Available Space on the Hard Drive

If the client has not regularly maintained use of hard drive space, you can use system tools available in the Windows operating system to free up some space on the hard drive. The tools include Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter.

In Windows XP these system tools are found through the Start menu as follows:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools

The disk defragmentation tool can also be found by clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop.

My Computer. Click and open My Computer, and then right-click on the "C" drive. In Windows XP this operation will let you select from several options. If you don't see the system tools you are looking for, select the Properties option.

Right-Clicking on the C Drive from My Computer will open range of options; if you don't see the System Tool you are looking for, select Properties.

Properties Dialog Box. From the Properties Dialog box, you may have several tabs from which to choose.

In the Properties Dialog Box, the General tab provides more details on the amount of free space available

Depending on the user's operating system, this dialog box may give you a graphical as well as numeric view of the amount of free disk space.

Warning: You may see an option to compress the drive to save disk space. Choosing this option will affect performance and is not recommended.

The Tools Tab. To access the System Tools, click on the Tools tab.

Running the Error-checking Tool is good for identifying potential errors. The Defragmentation Tool (aka Disk Defragmenter) can free up additional space on many systems.

From the Tools tab, you should have access to the tools needed to clean up and defragment the hard drive. Simply running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter will recover some additional disk space. Uninstalling unused programs, and deleting temporary files will also recover additional hard drive space. There are inexpensive utility programs available on the Internet that can accomplish these tasks in minutes.

Other Maintenance. Cleaning the hard drive by offloading rarely used data files to other media, and removing unused programs, can also generate more space on the hard drive.

(C) Explore Alternatives for Data Backup

Options to for managing the process of data backup include use of removable media, restructuring the backup process, or an online backup service. (Note, however, that we do not recommend use of the Portable Company File to replace regular backups.)

1. Removable Media.
1. Backup to Writable CD-ROM
2. Backup to Thumb Drive (assumes USB port)
3. Backup to External Hard Drive (assumes USB port)


2. Comments: One of the simplest methods would be to save the backup on some form of removable media such as a thumb drive or a CD. Thumb drives are relatively inexpensive and are very simple to configure and operate. Assuming the presence of a USB port, thumb drives do not require any additional hardware to be installed.
   
   
3. Portable Company File Not Recommended for Backup
   
   Comment: Starting with QuickBooks 2006, QuickBooks added the capability of creating a Portable Company File, which is a highly compressed version of the data file. The compression rate of the portable company file is approximately 10 to 1. This creates a much smaller file that can be stored and will actually take up less disk space than previous version backups.
   
   We do not recommend that users turn to the portable company file in place of a regular backup. The regular backup process will still need to be accomplished periodically to reduce overhead on the hard drive.
   
   Here's why: Starting with QuickBooks 2006, QuickBooks now creates a transaction log file that captures every transaction entered into the database. The database can use this log file to roll back the database to a known state in case of an inadvertent database shut down. It can also be used to recreate the file in the event of data corruption. This file continues to grow until completion of a regular backup. At that point it is deleted and a new transaction log begins. Creating a portable company file will not delete the transaction log.
   
   
4. Restructuring the Backup Process. If clients do not have the capacity to use a thumb drive or burn a CD, they can save space by restructuring their backup process.
   
   Many clients keep all backup files over the last year or more. However, clients could change their approach and simply keep the two most recent backup files. Then, at every backup, they would replace the oldest backup file every time they complete the backup. Or they could keep one backup file, and one Portable Company File alternatively. This alternating use of the Portable Company File overcomes difficulties noted above.
   
   
5. Online Backup. Intuit also offers the QuickBooks Online Backup Service. (QuickBooks Monthly and Annual support plans, excluding the ProAdvisor program, include a free subscription to Online Backup service. These free subscriptions protect up to 1GB of QuickBooks data and any other key documents.) This online backup service may offer another solution for some clients.

Conclusion

Problems with backup files in QuickBooks 2009 may appear where the client's use of the hard drive was previously pushing the limits of the system, but can be managed by improved hard drive management and other options in making data backups.

Note

* If you are ever called in to work with a client using QuickBooks 2005 or earlier, you will see significant increases in file size as you update to a more current version of QuickBooks. This increase is driven by the architecture of the QuickBooks database engine implemented with QuickBooks 2006.

Last Updated: 11/7/2008

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