Any Quicken Gurus About?

[Chris Padilla]

So recently, I had the OS changed on my computer at work from Win2k to XP. Fine, that went okay.

A while back, I downloaded Quicken2003 and have been happily using it ever since and regularly backing it up per the Quicken back-up procedures.

So a few days after the OS upgrade (upgrade?? :confused: ), I got to thinking that I ought to get my Quicken going again. Uh, I couldn't find any install discs...anywhere! Doh, musta downloaded...quick call to Quicken and for an amazingly low price (like $6.50 total including shipping), they had a Quicken2003 CD out to me pretty quick.

So I load up the Quicken and go to restore my most recent back-up. Uhm, doesn't work...validation problem. Try the next back-up...same thing...and so on and so forth through 10 or so back-ups...none of them will "validate" according to Quicken.

So I call Quicken support...we go through all the stuff I just did but I learn of a nifty command call "Super" Validate. Uhm, that didn't work either...same problem. Quicken support tells me all my back up files are corrupt! :eek: What? How? :confused:

Thinking about the OS change, I try out Quicken on my wife's computer which happens to have Win2k OS. Same problem...back-up file will not validate.

So, anyone else have any other brilliant ideas? Lucky for me, here at work they back up your computer every night assming it is left on the network so I still have my full hard drive from back in early June when it was backed-up just before the OS switch. I'd hate to reload that to get the mysteries of Quicken solved but I'm getting desperate to have my Quicken back.

My take on this is that Quicken itself corrupted the files due to some malfunction in backing itself up.

Any services out there good with Quicken? Intuit (company who makes Quicken) doesn't appear to be very good with their product.

I've even tried earlier versions of Quicken but to no avail. However, I haven't tried anything newer than Q2003 but then I really gotta pay to get those ones and I bet they won't work either....

Thanks!

[Ed Breen]

Chris,

I can't be a lot of help, but we use winxp on our system and when I went to load a program from our bank for imaging our check runs, it would not load. We were able to load it on a win home edition. Might be something in the xp!

By the way, on the same computer I have run turbo-tax for about 5 years and although I hjave transferred it twice as I upgraded the units, I can still bring up those past years. Turbo tax is also an intuit product.

Good luck

Ed

[Paul Prescott]

You may already know these things, but there are a couple of known bad interactions between Q2003 and WinXP:

1. file path name can not exceed 39 characters. If it does, copy files to another, shorter path, like C:\Q2003\...

2. File name can not be longer than 8 characters, and can not contain special characters (spaces, dashes, dollar sign, etc.) If so, rename all associated files to 8 character letter only names, but don't change the filename extensions of course.

That's about all the help I can give.

[Jim Becker]

It's been a few years since I used Quicken 2003!! (I stay current) One of the things that can affect reading of the Quicken data files is the intermediate updates. You may need to do those with a "dummy" setup and then try and open or import your previous file. But it doesn't sound good for those backup files...any chance you have alternative copies on different media?

I had no problem, however, when I went from running Quicken on Win2K to running it on WinXP, whenever that happened and whatever version was current at that time. Works like a champ.

You have your Quicken on your work machine?? :eek:

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks, Guys! I appreciate the responses but nothing so far is helping.

Jim, both my wife and I have work laptops and since we have two computers, we never saw a need to get a home computer. However, I'm sure as heck seeing a need for one now! :eek:

[Matt Meiser]

You have your Quicken on your work machine?? :eek:

I was thinking the same thing. Every company I've worked for had a policy that said they had every right to read and/or delete anything you have on their systems. And that's on top of policies stating that you couldn't install any software not authorized by IT.

[Chris Padilla]

I was thinking the same thing. Every company I've worked for had a policy that said they had every right to read and/or delete anything you have on their systems. And that's on top of policies stating that you couldn't install any software not authorized by IT.

We have no such policies here or if we do, they are very lax about enforcing them in the 7 years I've worked here. The only thing, of course, is that they won't support it but that is perfectly understandable.

However, I am always installing software...I get all kinds of demo stuff for doing electromagnetic simulations. A policy like the above would be quite crippling.... Anyway, back to the topic at hand! :)

[Jim Becker]

Yea, this day and age, I wouldn't keep anything personal on my work machine beyond convenient software (legal installations) and "pictures of the kids". If the hammer were to fall, you might not have the opportunity to recover ANYTHING, not to mention what Matt brings up about privacy.

Hello, Dell??? :D

[Chris Padilla]

Yep, looking into Dell now.... :) But back to the topic of discussion here!! :D

[Roy Wall]

Chris,

Just some shots in the dark....sorry if you've already tried:
<TABLE class=task><TBODY><TR><TD class=content>Verify the integrity of a file

Important

We recommend that you perform this procedure only if you're experiencing problems with your Quicken data and not as a regular practice. If Quicken finds problems with the file, it may rebuild it.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=stepNum>1</TD><TD>Choose File menu > File Operations > Validate.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=stepNum>2</TD><TD>Select the file you want to validate, or enter the name of the file in the File name field. To find a file that's somewhere else, change the location in the Look in field. To select a file, click its name.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=stepNum>3</TD><TD>Click OK.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


OR....
Do you have a friend with MS money....you could try importing the file to their program; if it takes...save it and import back to your Quicken 03.

I have Quicken 04 on XP Pro with no problems. I've used the same file from Win 95 to current XP on three computers and three Quicken upgrades.....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris....we have Quicken Basic 99 that we use just for balancing the checkbook. We had it on a Win 98 machine and transferred it to this maching which is XP Pro......good luck!

[Chris Padilla]

Chris,

Just some shots in the dark....sorry if you've already tried:

OR....
Do you have a friend with MS money....you could try importing the file to their program; if it takes...save it and import back to your Quicken 03.

I have Quicken 04 on XP Pro with no problems. I've used the same file from Win 95 to current XP on three computers and three Quicken upgrades.....

Roy, yeah, we went through the validation phase already but your idea for MS money is intriguing. Thanks!

[Michael Perata]

Chris

I just opened one of my Quicken Pro back up files in Notepad. It appears to be encrypted making it impossible to save it in some other format.

I had a critical (no backup) corrupted FileMaker file that was able to be recreated by the FileMaker crew. I had to beg SENIOR staff at FileMaker to help me.

Try talking with a senior staffer at Intuit about having them rebuild your file. It seems to me they would have the tools to do it quickly and without data loss.

[Chris Padilla]

Michael,

Hmmm, maybe I do need to call Intuit again and beg. It is worth a shot! What the heck. :)

[Perry Schmidt]

OR....
Do you have a friend with MS money....you could try importing the file to their program; if it takes...save it and import back to your Quicken 03.

I have Quicken 04 on XP Pro with no problems. I've used the same file from Win 95 to current XP on three computers and three Quicken upgrades.....

I was going to suggest something similar, but not Money - a new version of Quicken. Get the latest edition, they all import older version files. So they know how to read the many different format variations, no matter how many updates might have been applied altered the file format. Might be worth a try. Been using Quicken 2004 w/ XP Pro since it came out w/ no problems. I did have a number of problems with 2003, but nothing like you are seeing. I thought 2003 was a buggy product. 2004 isn't perfect but it's a lot better.

Perry

[Chris Padilla]

Perry,

I might try that out. The one thing that has held me back from trying 2004 is that I would have to pay for it. Thus far, I only had to pay $6.50 for a 2003 install disk. Would you wanna send me a copy of 2004 for me to try out??? :) :D ;) I've also tried 2002 and 2000 to no avail (I had 2000 install disc and Quicken gave me a link where they have 2002 and on back for free download for me to try out).

I will try Quicken support once more and hopefully I can find some guru there who might want to take a crack at my various backed-up files.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, do keep in mind that the more current version(s) of Quicken are more secure and more capable...and the cost of the software may be tax deductible since you use it to maintain tax records, especially for securities. The peace of mind I have with being able to monitor activity on my credit cards and other accounts daily in this day and age of "creative thievery" makes it worth more than the cost of the software for me, too.

[Chris Padilla]

Jim,

I agree with you...I just have my doubts that even 2004 will work to fix my problem but I am getting tired of NOT having my Quicken going. I've been Quicken-less since the second week of June now and I'm getting tired of it. It sucks to not have something you've relied upon for many years suddenly gone....

[Jim Becker]

Trust me...I could not live without this application. BTW, the current version is Quicken 2005... ;)

[Roy Wall]

Jim,

I agree with you...I just have my doubts that even 2004 will work to fix my problem but I am getting tired of NOT having my Quicken going. I've been Quicken-less since the second week of June now and I'm getting tired of it. It sucks to not have something you've relied upon for many years suddenly gone....

Hey Chris,

WHy not get the 05 @ comp usa.....surely they have a full refund policy (or at least equal store credit) for 2-4 day software returns....(if there is no data repair....)

[Chris Padilla]

I thought I'd update everyone with the final outcome. After a few more long sessions with the fine Quicken folks in India (;)), I was finally able to convince them that they needed to take a look at my files and see if they could do anything with them.

So I got a special web site address complete with login/password and promptly uploaded my corrupted back-up files...on July 14.

Every couple of days, I login to see if anything is new. Zippo.

Finally, today, I login and send a "comment" asking when they think they'll have some resolution with my files (didn't wanna push 'em but I needed to know). After that, I call Quicken (India) again and ask why it is taking so long. At least they confirmed that they were indeed working on it. Cool. :)

Interestingly timing-wise, a couple hours later I get an email from Quicken explaining what they figured out. There were not able to get Quicken 2003 to work on my files (that was the version I used) but they were able to get Quicken 2005 to open them up and from what they can tell, everything looked fine!

Naturally, I'm thrilled but thinking in the back of my mind, "Yeah, they just sucked an upgrade out of me but oh well, the important thing is that it works and hopefully all my file info is intact!"

Perhaps a half-hour after the email, Quicken calls me! :eek: After talking with Quicken India so many times, it is strange to get someone who sounds and talks exactly like me! :rolleyes: Anyway, he bascially called to repeat the email to me and to ask if I wanted to go the 2005 route. He said he could overnight it to me. I asked if I could just download it but he said that would be fine but then I'd have to pay for the upgrade. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yep, I heard that right!! I guess after all this I am getting Quicken2005 for free!!!! :D

Not bad I guess. Now I gotta fumble around 2005 for a bit (frustrated I'm sure) until I get a handle on it. You can bet your booty this time that I'll check these back-up files every once in a while to see if they really work!!

So I have the fixed files (downloaded 'em) now but must wait on Q2005 to show up to try 'em out.

Cross your fingers and toes for a mostly intact database!!!

[Jim Becker]

Q2005 is a much better product, IMHO, than Q2003, so you're getting a really good deal.

[Roy Wall]

There ya go!!:)

Good news......now make a backup;) :)

[Michael Perata]

It is amazing the backroom secrets some of these database guys have to "magically" restore data from a corrupted file.
I am glad they had a fix for for you. :)

[Chris Padilla]

I received Quicken2005 Premiere (cool, I only had Q03 Deluxe last time) from UPS yesterday evening.

I can hardly believe it but everything appears fine and I'm a happy camper! Downloaded 118 Discover Card transactions (been 2 months since I did it)!

[Jim Becker]

LOL! And they just released Quicken 2006.... ;)

[Chris Padilla]

Yeah, I have all kinds of pop-ups in Quicken asking me if I want to upgrade to 2006! :) No biggie...I'm just happy all my data is still there!

[Rich Konopka]

I don't know Chris. It sounds like a consiparcy to to get Quicken users to upgrade. :confused:

[Chris Padilla]

OFX vs. QIF file style for downloading transactions.

It appears that Q05 doesn't accept QIF files for 401(k) transaction download. They only take the newer OFX style.

http://web.intuit.com/personal/quicken/qif/

Sigh, I have two months worth of 401(k) stuff to bring into Quicken now. I have an email into where I work to ask our 401(k) holder (Fidelity) to include this OFX format but who knows if/when that will happen.

I guess Q06 starts not accepting QIF format for credit card downloads, too!

I was thinking to make some kind of a dummy account in Q05 to at least get my 401(k) transactions brought in and then maybe I could transfer them over to the 401(k) account. I'm not sure it'll work but I'll be damned if I bring them in by hand...all 64 of them!!

[Jim Becker]

Yes, this transition away from QIF has been going on now for a few years for security reasons...they first announced it when Quicken '04 was released.