Quicken Backup is very slow (Q Mac)

MichaelAngelo

Quicken Premier (for Mac) at Version 6.6.2, Build 606.43218.100.
macOS at 12.3

Mac Pro 2013 (the trash can), 64Gb memory, 2Tb SSD.

Backup takes six or seven minutes. Shutdown, since automatic backups are specified, takes the same. Opening the Quicken file takes a longish time, but more like a minute - far from six or seven minutes. Finder says the backup file is 48 Mb.

The problem is recent - started two or three weeks ago. Nothing changed two or three weeks ago.

I've removed almost all attachments without effect.
I've changed backup file location to an external (USB 3.0) disk - the backup took six or seven minutes.

What should I try next?

Thanks in advance
Bob Perkins

jacobs

Nothing in Quicken has changed regarding how backups are done, in quite a long time (several years).  Backup for me always takes about 2 seconds. Your startup time is also slow for a Mac with a SSD; mine is about 15 seconds from start of launch to the window being open. My data file is about 75 MB; my backup about 25 MB -- smaller than your, but I wouldn't think enough different to explain what you're seeing. An no one else has been posting about a similar problem on this forum.

I would try an experiment to see if the problem can be pinned down. Do you have an existing alternate account on your Mac? If not, you can create one in System Preferences > Users & Groups. In your home folder, quit Quicken and make a .zip file (File > Compress) of your Quicken data file. Move this .zip file to Users/Shared. Now log into your alternate account on the Mac. Copy the .zip file from Users/Shared to this account's home folder. Double click the file to un-zip it, and then double-click on that data file to launch Quicken. Doe sit launch faster or the same speed? In Quicken Preferences, change the backup location to any folder on the current user account, and quit or save a backup. Any faster?

MichaelAngelo

Thanks for your response.

I created an account.

After many, many false starts (permissions, permissions), I was able to open a copy of my Quicken data file. That took between five and six minutes.

I then created a backup file. That took between five and six minutes.

So, no faster.

----------------------------------
Different approach, now that I have a test environment:

If I used a backup from, say three weeks ago, then issued an Update All Accounts, would the banks and credit companies be able to bring me back up to date?

Bob Perkins

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @MichaelAngelo,

Thank you for contacting the Community, I am sorry that you are experiencing this issue. 

Where is your main/active file stored on your Mac, local or external/cloud hard drive?

Also, if you would like to restore from a backup from 3 weeks ago, you would need to reconnect all your accounts after restoring and then you may perform an 'update all' function which would download your transactions. 

I look forward to hearing your response. 

MichaelAngelo

The main/active file is stored locally on the Mac, on the SSD.

Bob Perkins

MichaelAngelo

This is circumvented, not fixed.

I exported, then imported, the data. Startup now takes seconds. Saving a backup now takes seconds.

I've nearly finished re-establishing download authority for my accounts. That's pretty tedious.

I'm done.

Thanks for listening

Bob Perkins

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @MichaelAngelo,

Thank you for your response. I am happy to hear that you were able to find a solution and resolve your errors. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any further questions or concerns!

jacobs

@MichaelAngelo Glad to hear you came up with a solution, even though it involved a lot of work for you. You are correct that you circumvented the issue, you didn't fix or even identify the core problem. One of my frustrations with the folks at Quicken is that they don't seem to have any interest in finding out why a user's file is apparently corrupted in some way. I would think the developers would want to ask the moderators here to try to obtain copies of files which aren't behaving properly so they could dig in, try to figure out what's wrong, and try to code to prevent/repair such issues in the future — but that doesn't appear to be in the company's DNA. If you find a bug and can describe how to replicate it on demand, it goes on their list to fix someday; otherwise, if you found a way around the problem and aren't continuing to complain, they ignore the issue and move on. 

The good news is that actual corruption in Quicken Mac data files appears to be quite rare, due to the industrial nature of the SQL database the program uses. So a problem like what you've described here seems extremely rare. But we see daily cases of some mild form of corruption with user downloads, where the solution peddled by the moderators and Quicken Support is always to disconnect and reconnect an account or all accounts; there never appears to be interest in Quicken's part in tracking down why account downloads become hung up so they could perhaps fix the underlying problems. And as long as users get back up and running, the problems don't even hit the radar of the development team.

Sigh. It is what it is. So I'm glad you powered your way to a solution so Quicken is no longer so painful to use.