Too many backup copies???

For Q2006 H&B: Edit->Preferences->Quicken Program->Backup->Maximum Number of Backup Copies

Thanks for the quick response but I did this already. Does the naming and/or location of the backup files effect this?

Bob Fry wrote:

You have misunderstood the purpose of the "number of backup copies". It has *nothing* to do with the backups that you initiate; it only pertains to the *automatic* backups that Quicken makes.

Quicken will not play any role in the number of backups that you initiate ... other than to "remind" you to make them according to the "Remind after running ... " option in your Quicken Program options.

BF> For Q2006 H&B: Edit-> Preferences->Quicken Program->Backup->Maximum Number of Edit-> Backup Copies I'll bedamned, sure enough, the above doesn't limit the number of "external" backups.

I think it's more a problem of misstatement by the Quicken developers than misunderstanding by users.

The option should be called "Maximum number of *automatic* backup copies."

With the 100+ "improvements" they make in each new Quicken release, it amazes me that this simple change continues to elude them.

Hi, Avraham.

We rehash this subject of backups at least a couple of times a year here, but new users arrive all the time, so I guess it's time to do it again. The settings in Edit | Preferences | Quicken program are confusing to many users (but I'll bet the Quicken programmers think that they are clear as a bell).

Quicken provides for 3 kinds of backup (my terminology; you won't find these in Quicken's Help):

1. Automatic backups.
2. Reminded backups.
3. Manual backups.

1. Automatic backups happen, well, automatically, every 7 days from the time you last installed Quicken. With no prompting or notice, a week after you install Q, it backs up all your data fileset (QDATA.QDF and related QDATA.* files) into C:\QuickenW\BACKUP. Note that this BACKUP folder is created automatically as a subfolder in your main Quicken folder. The first week, your backup files are QDATA1.QDF, QDATA1.QEL, etc. A week later, Q renames all those QDATA1 files to QDATA2, then it backs up the latest set as a new QDATA1. The next week, QDATA2 becomes QDATA3, QDATA1 becomes QDATA2, and a new QDATA1 gets created. This goes on each week until there are the number of backup sets you've specified in Edit | Preferences; the default is

1. The next week, the oldest set (QDATA5) gets deleted, the newer sets' names get incremented by 1 and a new QDATA1 set is created. Thus, there should always (after Q has been running for 5 weeks) be 5 sets of backup files, named QDATA1-QDATA5, and dated a week apart.

1. Each time you exit Q, it checks to see if you have recently made a manual backup - in addition to the Automatic backups. How recently? That depends on the OTHER setting in Edit | Preferences. The default is 3, as I recall, but you can set it for any number from 0 to 99. At the default setting, Q will remind you every 3rd time you exit the program - unless you've made a more-recent manual backup.

2. YOU decide when to make manual backups, and YOU decide where to put them. It's a good idea to put them into a different folder, a better idea to put them onto a different hard drive, and the best idea to put them onto removable media (floppy, CD, thumb drive, etc.) so that they can be safely stored separately from your computer in case of fire, theft or other disaster.

In Edit | Preferences | Quicken Program | Backup, there are two boxes which refer to two DIFFERENT kinds of backups. The first one sets how often you want to be reminded to do the Reminded backup (#2 above). The second box sets how many weekly backups Q should keep in the \QuickenW\BACKUPS folder (#1 above). Leave the "Warn..." check box clear or you will have to confirm each time that, yes, you really do want the new backup to replace the old, outdated version.

It's not easy (or wise?) to change the location for the automatic backups (#1), but locations for #2 and #3 are entirely up to you.

Note that, in addition to all these backups, the current, up-to-the-minute working version of your data file is, by default, right there in your \QuickenW folder.

RC

Thanks for the very clear explanation of the backup scheme.

Avraham

R. C. White wrote: