WHY IS QUICKEN SO SLOW!!!!

JeffMac

I've been using Quicken for over 10 years. Now subscription. PAINFULLY slow. After doing update, you click on one of your brokerage accounts and it goes into "circle of death" where it is spinning and not responding for several minutes on each account (when clicked). Brand new (high machine - it is not my machine)! This is really frustrating. What do I do to optimize so it works? Also, when trying to exit or save, the screen appears to blur some and then locks for several minutes before responsive again. What is going on?

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

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

JeffMac

My version is 2020 R24.11 27.1.24.11
Path to QDF is in my Users/Documents
Not using OneDrive or other external backup
Backup file location: C:\ProgramData\Quicken\Backup Data\2019-2020-01-27.QDF-backup

UKR

JeffMac said:

My version is 2020 R24.11 27.1.24.11
Path to QDF is in my Users/Documents
Not using OneDrive or other external backup
Backup file location: C:\ProgramData\Quicken\Backup Data\2019-2020-01-27.QDF-backup

Backup file location ... if your hard drive goes "poof!" you lose both your active Quicken data file and all of your backups. Not good. You should use an external USB hard drive for your important backups.

Please let us know if Troubleshooting 101 helps resolve your issues, at least somewhat.

JeffMac

I will try the troubleshooting items when I get a few. Thanks for guidance.

Sherlock

JeffMac said:

My version is 2020 R24.11 27.1.24.11
Path to QDF is in my Users/Documents
Not using OneDrive or other external backup
Backup file location: C:\ProgramData\Quicken\Backup Data\2019-2020-01-27.QDF-backup

It is a bad idea for a user to add files to an application's folder with the  C:\ProgramData folder.  For example, if you were to perform a clean uninstall and install of Quicken, the Backup Data folder will be deleted.

JeffMac

Went through each step outlined above in the Troubleshooting guideline. Used copy file on reboot. Loads fast but issue remains when clicking on any Investment account it immediately locks up (not responding) for 1-3 minutes on each account before returning. Serious issue here.

JeffMac

Continued...When you click on an Investment account to view, the screen bulges and has distorted look until it responds. Again, this stalls for 1-3 minutes. This same effect happens when backing up before closing the application.

UKR

Please provide more details about your Quicken data file.

I'd like to know if you have account registers where a single account is approaching or exceeding 16,000 transactions.

What is the file size, in KB, as shown by Windows File Explorer?

And I'd also like to see the "File Information" window  (See below)

Is any cloud backup software (Dropbox, MS OneDrive, etc.) actively accessing your Quicken data file while Quicken is running?
What is the complete file name of your Quicken data file  (e.g. C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken\QDATA.QDF)?
 

How much total RAM do you have installed?

What version of Windows are you running?

 

About file size and number of transactions:

You can find out how many transactions you have in your data file by doing this:
- Click Tools / Account List. This should tell you how many transactions you have in each of your accounts in an optional column, "# of Transactions".
If this column is not shown in the Account List, click the Options button at the bottom of the Account List window, then click "Number of Transactions" to add the column.

- File Information: Click Help in the Menu Bar. CTRL+click About Quicken and it'll give you a File Information box. Please capture an image snapshot of this File Information box and attach it here.
The Windows Snipping Tool (available with Windows 7 and newer) can be used to capture a partial screen image and save it to a file of file type PNG, JPG, or GIF.

To attach the image here, start composing your response. At the top of the text entry window you'll see a row of icons beginning with B I S
Click the landscape "Attach image" icon. It will allow you to select and upload the captured image file from your computer. The captured image will be inserted at wherever the cursor is located in the text.

JeffMac

Please provide more details about your Quicken data file.

I'd like to know if you have account registers where a single account is approaching or exceeding 16,000 transactions.

Answer: No Investment account is greater than 1965 transactions. Greatest overall (banking account which is not exhibiting lag/lock issue) is 5710 transactions.

What is the file size, in KB, as shown by Windows File Explorer?

Answer: New copy file I am using after Troubleshooting exercise is 51,437 KB. Note: Before Validation exercise data file was 60,584 KB.

And I'd also like to see the "File Information" window (See below)

Answer: See attached

Is any cloud backup software (Dropbox, MS OneDrive, etc.) actively accessing your Quicken data file while Quicken is running?

Answer: No cloud backup being used.

What is the complete file name of your Quicken data file (e.g. C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken\QDATA.QDF)?

Answer: C:\Users\Jackpine\Documents\Quicken\2019Cpy.QDF

How much total RAM do you have installed?

Answer: 32 GB DDR4 @ 3200 MHz; CPU i7-8700K @ 3.7 GHz

What version of Windows are you running?

Answer: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (currently up to date with all latest updates)


About file size and number of transactions:

You can find out how many transactions you have in your data file by doing this:
- Click Tools / Account List. This should tell you how many transactions you have in each of your accounts in an optional column, "# of Transactions".
If this column is not shown in the Account List, click the Options button at the bottom of the Account List window, then click "Number of Transactions" to add the column.

- File Information: Click Help in the Menu Bar. CTRL+click About Quicken and it'll give you a File Information box. Please capture an image snapshot of this File Information box and attach it here.
The Windows Snipping Tool (available with Windows 7 and newer) can be used to capture a partial screen image and save it to a file of file type PNG, JPG, or GIF.

To attach the image here, start composing your response. At the top of the text entry window you'll see a row of icons beginning with B I S
Click the landscape "Attach image" icon. It will allow you to select and upload the captured image file from your computer. The captured image will be inserted at wherever the cursor is located in the text.

miklk

If it was OK in prior version and started when you upgraded, I would suggest doing a clean reinstall using QCleanui procedure. 

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

Follow the info for 2017 including the folder renaming etc... 

Clean install frequently fixes that type problem on upgrade. 

JeffMac

UKR - When you get a chance, interested to hear about your thoughts on my responses to your questions. Thanks.

markus1957

My 6,100 transaction investment account loads in about 7 seconds.  Investment accounts use a different table structure than checking accounts.  They are slower to load but it should never take minutes.

If you performed the data validation and super-validation without errors, then it gets harder to find a cause.  You should do the clean install recommended above. 

If you did not already, you might try rebuilding investment lots and repairing price history in the validation routine.

The other place to look is a file called QW.log located under C:\Users\[YourUserName]\AppData\Roaming\Quicken\Log.  First look at the file size (hundreds of megs is a problem), then open it and see if there are a bunch of repeating error log entries that might indicate where the program is hanging.

JeffMac

(Removed-Duplicate)

JeffMac

Have followed all instructions and performed actions above, including clean and fresh install. The most bizarre is how the screen "bulges" a little (distorted text) and then locks for substantial amount of time after clicking on an Investment account. Very frustrating. Again, bank account is very responsive.

After clean install was required to sign in to Quicken which I find somewhat suspect as maybe some tie to web is causing some issue. Also, now down to likely deleting all data I have in Investment accounts and starting from scratch. What a waste. Needless to say, extremely disappointed in the software work done here. If I find something helpful to others, will post.

markus1957

Create a new data file.  Add one investment account.  Compare performance to determine if your issue is data file related or PC setup related.

Rocket J Squirrel

JeffMac said:

The most bizarre is how the screen "bulges" a little (distorted text) and then locks for substantial amount of time after clicking on an Investment account.

I have observed the window "bulge" also. For me, the main Quicken window enlarges to cover the Windows task bar at the bottom of the screen - which it should not be able to do - for a couple of seconds and then reverts to normal size. It is indeed strange. I don't see a lock-up though.

stephmartz

I gotta say, i have the same issue. Love the description of the "bulging screen". I am SOOOO frustrated with the SLOW performance. I can't figure out what it is either. I've reinstalled on a new computer and still no luck. It takes FOREVERRRRRR to enter one transaction from the Bills&Income screen or make an edit to a Bill reminder. We've used Quicken since 1999 and I'm about ready to throw in the towel. I come in the "do the checkbook" and get so frustrated I do the bare minimum in the main account to make sure we aren't going in the red then walk away. I have multiple unreconciled accounts back to mid-year because my patience just cant handle the delay!!!

JeffMac: I'm going to ride your coattails on this one. Hopefully someone will figure it out!

stephmartz

JeffMac - Random thing to try...How many days of bills are you showing on the Bills&Income sheet? I changed mine to 12 months a while back. I just changed it to 30 days and I'm seeing an improvement. {insert a confused/I don't know emoji here}. Interested to know if it's the same for you.

JeffMac

stephmartz: When I get some more time, I will be trying a couple more things and likely rebuilding my investment accounts. The problems seem to be rooted there. Will post if any luck with performance increase. Unfortunately, this is a Quicken software department issue that needs to be addressed. I, too, have (after many years) considered moving to another platform. I am curious to see if it gets some attention and action.

Since1996

I cannot repro the problem. Let's do an experiment.

Make sure NO investment accounts are linked to anything online:
- No download of transactions from your provider. No online setup!
- No bill pay setups.
- No auto updates of security prices.
- Quicken has no record of the financial institution.
Exit and restart program. Reproduce slowness and report result.

Also if someone is already configured this way, report result.

Slow or "normal"?

Thanks.

markus1957

I have a file I use for testing Tax Planner that has a couple of manual investment accounts and a checking account.  Only about a dozen transactions in each.  Opening the investment account for the first time takes about 2 seconds; 1 second for the checking account.

As mentioned above I do not see this delay in my production file.  I too would be curious and suggested above how a newly created file with a single investment account would perform in their setups.

Amy Law

I am having the same problem, right down to the "bulging" screen, except that Quicken crashes frequently after it has stalled. I have tried to un/reinstall Quicken several times (It evidently does a deep QCleanUI uninstall as a matter of course now). I have performed a "deep" clean of my data. I have made a copy of my data and used that file. Stall, bulging screen, crash.
What did work was to load Quicken onto another machine, using my same data. It worked perfectly.
This leads me to suspect that, even with the QCleanUI, there are residual flags or something that are causing problems.

GeoffG

Amy Law said:

What did work was to load Quicken onto another machine, using my same data. It worked perfectly.
This leads me to suspect that, even with the QCleanUI, there are residual flags or something that are causing problems.

Or perhaps an issue with the installation of Windows or the PC config?

Amy Law

Just went out and created a brand new file -- no links to anything, one cash account, no entries that might be corrupt.
Stall, bulging screen, crash.
Then I reinstalled a fresh download of the Quicken app to a new location -- QuickenNEW.
Stall, bulging screen, crash.
Something on my machine seriously dislikes Quicken.

Greg_the_Geek

Yes, it's called Windows 10. I would consider reinstalling Windows 10 especially if your computer  was upgraded from Windows 7. Or try creating a new Windows user account.

carolouise5

I'm not having crashes but I'm trying to tag some transactions and then re-categorize them and they take a REALLY long time to complete for even a few transactions. Most of the time it says (not responding) but I noticed that the screen flickers about once a couple of seconds and I figured out that each flicker is one transaction being processed. so, if I wait long enough they eventually get processed. I have a super computer with 32 GB Ram and a i9-9900k cpu @ 3.6 GHz with over 200Gb of memory available (1T total) and am running windows 10 Pro. I would think that these transactions should process super fast!!!!

Please advise what to do!!
Thanks!

JeffMac

All - thanks very much for the suggestions. Tried most all of them to no avail. Ultimately, gave up with modifications and frustrations and rebuilt everything from scratch in a new file. Took much less time than trying to figure out the software issues. This seems to have worked very well. Just updated and issues all gone (crossing fingers). If you can afford some time to just rebuild accounts, I would recommend. Much easier. Still saved old files if I need to look back at some of the historic data that is not included in the updated account files.