quicken fails to load data file

You can tell Quicken not to open a file when it starts by holding down CTRL while double-clicking your Quicken program icon.

This sounds like the scheduled transaction bug, where Quicken is in a loop, spitting out multiple auto-enter scheduled transactions.

I think if you set your pc date back to a date before the Quicken QDF file's last modified date, you may be able to get Quicken to open the file without it generating the mutiple transactions. Then you need to either determine which scheduled transaction(s) were involved and delete them (the initial candidates are the ones that would be "due" to auto-enter today), or delete all auto-enter scheduled transactions. Then re-create any deleted scheduled transactions.

What OS are you using? Are there any error messages? Have you tried to do a validation and Super validation? See the following. Maybe one these suggestions will help.

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I am running it on Vista. I have also just loaded Q09Dlx R7 onto my office XP Pro system with similar results

I receive no error messages. Quicken keeps extending the file.

when I use validate in Quicken the file either is listed as not found or it hangs with high cpu extending the file.

What is super validation.

I spent 3 hours on phone with Quicken support who only managed to prove what I already told them.

I will be reading the web pages you point out while I wait on hold to get back into quicken support.

John

You are correct. I set the computer date to Jan 1, 2009 and am able to bring up my backup file. The original file appears to be totally housed. I then checked and thought I had resolved the issue as the only thing I have done is change the name of one of the entries. that was I had corrected the spelling. When I then decided to try it out by resetting the date and restarting it had the same problem. Thus you have resolved the problem, now I only need to find the one that is causing it.

Art

I have now found the entry that was causing the problem. I had edited the monthly cable bill to change for a discount received this month. For some reason, even though I could not see anything wrong with it, it was causing the problem. The technique I used to identify the problem was to reset the date to today, restore the external backup, Open it in Quicken and immediately abort quicken. I then set the time back. and reopened the file. It did open but the credit card limit went off. I found that cable bill entries had stretched for centuries into the future.

What I had done on the bill was to edit the current one and not the series. I do not know if that caused the problem but will not do it again.

That sounds like a good candidate for the problem ... I just wish I could remember what the actual cause was.

At this point, I am willing to believe that you may have found the cause.

Thanks for posting back.

One final comment -- I just heard from someone within Quicken Support Tier 3 who said the following:

Your case has been forwarded to me by Quicken Product Development (QPD).... QPD has read your Feedback/Suggestion for resolving an issue we have with "file bloating" when there is a problem with Automatic entries. This issue was resolved with Quicken 2010 and the resolution is currently being addressed in Quicken 2009.

Art McClinton