Can't...or Won't...restore Windows (.qbb) backup to my Mac

Okay mikejaz2 - now that I'm done 'pointing' I can answer your questions: That backup you made for your accountant is designed to open ONLY in QB for Windows! It has already been 'converted' (so to speak) for the Windows format and so can't be opened back up on a Mac.

What you CAN do is send that backup to your accountant again, ask him to convert it to QB for Windows and THEN re-create a backup for MAC to give back to you, which you will be able to open. Better yet, ask him if he still has the original that you sent - tell him to use the Utility "Export a File for QB Mac"...that will cut your 'travel time' in half.

P.S. are you SURE your real company file is gone? Used Spotlight to look for it?

OK...so in order to invoke the "restore from Windows" command, I cannot use the backup (the "export to Windows" file, or .qbb) I made on my computer. My accountant has to restore from my Mac-to-Win backup, then export to Mac...THEN I can restore from Windows?

Does someone named Rube Goldberg write code for Intuit?

Anyway, thanks for clearing this up for me...yes, I'm afraid my company is gone (searched long and hard; my guess is that I must've copied a bad "QuickBooks Pro Folder" over the one containing my real company), but with the backups I've got and a little typing I'm almost back to current.

Thanks for the quick response.

If I can interject a question from this discussion. I am trying to open a Windows QBB file on the latest version of QuickBooks Pro for the Mac. I followed all of the instructions given to me (both from the Intuit support site and via Intuit's technical support via phone)-- created the "copy to Mac" file on the Windows side, burned it to disk and tried to restore it on the Mac. After asking for the password, it would start to restore and then tell me that the "data was not restored." Is there something else I need to do on the Windows side to open this file?

Your assistance is appreciated.

John

I'm having the exact same problem. Created the Mac file, but after a few seconds, the Quickbooks for Mac program tells me the date was not restored.

I've gone back and even rebuilt and verified the windows Quickbook file, then made a new qbb file for the Mac, but still no success.

Help, please! Thanks.

Angie

Hi johnhay and angelah,

What version of windows QB are you trying to convert?

If you have a password on the windows version, go in and remove it.
I will try to help both of you on this so lets start at the beginning..
1. Mac version you have?
2. Windows version you have?
3. Are there any memorized transactions on the windows version,,,if so un-memorize them.
4. Verify data on windows file.
Ok I now am waiting for some of your answers for above.

Ron

Thanks for the reply. :-)

I'm working with Quickbooks Pro 2007 for windows; same for Mac.

I have Mac Tiger 10.4
Windows Vista.
No memorized transactions.
And I've already verified and rebult my data file.

Thanks!

Angie

Hi,
How are you gettting the backup from the PC to the Mac,,,
Try putting it on the desktop on the Mac, and than open QB and choose Restore and than choose the backup that you put on the desktop.... I am not familiar with Vista but I don't know of any issues yet
Ron

Thanks, but I have already tried every way I know how.

I've copied the new Mac file onto a flash drive. Didn't work.

I've put it on the Mac's desktop. Didn't work.

I've verified and rebuilt the file before running the utility to Mac. Nope.

I've uploaded it to .mac and created a new company, then tried to import it as a backup file. Didn't work.

I've tried changing the file extensions to .qbw or qb2007. Didn't work.

I've uploaded it from my network in a shared folder. No go.

Thinking it was maybe a Vista problem, I've put the trial version of QBP on a laptop running Win XP and done the verify/save/save to Mac on it, then transferred it. Same result.

I get the same result others have reported--it looks like it's importing names, then suddenly it stops at 100 and tells me that my data has not been restored.

I hate to sound frantic, but I really do depend on this program and my "trial" version of the WIN version is about to run out and Intuit has "deactivated" my old license. So I'm going to be stuck in a few days . . .

Thanks for any help you can give!

Angie

I started to think that the problem almost had to do with my WIN QB file. So I did a verify and found one duplicated item on a list. I corrected that and got a "clean bill of health" on my verify. Then I rebuilt the data. No problems.

Then it took three attempts, but I used "clean up" files to archive anything earlier than Dec. 31, 2005. So now my file should be easy to read. I was optimistic until I saved for mac and tried to open . . . again, zilch.

Same procedure, same error message: "Your data has not been restored."

Help?

Angie

If you have any memorized reports in the file on the Windows side, delete those and try again.

When the message is simply 'data not restored' it usually means there's something wrong with the file (not the conversion process itself) Memorized reports often contain transaction types that the QBMac doesn't support therefore can't convert.

Don't have any memorized reports. Sorry.

Angie

I realized that while I hadn't created any memorized reports, there were some that were part of the program, so I deleted them all.

Tried the steps again, still didn't work.

Angie

I also tried all the possible solutions mentioned and nothing work so I went out and bought parallels for Mac and then installed my windows version of quickbooks and so far everything is working great, I feel this may be the best option especcially if you like the windows version.

I would just run my old one from Parallels, but when I called to order the Mac version, they refunded my payroll subscription and "deactivated" my old license. So now I have only a few days left on my windows program because it won't let me register . . .

aarrrrgh!

But thanks to Jennifer, who worked privately with me on the problem . . . even though we still didn't find a solution.

Angie

You're welcome Angie - wish I could say I'd uncovered the data problem that's preventing the conversion! :(

We'd talked about Payroll but I forgot to mention: you know that Mac 2007 does not have internal payroll like QuickBooks for Windows, right?

That is all - good luck.

If it's any consolation, I've been struggling with this issue since the beginning of the year. I have tried all the suggestions on this site (all that you have, too) and have not found a solution. Misery loves company, eh?
Something recently occurred to me: I was able to open a different company successfully once using the conversion. When I went back and tried to update it, it did the whole "data was not restored" thing. Should I delete all my Quickbooks files and do a clean install? Is it possible there is some bad memory (for lack of a better word) of an old file?
Thanks!

Wel, today I threw up my hands and called tech support to surrender.

I asked them to refund my money for the Mac version and charge me again for the Windows version--and to reactivate my old Windows license. So I'm back to running QB for windows under Parallels. Took me a while to figure out how to get checks to print on the network (the virtual computer doesn't like to talk to the host computer), but I finally stumbled on the right answer and was able to print myself a paycheck. :-)

So--I think either the Mac program is too picky or the Windows program is too lax, because my files kept getting verified, rebuilt, and even "cleaned up" so that only the last 12 months were showing, and my file never passed muster with the Mac.

Maybe next year I'll try again. Until then, I'll stick with the Windows version. Glad to see I'm not the only one having trouble, though.

Thanks, Jennifer!

Angie

...I think all this discussion about what I think is a simple problem points out that Intuit, and QuickBooks, are in for a rude awakening when Apple publishes their own accounting and bookkeeping packages, which I am sure they will do soon. I'll be leading the charge to jump from Intuit, a company I see having a Microsoft-like attitude ("we're Intuit, and we don't have to help."), to something, ANYTHING, that works.

Hi there, mikejaz2. Have you read somewhere that Apple is developing accounting and/or bookkeeping software for the Mac? AFAIK, Intuit's CEO is still on Apple's board of directors, not that that would necessarily matter.

Just curious!

Debi Calvet, Principal, AdvantGroup LLC

I was having the same problem when trying to restore to mac from windows. I tried everything that this board suggested to no avail and called customer support. They pointed out a couple of more small items that need to be deleted from your windows version so that your company file can be restored on Mac.
1st. Delete any "cc" information in your customer file.

2nd. Delete any "mpn" or manufactures part number in your items list.

These two things in addition to all of the other suggestions on restoring and deleting memorized reports worked like a charm. Now I am off to explore QB on my Mac. Good luck!