Scheduled update displays the yellow flag but there are no new transactions downloaded

Charlie@

After installing the update to R26.21 a couple days ago, the daily scheduled update turns on the yellow flag in the Windows tray, but when I open Quicken there are no new transactions for any of the accounts (and the one step update summary indicates 0 new transactions for all accounts).
Has the flag behavior changed recently?

Quicken Anja

Hello,

I checked and just heard back on this and it seems that what's causing this to happen is the server changes being made as our development team has been moving Windows' server to use the same server that is being used on Mac as it seems to be a more stable connection. The flag will appear incorrectly when that server change has failed.

As advised by our development team-- The only way to resolve this would be to deactivate the accounts and then reactivate and relink them through the Add Account process (not through Setup Now... as it will be guaranteed to not resolve the issue).

Thanks again for all your patience.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Charlie@,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your issue, though I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing this.

I'm not sure which yellow flag you are referring too. However, based on your description, it sounds like you are referring to the red flag that shows up in front of the account name indicating that there are new downloaded transactions to accept. 

If that is the flag you are referring to, then I suggest you review and try these step-by-step troubleshooting instructions found at the bottom of this support article.

If not, could you please provide a screenshot of the yellow flag?

I hope this helps and let us know if you have any additional questions!

Charlie@

It is not the red flag next to the accounts. It is not in the Quicken program at all. This is the yellow flag in the system tray - on the Windows taskbar on the right side next to the clock. When the automated update is running there is a sort-of double yellow flag thingy displayed in the system tray. Remember this is not an update that I initiated, this is a scheduled update which in my case occurs every day at 07:00. If the update finishes and there are no new transactions in any of the accounts, there is nothing [from Quicken] in the system tray. If, however, there is at least one new transaction as a result of the scheduled update, then a yellow flag appears in the system tray. This has been the behavior for years since the scheduled update feature was implemented.
But recently the yellow flag is being displayed after every scheduled update regardless of whether there are new transactions or not. I am guessing that the behavior has changed with one of the several small updates that happened over the last 2 months or so. The flag is supposed to inform that there are transactions to be reviewed, but it is being erroneously displayed.
If you really need a screenshot of the little yellow flag, I can get one for you.

Quicken Anja

Oh okay, I know which one you're talking about now. Sorry, about that! I don't personally use the feature and don't hear issues with it happening very often. So, thank you for clarifying that.

In that case, are there new transactions on the bank's side that should be downloaded to Quicken, but didn't or is it correct that there are no new transactions on the bank's side either and the flag is showing regardless of that?

Charlie@

That is an interesting question. Just now, I noticed the yellow flag is on this morning. I double click on the flag and Quicken opens and displays the one step update summary: 14 accounts updated, and they all say "0" new transactions in any of the accounts. Also, there are no red flags in the account bar to confirm this.
As for verifying this at the FIs, the 14 accounts are spread over 6 different FIs, so I only checked the ones most likely to have transactions - bank & credit cards accounts since this is a Sunday - and there are no transactions that have not already been downloaded. Therefore it does seem the flag is being displayed erroneously.

Quicken Anja

Okay, in that case, to start with-- If you haven't done so already, the first thing that I suggest you try is to validate your data file by following the steps below--

1. First save a backup of your data file (just in case). 
2. Then go to File
3. File Operations
4. Validate and Repair
5. Validate File
6. Ok
7. Close the data log that will pop-up after the validation has completed
8. Close Quicken
9. Wait at least 5 seconds
10. Reopen Quicken and try again to see if the issue reoccurs/remains the same or gets corrected

You can also try super validating which are the same steps as above except that you will hold Ctrl and Shift on your keyboard when clicking on Validate and Repair in order to get the option for Super Validate.

Let us know how it goes!

Charlie@

Validate is done. No glaring errors found, but 3 links were removed in one account (qel). BTW, your instructions for validate are a little out of date. I assume you know about the validate menu that comes up with several options? And holding the keys down for the super validate gives no indication that super has been selected - I recall that it used to say something like "Super Validating...".
Anyhow it will take a day or two to see if this changes anything. Will advise.

Wayne Cole

The problem description isn't exactly correct: the real problem is that the flag is not properly reset so when you reboot the computer, the flag reappears even though NO SCHEDULED UPDATE HAS RUN.

In particular:
1. Scheduled update runs (mine set for once per week).
2. Select task bar tray flag, Quicken opens, disposition any new transactions, close Quicken, flag does not appear in task bar tray.
3. Reboot (power down / up or restart, makes no difference) and the flag is back despite no update having been performed AND startup preferences set to NOT download transactions on startup.
4. Select the task bar tray flag, Quicken opens and (since no update has run) there will be no new transaction flags next to any accounts set for scheduled updates. However, by opening Quicken the flag disappears....

...until the next time you reboot the machine.

Also, since that same update when this problem started, Quicken takes a RIDICULOUSLY long time to show anything in the blank Quicken window that appears when Quicken is first opened.

Charlie@

The problem description as originally stated IS correct. Wayne is describing different symptoms.

Quicken Anja

@Charlie@ Thank you for the update.

Could you clarify what you mean by out of date, please? I just tested the instructions I provided for both Validate and Super validate and both worked fine for me.

With Super Validate you should get the same screen as doing just a normal Validate aside from the word super being added (see below). Did you get something else?

Charlie@

Oh I see, you meant to hold shift & Ctrl down before the menu is displayed. I made the checks on the menu and then held down shift & Ctrl while clicking on the ok. I'll re-do it later today.
FYI the flag was on this am after the update, but there were transactions today, so not a good test.

Quicken Anja

Oh, I see. That makes sense. 

Good to hear there were transactions, at least that means the program is properly downloading, but definitely keep me posted if there are none and the flag issue still persists!

GeoffG

There are two issues related to the Schedule Update flag. The original post states the flag appears with zero transactions updated. Schedule update is predicated on the schedule that is set in Quicken, not if transactions are updated. The flag should appear regardless of transactions being downloaded. Sunday will most likely never have any transaction updates and therefore will have zero downloads, but the flag will still be set for display in the system tray. This can be left as is or remove the check for Sunday updates.

The other issue (bug) was introduced again in the latest release. The flag should disappear when Quicken is launched and completes its data refresh. Instead, the flag remains in the system tray regardless if Quicken is launched. The only way to remove the flag is to launch Quicken from the flag.

Charlie@

That is not how the flag behavior has been for the past maybe 8 years or so - ever since it's inception. Until just recently, there has never been a yellow flag in the system tray UNLESS transactions have been downloaded. Simply having a schedule for updates produced no visible indication until the update was actually running when a little double flag with a sort of circle in it would be displayed. Once the update was finished this would disappear and there would be nothing unless transactions were downloaded and waiting to be accepted.

FYI for Anja, super validate results:
QDF:
Validating your data.
No errors.
QEL:
No read errors.
QEL:
All internal consistency checks passed.

Quicken Anja

@Charlie@ Thank you.

I have set up a test file for scheduled updates with just two of my accounts that rarely have any activity nor does it have any recent transactions. Plus, they for sure won't have any new transactions any time soon either.

I will keep you posted and see what happens tomorrow morning!

Wayne Cole

My experience with Quicken over several years has been as follows.
1. Scheduled update runs, task-bar flag appears.
2. There may or may not be new transactions, but there WILL BE value updates based on changing security prices that apparently are part of the scheduled update. So, accounts in the update may or may not have had red flags next to them indicating actual transactions.
3. EITHER selecting the flag or opening Quicken from the desktop caused the task-bar tray flag to reset (disappear) and it would NOT re-appear until after a scheduled update ran.

That changed with the early May update so that now the flag appears in the task-bar tray every time the computer is restarted either in a warm restart or power down / up reboot whether a scheduled update has run or not.

At the same time this update ran, I also got a crash when I tried to open Quicken, and when it finally did open it apparently used one of the auto-backup files and had rolled my info back a week.

I used the Help>Report a Problem... menu to report the problem but was focused on the crash and rollback of my data file, mentioning the task-bar tray flag issue as an aside. I've heard nothing from Quicken tech support, so I do not know if they are even looking at the flag issue(s).

Sherlock

If you haven't already, you may want to review the built-in documentation on the topic:  press F1

Quicken Anja

Hello @Charlie@ and @Wayne Cole,

There was a new update version released R26.23 since R26.21. You can try updating to the new one if you haven't already, to see if it resolves the two separate issues you both are experiencing with it.

• Help > Check for updates

If not, then you can also try reverting back to the previous update version release R26.17 (before R26.21) which you can download and install from this link.

@Charlie@, I did want to let you know that I also received the yellow flag this morning when starting my computer, even though the accounts I added in the test file I mentioned yesterday, did not have any new transactions downloaded either. 

If the steps I previously provided as well as trying to install the different version releases don't work, then at that point, I would recommend that you both reach out to Quicken Support via phone or chat instead so our support agents can further investigate the issue and have it escalated if necessary.

Charlie@

Yep that's the issue. Did you notice that if you hover over the yellow flag a balloon pops up and says "new transactions loaded into Quicken"? Even though there really aren't any.
I just installed the .23 update. I'll reboot just in case the background agent was updated. Also, this AM I did have some transactions...

Quicken Anja

No, I did not. I just clicked on it and opened the program, but I also set it to update without investment quotes to see if it makes a difference tomorrow morning. So if I receive the flag then, I'll make sure to hover over it and let you know about that as well! 

Sherlock

Quicken Anja said:

Hello @Charlie@ and @Wayne Cole,

There was a new update version released R26.23 since R26.21. You can try updating to the new one if you haven't already, to see if it resolves the two separate issues you both are experiencing with it.

• Help > Check for updates

If not, then you can also try reverting back to the previous update version release R26.17 (before R26.21) which you can download and install from this link.

@Charlie@, I did want to let you know that I also received the yellow flag this morning when starting my computer, even though the accounts I added in the test file I mentioned yesterday, did not have any new transactions downloaded either. 

If the steps I previously provided as well as trying to install the different version releases don't work, then at that point, I would recommend that you both reach out to Quicken Support via phone or chat instead so our support agents can further investigate the issue and have it escalated if necessary.

 @Quicken Anja  Does left-clicking on the flag clear the flag?

Quicken Anja

@Sherlock When I clicked it this morning, yes, it cleared the flag and immediately opened the program.

Sherlock

Quicken Anja said:

@Sherlock When I clicked it this morning, yes, it cleared the flag and immediately opened the program.

You appear to have reproduced @Charlie@'s issue.  The question is is it bug?  The documentation states the flag indicates New information has been downloaded from your financial institutions.  Note: It does not say new transactions.  Simply obtaining a balance on a more recent date is new information.
 
When the flag next appears, open Quicken without clicking on the flag and let us know if the flag is cleared.  

If the flag does not clear, you will have reproduced @Wayne Cole's issue that @GeoffG's has said is a recent bug.  

Quicken Anja

@Sherlock, yes I noticed that small detail difference in the verbiage too.

In regards to that part alone, I'm waiting on tomorrow morning so I can hover over the flag first to review the dialogue it will display based on what @Charlie@ mentioned.

I'll definitely open Quicken from the Quicken icon instead of from the flag like you suggested though and see whether or not I can reproduce @Wayne Cole's issue. As I mentioned in one of my earlier responses, I don't normally use the schedule updates feature for my own personal use nor are issues with the yellow flag reported very often. So, when I clicked it this morning, I was expecting to see a dialogue rather than it opening the program the way that it did.

Wayne Cole

> @Quicken Anja said:
> Hello @Charlie@ and @Wayne Cole,
>
> There was a new update version released R26.23 since R26.21. You can try updating to the new one if you haven't already, to see if it resolves the two separate issues you both are experiencing with it.

Anja, I've been running with 26.23 for a few days - no joy. Still get the task-bar tray flag on every reboot / restart.

It is really just a minor irritation to me since I only do weekly auto update, and I know the flag is most likely "bogus". (I also do manual entry to most of my accounts - scheduled update mainly for investment and pension accounts.) So I see when there are actual new transactions when I open Quicken for manual transaction entry.

My only concern is that something changed with the first update in early may with the way the task-bar flag worked and with a roll-back of my data by 1 week. That has made me nervous about what else might have changed, so I hoped the developers would take a hard look at the code changes made then to ensure there was no more serious but less obvious bug in the early may update.

Quicken Anja

Hello All,

So, here are the results I got for this morning.

I hovered over the flag as suggested by @Charlie@ and got the same dialogue specifying New transactions rather than New information.



I opened the program from the Quicken icon instead of the flag to see if I could produce part of @Wayne Cole's issue, but unfortunately did not get the same result as the flag went away once the One Step Update Summary screen opened (which did also show 2 accounts updated, 0 transactions downloaded as it did yesterday). 



Also, even though I changed the settings to update without investment quotes/information (image below) to see if that made a difference, it didn't change the result. I had changed these settings in both Schedule Updates and One Step Update Settings. Additional to that, as the above image shows 4 quotes and investing headlines updated, the setting change still updated it anyway.



Based on these results, I went ahead and reported these issues and referenced this thread. So now, we're having these issues looked into and further investigated. Once we receive an update or new information, I or one of our team members will check back here and update you further.

Thank you @Charlie@ and @Wayne Cole for informing us of the issues you both discovered and being patient with me while I did some testing on this! 

Wayne Cole

> @Quicken Anja said:
> Hello All,
>
> So, here are the results I got for this morning.
>
> I opened the program from the Quicken icon instead of the flag to see if I could produce part of @Wayne Cole's issue, but unfortunately did not get the same result as the flag went away once the One Step Update Summary screen opened (which did also show 2 accounts updated, 0 transactions downloaded as it did yesterday). 
>
> Thank you @Charlie@ and @Wayne Cole for informing us of the issues you both discovered and being patient with me while I did some testing on this! 

Anja,

NOTE: a small difference in your test to what I am reporting. If I open Quicken from the desktop instead of the tray with Edit>Preferences>Startup>Download transactions when Quicken starts DISABLED (I think a difference in our preferences setting) the Task-bar flag DOES NOT disappear. If I then manually run "One Step Update" the task-bar flag remains visible.

To get it to go away, I have to run Quicken from the task-bar tray flag. The flag will not reappear until I restart / reboot even though no auto update has run nor has Quicken been run.

IOW, the only way to make the flag go away is to run Quicken from it (regardless of if an account download runs or not). But if you restart / reboot the machine it will reappear, and will not go away if you run Quicken from the desktop even if you do a manual one-step update. The flag's appearance seems to have only a coincidental correlation with any new information / transactions that may have been automatically downloaded either by scheduled update or auto-update on Quicken start.

Thanks for getting the developers to look at this.

Charlie@

Has there been any update for this flag issue? There have now been 3 Quicken program updates since I reported this issue (now to R27.24) and still about 50% of the time after a one step update completes, the flag appears in the system tray and the balloon says "new transactions downloaded into Quicken" - but there are no new transactions. (the other 50% there actually are transactions).

Wayne Cole

Charlie,
I think you'll find the flag appears in the system tray at startup even before any attempt to download transactions is made. (I have scheduled updates weekly, but every day that I boot up the flag and bubble appear. I can make it disappear by double-clicking on it which opens Quicken, but then if I restart / reboot, they re-appear in the sys tray. )
I think "Quicken Background Agent" (bgagent.exe) just puts the flag up as soon as it starts as part of your startup processes list at boot time and it no longer bears any relevance to whether or not any attempt to go online and download quotes or transactions actually happens. If you have Quicken set to download info once or twice a day you might assume it is in response to one of those downloads, but in my experience, the flag no longer is tied to any download attempt - just a signal the bgagent.exe is running.

Charlie@

Wayne I think we already established that your symptoms are different than mine.

Quicken Anja

Hello,

I checked and just heard back on this and it seems that what's causing this to happen is the server changes being made as our development team has been moving Windows' server to use the same server that is being used on Mac as it seems to be a more stable connection. The flag will appear incorrectly when that server change has failed.

As advised by our development team-- The only way to resolve this would be to deactivate the accounts and then reactivate and relink them through the Add Account process (not through Setup Now... as it will be guaranteed to not resolve the issue).

Thanks again for all your patience.