Transferring quicken data files between 2 computers

Hi, Lawrence.

If you have the hardware, it's easy. And the hardware needs are not burdensome. A USB thumb drive is probably the easiest, but you also can choose a floppy (for a small data file), or a network connection, or a writeable CD/DVD - or just about any other way of moving files between computers.

Just Copy your Quicken file to a thumb drive, and plug that into the other computer, on which Quicken has already been installed. On that computer, use Windows Explorer to browse to the .qdf file on the thumb drive and double-click that .qdf file. WinXP should start Quicken with your file loaded. Then use Quicken's Backup to write your file to the new backup location of your choice on the new computer's hard drive - just for safekeeping. And then click File | File Operations | Copy, and copy the current working file (the one from the thumb drive) to wherever you want your Quicken working file to be on your new computer (probably NOT the same folder or even the same HDD as your backup files).

But remember that what Quicken calls "a file" is actually a "fileset" of related files. If you use Quicken's File operations to backup and copy your .qdf file, it will automatically transfer the entire fileset. But if you use Windows tools, you'll have to be sure to include all the related files (.qel, .qph, ,qtx, etc., - the exact lineup will depend on how YOU have used Quicken) every time you handle the "file". It does you little good to have the .qdf file if you don't have all the related ones, too.

You have 3 types of files to deal with:

1. The Quicken application - don't try to "move" these, just install Quicken again in the new computer. Even if you move these files, the Quicken installer still needs to write some codes into the new Windows Registry.
2. Your working data fileset - see above.
3. Your Quicken backup files - Quicken will put its regular weekly automatic backups in the \BACKUP folder that it will create in the parent folder you choose in 2, above. You can put your voluntary additional backups wherever you like. You can make such voluntary backup at any time; Quicken will remind you every 3rd time you exit if you haven't done it recently. You can adjust this default reminder frequency, and the number of automatic backups, in Quicken's Edit | Preferences | Quicken Program. At least one current set of backups should be stored physically separate from your computer in case of disaster.

RC

Wouldn't it be simpler to just use Quicken to create a Backup to the USB drive, and then on the other machine do a Restore from the USB drive?

Hi, B.

Use Copy or Backup. Whichever is easier and more familiar to you.

The files written are identical either way. (Long ago, Backup used some encryption, so Restore was mandatory, but now the files written by Backup are just a normal set, like Copy. We can just Open the Backup files.) Once loaded into the new Quicken, you need to be sure that when you Exit, the current working file is written to your chosen new location so that it will be loaded every time you start Quicken. You probably don't want to use that USB stick for your working copy.

RC

I think Copy and Backup "should" produce logically exact duplicates, but may not produce physically exact duplicates.

I do know that the output of a Copy can have a different Windows "size" than the original; something which I think we usually attribute to Quicken attempting to clean up some logically deleted data, that has not been physically deleted.

One reason to favor a Backup over a Copy is, in my experience, a Backup takes considerably less time.

Hi, again, B.

Slight correction (which probably doesn't matter) to my last post:

Backup used some kind of compression, not encryption.

And thanks for jumping in, John. Yes, my understanding also is that Copy does not copy data that has been deleted but not previously removed from the file, resulting in a Copy that is smaller than the original. But I've had very little experience with actually doing this so I can't really confirm my understanding. This cleanup activity might account for the additional time for Copy over Backup.

RC