which files does quickbook 2005 use for a company?

I made a mistake on the year, it's 2008 quickbooks. sorry. Also, will the 2005 version of Quickbooks run the files the 2008 version created?

The *.qbw file is the working database, yes.

There hopefully is also a *.qbb file which is a backup copy (should have same root name as the qbw file. I'd suggest retrieving all *.qb? files while you're at it although looking at the dates should tell you what you need.

The later versions of QB always end up doing something to file structure so the 2005 version will, in all likelihood not open a

2008-created/updated file. Client needs to reinstall the same version had previously w/ the same updates to guarantee success.

I don't know how much success one might have w/ trying to clone the Intuit subdirectory and going that route but I'd probably snag the files while at it.

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Thanks for the information. I will clone the folder and find the .qbb files, too. I kinda suspected it wouldn't work backwards, but that shouldn't be a problem. We are into backup mode now, so he wants to put the data on an older pc he had in the closet running windows me and quickbook 2005. As long as 2008 will run under windows me we are out of the woods. thanks again. al

QB 2008 *might* run on windows ME but it was released when XP and/or Vista were around.

If his file is from QB2008 then he will *not* be able to open it with QB

2005. The files are not backwards compatible.

Don't stress out if you can not find any qbb files. Many people don't bother making regular backups. Copying the qbw file to the new computer is enough to get started using QB 2008.