Setting Up Quicken on a new computer

IF YOU BACKED IT UP PREVIOUSLY, THE QUICKEN BACK UP CONSISTS OF 4 OR 5 FILES. ALL MUST BE COPIED TO THE NEW PUTER. JOHN PS SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS.

Hi, Jim.

As JohnR said, if you have only your .QDF file on that thumb drive, then you are in trouble! :>(

What Quicken calls "a file" is actually a set of related files. Here in this newsgroup we often refer to it as "fileset", but Intuit persists in calling "a file" as though there is only one. In addition to the .QDF file, you should have a few others; the number and names of the other files will vary from one Quicken version to the next and depending on how YOU use Quicken. There is no difference between the WinXP and Vista filesets. My fileset might not be the same as yours, and your 2007 fileset might not be the same as your 2006 fileset. If you didn't rename them from the default, then they will have names like QDATA.QDF, QDATA, QEL, QDATA.IDX, etc.

When we let Quicken handle file operations (backup, copy, etc.), the program automatically handles the entire set. But when we are outside the Quicken program and use other tools (such as Windows Explorer) to copy or move files, we must remember to include all the files in the set. It appears that you might not have done that. You may have used Windows' Copy command to copy ONLY the QDF file to your thumb drive.

I HOPE you still have access to the rest of the files in your fileset. If so, simply copy all of them to your thumb drive and move them to your new computer, alongside your QDF file. That should solve your problem.

If that doesn't do it, please post back. And DON'T lose track of those other files before you get this solved. There are other ways to recover, since you still have your QDF file, but they will not be as quick or as easy - or as completely successful - as relocating the missing parts of your fileSET.

Post back if you have questions.

RC

Hi RC, Thanks for your response. I copied my Quicken file from my old computer. It included a .idx, an .qdf, an .qel and a .qph files in the "fileset". so I copied all four files to my new machine. My problems started. Jim

Hi JohnR, Thanks for your response. I copied my Quicken file from my old computer. It included a .idx, an .qdf, an .qel and a .qph files in the "fileset". so I copied all four files to my new machine. My problems started. Jim

Make a Quicken "Copy" of your data. Validate that Copy. Open the Validated Copy; see if the problem persists. If the problem is gone, get rid of the old fileset, and make the Validated Copy your regular fileset.

Try using some other medium like a CD or DVD to move the data from the old computer. The thumb drive may have a problem. It has no error detection, and will gladly write data incorrectly.

-- Jim

Folks, I would like to remind you that if Jim (or anyone else) attaches PDF or images to transactions or accounts, he will also have more information to move - unless he wants to lose his attachments.

What I did, is installed Quicken to the most current release for the year in question. The created a temp file. I found where that file was created on the new computer, then looked at the old file structure and copied all of the old folders across into the new structure. The first time I logged on I believe I had to associate the correct file with Quicken. This is what I remember doing 1 1/2 years ago when I migrated between an old laptop and a new laptop (XP to Vista OS).

Important - don't lose the attachments!

Oilcan

-----Original Message----- From: Jim [mailto: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net] Posted At: Friday, September 05, 2008 9:44 AM Posted To: alt.comp.software.financial.quicken Conversation: Setting Up Quicken on a new computer Subject: Re: Setting Up Quicken on a new computer

Hi RC, Thanks for your response. I copied my Quicken file from my old computer. It included a .idx, an .qdf, an .qel and a .qph files in the "fileset". so I copied all four files to my new machine. My problems started. Jim

JIM: There is also a " dat" file necessary.

John

There is no ".dat" file in a Quicken data fileset.

John, in my files for Q07, I show a file with the "dat" extension. I have no idea what it does, since it appears to be encrypted, but its there, and its apparently updated per use with quicken. It contains some log info apparently, since the word log appears in the file name.

John

That would the the OFX log file, which contains the data you download using Direct Connect. If you don't do Direct downloads, you shouldn't even have an OFX log file.

It's only "written" to by Quicken (an "output" file only): it's not part of your Quicken data and will not be backed up when you do a Quicken backup.

If you moved your Quicken data to a new computer, and didn't move the OFX log (likely the case, if you performed the move using Backup/Restore), Quicken would just create a new OFX log on the new computer behind the scenes.

The OFX log is never used by most users, and rarely by those who do use it. It can help you debug Direct downloads in some instances. You can ask Quicken to "Save" that OFX log ".dat" file to a ".txt" file for easy formatting/reading with any word-processor.