Share your experience running QM2007 in a Virtual Machine (VM)

smayer97

If you try running QM2007 in a VM, such as, VMware Fusion, Parallels, VirtualBox, etc, please share your experience with others below. 
- what works
- what does not
- quirky behaviour
- etc.

Do specify the following:
- what version of QM2007 you are using
- what VM and what version you are using
- what version of the host macOS
- what version of the client macOS running in the VM.

joek1956

Wish I had positive results to report, but I have been utterly unable to get Quicken 2007 (v 16.2.4) to run in Parallels 15.1.1 with MacOS 10.14.6 virtualization. Installation of Parallels, MacOS, and Quicken were easy and uneventful, but every time I try to open an imported Quicken file I receive an “unable to load file” message. Others on the internet report the same problem. The method of Quicken file import doesn’t seem to matter – direct drag-and-drop, dropbox transfer, backup file import, qif file import – none work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated – I have been a Quicken user since 1989 (v 1.5!) and would very much like to continue to use it.

smayer97

Thanks for sharing...is the VM installed on a APFS or HFS+ volume? Have you tried the latter?

Also, what version is the host macOS?

smayer97

@joek1956 I see that you posted your same issue on this useful thread showing that users have been successful:

https://tidbits.com/2019/09/18/moving-to-catalina-keep-your-32-bit-mac-apps-running-with-parallels/

It seems the solution for one person is to make sure the Backup folder is located in the Documents folder INSIDE the VM drive, not in the host OS drive area.

Have you tried this?

joek1956

Thanks for the questions and suggestions, which I just noticed. The host system is running MacOS 10.14.6 installed on a APFS volume. (I wanted to make sure that Quicken would run in the VM before I upgraded to Catalina.)

After much trial and error, I was able to solve my problem by compressing the Quicken data file into a .zip file and then importing it into the VM. Success! I really have no idea why this worked but am glad it did.

smayer97

Thanks for sharing that insight. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the source data file was located on an APFS volume.

Glad you have it working now.

BTW, if you do a Get Info of the volume/drive inside the VM, what format is it showing up as, Mac OS Extended or APFS? Also, just to be sure, what version of the client OS did you install; was it macOS 10.14 Mojave?

kchin45

https://registerqt.intuit.com/reg?regclientid.name=QMAC&regclientid.version=1.0&licensenumber=&eoc=148125&macsproductid=298518

Glad to see this link. I too recently move my QM 2007 to a VM on a new Mac Desktop.

App: Quicken for Mac 2007 Ver. 16.2.4

VM: Parallels Desktop 15 for Mac

VM OS: OSX El Capitan v 10.11.6

Host OS. macOS Catalina v 10.15.3

I got the old program turn on and old data transferred in the VM, It is the only app in the VM environment. I even download a El Capitan compatible printer driver. I will ask for help in the printing info later.

One problem I encounter is that whenever I use "QUOTE" to down load Security prices, it wants to registration. But when I click to open the link:

https://registerqt.intuit.com/reg?regclientid.name=QMAC&regclientid.version=1.0&licensenumber=&eoc=148125&macsproductid=298518

It fails to open every time. I wonder if the link to no longer supported. Is there a work around?

Thanks for the help?

smayer97

Yes, Quote updates were disabled in the Fall of 2019. The alternative is to manually import security prices using CSV or QIF.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

kchin45

Thanks for update on Quote service, I am at lost with another issue. After working in the VM (Parallels 15) for several weeks, I try to save a backup file inside the VM, a window pops up requesting registration. I been using this program since 2007, property registered with Quicken and never needed to register again. So I click the link, and it would not connect. I should have known that the specific server probably no long in service. When I dismissed the registration window, I realize that I loss all the security data I manually entered again, as you suggested. This happens every time I try to do a back up or shutdown Quicken within the VM. Does anyone else has this problem or figured out a work around?

smayer97

Have you double checked your backup folder location in the QM2007 preferences? t seems it has to be a folder within the VM that is not a shared folder either. Not sure if any of that is what is affecting you.

kchin45

I check my Quicken backup folder. It is in my VM "Documents" Folder. the "QData" file is inside a "Backup" Folder, not share with other files. Is that a problem if the back up file not in the VM root storage volume? In the past (in my old OSX El Capitan) that was never a problem.

What is a proper file hierarchy for the account and backup files in the VM?

So far, I am relying on backing up the whole computer storage volume rather than backing up Quicken in the VM volume.

smayer97

Normally it should not matter but this is uncharted territory so YMMV. Experiment with different locations to see if it matters.

smayer97

joek1956 said:

Thanks for the questions and suggestions, which I just noticed. The host system is running MacOS 10.14.6 installed on a APFS volume. (I wanted to make sure that Quicken would run in the VM before I upgraded to Catalina.)

After much trial and error, I was able to solve my problem by compressing the Quicken data file into a .zip file and then importing it into the VM. Success! I really have no idea why this worked but am glad it did.

As I was re-reading your solution it dawned on me that the possible reason for your difficulty and your eventual success might be an issue of file permissions, which compressing a file to move it and decompressing it in its new location can often correct. This might be the case here, since the VM environment is essentially a "new user" with different permissions that needed to be adjusted, and likely were on decompressing the file.

smayer97

kchin45 said:

Thanks for update on Quote service, I am at lost with another issue. After working in the VM (Parallels 15) for several weeks, I try to save a backup file inside the VM, a window pops up requesting registration. I been using this program since 2007, property registered with Quicken and never needed to register again. So I click the link, and it would not connect. I should have known that the specific server probably no long in service. When I dismissed the registration window, I realize that I loss all the security data I manually entered again, as you suggested. This happens every time I try to do a back up or shutdown Quicken within the VM. Does anyone else has this problem or figured out a work around?

After some thought I realized that part of the problem may be that the VM environment new to the copy of QM2007 and unless you copied over the settings and preference files, as far as QM2007 is concerned, it has NOT been registered (in the VM environment. BUT since the registration servers are no longer in service, you cannot complete this step.

The best would be to track down the preference files and copy them into their respective locations in the VM environment. You may want to ZIP them first before moving them into the VM storage area to avoid any Permissions related issues.

To find and move your preferences file(s), please read this post:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/19417032/#Comment_19417032

If you give this a try, please report back any results.

kchin45

Thank you for the ideas. I might just try that to see if it helps. Any suggestion on how to locate and identifying the "preference file?" I apologize I am ignorant about QM 2007 file structures.

BTW, that "Quote" might have been discontinue as you noted. I discover I can use the "Historical" function to download from one month to 5 years worth of Security prices. Hope that adds to the knowledge base if others are running into the same problem.

I am hoping more people will join this conversation.

kchin45

smeyer97,
Sorry, I should have read your reply more closely. I missed the link you included. I will read that instruction more closely. I'll try to report back later. Thanks again.

smayer97

kchin45 said:

...

BTW, that "Quote" might have been discontinue as you noted. I discover I can use the "Historical" function to download from one month to 5 years worth of Security prices. Hope that adds to the knowledge base if others are running into the same problem.

I am hoping more people will join this conversation.

That is definitely news to me. Thanks for sharing.

smayer97

@kchin45 said:

Thank you for the ideas. I might just try that to see if it helps. Any suggestion on how to locate and identifying the "preference file?" I apologize I am ignorant about QM 2007 file structures.

@kchin45 said:

smeyer97,
Sorry, I should have read your reply more closely. I missed the link you included. I will read that instruction more closely. I'll try to report back later. Thanks again.

Have you tried this yet? If so, how did it go?