Continual Errors and bad data

Skeeter Jones

Is it just me or not. Continue to have error after error in download data for the past year. Quicken used to be bullet proof. Not anymore. Almost 20 years with this software and starting to think I need to find an alternative. It really started with the Schwab fiasco. My accounts are still not right.

Sherlock

Intuit continues to have difficulty maintaining the Express Web Connect connection method for Quicken.  If you are not willing to accept the unreliability of this connection method, I suggest you use the Direct Connect or the Web Connect connection method if available instead.  If you haven't already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-connects-your-bank

[Deleted User]

@skeeter jones - I have had the opposite experience.  Quicken has never worked better for me.  I have learned over the years how to keep my file clean, corruption free (or as much as I can), and working fast and error free.  Download errors used to be an issue, but since I moved to Direct Connect for most of my accounts, I rarely have connection issues or errors.  But even with my accounts with EWC, I rarely have any issues.  

Earlier this year I made some Windows changes that made a "night and day" difference in how well Quicken runs.  I blocked the use of a Microsoft Account ID.  I use a local ID only.  I suppressed the ability to sync, and use OneDrive.  I shut off all sharing of any kind and made my computer as standalone as possible.  I also turned on every privacy setting I could find.  I also use a VPN.

The latest Window update I made that makes a difference in Quicken performance came from another superuser - 

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7915476/faq-are-there-any-windows-settings-that-can-improve-quicken-s-performance

I am not saying that everyone can do this, nor do I know which one of these actions made the difference.  And with your experience, there are things that are out of your control with Schwab.  I guess all I am saying is that each Quicken user's experience is different and it's not all bad.

Tom Young

In the 20 years or so since you began using Quicken more and more Financial Institutions (FIs) have moved away from using Direct Connect - a typically bullet-proof downloading method - to Express Web Connect - a method that's much more error prone.  The incentive of FIs to do so is that while the FIs have to pay Quicken to use Direct Connect, there's no payment to Quicken if they use Express Web Connect.  The incentive to move is obvious.

I'd advise that you work through all your Accounts that download information and check to see if the FI for each Account supports Direct Connect downloading along with Express Web Connect - some do - and if they do support Direct Connect switch to that method.  (You might also find that some Accounts that you know used to be Direct Connect Accounts have, somehow, been switched over to the Express Web Connect method.)

As for myself, with any credit card company that's switched from Direct Connect to Express Web Connect I've disconnected those Accounts from downloading at all and basically stopped using those credit cards.  I can't do that with Schwab and have endured a small but fairly steady stream of downloading errors in those Accounts.  The fact that I do updates of all those Accounts every day makes the process manageable.

I can't say that the Quicken program itself is noticeably better or worse now than it's ever been.  I've been somewhat active in Quicken help groups back to the days of Usenet and the complaint that "every time Quicken trys to add a feature or fix something in the program, they break 2 other things" has been around forever.  

I'd also suggest to turn "sync" off and don't do "mobile."  That's a sure path to problems, by all accounts.

BK

I'll add my comments that I have almost an equal mix of Express Web Connect and Direct Connect accounts and ALL are working error free (~ 30 accounts).  Much better than years ago.  Even the infamous Schwab accounts are working solid for me.  Hence I see no reason to shy away from the EWC connection method - tho I fully understand the reasons mentioned above, I have not experienced them myself.  I credit my good fortune to three things:

Not using any bill functionality, sync disabled, and remaining on an older release that has been stable for me.

As a comparison, I always update to the latest release on my test VM setup and they do have errors.  So new releases are fixing some bugs and unfortunately introducing more new ones.  My main observation is that Quicken's cloud sync is a major contributor of many issues users are experiencing.