Quicken 2008 just disappears (exits in the middle of certain operations)

Hi, RJ.

Obviously, it was not Intuit who added this "feature". None of the thousands (millions?) of other Quicken users has reported this problem. My guess is that there is something in your computer that triggers this. Your assignment is to track it down and fix it. We will help all we can, but you will have to give us something to work with. So far, you've told us nothing that will help us help you.

We can't see your computer so we have to ask some for some very basic information that you should have included in your OP (original post). Like...make and model of your computer (or the mobo/CPU if you built it yourself)? Hardware configuration (how many hard drives, optical drives, USB drives, and other peripherals) because these can cause the kind of problem you mentioned. Which operating system: Win9x, WinXP, Vista - or Linux or Apple? What antivirus and antimalware applications are running? Have you scanned your computer for malware? Recently?

From your skimpy description, I would guess that your problem is somewhere in your hardware: bad RAM, loose cables, heat buildup...the possibilities are nearly endless.

Give us enough information that we have at least a chance to help you and we'll try.

RC

In addition to RC's theories, all of which are solid, I'd add the possibility of a corrupt data file or QPH file.

But I further agree that the OP hasn't provided even the most basic info that would allow anyone to assist.

db

Hi R.C. -- See comments in line

"R. C. White" wrote

I have experienced this. No warnings, no nothing. QW2008 just disappears. Its happened maybe three times in six months. I use Q every 2-3 days, for

(snip)

Toshiba M400, Intel T2400, Win XP (up to date patches), one 40GB H.D., 1 optical drive, Intel 950 graphics, nothing connected to USB ports except Logitech mouse. I have two RAM slots; only one is in use (2GB), since a tech determined something was wrong with the other slot. BIOS is current.

Running AVG 8.5 antivirus (free version).

Filesizes: QDF: 63,280KB; IDX: 10,817KB; QEL: 15KB; QPH: 1,308KB; QTX: 5KB Validation shows no problems.

Some comments: I don't experience this problem with any other applications. I run most MS Office Professional programs daily. ProSeries works fine with a very complicated file. Usually use Firefox browser, but occasionally I.E. I ALWAYS reboot immediately prior to running Q. I almost never run other major programs while using Q. I scan daily with AVG (but not with Q running). AVG and Spybot are updated daily. Spybot runs a scan every time new definitions are released (but not with Q running). I also use SpywareBlaster. I keep my startup programs to a minimum -- six, I believe; I don't remember all that I allow to run (not near that laptop) but I know AVG, accelerometer monitor and tablet-mode monitor are in there. I have lots of accounts (I'd say over 200) and around 100 classes (oops, Tags). I have another problem: Sometimes coming out of standby/hibernate mode with Q running, Q is unresponsive The Account bar is not displayed, nor the last account(s) that were opened. I am only able to terminate Q via Task Manager.

I've recently experienced a very similar problem that happens only when I select a certain account. Quicken quickly shuts down, much faster than a typical close of the Quicken application. I have been working on a theory that it is related to the Online Access set-up of the specific account. It seems to clear up after some activity (like payroll deduction purchases) in the account, a 401k Vanguard mutual fund account with multiple "funds". This is not a new account, and not my only Vanguard account. It seems to have started happening about a month ago, though I often go a month between reasons to open this specific account. Another curious indicator is when I "Edit" this account from the Accounts list, I am able to see account attributes, but when I try to "remove from one step update", it initiates a dialogue that ultimately does not remove the account.

Windows XP Prof SP3 Quicken 2007 Deluxe Dell 8400, 2 G memory

I'll take any suggestions or recommendations .

HI, Rick.

Interestingly, just a short time after I posted my first reply to RJ, and before I saw your post, I saw a report from another user of a similar problem - but now I can't find it.

Too late to follow up on it tonight, but I'll try to see what I can find tomorrow.

RC

Hi, RJ.

Looks like I owe you an apology. I'm sorry I said no one else has reported this disappearing problem.

See my reply to Rick Hess, who has been a regular here about as long as I have.

RC

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I too have experienced this. Don't recall all the details, but it was with the last version I had (Q2006?

I upgraded from QW2002 to '08 for the same reason: "ALL kinds of trouble" -- but not the disappearing application discussed here. Since my upgrade to '08 went flawlessly, I figured the culprit was my huge fileset.

"R. C. White" wrote

(snip)

I forgot to mention in my first post that I use H&B version. Also I do not download from any F.I.

Unfortunately, when the "disappearing act" has occurred, I was so startled I can't remember what I was doing immediately before. It's my office assistant who uses Q about 95% of the time, and it hasn't happened with her. She does nothing but data entry in 5 or 6 accounts. The things I do differently from her would be accessing different accounts and creating or changing reports.

Another observation: I've seen Q use huge amounts of memory -- over 1.5G. I notice that when I open an account, Q grabs more memory. I might be missing something, but I don't see a way to "close" an account window once its been opened; they just seem to "pile up" as I open different accounts.

Happens to me too, with QD2006, and has been doing so for some time. It also locks up in the middle of a backup and I have to shut down qw.exe from Task Manager. Just this evening it happened 3 or 4 times. So far I've never lost any data.

George snipped-for-privacy@nospamcomcast.net

Hi All,

I appreciate all the comments on this topic. On my end we can definetly rule out HW as a possible culpret. The HW is rock solid with plenty of CPU horsepower, RAM and disk storage and no other SW application crash like this other than my friend Quicken. This is 100% a Quicken issue. Its called buggy SW. That's it.

The good news is I have not lost data, the bad news is I just loose time (and my patience).

My Quicken data file has gone though several updates from 1992 to its current Q2008 version. The data file has a large number of accounts with over half of them hidden (they are closed but I still like having the history for reporting purposes) so both factors may contribute towards its instability (shouldn't but does).

This disappearing act is something I've never experienced with Quicken other than in the last 6 months. Though there are improvements, I stand behind my statement of 2 steps ahead and 3 backwards as far as my friend is concerned.

Btw, I really apprecaite this forum and the knowledgable members as I've had questions answered and some problems solved though this channel.

How about others who have experienced Quicken disappear...do you have a large number of accounts? or many old accounts, or a unique setup?

Next disappearing act, I'll send some details of what operations I was performing.

Br,

--RJ

jainraje wrote in news:f9eeb137-ad3d-45b7-82f1- snipped-for-privacy@r3g2000vbp.googlegroups.com:

When I was having problems that might be somewat similar (can't recall exactly), I copied the quicken fileset to a new file name. That cured the problems. This is how:

Explanation: When you work with a file set, edits are made. This leads to internal data fragmentation. Once that reaches a certain point, the program cannot unravel the pointers going hither and yon for the next available piece of data to be displayed. Copying the file set puts everything again in logical sequential form and eliminates the deletions (that are marked as deleted but not actually removed).

Once you have a copied file set, use the validation tool to check the file integrity. Then copy the file set to the final name for future work. Make sure to make copies all along the way and check whether your reports still give the right results

HTH

Like you, I've been running Quicken since the early 1990's, after I migrated from Managing Your Money which I ran from diskette on my PC-Jr during the 1980's.

I've run into a similar problem several times over the past few years. It is most often after adding a new account, and then have the initial download fail for some reason. I've also seen it after other download problems.

On the first occurrence, I worked with Intuit support for several hours, but they were not able to resolve the problem. After some experimentation, I discovered that Quicken keeps temporary files in the directory "c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\intuit\quicken" This is on Windows XP. Other Windows systems would probably use a different path to the temporary file directory.

I deleted the entire directory, and contents. I then did a "repair install" of Quicken. That installation process recreated the directory. Quicken then ran normally, with no crashes or any other problems. My data was intact, with no missing transactions.

I believe that when something went wrong with the download, a temporary file was created that conflicted with the data in Quicken. The program was unable to handle that conflicting data, and ended up crashing to the desktop.

Hope this helps.

-- Jim

I had the same problem after I upgraded to Q02 or 03. Turned out to be conflict with a survey I was subscribed to that monitored my PC usage. They would not end conflict with Q so guess which program I removed.

I suggest that BEFORE you start Q you exit one program that usually runs in the background and see what happens. On another Q time chose a different program until you find the conflict.

Eric

A common denominator seems to be working with certain accounts. However, I don't download, so that's not the (only) trigger.

In an earlier post I stated that one of the things that MIGHT have triggered this shutdown was working in certain accounts. I can definitely say that those accounts aren't newly-created, as is your observation.

BTW, my Q data initiated from Q-DOS version 2 or 3-ish.

I appreciate all the comments on this topic. On my end we can definetly rule out HW as a possible culpret. The HW is rock solid with plenty of CPU horsepower, RAM and disk storage and no other SW application crash like this other than my friend Quicken. This is 100% a Quicken issue. Its called buggy SW. That's it.

(snip)

I too feel my environment is relatively clean; but with only the handful of posts reporting the problem I'm not convinced yet that it's "100% a Quicken issue", although I lean in that direction.

It is a shame that Quicken does not have a built-in utility to pack and re-organize the file instead of having to go through all that.

I thought Validate does that. Are you saying it does not?

Jeff

wrote in news:2QMEl.16556$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe04.iad:

I'm not sure. Copying did the trick several times for me. The validating is sensible insurance.

YMMV :)