Dropbox is a free service that lets you backup and share your data across multiple computers. If all your computers are in the same building, we recommend that you use networking instead.
We recommend Dropbox rather than Google Drive or OneDrive because Dropbox usually synchronises changes almost immediately, whereas the other services can sometimes take several hours which can then result in conflicted copies.
Dropbox works best with computers that are permanently on (ie. not laptops).
Step 1. Setting up the Computers
- Create a free Dropbox account at Dropbox.com, then download and install the Dropbox desktop application onto each of your computers. It can be a little hard to find the download on the Dropbox website. Look for the "Get Basic" button on their Pricing page
- Make sure that each computer uses the same login (email address)
- Download Cashbook Complete and install it onto each of your computers (if not yet installed)
Step 2. Sharing the Data
On your main computer (which currently has the Cashbook):-
- Make a copy of the entire "Cashbook Data" folder (by default, this will be found in your "Documents" folder)
- Open the "Dropbox" folder on your Computer (if you don't know where this is, click on the Dropbox icon in your system tray, by the clock, and click "Dropbox Folder" from the menu to open it)
- Paste the "Cashbook Data" folder into the "Dropbox" folder
- You will momentarily notice a small "synchronizing" icon appear over the "Cashbook Data" folder. This will soon change to a "tick" icon, indicating that your "Cashbook Data" folder (and the files within it) have been successfully synchronized (or backed up to the cloud)
If you now go to another of your computers which also has Dropbox installed, you should be able to open the "Dropbox" folder and see your "Cashbook Data" there.
Step 3. Telling Each Computer Where the Data Lives
For each computer including the main one, you now need to set the "Data File Folder" to the new Dropbox location, as follows:-
- Open the Cashbook
- Now click "File" (very top left hand corner), and then "Setup Wizard", and find the "General Setup" screen
- Set the "Data File Folder" location to your Dropbox folder (e.g. "C:\Users\YourName\Dropbox\Cashbook Data")
- Exit the Cashbook
When you exit the software, Dropbox will take a moment to synchronize the data to the cloud (making the updated data accessible from your other computers).
Helpful Tips
- With Dropbox, only one user at a time can access the Cashbook data file.
- If Dropbox doesn't appear to be synchronizing properly on one of your computers, then make sure that the sending and receiving computers are both turned on and connected to the internet
- If you access the Cashbook from more than one location at the same time, then you'll get a "conflicted copy" and will need to choose which one you want to keep going with (see "Help with Conflicted Copies" below).
- With Dropbox, you can get previous versions of the file from the Dropbox website by clicking on the file and choosing "More" then "Previous versions".
- For Dropbox to sync properly, the safest approach is to make sure that your computers are turned on and connected to the internet all the time, so that the files are always up to date. If you are working with a laptop however, then when finished, leave it on for a while so that it can synchronise to the cloud, and when turning it on, wait a minute or so to to let it get the latest from the cloud before starting the Cashbook.
Help with Conflicted Copies
If you're having trouble with a conflicted copy of your Cashbook data file, see how to recover from a Dropbox conflicted copy.
Please note that we cannot provide technical support for any Dropbox related issues. If you need help with any aspect of using Cashbook with Dropbox, please get a computer technician to assist.