The purpose of creating an archive folder on both computers is to safely store the current working company file on that computer. It may be necessary to refer back to that company file at a later date. 

1. View the contents of your hard drive.
2. Double click on your MYOB program folder.
3. Go to the File menu and choose New Folder.
4. Name the new folder "MYOB Archive" or similar.

This involves 2 steps:

1. Rename the current working company file.
2. Move the renamed current working company file to the MYOB Archive folder.

Before going any further, we need to look at some rules that govern the way files are stored, restored and moved between folders.

• Apple operating systems won't allow two files with the same name to be stored in the same folder.
• When naming files, it is advisable to only use letters and numbers. Also, where possible, keep file names to 8 characters or fewer.
• Company files restore to the same folder they were backed up from. Assuming your company file is stored in your MYOB program folder on both computers, then by default, your company file will restore to the same folder on the other computer. The company file that is being restored cannot retain its original name if a file with the same name (the current working company file) already exists in that folder.
• For the restored company file to retain the same name throughout the cycle of backing up and restoring, the current working company file on computer #2 will need to be moved to the MYOB Archive folder.

If a copy of each archived current working company file is to be stored, then prior to moving it to the MYOB Archive folder, rename it so that it won't override the one that was last archived. One way to do this is to use the date when renaming it, for example 151107.myo being November 7 2015. Using the date format YYMMDD, allows files in the folder to be listed chronologically.

1. Open your hard drive and click the arrow next to your MYOB folder. The contents of your MYOB folder will be displayed as a list.
2. Identify your current working company file and then click the name portion of that file. Enter the new file name and then click a vacant part of the window.
3. Drag the current working company file into the MYOB Archive folder. Click the arrow next to the MYOB Archive folder to check that the current working company file has been successfully moved there. See our example below.
   
   

4. In this example, Clearwater.MYO was renamed 121107 and moved from the MYOB AccountEdge folder to the MYOB Archive folder.

The last step of the process is to restore the backup from computer #1 on to computer #2. As the current working company file on computer #2 has been archived, the restore function will allow the restored company file to retain its original file name and location.

Data can now be entered into your company file on computer #2. The whole process is then reversed to move the updated company file from computer #2 back to computer #1.