I'm using Q 2001. In the last few weeks, every time I start it, it acts like its never been run before. I close it and copy my last backup into the Accounts folder and then its OK. Does this sound familiar to anybody and if so, is there any way to fix it?
Hi, dgwinter.
What "Accounts folder"?
Please tell us more about this folder. I've been using Quicken for over a dozen years and I don't have an Accounts folder. Where is your Accounts folder located? Is it within the Quicken folder? Did you manually create this one yourself, or did Quicken create it? (It has been several years since I used Q2001, so I may have forgotten the Accounts folder if there ever was one.)
There is an Accounts listing within Quicken, of course, but it is not accessible from outside Quicken, so there's no way to close Quicken and "copy...[a] backup into" it. So I can't picture what you say you are doing.
It sounds like you should click Quicken's File | Restore Backup File... and select that latest backup file. Be sure to Restore the backup file; do not Open it. Then, when you are ready to close Quicken, don't do anything special. Don't even do another Backup. Just File | Exit - or click the X in the upper right corner. Then, start Quicken normally again. It should start with that current file already loaded. (As I recall, Q2001 still kept the current working fileset (*.qdf, etc.) in the \Quicken folder, right alongside QW.EXE and all those other program files. And all the automatic backup files were in \Quicken\BACKUP.)
By the way, in addition to telling us you are using Q2001, it would help to also mention if you are running Win98, WinXP, Vista - or some other operating system. That doesn't always matter, but sometimes it does.
RC
This sounds like an old bug which appears to have been fixed in newer versions. If the archive bit is cleared on some of the quicken data files when on an NTFS partition, it won't recognize them. The archive bit is often cleared by backup programs.
To set the archive bit, use Windows Explorer to go to the directory with your data files. Select the files, right-click, and choose Properties. On that page should be an 'archive' checkbox. Check it on (if it's gray, click it until it's black), then apply.
That seems to be the problem. I wonder though why it just started recently. I have run a daily backup on that folder for many months, its interesting that the problem just started recently. In any event the mystery seems to be solved and I think you very much for that.
I don't remember anymore if I created the ACCOUNTS folder or not. It has the account files (QDF, etc.) in it and a backup folder where the last nine backups are stored. I backup every time I run Q because over the years I have had it pull this on me periodically and having a backup from the last run has saved me a lot of time. Only recently has it done this every time I start Q. Its in My Documents\Quicken \ACCOUNTS. And its XP Pro. I develop and support Win apps, I should know by now to include the OS.
A related issue may be if you turned on NTFS compression. It seemed that, combined with the archive bit, caused the weird bug. If you 'compressed' the whole drive, you can disable compression for the Quicken files or folder.
Hi, dgwinter.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was at the Microsoft MVP Global Summit this week. Surrounded by computers, but with almost no access to one.
Quicken never created a folder named ACCOUNTS, so far as I know. In Quicken-speak, Accounts are internal components of the Quicken "file" (actually a set of related files, as I'm sure you know). Quicken does create a subfolder called BACKUPS, where it stores the automatic backups (5 by default, but choices are from 1 to 9) that it makes every 7 days. These automatic backups are in addition to whatever backups you choose to make. You can make as many backups as you like and put them anywhere that you like. Quicken will remind you to make these additional backups; it reminds you every 3rd time you exit the application without backing up. (You can change the default 3 to any number from 0 - for no reminders - to 99.)
In addition to all those automatic and manual backups, there is always one more copy of your Quicken file, of course, and that is the current working file. By default, this current fileset is kept right in the C:\Program Files\Quicken folder, along with all the program files, such as qw.exe, plus the BACKUP subfolder and other subfolders.
My guess is that you created the ACCOUNTS folder and told Quicken to keep your current fileset there, so that's where Quicken created the BACKUP folder. You may have also directed your manual backups to that folder, but that's a bad idea because any disaster that wipes out your current file will probably take all your backups with it, too. :>( Let Quicken put the automatic backups there, but put all your additional backups in some separate location, such as a CD/DVD or USB thumb drive that can be stored safely away from the computer.
And don't ever Open your Backup file. If you must resort to the backup, use File | Restore Backup File, then immediately backup the restored file under your working filename to your current manual backup folder. (I'm using Q2008D, so your menu may be slightly different.)
RC
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