My client intends to upgrade the OS to Vista.

Has SA 2004 Pro (Canadian Versiion - due to multi-currency support) installed on XP machines on peer-to-peer.

I tried SA 2004 Pro on my Vista, can install without any problem, except for crystal report error (client does not use CR) and it seems it is working without any problem.

My questions,

 Can I advice my client to go ahead with Vista upgrade (clean installation)?

 Another issue, the existing SA 2004 Pro has been updated by earlier consultant, the client does not have a copy of those service releases, I tried at the SA site they no longer support 2004. Can these updated company databases be opened and worked on with the original relase (client has the original CD) without any problem?

 If NO is the answer then can I rebuild a new company by exporting existing data from a cut-off date into the new company.

 If not from where can I download the service releases?

Thanks.

You may be taking your chances advising your client to use 2004 on Vista - Simply did not support installation on Vista until 2007 release D because Vista had not been released until about June of 2007 and Simply 2007 was released in Fall 2006.  See this this note in the Knowledge Base about CR and Vista.

There were a number of issues surrounding Vista and the earlier releases of 2007. If you go the Forum Archives and select Jan 2007 and search for Vista you will see a number of threads regarding issues with Vista.

Here is an excerpt from an email we received from Sage back in early 2007 -

"Simply Accounting 2007 and 2006 software will run on a computer with the new Windows Vista operating system; however, some minor compatibility issues have been identified.

The Windows Vista operating system recently rolled out by Microsoft will impact some aspects of your Simply Accounting functionality. We are working to address most of these issues in upcoming product updates for Simply Accounting 2007, scheduled for release in July 2007. In the meantime, a list of possible workarounds has been developed for both 2007 and 2006. We anticipate that Simply Accounting 2008 should be fully compatible with Windows Vista, but we will continue testing for potential issues.

We recommend that, if possible, you remain on the Windows XP platform or upgrade to Simply Accounting 2008 when it becomes available. If you have clients using Simply Accounting 2005 or a prior version, it may not function properly on Microsoft Vista. Sage Software has not tested those versions on the Microsoft Vista operating system."

There is cetainly no harm in trying - but if, as a recommender, you spend lots of 'free' time later fixing problems created by Vista, wouldn't it be less expensive for both you and your client in terms of time to have the client upgrade to 2008.

I appreciate your prompt reply. Thank you very much.

It has been over four years since XP was installed, with users installing & uninstalling various softwares and all sort of minor attacks from internet sources has made the system somewhat unstable. That's where the Vista is coming in.

As suggested I have no alternative but to remain with XP & SA 2004, as the client is happy with the SA 2004 PRO version as it delivers their reqirements.

Regarding the other question, can I rebuild a new company database by exporting the existing data and is SA 2004 PRO release A stable, the client does not have the subsequent service releases ONLY the origial CD is available.

Thanks

The only major issue that I seem to recall about 2004 was some problems with the bank reconciliation and a .01 balancing error on the trial balance. There was a utility patch issued to fix it but you may have trouble obtaining that.

As I understand, you have installed of 2004 A on your system - did you test the client's database (which has been upgraded to later releases) against it? I am fairly certain that you can do this as I had a client a couple of years ago with an earlier release of 2004 that had been updated on someone else's machine - no harm was done and they used the 2004 version for a couple of years more. But you should test it first. You will get a message telling you that the database has been opened by a later version each time you open it though.

And as far as starting a new database, you will have to rebuild it from scratch - set up the Chart of Accounts, enter in all the historical data, etc. - you cannot do a 'rebuild' any other way. 

As I mentioned earlier, unless you are working for free, all this work of testing and rebuilding will cost your client $s, which would probably pay for the purchse of 2008 - just a thought. If you are installing on a Vista machine, then the machine is most likely capable of handling Simply 2008.

Thank you very much for valuable advice.

Another good piece of advice is when you install Simply 2008 on a vista computer, install it as  C:\Simply 2008. Dont do it as C:\Program Files\Simply 2008. It has a very different file format so install it that way. I have a procedure for changing Simply 2007 on an XP machine to Simply 2008 on a vista machine. Let me know if you need it.