Lesson 6 - Install QuickBooks Desktop via VirtualBox

Run QuickBooks Desktop No Matter Your OS

In the last lesson, I discussed obtaining a copy of the QuickBooks Desktop Not For Resale (NFR) version. In this lesson, I'll teach you how to install QuickBooks Desktop even if you don't use Windows for development. To demonstrate, I'll be use the free and excellent VirtualBox so I can run Windows and therefore QuickBooks within MacOS. In my particular case, I have two Windows OS VirtualBox instances but you'll only need one.

I have a Windows 7 instance (with IE 10 and QuickBooks Desktop Pro) and I have a Windows 10 instance (with IE 11 and QBD 2018). For both of these instances I purchased real Windows CD keys.

Getting Affordable Windows CD Keys

There are legitimate sites that sell CD keys for OEM versions of Windows. I believe I got that latest key for like $12 and I did check around to see if the site was legit and it was. Sadly, I forgot which site is was and I couldn't find the email receipt. These sites buy OEM keys in volume so the prices are low. The catch with an OEM is that you can only install them one time, which is not a drawback in this scenario where you're only using Windows for testing within a virtual machine.

Conclusion

After getting the Windows OEM key, use one of the many online tutorials for installing Windows on VirtualBox. After installing Windows within VirtualBox you'll download and install QuickBooks Desktop via the NFR link(s) that Intuit provided for you. That's all for this lesson. In the next lesson we'll install the QuickBooks SDK.