Upgrading RTG Bills

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Upgrading RTG Bills

Introduction

We encourage you to use the latest version of RTG Bills at all times. Upgrades are free for one year. This page explains how to get the current version of RTG Bills and RTG Timer.

In order to work, RTG Bills requires a license key.

Each license key is valid for a specific version of RTG Bills. If you want to upgrade to a newer version, you need a new license key.

Do not order an upgrade if you have a license for RTG Bills Version 2.27. Your current license is still valid. (Ignore any letters after the number.) You can download RTG Bills from this page and use your current license.

Read this first!

Note: You should follow these "upgrade" instructions if you have existing RTG Bills data, even if RTG Bills is not installed on the current computer.

Warning 1: If RTG Bills is already installed, installing a different version will cause it to stop working until you enter a license key for the new version. However, minor updates indicated by a letter (e.g., V2.27a) do not require a different license key.

Please get a license key for version 2.27 before you install RTG Bills.

The current version: ...

Warning 2: If you use any of the following RTG programs, you will need these minimum versions:

RTG Scripts V1.09
RTG E-Bills V1.34
RTG Names V2.03
RTG Conflicts V1.03

For RTG Scripts, you can request a free upgrade if you purchased it within the last year. Otherwise, you can purchase an upgrade at a reduced price. RTG will provide a free upgrade for RTG E-Bills upon request. You can download the latest version of RTG Names for free. For RTG Conflicts, see Upgrading RTG Conflicts.

Free upgrades

We offer a free license key for the current version if you have purchased an RTG Bills license key within the past year. If you believe that you qualify for a free upgrade, request a license key now. We will check our records and send you the license key if you qualify.

Reference: RTG Bills Upgrade Policy

Paid upgrades

Elimination of reduced-price upgrades for RTG Bills
As of May 15, 2023 we no longer offer a reduced-price upgrade to RTG Bills V2.27 from older versions. If you have a version of RTG Bills between 2.01 and 2.26, you can purchase a new license for $95.

Remember, RTG Bills will not work without the new license key. Wait until you get the license key and then download the installer software from this page.

How to download
RTG Bills

Here are detailed directions for downloading and installing RTG Bills and RTG Timer. You may want to print this page so you can refer to it.

Download RTG Bills Is it safe?
Working . . .
Your browser may offer you a choice: Run or Save. Choose Save to get a copy of the installer on your computer. You may be able to choose where to save it, or it may go into the Downloads folder automatically. If given a choice, you may wish to save it on the Desktop so it is easy to find.
Wait patiently while the file is copied across the Internet to your computer (that's what "download" means).
When the download is complete, you must find the file bills.exe, either on the Desktop or in the Downloads folder. It may appear as bills, without the .exe extension. This file is the installer software.

If you are having trouble finding the file, type Ctrl-J (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox) to display a list of downloads.

Important Note: If you currently have RTG Bills V2.16 or earlier installed, we have special instructions for you. Follow one of the links below:

Upgrading RTG Bills V2.16 or below on a Network

Upgrading RTG Bills V2.16 or below - No Network

If you install RTG Bills using the standard data location, you won't see your existing data. These instructions tell you how to avoid that problem.
Start bills.exe to install RTG Bills and RTG Timer. To start it, double-click the icon (or the file name in a list). As an alternative, you can right-click and choose Open.
Windows Smartscreen may display a message that it "prevented an unrecognized app from starting." Click More info. For RTG Bills & RTG Timer, it will show:
App: bills.exe
Publisher: RTG Data Systems
Click Run anyway if you want to install RTG Bills and RTG Timer.
Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

If you are installing RTG Bills and RTG Timer on a network, please read the Network Installation Instructions. You must install RTG Bills and RTG Timer separately, because you will need to specify different data locations for the two programs. The installation instructions explain what to do.

If the software was not installed previously on this computer, the installer will offer to install the programs in

C:\Program Files\Rtgbills

for 32-bit Windows, or

C:\Program Files (x86)\Rtgbills

for 64-bit Windows, and we recommend that you accept this suggestion.

The installer will offer to install the data in a separate location. This is required because Windows won't allow programs to store data in the Program Files folder.

The suggested data location is:

C:\ProgramData\RTG\RTG Bills\

This suggested location can be used for a non-networked computer. However, on a network, the data must be in a shared folder accessible to other computers. See How to Specify the Network Data Location.

What to do next

When the installer is finished, we suggest that you copy bills.exe to a removable medium and save it, along with your license information, in case you need to re-install RTG Bills or RTG Timer.
To start RTG Bills, double-click its icon:

RTG Bills will say that it needs to update the database format. Click Yes to proceed.

Note: You cannot go back from this point. Once the database is updated, you must use the new version of RTG Bills and RTG Timer.

You will be asked to enter the licensed user name (in the Licensed To box) and the license key. Enter them exactly as you received them from RTG and click OK.

If RTG Bills does not start, the license information was incorrect. Double-click the RTG Bills icon and try again.

Note: If RTG Bills displays the number of days left in the trial period, click OK, then choose Setup > Licensed User to enter the name of the licensed user and the license key.
RTG Timer does not require a license key. However, RTG Timer must always be the same version as RTG Bills, so you must install the new RTG Timer on each PC that will use it.

RTG Timer does require a timekeeper license for each timekeeper, but those licenses are good for all versions of RTG Timer. They will continue to work when a new version of RTG Timer is installed.

License key
does not work

It is very unlikely that the key is defective. If RTG Bills will not accept your license key, it is probably for one of these three reasons:

You entered the key incorrectly.
You entered the Licensed To name incorrectly.
You have the wrong version of RTG Bills.

The key is generated using these three pieces of information, so all three must be correct.

The most common error is to enter the wrong Licensed To name. Look at the email message from RTG to see what name we used to create your key.

When you purchase a key, we create one for the current version of RTG Bills. The window that asks for the license information always displays the version number, so you can check if you have the right version. If not, download and install the current version from this page.