File not backed up

Hi, Steve.

Three steps, two simple, the other not.

First, Backup again - this time to a different location. If this is successful, it will preserve your fileset while you solve the real problem, and it will tell you that your working file is OK. If this backup fails, you will need to dig deeper, of course.

Second, click File | Open (or File | Restore backup file - so far as I can tell, both do the same thing in most cases, except that Restore has your most recent backup files pre-selected for you) and browse to your latest backup file. If you haven't made "manual" backups when reminded, you might need to restore your less-than-a-week-old automatic backup, which you should find in the \QuickenW\BACKUP folder.

If either of those work, then try to Backup again - to a new location - just to confirm that your problem was a temporary one that is now fixed.

Third, if neither of those steps is successful, then you will need to explore further. The problem might be in your data, or it might be in your hardware. It's unlikely that it is in the Quicken application itself, since nobody else is reporting similar problems.

Obvious question: Is your destination hard drive full? To head off lots of similar questions, could you please give us the basic information that should always be in the initial post of a problem: Which version of Quicken? Which version of Windows? Brief description of your hardware, especially of your hard drives and other storage devices (CD/DVD, USB thumb drive, floppy...)? Where were you trying to backup?

I'll hold off on other thoughts until you try my first two suggestions and report back.

RC

Oops, sorry for leaving out the details. Using Q2004 Premier under WinXP Home. Backing up to another partition on the hard drive, plenty of space, it's the same partition I've always used with no problems. Tried backing up to a diferent partition just for the heck of it, no change.

The error messages seem to change each time -

Unable to open source file > File not backed up

or

Unable to close file > Unable to load item list file > Unable to reload current file after copy > File backed up successfully

Either way, the file seems to back up ok. And the file itself seems intact. Validation finds no errors.

It gets weirder. I've now tried backups of several older versions of the data file. In some cases, the backup goes thru with no problems, several times in a row, then I start getting error messages or simply the message "File not backed up" (this is on the same file that I just backed up successfully, with no error messages).

Same thing happens with the current data file - sometimes the backup goes thru successfully, other times I get error messages (but the backup still appears to have gone thru successfully - same file size etc). Only occasionally will the file not back up at all, and I'll get the message: File not backed up.

Hi, Steve.

It's sounding more and more like a hardware problem. It could be anything from a loose or defective cable to bad RAM to a fluctuating power supply - or a bad driver for your hardware. Do you have a USB or other removable drive that is sometimes plugged in? Have you run a good hard drive test utility? Start with good ol' Chkdsk. Then download something like PowerMax from Maxtor or SeaTools from Seagate, depending on the maker of your HD. Your drive may be about to die; if you act in time, it may still be in warranty. Maxtor replaced two HDs for me last year; one had already died, PowerMax warned me that the other was failing.

Hardware is still my suspect, but it seems strange that your problems happen only when backing up Quicken files. Have you deleted Quicken (from Add or Remove Programs) and reinstalled it from the CD? Don't delete your data files or QuickenW\BACKUP, of course, but wipe out the rest of the QuickenW folder; add/remove should do exactly that. Then, rather than accept Quicken Setup's offer to Launch Quicken, close the Setup wizard. Browse to your latest, most dependable *.qdf file and click on it to start Quicken with that file loaded.

Keep us informed of your findings and progress. Somebody here should be able to recognize your symptoms and suggest some steps to take. You told us your Quicken and Windows versions, but you did not mention the make and model of your computer (or your mobo/chipset/CPU if you built it yourself) or anything about your hard drive except "plenty of space". We don't know if it is WD or IBM, if it is IDE or SATA or SCSI, if it is 20 GB or 200 GB, if it is part of a RAID, if you have 1 drive or 3 - or anything else. :>( We probably don't need a complete, detailed description, but we cannot see your hardware so we're fumbling blindly, and a brief description would help us help you.

RC

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, sure appreciate the info! It's a Dell Dimension 4600 with 512MB 400Mhz DDR SDRAM and 80G Ultra ATA/100 7200 RPM hard drive. There are 4 partitions on the HD, with at least 5G free on each partition. There's a portable HD connected thru USB, but the Quicken backup goes to the local drive, not the external. Doesn't seem to be any problems with Quicken's data, even on the backups that appear after the error messages.

Hi, Steve.

Well, I don't see much in your hardware that should be giving any trouble. Are you using a network of any kind?

What happens if you unplug the USB HD before trying the backup? What does Disk Management say about that drive? Have you used DM to assign a semi-permanent letter to that drive, or does DM assign it whatever is available each time you plug it in? (I don't think that should cause the kind of problems you are seeing, but I'm kind of grabbing at straws here. And removable devices can mess up the drive letter assignments - permanently or temporarily - if you haven't specifically assigned them. I have several HDs, a couple of DVDs, an SD card reader for my camera and a few USB thumb drives. Each time I plug in something, DM wants to assign it a different letter, so I assigned S: to the SD reader, J: to whichever "jump" drive is plugged in, V: and W: to the DVDs, etc. So I always know which is which, even if some of them are unplugged.)

Have you rechecked all your cables and other physical connections, or run any HD tests? Even if the backup is going to the HD, a seemingly-unrelated flaky USB cable could cause the inconsistent results you have been seeing. Bad memory. or good memory that has worked its way out of its socket, could do it, too. Even a collection of dust on the internal parts can create static and erratic problems.

I hope somebody will jump in here because I'm running out of ideas.

RC

Nope, just my one little ol' desktop. :)

It has a permanent drive letter. No change when it's unplugged.

Chkdsk found no errors. Cables look ok. Haven't run any other HD tests - is there some freeware around for this, or do I need to purchase a program somewhere?

Thanks again for all your time and effort on this! Obviously, it's not confidence-inspiring to get these error messages - I've been holding off on entering any new data until we can maybe figure out what's wrong...

I saw the following in Quicken forums: ________________________________

Is the error only when you back up to the ZIP drive or does it happen regardless of the media you are backing up to?

Try to back up to a location on your hard drive and see if that works. If it does, the simplest thing to do is backup to the hard drive first and then copy the files to your ZIP drive using Windows Explorer.

If you can't back up to the hard drive either, copy your file using the Quicken copy command and give it a name of 8 characters or less. Validate the copy and then try to back it up. If it works, continue using the copy going forward.

Hi, Steve.

One or two more thoughts...

Can you simply unplug the cables, then plug them right back in again?

It might sound like a useless exercise, but it has often solved problems for me. My first computer, the original TRS-80 that I got in December 1977, used several "edge connectors", much like the PCI connectors on today's motherboards. Often, corrosion would build up on the metal "teeth" of those connectors. We often had to give them the "Pink Pearl" treatment: We would unplug the connector and "erase" those teeth using a rubber eraser that accountants always needed; "Pink Pearl" was a popular brand name for those. After erasing, we would plug them in and our erratic errors would disappear for a while. Often, we didn't even need to erase; just the friction of unplugging and plugging 'em back in cleaned off enough corrosion to do the trick.

This trick still works with modern computers sometimes. Not as often as in the old days, but sometimes.

There probably are some free generic test programs. I already mentioned the two I used (PowerMax and SeaTools), which are provided free by the HD makers. They are targeted at those companies' products, of course, but they should work on just about any drive. Do you know who made your drive? Have you tried Dell's tech support?

RC

We called it "reseating the boards" in old PDP's.

I'm now using a recent backup file that works with no problems. It's located in \Quicken\Backups. But when I move the file to \Quicken, I get the error messages again.

Hi, Steve.

HOW are you moving the file to Quicken?

Assuming that the good file is C:\Program Files\Quicken\BACKUP\Steve2.QDF, then the proper command would be: C:\>Copy "C:\Program Files\Quicken\BACKUP\Steve2.*" "C:\Program Files\Quicken\Steve.*"

You must enclose the entire pathname in quotes because of the space in the "Program Files".folder name. And you must move ALL the related files in the Steve2.* fileset, not just Steve2.QDF. And, you want to eliminate the "2" from "Steve2", so that you don't end up with a backup set named "Steve21" when Quicken adds a "2" to "Steve2".

The Copy command will overwrite the existing bad(?) Steve.* fileset in \Quicken, so you may want to rename that first (or move it out of the Quicken folder), just for historical reference in case you want to try to analyze it later to find out what went wrong. When you are sure you don't need it anymore, delete it.

When manipulating Quicken data files, it is almost always best to let Quicken do it, rather than use the Windows Copy, Move, etc., tools. When Quicken handles the job, it automatically updates its internal pointers so that it knows where to look for what it needs next time. If we use Windows tools, then WE have to figure out how to update those pointers. You'll find most of Quicken's file-handling tools under its File menu.

To let Quicken handle this, click File | Restore Backup File. Browse to the good file you've found and let Quicken load it. When it is loaded and running, click File | File Operations | Rename. Browse to it in the Quicken folder and rename it to Steve.qdf, or whatever name you prefer.

RC

Thanks again! I used Q to restore the file from \q\backup to \q. When I open the \q\backup file, it backs up with no problems. But when I open the restored \q file, I get the error messages again (although the file actually seems to back up ok, as before). This is driving me nuts. Sigh.