renaming file in Q 2011 desktop

I'm guessing here, but it seems it would probably be safer to do it from within Quicken so it knows where to look for it. Other than that I don't see a problem.

Logic would say it doesn't matter - as if the file were externally created on a flash drive... You would have to find & Open it manually first, to set the "last used" stamp...

wrote

Now that Quicken creates just one file instead of the many files it used to, how does one rename a file? Is it OK to just rename the file itself or does it need to be done from within Quicken as it used to have to be?

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I think Intuit has already made the decision for you: there is no longer a "rename" feature in the newer versions of Quicken (the ones with all your data in a single Windows file).

That is why I asked the question. The rename function seems to have disappeared but I was not sure if I just could not find it. Thanks John.

They probably had it for the early versions where all the separate Q files had to be renamed together... and mere mortals could not be trusted to perform that task. And now - well - single file rename should be doable by most people -

Hi, John.

I haven't tried it, but can't we just Save a copy as... a new name? And then open that copy with the new name? And then, optionally, delete the original file?

RC

-- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX (Retired. No longer licensed to practice public accounting.) snipped-for-privacy@grandecom.net Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010) (Using Quicken 2012 Deluxe R 5 and Windows Live Mail in Win7 x64)

wrote

Now that Quicken creates just one file instead of the many files it used to, how does one rename a file? Is it OK to just rename the file itself or does it need to be done from within Quicken as it used to have to be?

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I think Intuit has already made the decision for you: there is no longer a "rename" feature in the newer versions of Quicken (the ones with all your data in a single Windows file).

Indeed we can, RC! :-)

Regards,

Margaret

Margaret wrote in news:jgfcb7$r66$1@dont- email.me:

It's what I do, when I feel like it. As a matter of fact, I'll do it next because something in my Discover card downloads might be screwed up. I keep getting some double downloads, i.e. repeat downloads of transacrions already downloaded and matched. Maybe making a new file without all the deletions/overwrites in the database would be smarter.

But I have always wondered why Intuit decided to drop the rename function within Quicken. I think it causes more worries and angst than it solved. I would have preferred it to stay rather than having to drag up Windows Explorer to do a rename, however rare.

Andrew wrote in news:4f2bda73$0$1976$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

Andrew, things change, but in essence they stay the same. The rename menu item disappeared, but the save as is still there and does the same thing and more. From a database point of view it is impportant to occasionally clear the "empty space" that is generated when a database item is modified. As I understand it, a database system has a whole bunch of records, and whenever one is modified (as YOU see it), the old record is listed in the index as unavailable, while a new record takes its place. So eventually you are left with a whole lot of "unavailable" or empty records, taking up space and increasing the chance of read/write errors. The "save as" function cleans that up. Just renaming a file doesn't. Another plus of the save as is that the old file is still there in case you want to go back to it. I could go on ...

"ps56k" wrote

They probably had it for the early versions where all the separate Q files had to be renamed together... and mere mortals could not be trusted to perform that task. And now - well - single file rename should be doable by most people -

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I agree.

I kinda thought it would have been nice to keep the old Rename feature. Not only for continuity, but because you could use it to rename the Quicken file you currently had open. When you use Windows to do the rename, you can't have the Quicken file open.

But it's not a big deal to me.

Han, if I have a Quicken file named HARRY, and even if I delete 1/4 the records and save it as SUE, I still end up with more space on the disk used than I would have if I simply could rename the original file from within Quicken because HARRY and SUE both exist in your scenario.

But that's not even the point. My comment had nothing to with space usage to start with. Newbies don't generally understand file structures....in fact, often even when I Tell people to use WINDOWS EXPLORER to do something, they fire up IE and then ask what website I want them to go to. I'm simply talking about a Quicken command that used to be inside Q to rename a file that was taken away. To me, it's not a big deal. It sometimes can in handy for me, that's all. And many people I dare say don't really care in the OLD days it renamed all files in a fileset; now it is just the single .qdf. For them, the command went away period. Externally, something changed. Which is why the OP asked the question to start with!

Now, I do have a question. Are you sure that SAVE AS does a compress while copying back? I didn't know that; is there some reference you can cite? That would be great true if so. I took a 52 Meg QDF file I had, deleted two major accounts in it, and did a file save from within Quicken. The resultant file was 4K less in size...a whooping savings of just .007 % (!).

Andrew wrote in news:4f2d2697$0$28392$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

No, I don't have a reference for it, and perhaps Quicken has become more adept at disk space conservation. It certainly was true in the old days of multiple files. I'd have to try it out some time, but right now I want to do other things ...

No problem. I will say in the 'old' days, I do believe that a file copy within Q did do a compress, but the fact that when I did my test the other day that the 'save a copy' worked so quickly, I think that it was just a Windows copy and nothing more.

Maybe John P. can shed some light?

(I know you probably needed to research who to the big bucks on today's big game!)

"Andrew" wrote

No problem. I will say in the 'old' days, I do believe that a file copy within Q did do a compress, but the fact that when I did my test the other day that the 'save a copy' worked so quickly, I think that it was just a Windows copy and nothing more.

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I haven't read or heard anything definitive; so I can only tell you what I observed from a quick test.

The "File > Save a copy as", ran very fast (as you noted) and produced a file the exact same size as the original.

The "File > File Operations > Copy", ran in its usually slow fashion and shaved a few kb (about 300 kb from a 94,000+ kb file) from the new file size.

I believe Quicken copy still does a compress. I just used Quicken to copy my current data file, and sure enough it came out smaller -- and it paused a couple times during the copy. Not significantly smaller as it did in versions 2010 and 2011, but still smaller. I'm wondering if 2012 does some sort of internal compress when it saves the file, because my

2012 file definitely does not bloat like 2010 and 2011, the first two versions after Q switched to a single data file.

Regards,

Margaret

"John Pollard" wrote

wrote

Now that Quicken creates just one file instead of the many files it used to, how does one rename a file? Is it OK to just rename the file itself or does it need to be done from within Quicken as it used to have to be?

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I think Intuit has already made the decision for you: there is no longer a "rename" feature in the newer versions of Quicken (the ones with all your data in a single Windows file).

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Tod, over in the Quicken Live Community, just pointed out that there is, indeed, a "rename" feature in Q2010 and Q2011 (and most likely in Q2012).

In most (all?) of the choices in the Quicken File menu where there is a list of files to browse (such as found in File > Open Quicken File); you can right-click any listed file name and choose "Rename" from the resulting choices.

At least one limit to this Rename that was not present in pre-Q2010 renames, is that you can't rename the currently open Quicken file.

Also, if you choose "File | Save a copy as..." you are rewarded with the opportunity to rename the file. :-)

Regards,

Margaret