Quicken 2017 Backup directory location

Unknown

How do I change the backup location for my Quicken 2017 Automatic backups. Currently it backs it up under the current data folder/backups.  I want to move it to a different disk to avoid disk failures.  Please help.

Quicken Colin

You cannot change the location of the automatic backups.  Only when manually backing up can you change the target location.

Unknown

@Shekar ... No, you cannot change where Quicken automatic backups, backup to.... BUT ... You are wise to worry about disk failures and such and that you want Quicken back-ups to go to "a different disk". Reality is, best bet is to have the back-ups go to somewhere offsite. If you were to have fire, theft, and such, you would have Quicken back-ups somewhere else. Start now, doing Quicken manual backups to Microsoft's "One Drive" or DropBox, Google Drive, etc. for free. Of course, you can do manual back-ups to a USB memory stick, external hard, etc. but this method does not get your back-ups offsite.



The CTRL+B keyboard stroke combo, while in Quicken takes a second to press and your manual back-up goes immediately to a folder on your computer and to the cloud. As I mentioned earlier, having a copy(s) of your Quicken data file off site (in case your house floods, burns, computer/other backup media is stolen, etc. is highly recommended! You do not have to pay a fee to anyone to do this!



Having recent Quicken data file backups is of importance. Again, manual Quicken backup is a mere 2 keystroke combo. Takes a second just before you close Quicken.

UKR

How to set up Quicken Backup
How to make Quicken create a backup for you
automatically as you close Quicken

For the sake of this discussion it is assumed that
your Quicken data file is located in the Default (and recommended) place:
C:\Users\_your_username_here_\Documents\Quicken

Review the backup
settings available in Quicken (under Edit / Preferences / Backup).

In there you will
find two types of backup: Automatic and Manual Backup.

Automatic Backup
should be enabled and always goes to a \Backup folder that's part of the folder
which contains your current Quicken data file, e.g. \Documents\Quicken\Backup.
Set it to create a backup after running Quicken [1] times and to keep [5] (or more,
your choice) backup copies.

To create a Manual
Backup copy of your Quicken data file on an external device (USB-hard drive or
USB memory stick recommended), put a checkmark at "Manual Backup
Reminder" to enable the function and set "Remind me after running
Quicken [xx] times" to [1].

Click OK to save the
changes.

From now on, when
you close Quicken using the red X button, you will get a popup window.

When you get this
window for the first time, click the radio button for "Backup on my
computer". Change the Backup File name's drive letter and path to point to
your external device so that it looks something like this: E:\Quicken
Backup\QDATA-2013-04-01.QDF-backup

or use the Change button and work your way through the dialog.

Do not change the
filename portion! Just overtype the drive letter and choose a backup folder
name. If the folder does not exist, it will be created.

Also choose the
option to "Add date to backup file name".

Every day when you
run Backup or close Quicken, an additional backup file is created. Without the
Add Date option you only have 1 backup copy which is overwritten every day ...
and that may prove bad in a problem recovery situation.

Allow this backup to
run to save the changes made on the screen.

Of course, once in a
while you will have to go in and delete some of the oldest backup files, at
your discretion, to avoid filling up your USB device.

Unknown

I too wanted to keep my automatic backups elsewhere (namely a folder that is picked up by OneDrive).  What I ended up doing was to create a Windows Task that runs a batch file that moves the automatic backups.

Here are the steps for Windows 10 (can be adapted for other versions):

1. Create a folder that is known to OneDrive for Quicken Backups
2. Create a text file named "MoveQuickenBackups.txt" (I just put it in the folder created in Step 1)
3. Adding the text (without the quotes, replacing the "<>" text with your values) "MOVE <path where automatic backups are placed>*.*backup <path to folder created in Step 1>\"  (example: "MOVE C:\Quicken\BACKUP\*.*backup C:\OneDrive\Quicken\Backup")
4. Rename the file "MoveQuickenBackups.bat" (BAT for batch)
5. Go into Task Scheduler (Google how to get there based on your version of Windows)
6. Click "Create Task"
7. Name it "Move Quicken Backups"
8. Click the Actions tab, then New
   
9. Select "Start a program" in the action drop-down
10. Click Browse
11. Find the .BAT file created in step 3
12. Click OK
13. Click the Triggers tab
    
14. Create at least one Trigger (I did On Login, On session disconnect, and at 3am daily)
15. (set other settings as you see fit--Google them if you're not sure if you need it/want it)
16. Click OK
    
17. You may be prompted for your windows password if you selected "Allow it to run when you're not logged in"
18. Right click-on the Task in the schedule grid and select "Run" to execute a test
19. Confirm your files were moved 

Only issue with this method, is that you need to manually manage the number of backups stored in the OneDrive folder (unless you're good with batch programming, then you can implement your own retention job that clears out old backups based on age [or if you're like me, you can create one that does a form of Grandfather-Father-Son retention scheme--but I do that as part of my day job, so it felt necessary to go to that level of detail] {Google is you Friend}).