ATX Archival Disk

[Christian]

I suppose ATX will again this year not send us an archived disk ?

[ILLMAS]

With so many advances in technology, they probably want for you to download it from myatx.com

[Jack from Ohio]

I suppose ATX will again this year not send us an archived disk ?

Download the install file. You can then store it on a CD or on removable media.

I hope that ATX stops sending CD's all together. The program on the CD becomes useless within 2 weeks of mailing. Charge me less shipping and stop sending CD's.

[mcb39]

Download the install file. You can then store it on a CD or on removable media.

I hope that ATX stops sending CD's all together. The program on the CD becomes useless within 2 weeks of mailing. Charge me less shipping and stop sending CD's.

 

That may be fine for you, Jack, but all of us don't have powerful internet that makes downloading easy; myself included.  No, there will not be an archive CD this year.  I have already established that.  However, I always want the beginning disk for installation on a new computer, etc.  My internet service is "needy" to say the very least.; and I have no other options that I can afford.

[Jack from Ohio]

That may be fine for you, Jack, but all of us don't have powerful internet that makes downloading easy; myself included.  No, there will not be an archive CD this year.  I have already established that.  However, I always want the beginning disk for installation on a new computer, etc.  My internet service is "needy" to say the very least.; and I have no other options that I can afford.

What do you do when the first program update is put in place and the mailed CD is no longer useable?

I have seen dozens of situations on this board where a person reinstalled the original mailed CD and caused more problems than they were originally trying to fix. A "wesk" internet only means it takes longer to download.

My recommendation still stands. If you only use the current install file from MYATX, you will not have old issues to deal with.

[Lion EA]

Can you download it when you're done working for the day or going to be out at lunch or to a client's site or even working fewer hours after 15 October?  Create your own disk.  (When I worked at Block, I worked afternoons and nights so was often the last person to leave.  It was my job to start the back-ups on my way out.  The manager made sure all was well first thing in the morning upon arrival.)

[mcb39]

Scenario:  OK, say for instance that you decide this year not to use ATX any longer.  What do you do if you purchase a new computer and no longer have access to the ATX site for downloading?  What do you do if you have to prepare prior year returns for a client and cannot access the ATX site for downloads to the disk you made?  I Always want a CD installation disk for any software that I install.  This year I passed on Medlin, but only because I have faith that Dennis will take care of me if I get in trouble.  It's the same as reading a book on a tablet.  I WANT the paper in my hand.  Just my little quirk, but am sure that there are others who will agree.

[easytax]

Scenario:  OK, say for instance that you decide this year not to use ATX any longer.  What do you do if you purchase a new computer and no longer have access to the ATX site for downloading?  What do you do if you have to prepare prior year returns for a client and cannot access the ATX site for downloads to the disk you made?  I Always want a CD installation disk for any software that I install.  This year I passed on Medlin, but only because I have faith that Dennis will take care of me if I get in trouble.  It's the same as reading a book on a tablet.  I WANT the paper in my hand.  Just my little quirk, but am sure that there are others who will agree.

 

Download the initial ATX disk (instead of getting it in the mail). Keep it as a file on YOUR hard drive and at the end of the season (year) download the latest ATX disk again keeping it on your hard drive. Now (and you could do this at each step too) simply save the ATX program file to a thumb drive and if you want burn it to a CD rom or DVD.  Even if you do not have a "burner" simply take the thumb drive with the programs to your local Wal-Mart and have them burn you a copy (friends, family, other stores do this too).

 

Now you have your backup and install disk as you want.   Remember to save your install codes too.

[Jack from Ohio]

Scenario:  OK, say for instance that you decide this year not to use ATX any longer.  What do you do if you purchase a new computer and no longer have access to the ATX site for downloading?  What do you do if you have to prepare prior year returns for a client and cannot access the ATX site for downloads to the disk you made?  I Always want a CD installation disk for any software that I install.  This year I passed on Medlin, but only because I have faith that Dennis will take care of me if I get in trouble.  It's the same as reading a book on a tablet.  I WANT the paper in my hand.  Just my little quirk, but am sure that there are others who will agree.

 

Download the install file. You can then store it on a CD or on removable media.

Follow my advice.  Problem solved.

[Jack from Ohio]

Download the initial ATX disk (instead of getting it in the mail). Keep it as a file on YOUR hard drive and at the end of the season (year) download the latest ATX disk again keeping it on your hard drive. Now (and you could do this at each step too) simply save the ATX program file to a thumb drive and if you want burn it to a CD rom or DVD.  Even if you do not have a "burner" simply take the thumb drive with the programs to your local Wal-Mart and have them burn you a copy (friends, family, other stores do this too).

 

Now you have your backup and install disk as you want.   Remember to save your install codes too.

All computers newer than 10 years burn CD's.  Just put the file(s) on a thumb drive, and back up to external media which has been proper computer protocol for 20 years.

[mcb39]

Did you know that many of the newest computers are shipping without CD drives at all?  Yes, buy a USB CD drive or more jump drives; spend more money.  I have so many thumb drives now with different things on them, I am losing track.  This past weekend I was wiping a SD card for a hunter and accidentally wiped the thumb drive that had all of my 2014 tax returns on it.  Luckily, I was able to come home and export them off of the desktop.  Talk about being in panic mode.  I have never done anything that stupid before and didn't know it until I went to look for a file.  Well, maybe once or twice.    Just finished showing my son how to use the backup program to back up his system to an external HD.

[Jack from Ohio]

Only tablets or netbooks have no drive.  All laptops and desktop computers have disk drives.

 

I-Pads and Android tablets are computer wanna-be's.  I do not, and probably will not own a tablet.

 

People buy the toys and expect them to work like a computer.  Ain't gonna happen!! 

 

Same thing people expect to use their smart phones like computers.  Ain't gonna happen!!

 

I will carry my 4lb laptop.  I will always have a desktop for me and my wife at home as well.  No toys in this person's electronic arsenal of tools.

[easytax]

Here is some information on storage too (I am NOT a cloud believer - I like my data where I can physically get it):

 

Cloud Storage

There are so many cloud services out there these days, it's almost hilarious. Solid state drives may still be expensive, but they're coming down in price, and soon, you'll be able to cheaply fit terabytes of storage on your body. Storing your data on someone else's servers is ludicrous, not to mention expensive.

Dropbox's 1 TB plan costs $9.99/mo. , totaling $119.88 per year. At Best Buy, a 1 TB, USB 3.0 hard drive costs $69.99. Plug that into your home PC, and you can create a VPN, accessible by any of your devices anywhere you have an internet connection (so long as your PC is turned on). Spend another $69.99, and you can plug the second 1 TB hard drive into your router, making it accessible to anyone on your WiFi connection.

 

Cloud storage may end up being valuable one day though, so be sure to sign up for every GB of free space you come across. Just don't spend any money on it, and for the love of God, don't store any confidential data there.

 

Did you know that many of the newest computers are shipping without CD drives at all?  Yes, buy a USB CD drive or more jump drives; spend more money.  I have so many thumb drives now with different things on them, I am losing track.  This past weekend I was wiping a SD card for a hunter and accidentally wiped the thumb drive that had all of my 2014 tax returns on it.  Luckily, I was able to come home and export them off of the desktop.  Talk about being in panic mode.  I have never done anything that stupid before and didn't know it until I went to look for a file.  Well, maybe once or twice.    Just finished showing my son how to use the backup program to back up his system to an external HD.

 

Use what you have shown your son ... backup and save everything to YOUR hard drive (please consider both an on-site and off-site drive.  Yes, it costs a bit but IS WELL worth it --- as you found when you "thought" you had LOST 2014 --

[easytax]

By the way, Also found this tidbit on "Security" features/software you may want to consider.    I personally like a suite (Norton 360 Premier) but that is only because I am too lazy to load separately always update each separately. I LIKE automatic!   As an aside, I am looking at ZoneAlarm suite for all when I next renew (cost is better and as far as I can tell --- right now, the protection is good too).

 

 Security Software

Hackers and viruses and malware – oh my, George Takai. With all these digital threats online, it's easy to sell people on a $39.99 to $89.99 annual fee for a full security solution from Norton, McAfee or whoever your favorite security company is. The sad part isn't the money you're wasting, it's that you're actually less secure putting all your eggs in one security basket.

 

 

Instead of paying for security software, grab a free antivirus (such as AVG), malware protection (MalwareBytes Anti-Malware), and firewall (ZoneAlarm). Utilizing security solutions from three manufacturers triples your security against malicious attackers, who have to figure out a way to exploit three separate security measures.

[ADGFINANCIAL]

MCB39, I left ATX in April of 2012 for ProSeries they gave me the programs all the way back to 2009 as well as 2012 at no charge. So if someone leaves it's not a problem. ATX wouldn't help me if I asked now anyway.

[mcb39]

 

 

 

Use what you have shown your son ... backup and save everything to YOUR hard drive (please consider both an on-site and off-site drive.  Yes, it costs a bit but IS WELL worth it --- as you found when you "thought" you had LOST 2014 --

 

To clarify that I am not entirely clueless, I have two external drives for each computer.  I alternate complete backups frequently.  The most recent backup goes in the safe.  The other backup goes somewhere else off-site.  At the same time, I export each return as I am working on it to a jump drive.  The reason for the panic was because I was working on a new laptop that did not have all of the returns on it.  However, after catching my breath, I realized that it did have the returns I was working on; on the hard drive.  I exported those.  When I got home, I exported all of the 2014 returns to the jump drive and I am now back to where I started.  Incidentally, my last extended return left my office yesterday afternoon.  I have one more to mail out and I am finished with 2014; for now.  All returns have been filed and accepted.  Some quarterly payroll and bookkeeping to do and I will be out from under pressure for a few weeks.  Then, it starts all over again.  Thank you all for your input.

[Abby Normal]

Burned CDs may or may not be reliable long term. Saving install files to your hard drive and backing them up is clearly a better option.