Transferring Lacerte options from another computer displays default settings

Before you start:

• This article references default installation paths and uses YY to reference the tax year in 20YY format. C: will always indicate the local drive and X: will always indicate the network drive.

After backing up the program settings and options from one computer and restoring them to another computer, default user options are displayed instead of the user options that were restored from the first computer. Sometimes the custom user options are displayed at first but revert back to defaults once the program is closed and re-opened.

This can happen when a new machine has a different computer name than the old computer.  Lacerte thinks it's a new workstation, so it gives it a new set of options.  You can correct this by renaming the OPINDEX.WY file in the C:\Lacerte\YYtax\OPTIONYY\ folder.

If you haven't transferred data to the new computer yet, check out this article for instructions.

Follow the steps below to rename the Opindex.W? file:

1. Open Lacerte.
2. Press F10 on your keyboard to open the Technical Support Information window.
3. Note the location of the Option Path under the System Information tab.
   • The default Option Path would be C:\Lacerte\YYTax\OPTIONYY\.
   • For 2006 and prior, this will be labeled System File Path.
4. Close Lacerte.
5. In the Windows search box in the taskbar, type the location of the Option Path.
6. Open the folder.
7. Right-click the file OPINDEX.WY and choose Rename.
8. Rename the file to OPINDEX.OLD.
9. Open Lacerte again.