Clicking "Check for Updates" under Help results in "Unknown Error" popup

hal mahaffey

This question was asked by someone in December 2019. The advice was to run the QcleanUI utility and then reinstall the Quicken application. These were the instructions: https://www.quicken.com/support/using-qcleanui-uninstall-quicken

I have the same problem. I am running Quicken Premier R24.11, although this was happening before Quicken updated tonight.

I followed the instructions, removed Quicken and re-installed it. I still get the same problem.

Please advise.

Quicken_Natalie

Hello Hal,

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue to the Community, although I apologize that you have not yet received a response.

Would you mind providing a few more details regarding this issue? The Community needs to know what action you are taking in Quicken when this error occurs.

The more information you can provide regarding this issue will help the Community to better understand and assist.

You may also consider contacting Support directly for more advanced troubleshooting, as Support has access to tools and information that the Community does not have, and can best work with you towards resolving this.

Thank you,

Quicken Natalie

hal mahaffey

Natalie,

Thanks for the reply! I was posting on the forum just to see if anyone else was seeing this problem. As I described in the Subject (which admittedly is not the best place to only describe it ), I clicked on "Check For Updates" under the "Help" action bar item and received the small popup attached above. I am running the latest subscription Quicken Premier (R24.11, Build 27.1.24.11) on the latest Windows 10 update.

I searched for this problem on this forum and found someone reported it in December. They were told to reinstall Quicken (per the instructions I linked to above). I did this and nothing changed.

When I did an account update recently (before the reinstall), I was told there was an update to Quicken available, and it was downloaded and installed. Register/account updates happen just fine. So Quicken is able to get updates to itself and my accounts just fine. It just can't do the simple check to see if the current version is the latest or not.

Is there anything else I can add to help?

Quicken Sarah

Hello @hal mahaffey

Thank you for that additional information, although I apologize that you have not yet received a follow-up response.

R24.14 is now available for Quicken Windows subscription Users, may I ask, have you installed this update?

If so, is the "unknown error" message still occurring when going to Help > Check for Updates?

Please let us know, thank you.

Sarah

hal mahaffey

I upgraded 2 days ago. Yes, the problem still happens. Interestingly, when the update was available, the Help menu had an item like "Install updates", which performed the upgrade.

I've also noticed that when I start Quicken now I get a big white frame, sometimes with some of the action bar along the top. The main part of the screen is white. It stays like this for almost precisely 60 seconds, then the program starts (you see the loading progress bars for the accounts). I'm curious if anyone is reporting this one. It seems to have started with the previous update. This one may require a call to tech support.

Thanks for the help!

thecreator

Hi @""hal mahaffey" ,

Stop playing around. Review this procedure and don't skip a step:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7844658/installing-reinstalling-windows-quicken-subscription-editions

>
"I've also noticed that when I start Quicken now I get a big white frame, sometimes with some of the action bar along the top. The main part of the screen is white. It stays like this for almost precisely 60 seconds, then the program starts (you see the loading progress bars for the accounts). I'm curious if anyone is reporting this one. "

Yes this occurs from time to time. The reason being is that operating system or components of the operating system are working in the Background, especially in Windows 10. operating systems.

See this FAQ as well:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7307115/add-your-quicken-information-to-your-posts-plus-how-you-are-connected-to-the-internet

hal mahaffey

> @thecreator said:
>
> Stop playing around. Review this procedure and don't skip a step:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7844658/installing-reinstalling-windows-quicken-subscription-editions
>
I didn't think I was playing around.

Actually, I had a lot of trouble upgrading to Quicken Subscription from 2017 while also upgrading from Windows 7 to 10. I finally had to do most of what you document in that nice post: completely removing and then installing Quicken from scratch.

I have had the same "Update Error" message from clicking "Check for Updates" ever since I upgraded to Subscription with a clean install. I'm not sure, but I suspect the newer problem with the 60-second delay starting up or after saving a backup started after the recent upgrade to R24.14 (Build 27.1.24.14).

I will try your suggestion to completely uninstall and then reinstall to see if the problems go away. I hope it works, but it worries me if it does. Having to uninstall and reinstall for each update seems a little... odd? Should that really be Standard Operating Procedure?

One link you have is to a page that suggests running QcleanUI if you're running the Subscription version, which Quicken now says is the same thing as uninstalling and reinstalling.

Finally, the 60-second delay in startup is not due to any "background processing" by the operating system. It is entirely too coincidental that it is always just about 60 seconds, and that it happens at startup and after each backup. Nothing else is running at the time.

Thanks for your help! It's nice to see the community so helpful!

Thanks for the notes on what to include in my posts. I was not aware of the "winver" command. Here is my output:

hal mahaffey

> @thecreator said:
> Stop playing around. Review this procedure and don't skip a step:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7844658/installing-reinstalling-windows-quicken-subscription-editions

Ok, I followed your instructions, except for the part about running QCleanUI, which Quicken says is now included as part of the Subscription Quicken (i.e., not 2017) install process.

You were right to question my installation. I could see remnants of my old Quicken 2017 laying around. I used Revo Uninstaller to uninstall Quicken, then removed all the folders you listed and ran CCleaner until the registry was all clear. Rebooted just to be sure. Downloaded and installed Quicken.

The results, sadly, are not promising.

1) "Unknown error" displayed after clicking "Check for updates" under Help the first time I did it. After downloading register transactions, I did it again... and it WORKED. Almost fell out of my seat. I tried it again and got the same "Unknown error" message. All subsequent attempts result in the same message. So, what was weird is now weirder.

2) After doing a backup, the screen goes white with the program window border around it. After 45 seconds, the list of accounts shows up, but the top program name bar and the action bar under it are still blank for another 10 seconds or so.

It's nice to know I can do a clean install when necessary, but this time it didn't do any good.

Honestly, I was only curious about "Update error", and I should probably call support about the blank screen once it finally irks me enough.

Thanks for all the help!

hal mahaffey

After upgrading to R25.10 today, the 90-second delay after starting up or backing up has gone away. I still get "Unknown error" when clicking Help->"Check for Updates". (Note, not to be confused with Help->"Update Quicken", which is displayed only when there is an update to download and apply.)

Quicken_Tyka

Hello @hal mahaffey

Thank you for the response and for providing more details.

If you are still needing assistance with this unknown error when checking for updates in Quicken, I would start with uninstalling using the QcleanUI utility and then reinstalling the Quicken application.

https://www.quicken.com/support/using-qcleanui-uninstall-quicken

Let us know how it goes!

-Quicken Tyka

hal mahaffey

> @Quicken_Tyka said:
> Hello @hal mahaffey
>
> Thank you for the response and for providing more details.
>
> If you are still needing assistance with this unknown error when checking for updates in Quicken, I would start with uninstalling using the QcleanUI utility and then reinstalling the Quicken application.
>
> https://www.quicken.com/support/using-qcleanui-uninstall-quicken
>
> Let us know how it goes!
>
> -Quicken Tyka

Hi Tyka! Thanks for the suggestion, but @thecreator already suggested that above. The problem with the suggestion is that when you follow that link you are told that Subscription Quicken (I started with 2020) already does the UI cleanup as part of installation.

I have completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) removed Quicken and reinstalled it from scratch. I have the latest Windows 10 patches. I honestly don't know what more I can do to fix this.

To make matters worse, the long delay after backup and startup I said was fixed by the latest patch in my previous post appears to be back. Quicken returns fairly quickly after a backup (with a weird 10+ second delay to put up the title and action bars after the rest of the screen fills in), but it is still pretty slow when it first starts up.

When Quicken starts, the screen is a big white box with a shaded area at the top where the action bar will go. It sits like this for about 1:07 (one minute, 7 seconds). Then the main screen body appears but no title or action bar for another 6 seconds, then it's finally usable after 10 more seconds. The last 2 are ok, but that initial minute wait is a killer.

Thanks!