The Neat Company Forums

my company just got the new 4.0 version of neatreceipts and i am going to install it but i wanted to see if my previous backups from version 3 i do believe it is will be able to be read in 4.0 in case i ever need to restore a previous backup?.  i have several months of backups saved on my computer and saved to dvds so i want to make sure before i uninstall version 3 and install version 4.

 also will it ask me if i want to migrate the current data to the new version if i up in the new cd? 

 

wanted to include this information with this post. the version i use now is neatreceipts professional version 3 sp1 and the version my company just bought is neatworks version 4 sp3a.  will i have to install version 3 sp1 everytime i want to view the backups made in that program?  

 please help 

Yes, v4 will read backups from the previous version just fine.  When you install the new version the program will automatically convert the data and make the necessary database changes for the updated version.

do i need to uninstall the old version, i have 4.0 on a disc which came with new scanner so i just want to make sure.

 

well here is an update, i found out that neatworks 4 wont read my previous backups, good thing i manually saved all my old receipt folders and document folders as i had to uninstall neatreceipts professional in order to install neatworks 4.  was a really big let down for me as it took me quite a while to import the folders i backed up the other day.  

Interesting ... as I don't recall ever having issues restoring backups from a previous version of the software.

EDIT: By any chance you're not using version 4.7.7 are you?  If so, this version isn't compatible with previous versions but v 4.6.2 should be.  As far as I understanf it version 5 is also suppose to be compatible with previous versions.

So if I upgrade to 4.7.7 will it be able to read backups from 4.6.2? Also, how do you get version 5? Thanks for your help

No, v4.7.7 is not compatible with exisitng data from previous versions.  Version 5 has yet to be released (~ Q4) but Neatco has stated that it will be compatible with existing data.

I have had considerable problems here.  I have a 32bit laptop and a 64bit desktop both running Vista Ultimate. I was using NeatReceipts on the Laptop and wanted to put NeatWorks on the Desktop. 

 I got NeatWorks 4 and installed on the Desktop no problems.  Then I find that the NeatReceipts Database is not readable by the NeatWorks system.  I cannot use the 64bit version of the NeatWorks on the Laptop which is 32bit. So I _purchased_ a NeatWorks 32bit upgrade for the Laptop.  Installation went fine and the upgrade moved my Database to NeatWorks 4 format. 

Except there is not A NeatWorks 4 database format.  There is a NeatWorks 4 64bit database format and a NeatWorks 4 32bit database format and they are INCOMPATIBLE!!!  

All Neatco Tech Support will say is transfer my entire backup database to separate PDF files then recreate the database manually!!!

One wonders if they have any idea of the number of receipts that most of their users process DAILY.

I am amazed that no-one thought to make an upwards/backwards compatible tool to read the old database format into a new format.  But I am lost for words about having the NEW NeatWorks 64bit and 32bit versions create two incompatible database versions. 

Is there anyone here who knows when this lack of consideration for previous customers will be addressed?

Hi, Nautonnier

This is actually iaccurate.

Only version 4.0 SP3a is unable to restore backups from a previous version of NeatWorks.  In order to obtain version 4.0 SP3a, you need to click through the following dialog:

If you have an .nrbak file that you would like to restore, please contact our support group and request a full installation copy of version 4.0 SP3.

 

---

Mike Landis
The Neat Company

Well the version that I installed from new on my Vista 64bit machine is NeatWorks SP3A 4.7.7_ 57

When I check for updates the system NeatWorks returns:

"At this time there are no updates available for this product thank you for using NeatWorks" 

The backup files created by NeatWorks SP3A 4.7.7_57 are for example 10-30-2009_NeatWorks.nwbak

--- - - - - 

The version that I installed from new on my Vista 32bit laptop is NeatWorks SP3 4.6.2_ 152

When I check for updates the system NeatWorks returns:

"At this time there are no updates available for this product thank you for using NeatWorks" 

 The backup files created by NeatWorks 4.6.2_ 152 are for example NW_Backup_10-18-2009.nrbak

---- -- - - -

You will note that the file extensions are different.  The NeatWorks 64bit uses nWbak and NeatWorks 32bit uses nRbak.

 If I try to make the  NeatWorks SP3A 4.7.7_57 read an nRbak file then the NeatWorks returns: 

"The selected file is not a valid NeatWorks backup file"

Neither version will allow changes in the 'save as type'  option.

 

Both 64bit and 32bit machines are using the most up-to-date version of NeatWorks available

The systems create and read files with different file extensions and do not allow variation on those.

So  I repeat - there is NO forward/backward database compatability nor is there the option to move databases from a NeatWorks 32bit to a NeatWorks 64bit system. 

This should be documented as a warning to users.

 

Nautonnier:

So  I repeat - there is NO forward/backward database compatability nor is there the option to move databases from a NeatWorks 32bit to a NeatWorks 64bit system. 

This should be documented as a warning to users.

If NW SP3 4.6.2 is already installed (whether that be 32-bit or 64-bit) it won't see the SP3a 4.7.7 update since the two versions are not compatible. NW SP3a 4.7.7 is only available for new installations.  You need to install the SP3 4.6.2 version for the 64-bit OS.  I have NW SP3 4.6.2 installed and working just fine with the Vista 64-bit OS.

What is accurate is that the only way you can access your data from a 32 bit mode version of windows on a 64 bit version of windows 7 is to either manually convert all the data (yeah right, if you didn't have a bunch of receipts to manage you would use paper) or to run Windows XP mode.   

Install version 4 sp2 or sp3 into windows xp mode on your windows 7 machine.

At some point, maybe someone will figure out a migration path that doesn't involve having to manually rescan everything.....    

Good grief. 

 

QUESTION: I just installed NeatDesk v4 SP3A(4.7.7_57) on a new computer (XPpro 32bit) and the new neatdesk scanner that saves backups in the *nwbak format. 

I still also have an older scanner (silver mobile) that ran v4 SP3(4.6.2_152) that saved backups in the *.nrbak format on an old computer running XP pro (32bit). 

I do not seem to be able to restore or import the database into my new setup from my old pc. 

How do I get my old files/receipts into the new program?

Thanks all.

 

ANSWER:

I am uninstalling v4 SP3A(4.7.7_57) on the new PC and installing v4 SP3(4.6.2_152).  I will then do a typical restore and things should be fine for now. 

Right now the new software with brand new scanners (I bought mine at an airport kiosk) does NOT work with old data (my old scanner which I still use in another location).  Neatco says FUTURE software will update older data... let's hope so.  I have many folders with thousands of receipts in each folder... 

Have a great day all.  And a special thanks to neatco tech support for explaining the issue so well this morning.