Roaming Computing System (Windows Edition) 3.6
Workstation Installation Instructions
Supplemental Guide for Major Proprietary Applications

Contents

Introduction

This document is a supplemental guide to the workstation installation guide describing per-workstation installation and configuration of various major proprietary / commercial applications that are likely to only be required on particular workstations, and few workstations at that.

These applications are best installed manually from CD/DVD rather than through the WPKGpackage management system.

Adobe Creative Suite

Installation

Install on workstation

Install Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat etcetera

Install updates

Register the program

Co-operative Bank Financial Director

Install on an accounts workstation from CD

Install whilst speaking with the bank

Install update

Dreamweaver

Installation

Install from CD

Install update

Register the program

The recommended preference for Dreamweaver site cache is to turn it off because, at least with version 8, it saves it in the user profile in a part that roams.

InDesign (upgrade edition)

Installation

Install on workstation

Install update

Register the program

Photoshop 7.0

Installation

Quickbooks (at least versions prior to Quickbooks 2010)

Note that Intuit only support the most recent version of Quickbooks and two prior versions. Previous versions will have some features disabled. Details are at http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/DiscontinuationPlan.aspx for the US version. Confusingly, where the US web site claims themost recent version is 2009, the UK site is only selling the 2008 version. Find support for the UK version at http://support.intuit.co.uk/quickbooks/index.jsp.

Intuit UK spport: http://support.intuit.co.uk/quickbooks/

UK community support site: http://community.quickbooks.co.uk/discussion/index.php?showforum=47

UK product updates: http://support.intuit.co.uk/quickbooks/en-gb/kb/update/update-quickbooks-to-new-product-update/Update_main.html

Nonprofit Edition

A more expensive Nonprofit Edition exists, it "includes features such as a chart of accounts customized for nonprofits, forms and letters targeted to donors and pledges, help about using QuickBooks for a nonprofit, and the ability to generate the "Statement of Functional Expenses 990" form."

Nonprofit Dilemma

"I'm doing the books for a tiny nonprofit corporation. I'd really like to avoid spending any of our hard-raised funds on a specialedition of QuickBooks. Can't I just use QuickBooks Pro? You may be tempted to save some money by using QuickBooks Pro instead of the more-expensive QuickBooks Nonprofit Edition, but be prepared to live with some limitations.
As long as funding comes primarily from unrestricted sources, the Pro edition fits reasonably well. Your biggest annoyance is using the term "customer" when you mean donor or member, or the term "job" for grants you receive. Throughout this book, you'll find notes and tips about tracking nonprofit finances with QuickBooks Pro (or plain QuickBooks Premier).
However, if you receive restricted funds or track funds by program, you have to manually post them to equity accounts and allocate funds to accounts in your chart of accounts-QuickBooks Pro doesn't automatically perform these staples of nonprofit accounting. Likewise, the program doesn't generate all the reports you need to satisfy your grant providers or the government, though you can export reports (page 617) and then modify them as necessary in a spreadsheet program."

Installation

Install on any accounts workstations from CD

QuickBooks 2006 and 2008 require .NET 1.1; QuickBooks 2009 requires .net 2.0.

Network / Multi-user setups

If you have a multi-user version of QuickBooks then you make different installation options depending on which version is for the server (whether a workstation or a Windows Server) and which is a client. Intuit have Network/Multi-User Setup guides for various versions of QuickBooks. See also Master Tip: Installing QuickBooks in a Multi-User Environment (for 2006) and Troubleshooting Slow Multi-User Performance In QuickBooks 2006.

Register QuickBooks

Register the program. You may need to do this before you can update QuickBooks; QuickBooks 2006 and 2008 will update without first registering it. The information you enter doesn't have to match what you've entered here before. Sometimes you may be asked to telephone Intuit for them to confirm the registration.

Registration(?) creates a file in the same directory as the QuickBooks company file containing:
INET/License.qbl (END)
;Version 2002 Release R8P License File
;Do not remove this file or change its content. If you do so, you may need to register again.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxxx, xxxxx-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx, xxxx-xxx-xxxx

Update

Types of updates: Maintenance Releases; Regular. Intuit have a list of updates available for each version of QuickBooks.

Some older versions need you to have opened a company file in order to be able to update; there's a sample company file you can use for this.

Update using File → Update QuickBooks → Update → it doesn't show any updates available.
Choose Get Updates → it explains something about trying to make connection → OK.
Though no updates have been found or installed, quit QuickBooks and it will offer to install updates.

Configuration

QuickBooks needs to run as a Power User. For details of why QuickBooks is so broken in this regard see 'QuickBooks Vista problems are six years in the making' and 'Error: "Windows XP and Windows 2000 users must have Power Users or Administrator group rights in order to run QuickBooks."'. See also Banks Urge Businesses To Lock Down Online Banking .

This configuration method involves running QuickBooks with elevated priviliges, creating a Power User account but only using it to run QuickBooks as a Power User, rather than logging in with the Power User account and using it for everything. QuickBooks needs access to either the shared directory (S:) or the restricted directory (R:), depending on where you want to save the company file (R: is recommended); and access to any printer shared from the server, so needs a domain account.

If the company file is to be saved on S: or R:, in the Windows logon script on the server, to the S: or R: drive mapping add /PERSISTENT:YES [However, I've had this not work such that when you use quickBooks the S: or R: isn't available. To fix it I logged in with the Power User account and manually mapped S: or R:].
We do this because otherwise the user we run QuickBooks as has no S: or R:, though they can navigate to \\server\shared or \\server\restricted\finance. I expected runas's /env switch would fix this, but QuickBooks doesn't run when I use that. Instead I got S: or R: by adding '/PERSISTENT:YES' to the drive mapping in the logon script and logging in once with the power user account in order to save that drive mapping to their environment. Alternatively we could do without S: or R: and have the user access there by navigating to the company file through network neighborhood, QuickBooks thus saving to a UNC path

On the server

On the Workstation

Power User Account Configuration

Login once with the Power User account in order to have the S: or R: drive mappings saved to their environment [However, I've had this not work such that when you use quickBooks the S: or R: isn't available. To fix it I logged in with the Power User account and manually mapped S: or R:].

QuickBooks needs Internet Explorer's Internet and Local Intranet zones to remain slack. Tweak Unattended will configure this account automatically when you login so undo the Internet Explorer configuration by setting the relevant zones (Internet and intranet?) to default level.

User Who'll Use QuickBooks

Login as the user(s) who'll use QuickBooks on this workstation. Run QuickBooks and enter the password for the power user account and it will be remembered for this particular user (It is stored in their Windows profile so is remembered even when the workstation is replaced and QuickBooks reinstalled).

If you're using R:\finance for files other than the QuickBooks company file (such as for exported spreadsheets and word processing documents) then also make this user a member of the finance restricted group (access to the company file on R: is already available through the power user account that QuickBooks is using).

Issues

QuickBooks exports expect Microsoft Excel to be installed, without it you have to instead export to CSV or TSV file.

With Microsoft Excel installed, when export from QuickBooks, it loads Excel under the Power User account. When you save, it saves by default to the Power User account's Desktop, so you need to tell people to remember to save to R: or S: instead.

To Do

Quickbooks 2006 WITHOUT Power User/Administrator Status and on Terminal Server

RefsBase

Skype

Installation

Use 'Skype for Business' version.

Microsoft Office 97

System-wide Configuration

Elevate the user's privileges temporarily:
net rpc group addmem "Domain Admins" <username> -U winadmin

Run the installer to configure it for both the user and for the workstation

Slacken permissions for spell and grammer checker to work: TWEAK: B → Y

Remove temporary permissions elevation:
net rpc group delmem "Domain Admins" <username> -U winadmin