Backup folder has reverted to only 3 copies

jrich75

I just noticed that sometime within the last week or so, my Backup folder has been reduced to only 3 files.  I did check my preferences and the maximum for the folder is set to 15.  I had reviewed the folder last week and manually reduced the number of files from 18 because there were 3 pre-updated backups that had been added.  Now there are none of the automatic backups that Quicken has been generating recently when a software update occurs.  Has anyone else experienced something similar?

jrich75

OK, I just discovered the entire Backup folder in the Recycle Bin.  It appears I must have inadvertantly deleted it myself shortly after I removed the extra backups.  Apparently, the folder was re-created by Quicken and 3 recent backups saved. 
 I'm sorry for the confusion.  As usual, this was user error, not a Quicken issue...

Quicken Anja

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to hear you were able to find those missing backups and that they weren't lost forever.

Quicken Anja

Hello @jrich75,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community to tell us about your issue, though I apologize that you are experiencing this.

If you haven't already, I suggest you try and search your computer hard drive for backup files through your Windows File Explorer. To do so, open your Windows File Explorer and navigate to This PC > C: Drive (or OS C:), then use the search field on the top-right and search " .QDF " (see below).



See if the search will find more than the 3 backup files you already have. 

Please, check back and let us know what you find.

jrich75

I did the search you suggested.

I now have one additional backup that was created today as well as the manual backup in Dropbox.  These are all in the Backup sub-folder within the folder where the .QDF file is routinely saved.

The creation date for the main data file is 6/13/2019 and it was last modified today.
This is the same directory I edited last week which contained 18 backup files including at least 2 that had the R31.xx revision information imbedded in the name. 

jrich75

OK, I just discovered the entire Backup folder in the Recycle Bin.  It appears I must have inadvertantly deleted it myself shortly after I removed the extra backups.  Apparently, the folder was re-created by Quicken and 3 recent backups saved. 
 I'm sorry for the confusion.  As usual, this was user error, not a Quicken issue...

Quicken Anja

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to hear you were able to find those missing backups and that they weren't lost forever.

artg

@jrich75
Good morning jrich.  On a separate thread I posted the following:

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Good morning Q Community.  I'd like to join this discussion seeking guidance and/or a recommendation.  I open my Q every morning and close it in the evening (sort of close of business.)  I automatically save the latest 15 copies so basically I have a running 15 days of backups.  I really don't know how I came up with the number "15" but it's sure way more than I need.  In fact, I can't ever remember going back and opening anything more than yesterday's backup (during an Q update catastrophe.)  I've got plenty of hard drive space as well as space on my external HD and MS OneDrive.  My file size is about 97.5MB. So, what's a good common sense number of backups? 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May I ask how you came up with "15" please?  I've had very good luck when I've sought guidance in this community so if you don't mind I'd like to hear your thoughts.

jrich75

My Quicken usage is also daily but I don't leave it open so I may sometimes open it a couple times each day.  There seem to be two general types of problems: those that reveal themselves immediately and those that take days or weeks to become apparent so I want to cover both.
I have auto backups set to 3 uses and 15 files because I can likely remember/reconstruct my quicken activities for a few days but not necessarily a month.  This gives me at least 2 weeks of backups and allows for several more frequent recent files as well.  You're right that this is more than I need of the older files but it does give me several options within the last week.  If there were an option to automatically reduce the retention interval of older backups, that would be ideal but manually doing so isn't worth it if storage is not a problem.
I also do manual backups about once a week to dropbox.  In order have an even older backup, I will change it's name once a month so it doesn't overwrite.  I have to manually delete the very old backups but at least I have something in case of a catastrophic failure or data file problem.  I hope this explanation helps....

artg

@jrich75
Thank you jrich75.  Yes, your explanation helped.  I'm not utilizing Dropbox although I know it's part of our Quicken package.  MS OneDrive seems to be working well for me as it backups Q upon closing.  More importantly, those problems that take days or weeks to reveal themselves are nightmares!