MoneyWorks

So you’ve retired your old workhorse and have a shiny new computer onto which you want to install MoneyWorks, but you’re not sure how to proceed. Here’s what you need do:

• Install MoneyWorks on your new computer and activate it with your serial number.
• Transfer your existing MoneyWorks data files and custom plug-ins to the new computer.

Note: The remainder of this article applies to MoneyWorks Gold, Express and Cashbook only. For information on moving MoneyWorks Datacentre please see Moving MoneyWorks Datacentre to a new machine.

Note: If you are transferring from an old Mac to a new Mac using Migration Assistant, you shouldn’t need to do anything (although occasionally the serial number might not transfer, so you should record that in advance). Be aware however that old versions of MoneyWorks may not run on later versions of the Mac OS.

Finding your serial number

You will need this to activate MoneyWorks on your new computer. If you haven’t kept a record of your serial number in a safe place, you can locate it on your old computer by starting MoneyWorks and choosing Help>Enter Serial. Failing this, provided you have registered your serial number, you can request Cognito to send you a copy.

Finding your MoneyWorks version

Your serial number will only activate the version of MoneyWorks that you currently use. Thus if you are using version 6, you will need to install MoneyWorks 6 (and not MoneyWorks 7 or 8). To find out the version number choose About MoneyWorks (under the Help menu in Windows, or the MoneyWorks menu on Mac).

Getting the MoneyWorks Installer

You can request a MoneyWorks installer (from version 5 onwards) to be sent to you from the Try page on the Cognito Website. Fill out the form, and select the correct version of MoneyWorks from the pop-up menu (installers for MoneyWorks 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are available). The download link will be emailed to you, and you should download and run the installer on the new computer, and activate the MoneyWorks with your serial number.

If you are using MoneyWorks Datacentre (or you are using an old version of MoneyWorks Gold only as a network client), you won’t need to worry about transferring your MoneyWorks data files as they will be stored on your server or Gold host computer. Gold clients will however need to transfer their MoneyWorks Custom Plug-ins as described later in this post.

Backing up MoneyWorks File(s)

The easiest way to transfer your files is to make a MoneyWorks backup file. Open the MoneyWorks file on your old computer and choose File>Save a Backup as and ensure that you have the Accounts Backup with Custom Plug-ins option set. This creates a compressed backup file that includes any custom plug-ins (customised invoices, reports etc) that you may have. Simply copy this file onto the new machine and double click it—MoneyWorks will open and offer to restore the backup with the specified name to the nominated directory. How you do the physical copying is up to you—either use a memory stick, or copy the file over the network, or whatever method you are using to transfer your other files.

Having transferred your data files, you will need to uninstall MoneyWorks from the old machine. On the Mac, just drag the MoneyWorks app from the Applications folder to the trash; on Windows, use the Windows Uninstall process (which varies, depending on what version of Windows you are using).

If you don’t want to or are unable to transfer the files using a MoneyWorks backup, then you will need to locate the MoneyWorks files and MoneyWorks Custom Plug-ins the hard way, so read on …

Locating your MoneyWorks Data files

Your MoneyWorks data files will be wherever you placed them on your hard drive. The easiest way to find them, if you are using MoneyWorks 6 or later, is to open them in MoneyWorks on the old computer, and click the File Location link on the Housekeeping tab of the Navigator. This will open the folder that contains the file in a Finder window (Mac) or a Windows Explorer window (Windows). You will need to locate the file (on the Mac it will be highlighted in the Finder window) and copy it onto the new machine.

Locating your MoneyWorks Custom Plug-ins

The MoneyWorks Custom Plug-ins directory contains any customised reports, forms (invoice, statement or cheque layouts) or scripts that you might have had done. You will need to transfer these to the new computer if you want to keep using them. To locate the folder, click on the Custom Plug-ins location link on the Housekeeping tab of the Navigator. These need to be copied to the correct location on your new computer—for information on this, see the “Managing your Plug-ins” section in the MoneyWorks manual (page 29 if you are using MoneyWorks 7).

A note on File Extensions

If you have had some sort of hardware failure and are attempting to recover MoneyWorks files from a failed drive, you may have to search for the MoneyWorks files on some backup medium. To facilitate this the most common MoneyWorks file extensions are listed below. Note that, until fairly recently, file extensions were not required on Macs.