Taking care of your files

QuickBooks should be XE "file maintenance" shut down before working on any QuickBooks files. At the very least, be certain the file you access is not in use by QuickBooks. No good can come from pulling one file in two different directions. Note, however, that the next step requires QuickBooks to be running.

Finding your file is necessary, if you want to copy, rename or delete it. With QuickBooks (version 3 or later) running, click File|Open Company. (In earlier versions, you may have to close the company first.) QuickBooks will suggest the last company that was open. Before you open it again, read the road map. (In QuickBooks 2 for Windows, before closing the file, note the file name, from the title bar.)

For convenience of operation, when the company file is highlighted, click OK, and open the company file. Then exit QuickBooks. The next time QuickBooks is started, the same company file will be opened.

Finding files can be XE "finding files" done in several ways. If you know part of the name, Find can locate the file. Click the Start button, move up to Find, then over to Files or Folders, and bring up this window.

Named takes what you know of the file you want to find. The wild card ? replaces any one character. The asterisk * serves as a wild card replacing any following characters, but the meaning is tricky. If the entry is HEA* the search will be for any filenames beginning with HEA, and with any suffix. If the entry is HEA.QBW* the search is for any files beginning HEA and having .QBW as a suffix, in a manner similar to the example.

Look in takes instructions about where to look for the files. A drop menu allows selecting a drive, if needed. If a drive has a label, that is shown. The DOS drive identifying letter is in parentheses.

Browse is useful for selecting specific folders. Selection of a drive (root folder) and Include subfolders instructs Find to look through the entire drive.

Double-clicking on an object in the list of files found, makes it active. For instance, double-clicking on any .qbw filewould start QuickBooks, with that file open.

NOTE

Windows 95 can use long file names, XE "long file names" and any application that requires Windows 95 should be able use long names. To accommodate older programs, the directory still contains the old “eight plus three” DOS file names, and the long file names are stored elsewhere. QuickBooks is an example. The illustration above, Open a Company, is the same under either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, because the old DOS file names are used.

The Find window may be left open. A file may be deleted or re-named in this window, as described later.