If you find that it often takes a long time to load and open your QuickBooks company file, then consider the following tips aimed at optimizing QuickBooks performance:

Close all windows before exiting QuickBooks

Before closing QuickBooks, make sure that you have closed all QuickBooks windows (from the QuickBooks Window menu, select "Close All"). If you don't do this, then the next time you open your QuickBooks file, QuickBooks will open all the windows you left open .

If you work with multiple QuickBooks files, then close the QuickBooks file before closing QuickBooks

Before closing QuickBooks, close the QuickBooks file you are currently working in (the QuickBooks File menu, select "Close Company/Logoff"). Then close QuickBooks. The next time you open QuickBooks you will find that it opens very quickly to the "No Company Open" window, from which you can select the file you wish to work in.

Run QuickBooks from your hard drive

Keeping your QuickBooks file on a CD-ROM or flash drive has the advantage of making it easier to use from multiple computers. However, it is much slower than when your QuickBooks file is saved on your hard drive.

Make sure your workstations meet or exceed QuickBooks minimum system requirements

QuickBooks systems requirements are different for different versions of QuickBooks. You can find information on the system requirements for different versions of QuickBooks on Intuit's website by following the links below:

QuickBooks 2008 system requirements

QuickBooks 2007 system requirements

QuickBooks 2006 system requirements