Dropbox is a free service that lets you backup and share your data between multiple computers. You can use it to store your Cashbook data file, and access the data from a different computer in another location. If all your computers are in the same building, we recommend that you use networking.
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 Dropbox Basic” button on their homepage
- 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. Configuring Each Computer
On each computer including the main one, you now need to set the “Data File Folder” to the new Dropbox location, as follows:-
- Exit Cashbook (if it’s open already)
- In “File Explorer” (in Windows), go to the “Dropbox” folder and open the “Cashbook Data” folder
- Inside the “Cashbook Data” folder, double-click your Cashbook data file (*.CB file)
- When it opens, you’ll see a “Data File Location Warning” message. Click “OK” to close the message
- Now click “File”, 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”)
- Click “Close” when you’re done, to exit the Setup Wizard
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, click on the “Dropbox” icon (in the system tray, down by the clock) and choose the “Settings” icon (gear wheel). Then click “Preferences”, then “Account”, and click on the “Unlink this Computer” button then relink it again.
- 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.
Help with Conflicted Copies
If you’re having trouble with a conflicted copy of your Cashbook data file, please click here.
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.