error message when initiate 'download transactions' from bank acct [still using Q Mac 2007]

Joelker

I have been using Quicken for Mac for years but just realized I can download bank transactions. However, I get the attached error message when I try to initiate the process.

Quicken Jared

Joelker said:

I have been using Quicken for Mac for years but just realized I can download bank transactions. However, I get the attached error message when I try to initiate the process.

Hello @Joelker, 

I am sorry about this issue with download error messages. Thank you for looking to the Quicken Community for assistance with this problem. 

First, is this message appearing when you are trying to download files via QFX from your banking institution? Also, is this occurring with one particular banking institution? Knowing the answers to these questions will help us greatly in troubleshooting this issue. 

If you have the chance, it would help us to troubleshoot the situation if you could save a backup by going to File > Save a Backup... in the upper menu at the top of the screen while Quicken is open and then create a new 'test' data file by following the steps listed below:

1. Navigate to File
2. Select New
3. Select Start from scratch then click Next
4. Choose appropriate default categories based on geographic location, then click Next
5. Choose Don't use Quicken Mobile & Web, then click Next 

You may then add your non-Charles Schwab affiliated accounts in the newly created data file by choosing your financial institution and entering your credentials as prompted. I am curious whether or not these issues continue in this data file.

I hope to hear back from you about this, if you have the chance to check back in with us here on the Quicken Community.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared 

Joelker

The error message appears when I click in the top menu on 'accounts/update selected online account'. I have never set up a connection before to import data from the bank account.
I really appreciate your quick and detailed response. However, the menu options you detailed do not appear in my menus, and I could not find appropriate substitutions. I am using Quicken vers. 1.7.4, which has worked fine for my purposes until this attempt to link to my bank account. I should also note that my 11 year old IMac is running OS El Capitan, vers.10.11.6. I am concerned that upgrading either Quicken or the Mac OS will cause them to be incompatible. (All my other software is working fine for my purposes.

jacobs

you are using Quicken 2007 then, right? Quicken 2007 has been discontinued software for many years now. Connectivity for bank downloads ended several years ago. That's why you're seeing that error: there is no Quicken server for handling downloads to Quicken 2007.

And yes, you would need to upgrade your macOS past El Capitan to run the current Quicken Mac software. Officially, it's supported on Monterey, Big Sur and Catalina. But it still runs on Mojave and High Sierra, although it's not clear for how much longer that will remain true. 

You can continue running Quicken 2007 with manual transaction input if you wish, but understand with an old Mac and old software, you're operating on borrowed time.  

Joelker

Thank you again. I'll continue to live on borrowed time until my reliable old IMac bites the dust.

jacobs

Joelker said:

I'll continue to live on borrowed time until my reliable old IMac bites the dust.

Just make sure you have a good system of backups in operation. At a minimum, a Time Machine backup drive is inexpensive and quite reliable. A second layer of backup protection could be either doing periodic whole-disk backups to a hard drive using Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner, or using an online backup service such as iDrive. When your Mac dies — or more likely, your hard drive dies — you want to have multiple backups you can rely on to insure your valuable data (everything, not just Quicken data) can be restored. 

Also check back on this forum periodically to make sure Quicken still offers the ability to convert Quicken 2007 data files. I have no reason to believe they'll eliminate this anytime soon, but since they run an extra server for this, at some point in the future, they will likely decide the number of people converting 2007 data files is so few and far between that they'll remove this service. If/when that day comes, anyone still using Quicken 2007 will have no path to move their data to modern Quicken Mac. (And if it does happen, hopefully they would announce this months in advance to give people a chance to plan their upgrade path.) 

Joelker

Thank you so much Jacobs for your advice and concern. I do back up my computer both via an external drive and Carbonite. Am I correct in assuming that the Quicken data file that's backed up can be restored to a new computer if my old IMac or hard drive dies.
However, it's not likely that I'll keep checking this forum. Given that I'm a registered Quicken 2007 user, isn't it reasonable to assume that Quicken would notify me in advance if they decide not to support conversion to a newer version?

jacobs

Joelker said:

Am I correct in assuming that the Quicken data file that's backed up can be restored to a new computer if my old IMac or hard drive dies.

Yes -- but only if you were to buy a used, old Mac capable of running macOS Mojave or earlier. If your Mac dies and you buy a new Mac, it will not run Quicken 2007 because the new Mac will be running macOS Monterey. If that happens, you should be able to restore your Quicken 2007 data file from your backup and then convert it to run on current Quicken Mac. But if there are any problems with your Quicken 2007 data file, you'll be stuck without being able to try to repair the data file in Quicken 2007. (It's normally recommended to rebuild the file indexes in Quicken 2007 before trying to convert to modern Quicken Mac.)

Joelker said:

However, it's not likely that I'll keep checking this forum. Given that I'm a registered Quicken 2007 user, isn't it reasonable to assume that Quicken would notify me in advance if they decide not to support conversion to a newer version?

I really don't know, but I wouldn't count on it. I'm not sure if they are tracking who is still using Quicken 2007. It's been almost 8 years since modern Quicken Mac was introduced. Quicken made a lot of effort to notify users when it ended all support for Quicken 2007 a number of years ago. Anyone continuing to use Quicken 2007 is flying without a net. They might make some announcement if/when they discontinue Quicken 2007 data file imports, but it might quietly disappear at some point. Or possibly, the servers they use for the conversion will be moved/upgraded or fail suddenly, and they could decide at that moment not to spend the time and money to bring it/them back. Since you have chosen to continue to use the old software, and we don't know what the future holds, that's why I was suggesting you make it a priority to keep tabs on it so you hopefully don't lose out on the ability to migrate your data in the future. 

Best wishes. 

Joelker

Jacobs---You wrote in a recent reply to me: "It's normally recommended to rebuild the file indexes in Quicken 2007 before trying to convert to modern Quicken Mac."
Is that a task that I should do now even if I'm not yet in a position to convert to modern Quicken Mac?
In any case, i don't see where in the Quicken menu it shows an option to rebuild the file indexes.
Thanks again for being so helpful! Joel KL

jacobs

@Joelker If you're seeing any funky issues in Quicken 2007, then rebuild the indexes; otherwise, it's probably not necessary. For instance, I used to occasionally open a register and the transactions would be out of order, or chunks of dates would be missing; reindexing resolved those issues for me.

Rebuilding the indexes is not in the menu: Press Command-Option-B

Joelker

Hi Jacobs, You thought I am using Quicken Essentials 2007, and that I may not be able to convert it to a current version at some point. However, I just clicked on "About Quicken" and I wonder whether I do have the 2007 version. See attached screenshot. If it's not 2007, what version is it, and does that change the situation about support from Quicken?

jacobs

@Joelker I actually thought you were using the old Quicken 2007 because that's what you wrote in the title of this thread! And in more than one of your replies. So all my replies above relate to Quicken 2007. Now you have shared that you are actually not using Quicken 2007; you are using Quicken Essentials for Mac from 2013. That's a completely different program, so much of what is discussed above is irrelevant. 

So, let's go back to the beginning…

• Quicken Essentials is (like Quicken 2007) a discontinued software product.
• Quicken Essentials will not download bank transactions because support for it has been discontinued.
• The current Quicken Mac program is a direct descendent of Quicken Essentials (unlike Quicken 2007).
• Quicken Essentials will not run on the current Mac operating system. Quicken Essentials runs on macOS Sierra (10.12), but not High Sierra (10.13) and beyond. 
• You can continue running Quicken 2007 Essentials with manual transaction input if you wish, but understand with an old Mac and old software, you're operating on borrowed time.
• There are no index files to rebuild in Quicken Essentials.
• You can import a Quicken Essentials data file into Quicken Mac currently. The database is much more compatible with the current program than Quicken 2007's data file was.
• However, it's been 8 years since Quicken Essentials was replaced by Quicken Mac, and there's no way to know if at some point in the future, the developers will remove the ability to import from Quicken Essentials. They have to keep updating the code to transfer data from the old Essentials database to the current one, and if their data tells them that there are very few people left using Essentials, it's likely that at some point they will remove the ability to convert from Quicken Essentials. Would it be possible at that time to download an older version of Quicken Mac which is capable of importing from Quicken Essentials, and then step up to the current version of Quicken Mac? Logic says yes, that should be possible. But such things are also driven by company policies, and there's no way to know if the company will always make old versions available to install as an intermediate step.

I hope that helps things make sense now that we're on the same page!  

Joelker

Jacobs, First of all, I want to thank you for your continuing patience and kindness. I am sorry that unintentionally led you down a blind alley when I said I was using Quicken 2007. (I am mystified about what that incorrect statement was based on.) However, you continued to offer me your expert advice and knowledge. Thank you so much.
Joel K

jacobs

Happy to be of help. Best wishes figuring out your future path with Quicken.