4.15 installer believes Quicken is not in the Application folder and cycles

sphere777

When upgrading from 5.7 to 5.14, the 5.14 installer fails because it is convinced (wrongly) that Quicken is not in the Application folder. It asks me for permission to install in the Application folder and when I give it, the installer fails and asks me again. If I try to install yet again on top of the incomplete version, the new installer says Quicken is installed and sends me to the failed version.

NateS

Sphere - I just went through this same grief. Here is the solution, adapted from a link furnished to me by RickO:
Open the Applications folder, sort by Date Added and hit (Command/Shift/.) That's Command-Shift-Period) to show hidden files and there is the culprit - a hidden folder named "Background" containing within a hidden PNG file named "background.png" both of which have a creation date the same as the installation of the new Quicken update, and send to Trash; and then double-click on your existing Quicken which will give you the option of opening the new Quicken or your old Quicken where your files are.
(Why oh why did they do this to us?)
Now I'm going to figure out the obtuse instructions for moving existing records to the new download.

smayer97

Yes, here is the source info about this issue:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/17971002/#Comment_17971002

sphere777

I have tried everything I can think of, including using all the tools on Clean My Mac to eliminate possible errors, cleaning up the install manually, and installing with different browsers. And I can't use Quicken on the web because it needs to have Quicken installed on the desktop. So it goes.

jacobs

First, be very careful using Clean My Mac. Users have had it delete their data files and/or preferences that keep track of where your current Quicken data file is located, while doing clean-up/deletion of Quicken. 

There's usually an easy way around the problem you describe. Quit Quicken, and with your web browser, log in to Quicken.com. Download a fresh install of Quicken Mac. Drag your existing Quicken.app from your Applications folder to the Trash. Now double-click on the downloaded installer, and it should lead you to a fresh Quicken.app in your applications folder, which you can then launch successfully.

sphere777

Hi there,

I tried your solution and it did not work. I'm still getting the same problem.

jacobs

Hmmm, that's odd. You're sure you trashed the old application, then ran the installer you downloaded from Quicken.com? Does it leave a new Quicken.app file in the Applications folder?

Next to try: trashing a Quicken preferences file.  In the Finder, hold down the Option key and select Library from the Go menu. Open the Preferences folder. Look for the file "com.quicken.QuickenInstaller.plist", drag it to your desktop, and runt the installer again. It will create a new file in Preferences, and that might enable the installer to complete its work. (If that works, you can trash the file you dragged to your desktop.)

If that doesn't resolve it, you could try removing the main Quicken preferences file. In the same folder, just above the file you were just working on, locate the file "com.quicken.Quicken.plist" and drag it to your desktop. You will lose some of your settings in Quicken with this, so if it doesn't resolve the problem, drag this file back to its original location to restore your settings. 

NateS

Sphere - I just went through this same grief. Here is the solution, adapted from a link furnished to me by RickO:
Open the Applications folder, sort by Date Added and hit (Command/Shift/.) That's Command-Shift-Period) to show hidden files and there is the culprit - a hidden folder named "Background" containing within a hidden PNG file named "background.png" both of which have a creation date the same as the installation of the new Quicken update, and send to Trash; and then double-click on your existing Quicken which will give you the option of opening the new Quicken or your old Quicken where your files are.
(Why oh why did they do this to us?)
Now I'm going to figure out the obtuse instructions for moving existing records to the new download.

smayer97

Yes, here is the source info about this issue:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/17971002/#Comment_17971002

sphere777

Thanks a ton for everybody’s assistance. Muchas gracias!