Does anyone know if it is OK to backup the Quicken files using Windows Explorer to copy the 5 or six files that quicken creates? It looks like the backup utility simply makes a direct copy of these files to put in the backup folder. After bad experiences with the restore command and other backup programs, I would rather just use Windows Explorer, unless there is some reason one has to use Quicken's backup utility.
I use the backup command (ctrl-B) to create the backup files in a separate directory. I then copy them to a DVD using windows explorer. I also use windows explorer to copy them to the Quicken directory on my laptop. I never use Quicken's restore function. I just copy the files back into the Quicken directory overwriting the ones that are there. I've been doing this for at least 5 years and have never had a problem with the procedure.
Yes; making a Windows copy of all of the files that comprise your Quicken fileset is the equivalent of using Quicken to backup your data.
[Be advised that you are responsible for keeping track of just which files comprise that fileset ... and that the number and names of those files can change - not only when you use a new version of Quicken ... but even when you exercise different features in your current version.]Since the alternative you suggest is *exactly* the equivalent of using Quicken to "backup" your data; I can't imagine why the alternative would produce better results.
Hi, Strasser.
As John and John said, there should be no problem in using Windows Explorer to make a backup copy of Quicken's data files, so long as you get the complete fileset. This is not the same as Windows' (or Vista's) Backup/Restore, but there should be no problem in using that utility, either.
But I also see little or no need for this. In addition to the 5 most-recent-weekly backups that Quicken makes automatically (in the Quicken\BACKUP folder, by default), I typically have at least 3 other recent backups that I make manually. First, there is the one that I do with Ctrl+B at least once a day, and often several times a day as I complete "batches" of data entry (from checking, from brokers' statements, after bank reconciliations, etc.); this one goes to a separate folder on the same HD as Quicken. At least once a week or so, I'll also redirect the Ctrl+B backup to a folder on a different HD in my computer. Then, about once a month, I'll also send the Ctrl+B backup to a USB thumb drive, which is stored separately from the computer itself. And, sometimes, I DO use Windows Explorer (or Xcopy from a Command Prompt) to copy the whole Quicken folder to still another thumb drive or CD, but I'm not very conscientious about making these copies.
But, no matter how or where I make the backups, I practically never need to Restore one, so I have very little experience with that. I test them now and then, just to be sure that I can restore, but they are for emergencies only, not for daily use.
Once upon a time, when we were using floppies for backup, Quicken had to split the backup files among multiple disks and then do some extra file management to be sure that all the pieces were reassembled properly when restored. And there was a time when the backups were encrypted and the restore program had to decrypt them, too. But those complications are behind most of us. Nowadays, I can't see any difference between files created by Quicken's backup and a straightforward Copy, by either Quicken or Windows.
RC
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