Why is your software so slow and inconsistent?

MSF Rider

Quicken takes an extremely long time to open, and places the window in a different location each time I open the program.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @MSF Rider,

Thank you for contacting the Quicken Community, though I do apologize that you are experiencing this issue. 

Before I can further assist you, could you please clarify which platform you are using (Mac or Windows)? Also, what version are you running?

Looking forward to hearing your response!

MSF Rider

I am using Windows 10. Your very inadequate Help section cannot understand a simple question-how do I find the version I am using. So I don't know what version I have.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @MSF Rider,

You can view your application's version by navigating to Help > About Quicken. 

I hope this clears things up!

MSF Rider

I am running Version R42.8 Build 27.1.42.8

UKR

Slow performance?

Please provide more details about your Quicken data file and your computer system.

I'd like to know if you have account registers where a single account is approaching or exceeding 16,000 transactions.

What is the file size, in KB, as shown by Windows File Explorer?

And I'd also like to see the "File Information" window  (See below)

Is any cloud backup software (Dropbox, MS OneDrive, etc.) actively accessing your Quicken data file while Quicken is running?
What is the complete path and file name of your Quicken data file  (e.g. C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken\QDATA.QDF)?
 

How much total RAM do you have installed?
How much of the available RAM is in use? Windows Task Manager will give you this information. 80% or higher?

What version of Windows are you running?

Do you use more than 1 monitor? What screen size and resolution?

About file size and number of transactions:

You can find out how many transactions you have in your data file by doing this:
- Click Tools / Account List. This should tell you how many transactions you have in each of your accounts in an optional column, "# of Transactions".
If this column is not shown in the Account List, click the Options button at the bottom of the Account List window, then click "Number of Transactions" to add the column.

- File Information: Click Help in the Menu Bar. Shift+click About Quicken and it'll give you a File Information box. Please capture an image snapshot of this File Information box and attach it here.
The Windows Snipping Tool (available with Windows 7 and newer) can be used to capture a partial screen image and save it to a file of file type PNG, JPG, or GIF only.

To attach the image here please review

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7867159/faq-how-do-i-post-a-screenshot-in-the-community-from-windows

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7663259/faq-how-do-i-post-a-screenshot-in-the-community-from-a-mac

BTW, most Windows applications have a menu item Help / About xxx. That's practically a Windows standard.

MSF Rider

I have no accounts exceeding 16,000 transactions. File size is 332,121KB. File Info Size of QDF file 8131K, Accts 18, Cat 142, Mem payees 235, Sec/Max ref 3/3, Trans 7620, Avail Mem 484372K, tot mem 2097151K. No cloud backup software. 4.0GB Ram. 87% mem use. Windows 10. 1 monitor. 7553 transaction total. I hope this helps. I used to run quicken 2001 and it was fine. You indicated I should switch to the current version and have had problem after problem. not happy with the new version.

UKR

MSF Rider said:

I have no accounts exceeding 16,000 transactions. File size is 332,121KB. File Info Size of QDF file 8131K, Accts 18, Cat 142, Mem payees 235, Sec/Max ref 3/3, Trans 7620, Avail Mem 484372K, tot mem 2097151K. No cloud backup software. 4.0GB Ram. 87% mem use. Windows 10. 1 monitor. 7553 transaction total. I hope this helps. I used to run quicken 2001 and it was fine. You indicated I should switch to the current version and have had problem after problem. not happy with the new version.

Thanks for the info.
Compared to Quicken 2001, the current Quicken 2022 has gained enormous amounts of weight. The same applies to Windows. Both need much more RAM than previous versions.
I recently upgraded a Windows 8.1 laptop with 4 GB RAM which was performing like a freeway during rush hour ... one couldn't get anywhere fast at all ... After adding 4 GB RAM (for a total of 8 GB), both Windows 8.1 and Quicken (current version) are now running fast, without any delays.

I wasn't even aware that one could install and run Windows 10 on a computer with only 4 GB RAM. From what I've heard, the minimum was said to be 8GB. For better performance, 12 GB or more was recommended. Add another 4 GB if you're thinking about Windows 11.

My recommendation is to upgrade your computer to at least 8 GB RAM. If possible, add additional 4 - 8 GB RAM. If you cannot add RAM to your current computer, replace it with a new one with 12 - 16 GB.

Sherlock

MSF Rider said:

Quicken takes an extremely long time to open, and places the window in a different location each time I open the program.

Quicken should be maintaining the application's main window location in the QUSER.INI file located in the user's hidden AppData\Roaming\Quicken\config folder. 

MSF Rider said:

I have no accounts exceeding 16,000 transactions. File size is 332,121KB. File Info Size of QDF file 8131K, Accts 18, Cat 142, Mem payees 235, Sec/Max ref 3/3, Trans 7620, Avail Mem 484372K, tot mem 2097151K. No cloud backup software. 4.0GB Ram. 87% mem use. Windows 10. 1 monitor. 7553 transaction total. I hope this helps. I used to run quicken 2001 and it was fine. You indicated I should switch to the current version and have had problem after problem. not happy with the new version.

The memory use (87%) is high.  It's possible Quicken is competing with other processes demand for RAM which may cause swapping delays.

If you were happy with Quicken 2001, why did you decide to upgrade?

If you're not happy with the new version, I suggest you revert back to a release you are happy with.

BK

UKR said:

I wasn't even aware that one could install and run Windows 10 on a computer with only 4 GB RAM. From what I've heard, the minimum was said to be 8GB.

One of my test systems is a 10+ year old i3 laptop with a slow drive and 4GB of memory.  Last year I installed Windows 11 on it and Quicken still performs efficiently.  Also Windows 10's minimum requirements are 1GB and 2GB memory - but that was back then.

So I agree with everyone that today's programs including Quicken are much more demanding than the 2001 version and running it on newer tech or higher specs should provide benefits.  And I think in this case it is important to find the combination of competing programs & processes and see what can be safely turned off along with a memory upgrade.