Using the network version, can we keep all proseries data files for all versions on one logical drive?

Under the File, Change Directories option, you can set the directory of the data to any directory you want. Since the data files have .YYX extention where YY is the Year and X is the form type, it is possible to keep all years in the same folder. Is that what you are asking? Or will each client have a folder?

Thanks cr123. I did not have my network Admin station and licensing set up properly. Once ProSeries helped with that I was able to set ProSeries to the root of a logical drive (not a physical one), even though it objected.

We back up each night to an external hard drive as well as we back up to an off site service each night. We back up all data on the computer (taxes, excel, word etc.) each day. The back up is about 32 gig and it runs about $25/month.

GaryRCT

This was not a backup problem. We have 2 separate daily backups and offsite backups as needed. It relates to whether the ProSeries 2008 network version can store data anywhere on a data drive, as opposed to storing it in or beneath a PS2008 data folder. That is, can the base 2008 data location be the root of the data drive?

The answer is YES! However, a serious bug in PS2008 then includes ProSeries 2005 and possibly 2006 and 2007 files in the PS2008 Homebase. This is only a problem with the Network version IF you try to have folders and subfolders with data from other years beneath the PS2008 folder. This, of course, happens if you have a data drive with folders for each client and subfolders for \2008, \2007, \2006, and \2005. I do not expect a fast fix, so I returned to the stand alone version.

ProSeries does not permit you to change the data file directory/folder programatically, it "prefers" that you store your data in the "08DATA" directory below the "ProNet08" directory. If you want to store your client data files on a different logical drive (d:\, for example) other than your program drive (c:\, for example), you need to edit the "ProSeriesData.INI" file located in the "ProNet08" directory.

Find this line in the file:

CurrYearDirectory=.\08data

You can edit the statement, as follows:

CurrYearDirectory=i:\tax\2008\pronet08

This example is the actual statement we use. On our network server, ProSeries is installed on server drive c:\... and the client files are stored on server drive d:\... , (d:\ is remapped as drive i:\ for the workstations). Create you data directory before editing this file, then save it, invoke ProSeries, and your client data directory should be moved to the new location.

"No warranty, express or implied"

Hope this helps!

Mike

You can use the client copy/backup to copy you clients to your logical drive, but this will give you a copy of your files and it may create "timing" problems since the same data exists in two different locations. I use data managment software to keep my clients files (excel, word, outlook, access in separate folders) organized by clients then, years wthitin each client folders; in that file I also place an Acrobar copy of the tax return.

Good luck

Yes.

Label main folder ProTax, then within this folder create a subfolders 2008,2007,2006 and so on, this is how we store our files on our server.

Hi Amer67 - You did not read my original post very well. The organization I want is the same one most of us have in our file rooms. I want a drive with Client1, Client2, .... folders. Under each client folder I want 06, 07, 08 .... folders FOR THAT ONE CLIENT. ProSeries 08 instead wants an 08 folder for ALL clients (this was optional before 08, since you could change the base file location to H:\).

You can partly beat this problem if you tell ProSeries 08 that its folder is a folder that you map as a logical drive. That is, say your drive is G:\, with a folder H. Map the H folder as a corresponding logical drive (H:\). Then you can have the Client1, Client 2 ... on H:\, with each having 06, 07, 08. This works because you tel ProSeries 08, and presumable 09... all to keep their data in G:\H (without telling it that G:\H is drive H:\). I will follow up if they fixed this.

This did not, however, work for ProSeries 08 multi-user earlier this year. A multi-user only bug picked up 05 PS files in the 08 Homebase when you did this. I do not know if ProSeries fixed this.