Unexpected "Last download" dates after restoring a backup

Jim_Harman

I wanted to use Quicken on a different computer for a while, so on Jan. 26 I backed up my working file to a Dropbox folder and restored the backup on the other computer. I used Quicken on the other computer for several days, including several One Step Updates. The most recent update was today, Jan. 31.

I then reversed the backup and restore process, returning the working file to the original computer. The file name remained the same throughout this process. Almost everything seems OK on the original computer. The transactions, quote updates, and account balances are up to date and agree with the second computer, but for each account the "Last download" date at the top of the register or transaction list shows Jan. 26, the date of the last OSU before the backup on the original computer.

Also the OSU summary pages do not match between the two computers. The summary for the original computer shows 1/26 dates for all the accounts and for the temporary computer it shows the update results for today, 1/31.

This seems like a bug and undermines my faith in the backup/restore process.

Does Quicken really store the OSU results for a file separately from the file itself and not include that data when backing up and restoring the file? Thanks for any insights.

Chris_QPW

One has to realize that the data file doesn't contain all the information.
For instance, there are settings that are in the data file, settings that are in the user's data files, and settings that are at the machine level.  For instance, the size of the account bar is stored at the user level.

In the same way, there is information stored in files outside of the Quicken data file for keeping track of things like what it has downloaded.  And that is what you are seeing.

Jim_Harman

Thanks, @Chris_QPW

I understand but it is certainly not what I expected.

I thought I could use the Last download date as an indication that I was using the correct version of the file. I guess not.

I suppose a better indication is that the Net Worth is correct.

Chris_QPW

@Sherlock has pointed out a few times that the "last downloaded" comes from runtime.dat, so it is certainly not a good indicator for what you are looking for.