CAN'T FIND 2009 "NAME.TAX" DATA FILE

?Hi, Richard - and Rich (the OP in another thread).

When all else fails, open a Command Prompt window and use the good old DOS command, Dir (from days before Directories became Folders) with the /s and /a switches find ANY file ANYWHERE on your hard drive. Since the 2009 TurboTax DATA files - not the program files - had the extension, .tax2009, search for that, starting in the Root of C:, with this command: Dir C:\*.tax2009 /s/a

If any 2009 TurboTax data file is anywhere on Drive C:, that command will find it. You may have to wait a few minutes, especially if you have many folders on a giant Drive C:, but you can do other things while this searches in the background. If you have other drives, including USB flash drives or optical drives, just repeat the command for each of them, such as: Dir X:\*.tax2009 /s/a

In the Command Prompt window, type any command followed by /? to see a mini-Help file showing the switches and parameters available with that command. For example, Dir /? will show that the /a switch causes files to be listed, even if they have the Hidden or System Attribute set. And /s causes the listing to include files in subfolders under the target folder; if you start in the Root (\) of a drive and use the /s switch, it will list files in every folder/subfolder on that drive.

Note that 2009 TurboTax data files that were "printed" to a PDF will have a "double extension" of .tax2009.pdf, so you will need to search for

*.tax2009.* or for *.pdf.

RC

I have tried to open it through the 2009 program, to no avail. I do appreciate your response. Thanks!

Have printed out your directions & will let you know the results. Many thanks.

Well.... Apparently, somehow I deleted the file. Makes absolutely no sense, then again neither does the tax code. Many thanks RC & Rich.

Just out of curiousity.... Wonder if you have these folders ? For my XP system, can't recall if I created them, or defaulted during the software install..

in the My Documents: for Quicken users - /Quicken_files for TT users - /TurboTax

Yes, I have them both. The Quicken folder contains all the normal info. The TT one is empty. This really has me stumped. I am a back-up freak, making two hard copies (one goes in the Safe Deposit Box) & one back-up is done on-line. All back-ups are missing the TT2009 data file. So, my only conclusion (after doing my own searches plus those suggested by Richard & RC) is that I must have specifically (un)knowingly deleted that file. Still have many previous years. Makes absolutely no sense, but after 6 decades on this planet these things are becoming more & more common to me. Again, thanks to one & all.

?Hi, ps56k.

In my Win7 Ultimate system, I have both those folders in Start | Documents | My Documents. BUT...

My Documents | Quicken is (Empty). That is probably because I install Quicken to E:\QuickenW, NOT into Program Files.

My Documents | TurboTax has three files: My 2009 tax data file with the extension .tax2009, plus a .pdf file of that return, and a file called

2009Logging.txt. I clicked on the tax2009 file and it loaded TurboTax 2009 (still installed on my computer) with my 2009 return data intact. I always install TurboTax into a folder other than Program Files: E:\TurboTax\Tax10, with the data to Tax10Dat in that folder. (Yes, Tax09 and prior are there, too.)

TurboTax 2010 is already installed, and I've already imported the 2009 carry-forward data and added a lot of 2010 data (mostly estimates so that I can do some pre-year-end planning). But no year other than 2009 shows up in that My Documents folder. Maybe this was one of the changes that Intuit made to the program from year to year. I never bothered looking for this before, so I don't know.

RC

Hi R.C.,

I keep my previous year's password-protected .tax file online, but I keep the .pdf offline only.

Do you use any security scheme to keep the info in the .pdf from hackers or prying eyes?

Jerry

FYI - all my old TT data "tax" files are there - from TT2003 thru TT2009

?Hi, Jerry.

Just the lock on my front door. ;^]

I do NOT keep my tax or financial records online under someone else's control; they are all ONLY here in my desktop computer - with a few backups kept physically separate from the computer.

RC

Hi again R.C.,

When I said "online" I meant on your HDD, as opposed to a removable device like a thumb drive that normally isn't mounted on your Windows file system. Someone who hacks into your Windows user account can gain access to your financial data if it's on your HDD, but not if it's on a removable device that isn't mounted when they hack your account.

If you password protect your Quicken and TT files, you have that extra layer of protection that security experts recommend. But, and this is the point I was trying to make, it does little good to password protect your TT .tax file if the unprotected .pdf version is sitting on your HDD right there next to it. I think the .pdf should be moved to a removable device even if you keep the .tax file on your HDD. Although the .pdf is *physically* more secure on your HDD, it's *electronically* more secure on a removable device. If the .pdf is left on the HDD it's probably a good idea to encrypt it.

I only recently realized the .pdf security risk and thought this might be of interest to you and the rest of the group. But perhaps not :-)

Jerry

P.S. Good call on the "dir" command. I had recently recommended it in another thread.