I am attempting to move my quicken data from my laptop back to my desktop system. I perform a successful backup to a USB drive on the laptop. When I attempt to restore the file on the desktop, I get the message "One or more backup files is missing".
You did not provide what version of Quicken you have, but based on the error message, I'm assuming pre 2014. If that is the case, there are three separate files that need to be included with the backup/restore. You need to copy all three from your laptop before attempting the restore.
@bndooley HOW did you do that backup? Did you use Q's backup process, from the FILE menu? Or did you copy files yourself or via some other process?
Because, if you used Q's backup, and one or more files were missing, there's a problem with your backup. Q, for ALL versions/years, should itself know what files to include in the backup.
Perhaps you need to go back to your laptop and take another Q backup ... making sure that you get a successfully backed up message.
Also, what Q product are you running and what BUILD of that product? Do HELP, About Quicken for this info.
Q user since DOS version 5 Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
And if nobody mentioned it you should first copy the data file from the usb drive to the Desktop hard drive before opening it. And first make sure the Quicken program is updated to the latest release or at least the same or newer than the laptop Quicken version.