[GNC] Best way to upgrade from an old version (2.6.14) to current

[John Ralls]

> On Jan 8, 2021, at 8:53 AM, Tfastle via gnucash-user <gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
> 
> A few years back I was going to switch from using Quicken to GnuCash.  I
> downloaded and spent a fair amount of time reading about GnuCash and getting
> my Quicken Account imported.  For me, it was a bit of a learning curve and a
> lack of time thwarted my effort.  I now hope to make the move for good.
> 
> My plan is to initially run GnuCash on my old laptop which is where I have
> the 2.6.14 version now and concurrently run Quicken on my new laptop
> (basically entering all the same transactions) until I feel comfortable and
> adept enough to abandon Quicken.  I really only use Quicken as a glorified
> register and tool to balance my main checking account but do have over 20
> years of those transactions with regard to it.  The file I have in GnuCash
> from my attempt a few years ago was imported from Quicken and represented
> where that account was at that time.  That GnuCash file is not of any value
> or importance so abandoning it is an option and no problem at all.
> 
> So my questions are:  
> 
> Should I "update" to the most current stable version of GnuCash or should I
> just uninstall ver 2.6.14 and start over with the current stable version and
> then import my current Quicken file? I suspect this is the best route to go
> but, if for some reason updating is better, how might I best go about that?
> 
> I tried to figure this from reading various post online but it was pretty
> confusing.  It appeared that files save in older versions often don't run in
> newer versions so, to "update" (if it's even possible) I would need to go
> through a series of updates to get current and still have my file read.   If
> I end up just starting over then I don't really care about that from a
> "getting to current" perspective but it does bring one question to mind. 
> Once using the current version of GC how to avoid the problem of updating
> but not being able to read your file from the prior version?  Is it just a
> matter of updating in a timely manner as new stable versions become
> available and then your prior version file will always be able to be read? 
> I have to assume this is the case but would like to know before I put the
> effort in to making this switch.  I intend to use it for a long time and
> would hate to one day just be out of luck but (I can't imagine that would
> ever be the case).
> 
> Lastly, it looks like the most recent stable release is 4.4, is that what I
> should start with (or end up with via upgrade(s) )?
> 
> Sorry for how long this is or for being so ignorant on the subject.  

The old GnuCash file still has a bunch of imports and starting with it will save you some time importing and perhaps training the import-matcher. Make a separate backup of it for an extra layer of safety.

Since you didn't actually use GnuCash much it's probably safe to just install 4.4. The installer will take care of uninstalling your old 2.6.14. There's a bunch of upgrading that GnuCash will do on its first run and a bunch more on the first import, so be patient! If your existing file is large and your old laptop is slow or doesn't have a lot of memory it may take more than an hour--someone reported several hours for a very large file--to run all of the startup scrubs and then more hours to update the import maps, so plug in the laptop, turn off energy savers (it's OK to blank the screen but you don't want it to go to sleep), and plan to leave it running for a while.

As you bring the GnuCash file up to date do small imports--a month or two worth of transactions--to begin. If most of the imported transactions are matched correctly then you can go to larger import batches, but if they're not then you'll want to do a half dozen or so small batches to train the matcher. Note that there's a recently added feature that allows you to select several transactions in the matcher window and assign all of them to the same transfer account; just right-click after selecting and pick Assign Account from the context menu (it's the only option).

Remember to save frequently so that you can easily go back if something goes wrong.

Regards,
John Ralls