Converting Quicken 2007 files to new Quicken on M1 Macs — working around errors.
I have continued to use Quicken 2007 on my 2015 iMac (still running Sierra, 10.12), simply because the interface is far better than the new Mac version (for Monterey) — then I had been able to convert the 2007 files to the modern version on the iMac itself (using a 5.18... version of Quicken) — at first no problem. However, as I continued to work in this way, I was plagued by the conversion problem; 5.18.2 on the iMac would no longer convert the 2007 files — so I started copying the 2007 files to my new M1 MacBook Pro, and converted them via that MacOS (Monterey). However, Every time I updated the MacOS on my M1 MacBook Pro, Quicken went into an error tailspin; it would no longer convert. I spent hours on the phone with Quicken support. Finally, a supervisor solved the problem with a re-installation of the application, and I went about my business. Then, again, I updated the MacOS on the MacBook, and the problem re-surfaced. Again, hours on the phone, to no avail; and a re-installation would not correct it. Then the solution came to me in a dream:
Using what I learned from Quicken support, I located the installers for the much earlier versions of Quicken:
(1) Go to quicken.com/support;
(2) in the Search field, enter 00787;
(3) click the link "Reinstalling and patching...";
(4) scroll down the resultant page until you see the listing of months/years — I downloaded all the .dmg files, which took only about 20 minutes;
(5) I started installing and testing at the most recent, then finally made my way to Quicken 5.7.2, which worked, so had to reach back no further [although I had tested 5.3.2, which worked, in an earlier experiment];
(6) I uninstalled Quicken 5.18 from my 2015 iMac [just drag the app to the trash, empty the trash], and installed Quicken 5.7.2;
(7) on the iMac I opened Quicken 5.7.2 and went through the conversion process [...import from a 2007 file...]; no errors, no hang-ups, no problems;
(8) I copied the converted 2007 file, now a Quicken 5.7.2 file, to my portable external drive; and from the external drive I dropped it on my MacBook Pro into the Quicken "Documents" folder, inside the "Quicken" folder, inside the "Application Support" folder, inside my User "Library" folder, where it belongs;
(9) when I opened it in the newest MacOS version of Quicken on the M1 MacBook Pro, that version automatically upgraded the file for use.
Now I can continue working in Quicken 2007, until I get new iMacs (or Studios) and absolutely have to abandon it. At that point, however, all my Quicken 2007 files, all my archived checking account and tax records from over a decade, will have been converted to a modern Quicken version, and whatever versions come along will update them further, so I will be able to read them into the infinite future.
