"Upgrading" from Quicken H&B 2017 to Quicken Premier 2021

azbruno

I'm currently using Home and Business 2017 and have over 27 years of data in my file. I don't think I've ever used any of the Business features. I also enter all the data in manually.

I am thinking about updating to the latest Quicken Premier, thinking I'll just get the one year subscription and then letting it lapse. The reason for doing this is to see what's new in the latest version and also in hopes that the software may be better in some way (e.g. quicker). Also, I don't like to let software get too far out of date.

Question 1: Is there anything in my data that I could risk losing by going from H&B to Premier? As said above, I don't think I've used any of the business features, but I'm not really sure what to look for in case I may have in the past.

Question 2: If I let the 2021 subscription lapse, will I be in worse shape than I am now? I've read about annoying large (advertising) messages taking up screen real estate and right now I have a very busy screen and don't want it reduced.

Question 3: If I do this update, can I install the new version on a test computer first, convert my file to see how everything looks and then later update the production computer if all is OK?

Question 4: Is there really anything to be gained, or am I better off just staying with 2017. I have been in the habit of updating about once every three years.

Thanks to all.

Chris_QPW

#1 No
#2 You heard right, if you let the subscription lapse the ads will take about 25% of you window space.
#3 Yes you can do that.  BTW from 2017 to Subscription there isn't any "conversion" like there was before in Quicken 2016.  Quicken 2017 will still be able to read the data file that the Subscription version writes to.
#4 Given that you are doing manual entry, and will continue to do so, I don't believe there is anything in Quicken Subscription that really would matter to you.  About the only thing that jumps out at me would be that you can now tell Quicken were to save the automatic backups.

Chris_QPW

#1 No
#2 You heard right, if you let the subscription lapse the ads will take about 25% of you window space.
#3 Yes you can do that.  BTW from 2017 to Subscription there isn't any "conversion" like there was before in Quicken 2016.  Quicken 2017 will still be able to read the data file that the Subscription version writes to.
#4 Given that you are doing manual entry, and will continue to do so, I don't believe there is anything in Quicken Subscription that really would matter to you.  About the only thing that jumps out at me would be that you can now tell Quicken were to save the automatic backups.

Boatnmaniac

@azbruno - I think it would be good idea to test out the subscription Premier on a test computer first.  That way your 2017 installation is not affected and within 30 days if you determine that you do not want to keep the subscription you can request a 100% refund (assuming you buy the subscription from Quicken.com).  So, it's pretty risk free.

But bottom line is I agree with @Chris_QPW .  Since you use Quicken manually there is no significant advantage to be gained by upgrading from 2017 to the current Quicken subscription product.

Chris_QPW

Boatnmaniac said:

That way your 2017 installation is not affected and within 30 days if you determine that you do not want to keep the subscription you can request a 100% refund (assuming you buy the subscription from Quicken.com). 

As far as I know they will refund your money (minus shipping and handling) no matter where you buy it.
Terms and Conditions For Exchanging, Returning or Refunding Quicken Products

azbruno

Thanks for the replies. That whole issue about the ads taking up 25% of the space when the subscription runs out is enough to make me stay with what I've got. At least now, the ads are only periodic popups whenever a new promo happens.