Quicken freezes, tool bars disappear, flickering

Ellie Gutman

Quicken Deluxe 2019 version R22.12 on Windows 10
Quicken launches and I did a One Step update with no problem. When I select an account to view activity and accept transactions Quicken jumps around, the tool bars disappear, the pointer changes to a hand, and the screen keeps refreshing. I wait for the hourglass to disappear and try again. Same result. I have to close Quicken via the task manager since there are no tool bars. I have restarted several times and it works for a few transactions and starts the same issues again.

I ran a full diagnostic on my laptop and no issues were found. All other programs are working fine.

My main bank is Chase. My One Step update includes Fidelity investments, Wells Fargo, Barclay, American Express and CitiBank. There were no errors on the One Step update.

Any suggestions?

NotACPA

Quicken sometimes has problems with both LONG file names AND file names with spaces in them.

See if you can shorten your Q data file names (yes, those are both Q data files) to adhere to the 8.3 standard, where the 8 represents up to 8 alphanumeric characters (no spaces, no special characters) and the .3 represents the .QDF suffix.

Also, you should NEVER store your working/production copy of the QDF in the cloud.  It should be on the C:\ drive to your computer ... but you CAN backup to DropBox and RESTORE before each use.

Having your working copy on a remote/network/cloud device tends to result in file corruption, because Q lacks the "Lock, Commit and RollBack" commands that are necessary in such a networked scenario.

UKR

Ellie Gutman said:

E:\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-08.QDF
C:\USERS\ELLIE\DROPBOX\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-07.QDF
Are these not my Quicken Data files? If not, where should they be?

The real problem is: While Quicken is running and making updates to the QDF file, Dropbox is trying copy those updates to the Dropbox server. That interferes with Quicken and may lead to data file corruption.

• Move the QDF out of the Dropbox folder and into \Documents\Quicken.
• Make sure Dropbox is NOT accessing files in the \Documents\Quicken folder
• Every time you close Quicken make it create a Manual Backup to a Dropbox folder. It's OK for Dropbox to access this backup file. (See Edit / Preferences / Backup)
  

Ellie Gutman

Greg_the-Geek: There is no current QDF in USERS\ELLIE\DOCUMENTS\QUICKEN - just an old QUICKEN RESTORE-2016-06-02 in a folder labeled Q15Files and another folder called VALIDATE. The BACKUP folder is empty.

Looking at all the responses, it appears Dropbox may be the problem. I will no longer designate Dropbox when I perform a backup. I have always assumed when Quicken did an automatic backup it was going to my hard drive and that was the data file Quicken worked with. I thought the manual backup was just for safety if my hard drive crashed. Believe it or not, I have been using Quicken for 25 years. I just never really looked under the hood.

NotACPA

Dropbox grabs your file whenever you write to it.  You can still use Dropbox ... but have it backup the backup (the .QDF-backup file) instead of your .QDF file

UKR

If you haven't rebooted Windows since you installed the latest software update, please do so now and then try Quicken again.

Still not working?

Let's try some "Troubleshooting 101" to ensure the Quicken software is installed and updated properly and that your data file is in good working order.
Please perform all the steps in this document:
Troubleshooting 101 - Fixing Software Installation and Data File Problems

Greg_the_Geek

Do you have Controlled Folder Access enabled in Windows Defender? What is the path to the folder that contains your Quicken data file? Are you using OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Backup?

Ellie Gutman

Controlled Folder Access if NOT enabled in Windows Defender. Should it be?
I alternate between and external drive (E:\QUICKEN 2019\ and Dropbox (C:USERS\ELLIE\DROPBOX\) to back-up Quicken data.

Ellie Gutman

UKR: I downloaded & installed the US Mondo Patch Update. Nothing changed. About Quicken still indicates version R22.12, build 27.1.22.12. Quicken frequently updates when I launch it so I assume I am current.

Greg_the_Geek

If Controlled Folder Access is enabled, an exception has to be made for the Quicken executable. You're better of with it disabled. What is the path to the folder that contains your Quicken data file?

Ellie Gutman

E:\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-08.QDF
C:\USERS\ELLIE\DROPBOX\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-07.QDF
Are these not my Quicken Data files? If not, where should they be?

Greg_the_Geek

They should be in C:\USERS\ELLIE\Documents\Quicken. 

NotACPA

Quicken sometimes has problems with both LONG file names AND file names with spaces in them.

See if you can shorten your Q data file names (yes, those are both Q data files) to adhere to the 8.3 standard, where the 8 represents up to 8 alphanumeric characters (no spaces, no special characters) and the .3 represents the .QDF suffix.

Also, you should NEVER store your working/production copy of the QDF in the cloud.  It should be on the C:\ drive to your computer ... but you CAN backup to DropBox and RESTORE before each use.

Having your working copy on a remote/network/cloud device tends to result in file corruption, because Q lacks the "Lock, Commit and RollBack" commands that are necessary in such a networked scenario.

UKR

Ellie Gutman said:

E:\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-08.QDF
C:\USERS\ELLIE\DROPBOX\QUICKEN RESTORE-2019-10-07.QDF
Are these not my Quicken Data files? If not, where should they be?

The real problem is: While Quicken is running and making updates to the QDF file, Dropbox is trying copy those updates to the Dropbox server. That interferes with Quicken and may lead to data file corruption.

• Move the QDF out of the Dropbox folder and into \Documents\Quicken.
• Make sure Dropbox is NOT accessing files in the \Documents\Quicken folder
• Every time you close Quicken make it create a Manual Backup to a Dropbox folder. It's OK for Dropbox to access this backup file. (See Edit / Preferences / Backup)
  

Ellie Gutman

Greg_the-Geek: There is no current QDF in USERS\ELLIE\DOCUMENTS\QUICKEN - just an old QUICKEN RESTORE-2016-06-02 in a folder labeled Q15Files and another folder called VALIDATE. The BACKUP folder is empty.

Looking at all the responses, it appears Dropbox may be the problem. I will no longer designate Dropbox when I perform a backup. I have always assumed when Quicken did an automatic backup it was going to my hard drive and that was the data file Quicken worked with. I thought the manual backup was just for safety if my hard drive crashed. Believe it or not, I have been using Quicken for 25 years. I just never really looked under the hood.

NotACPA

Dropbox grabs your file whenever you write to it.  You can still use Dropbox ... but have it backup the backup (the .QDF-backup file) instead of your .QDF file

Ellie Gutman

Thanks to Everyone who commented!