Running Quicken on two computers

Set up a folder for your data; I use QDATA but anything will work. Then find your Quicken files and copy them into QDATA. Then open your data by using file-open from Quicken. Now copy QDATA to your laptop. Then open QDATA from the laptop. When you come back, copy the QDATA from laptop to desktop.

If you don't have a LAN to copy back and forth, use a thumb drive.

I hope I explained this so you can follow. I've been doing it for years and am not clear on what I did to set it up.

All my Quicken Files are in c:\My Documents\Quicken and I find an incredible array of files with widely ranging dates.

What you are saying is create a subdirectory named QDATA and place WHICH files in them?

*.QDF *.QEL *.IDX *.QPH

Are these the four I need to copy into QDATA and then transfer over to my laptop in a similar file?

Thanks Don

Take a look at

In the Search box, type "two computers."

Select: Using the same Quicken data file on more than one computer

You can also search for 2347 (that's the ID of that article).

Here's the text: Quicken data is made up of several files. The Quicken program uses the backup and restore commands to copy all of the appropriate files as a group. If you are planning to move your data between two computers, the same version of Quicken must be installed on both computers. If you move your Quicken data file between computers that have a different version of Quicken installed on them, the Quicken program automatically converts the data file for use in the newer version of Quicken, and the data file can no longer be used in the previous version of Quicken.

To use the same Quicken data file on more than one computer:

1.. From the Quicken File menu, choose Backup, and then follow the on-screen instructions to back up the data on the first computer to an external disk. 2.. Insert the external disk in the appropriate drive of the second computer. 3.. Start Quicken, and then from the File menu, choose Restore Backup File. 4.. Select the drive and file name, and then click OK.

John

Thanks John, that is straightforward and sounds simple to do.

--Don

I tried using Quicken on two computers once and it really takes some careful thought each time you open Quicken to make sure you don't screw it up. For me, it was just a case of two computers in the same house (I did it this way because at the time only one had Internet access), and as simple as that may seem, it got pretty hairy. It's been about three years since I tried this, so I may be forgetting things. But the main thing to remember is that Quicken will always store what it considers the working file on the hard drive of both computers. So, EVERY time you use quicken you will have to go through the process John describes below. Let me see if I can simplify (though I may just muddy the waters). Let's assume for the moment that you have a desktop and a laptop.

1) Currently, the working version of your Quicken data is on your desktop. Let's call that version of your datafile Version A. You back it up, let's say on a thumb drive, as John describes below. So now you have version A on your desktop and on your thumb drive. So far, so good. 2) You go to your laptop, you have to restore from backup. In other words you are now trying to get Version A of your datafile onto your laptop and you do that by using the backup file on your thumbdrive. So now you have a Version A on your desktop your thumbdrive and your laptop. 3) As soon as you do a single transaction on your laptop, you have created Version B of the datafile. Now you have B on your laptop but still have A on the thumbdrive and on your desktop. That means before you shut down Quicken, you have to back the file up from the laptop so that you Version B on your laptop and your thumbdrive. 4) But you stil have version A on your desktop. So when you fire up Quicken on your desktop, you have to restore the backup from the thumbdrive. In other words you don't want to work with the Version A that's residing inside your desktop. You want the current version, which is B. You restore from the thumbdrive, so now you have a Version B on the thumbdrive, the laptop and the desktop. The Universe is in Harmony. 5) But as soon as you do a transaction on your desktop, you've now created a Version C on your desktop, but you still have B on the thumbdrive and the laptop.

You can see that this takes a lot of careful switching, backing up and restoring. I got tired of it so quickly, I gave up this process after just a few days.

I think I've got that all correct. Is there a simpler way of doing this that I'm missing?

Will a home network work? ... a home wireless network, at that?? Laptop uses file from desktop drive - making sure no one is one the desktop using that set of files???

Did I read in this NG some eons ago that Q is averse to networks? Maybe just because it does not lock files for use by single user at a time??

Jay - VERY interested in this tread because we just set up a home wireless network.

"Jay M Apple" wrote

Intuit recommends against maintaining your Quicken data over a network. Their studies show that you will be almost certain to get corrupted data in time. The problem is not caused by having multiple users accessing the file.

There are products that will allow you keep a file in sync on two computers.

All the replies below sound too complicated. It is so simple.

I have 3 computers all with the same program and two accounts. I just copy from the most recent download computer in the c:\quicken05 directory the 4 data files plus the ...log.dat file from each account onto the other computers and open up the program and account where ever I am at.

Just remember from which computer you downloaded the files so you keep those files on a flash drive (easiest backup).

Hey Jay,

I have been using my Quicken data file over my wireless network for a couple of years now with few problems. My data file is on a desktop machine, and I sometimes access it with a laptop.

Had to supervalidate once. Restored a backup once. Don't remember the exact scenarios, tho' -- sorry. But that's also happened a few times in the 10 or more years that I've been using Quicken without accessing the data file over a network, so can't really say the network access was the reason.

As far as locking the data file is concerned, I have found (by accident) that if the file is open on one computer it cannot be opened on another.

By the way, it's a pretty huge data file -- 35 mb, but that doesn't seem to matter.

I back up frequently. ;-)

Steve Jay M Apple wrote:

430 No such article 222 10236 body Hey Jay,

I have been using my Quicken data file over my wireless network for a couple of years now with few problems. My data file is on a desktop machine, and I sometimes access it with a laptop.

Had to supervalidate once. Restored a backup once. Don't remember the exact scenarios, tho' -- sorry. But that's also happened a few times in the 10 or more years that I've been using Quicken without accessing the data file over a network, so can't really say the network access was the reason.

As far as locking the data file is concerned, I have found (by accident) that if the file is open on one computer it cannot be opened on another.

By the way, it's a pretty huge data file -- 35 mb, but that doesn't seem to matter.

I back up frequently. ;-)

Steve Jay M Apple wrote:

Thanks, Steve. Will give it a try as soon as I get through some items in my sempiternal list of things to do. Hope I can match your experience.

Jay

I will do this for my long summer trip, and will read your helpful instructions as I do, but I take your warning that this is not something you want to try to maintain for every day use of Quicken.

Many thanks Don

Hi, Don.

I agree with DrB. You folks are making this far too complicated.

The only real question is the physical one: how to get the files from one computer to the other? Whether you use a floppy, a CD-R, a network drive - or a USB drive (probably the simplest these days), the procedure is basically the same. Assuming a USB drive, do this:

On your desktop, open Quicken with your data file. Press Ctrl+B to Backup. In Box 2 (the destination for the backup), Browse to the folder on your USB drive (or type in the destination FOLDER, not the filename - Quicken will handle that part). Then click OK.

On your laptop, insert the USB drive, then browse to that backup folder. Click on the .QDF file. That should open Quicken with your file loaded.

When you get home, put the USB drive back in your laptop and reverse the procedure: back up from the laptop to the USB drive, move the USB drive to your desktop, then click the .QDF file to open the updated file in your desktop.

Clicking a .QDF file should start Quicken; you don't need to have Q open beforehand.

I've never used a network, but my understanding is that you can Backup from Quicken on the desktop to a folder on the laptop HD, and vice versa. If that is correct, then the process could be even easier.

A major caveat, in any case, is to be sure keep the files in sync. If you enter transactions on the desktop, be sure to backup and transfer the updated file to the laptop before making any new entries there. But, of course, you knew that.

While I haven't used a network, I do dual-boot to both WinXP and the beta of Windows Vista on my one computer. I've installed Q2006 Basic twice (once from WinXP on F: and again from Vista on Q:) into the same "neutral" folder, E:\QuickenW, and I let Quicken default to keeping its data fileset (E:\QuickenW\QDATA.*) in that same folder (and \QuickenW\Backup). No matter which OS I'm running, I can access the same Quicken program and use the same data file. From either OS, my Quicken manual backups go to the same place(s) of my choice. Since I'm always using the same Quicken fileset, I don't have to deal with physical media (except my HD) or worry about keeping the files in sync.

RC

I'm not sure, but doesn't that leave a file on the hard drive unchanged? Let's say my working Quicken file on my computer (I don't think it makes a difference here if we're talking about the desktop or the laptop) is called DATA06. And that's also going to be the name of the backup file on the USB. If I double-click on DATA06.QDF on the USB drive, it will open the USB file, but it will do nothing to the file that's on the harddrive. When you close quicken down, it will close and update DATA06.QDF on the USB, but will do nothing to DATA06.QDF that's on the hard drive. Am I correct? (My head is spinning.)

That means the only working file is the one on your USB and neither machine's hard drive has an up-to-date copy. Right?

-dp

Hi, Don.

Good point. Yes, by clicking on DATA06.qdf on the USB drive, you will open that file and, by default, that's the file that will get updated during that session and when the session is ended. After opening the file, use File | Backup to put the updated file onto your HD. Then open it again from there. (Actually, I was planning to use File | Save As - but I see that Quicken doesn't offer that option.)

If you swap back and forth between computers frequently, this could become a hassle - and if you forget to do it, you could have a problem. My understanding, though, was that you would use the desktop normally and have only a single round-trip transfer to the laptop before and after your trip, which should not be too much of a hassle.

By the way, I hope "DATA06" was only an example. I've found that it is a bad idea to name Quicken data files with names ending in numerals. When Quicken does its automatic backup, it appends a single digit to the end of the filename. A name like DON.qdf becomes DON1.qdf, which is quite understandable. But DATA06.qdf might become DATA061.qdf, which could get confusing. It won't confuse Quicken or Windows, of course, but it sure confused ME when I first ran into the problem several Quicken versions ago.

RC

It's not Don, but that's OK.

Which means this process is complicated. You originally posted this as a simple alternative to others posted here. I don't know if you were thinking of my post when you did that (I talked about Version A, Version B, etc), but I think this discussion just goes to show it is not a simple process. You have to think about what you're doing every time you open and close Quicken to make sure all is in synch.

Yes. Just an example.

By the way, does windows still have the Briefcase? I never used it, but it was supposed to be a way to keep files in synch. Maybe that offers an easier way to do this, but I don't know for sure.

I use FolderShare - - works well for me.