Cannot start Quicken after latest update

misapope

BTW, I've been informed that Quicken does not work in Safe Mode.

Greg_the_Geek

Unfortunately, I believe your old Windows user profile has become corrupted. I don't know of any way to repair other than deleting and recreating the old user. If you're using a Microsoft account, file should be in OneDrive and you can sync whatever web browser data. I would still make a local copy of everything.

misapope

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> Unfortunately, I believe your old Windows user profile has become corrupted. I don't know of any way to repair other than deleting and recreating the old user. If you're using a Microsoft account, file should be in OneDrive and you can sync whatever web browser data. I would still make a local copy of everything.

Could be. But I am only having problems with Quicken. Support tells me that they know the problem is a memory leak but they need to be sure that any fix does not introduce performance issues. I'm wondering if they are just stringing me along.

At any rate, I will tell them about your recommendation. But I will not make that change until I am sure that I do not make a bigger mess for myself. I'll keep you informed about what I eventually do. Thanks for your times and your ideas!

Greg_the_Geek

I don't know who told you Quicken doesn't run in Safe Mode but I just tried it and it works fine. Also, if Support is telling you it's a memory leak problem, why doesn't the problem occur with the new Windows user account? It's the same Quicken software. You could also try an earlier version of Quicken by installing an earlier Mondo patch release. Go to: Quicken Subscription Patches - QuicknPerlWiz for all previous Mondo patches.

misapope

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> I don't know who told you Quicken doesn't run in Safe Mode but I just tried it and it works fine. Also, if Support is telling you it's a memory leak problem, why doesn't the problem occur with the new Windows user account? It's the same Quicken software. You could also try an earlier version of Quicken by installing an earlier Mondo patch release. Go to: Quicken Subscription Patches - QuicknPerlWiz for all previous Mondo patches.

I was told about Safe mode on the phone by Support! The fact that it was ok with new Windows user is why I think I'm just being strung along! It has been a very disappointing and extremely frustrating experience!

Greg_the_Geek

You could always try reverting to a previous version of Quicken.

misapope

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> You could always try reverting to a previous version of Quicken.

Well I tried that with Support a while back, but that did not work either. I can't remember the sequence, but it was in response to another problem. At the end, the guy said he was not able to do much more and to let Support continue to try to fix it. But also, as you said, it worked with new Windows user, so it looks like the software is not in itself the problem.

misapope

So, now have apparently been abandoned by Support altogether as they no longer even answer my emails! I must say that this is really disappointing, as I have always considered Quicken to be a class act. So I am reduced to using a crippled app and hoping that it gets fixed in some future update. If there were a competing financial software app, I would be ready to migrate to it. But there isn't. Very disappointed and extremely frustrated!

Greg_the_Geek

misapope said:

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> I don't understand why you couldn't login to Quicken with a new Windows user account. Did you copy your Quicken data file to Documents\Quicken and then try to open the file? Are you getting an error message(s)?

I had not copied my datafile over when I created the new Windows user. So this time I did so and it worked! In fact, it allowed me to access the file immediately. When I start up Quicken in my regular environment (ie, by restoring from backup) I have to wait almost a minute before I can actually navigate within the app; a large part of that time is in synchronizing the file with the cloud. In the new Windows user environment, the file opens and is instantly navigable.

When I tried to access that file from my old Windows user however, I crashed as usual, which is rather mystifying for me as the file is definitely local. Why do you think it worked with the new Windows user / environment?

I'm puzzled as to what you expect from Quicken support. It seems that Quicken works fine with a new Windows user account. Do you expect Quicken support to fix a corrupt Windows profile? Also, are you still keeping your Quicken data file in a folder synced to the cloud?

misapope

I had until recently been in fairly regular contact with Support about this problem. They told me they had identified the problem as a memory leak, etc. I relayed your idea about the corrupt memory file because I thought it might be helpful to them, but have not since heard back from them. I would like to at least know their response to that. If they tell me that it is a Windows profile problem, then I will go through the process of changing my profile. But they have not indicated that to me, and in fact have not pointed to my environment as being the problem at all, altho I tend to agree with you that it seems like it must be. However, given the opportunity to state that, they have said nothing. In addition, I note that I do not have a problem with anything else in that corrupt profile.

You have to understand that until recently, they had at least responded to my emails, keeping informed of what was happening. Now I am just left in on my own. That is not a good way to handle the problem.

Greg_the_Geek

When you say, "corrupt memory file", do you mean corrupt Windows profile? If so, did you explain to customer support that everything works fine in a new Windows user account? I'm sorry, but I don't put a lot of faith in customer support. I feel that most of the SuperUser's here in the community have much more knowledge and experience using Quicken. I would even say that your issue is not a Quicken problem but a Windows problem. 

If customer support is referring to the memory leak problem, I don't believe that's your issue. See Slowdowns and Not Enough Memory to Proceed errors - Page 3 — Quicken for more information about the memory leak issue.

misapope

> @Greg_the_Geek said:
> When you say, "corrupt memory file", do you mean corrupt Windows profile? If so, did you explain to customer support that everything works fine in a new Windows user account? I'm sorry, but I don't put a lot of faith in customer support. I feel that most of the SuperUser's here in the community have much more knowledge and experience using Quicken. I would even say that your issue is not a Quicken problem but a Windows problem. 
>
> If customer support is referring to the memory leak problem, I don't believe that's your issue. See Slowdowns and Not Enough Memory to Proceed errors - Page 3 — Quicken for more information about the memory leak issue.

Yes, I misspoke just now, I did tell them it was a corrupt Windows profile. The person I was dealing with (it was a single individual) gave me the impression he was in direct contact with tech support, that they had reproduced the behavior and identified the problem as a "memory leak." He said "...it needs more time for the fix as it may impact performance across the product." After I sent him your suggestions, I have not heard a word from him. Perhaps he was just having a bit of fun with me...

I am a retired programmer, but have very little expertise on Windows. My hesitation to migrating to a new profile is that I do not have a clear picture of what that means, what additional cleanup steps I would have to do, what could go wrong. There always seem to be loose ends that need to be addressed afterwards. And as I said, everything else is working fine, no other problems with file access, so I suspect the software is still doing something unique or perhaps has some registry issues.

Until now, I have not wanted to risk going thru that kind of turmoil without hearing something official from the company. It bothers me that tech support would not even bother to blame "the other guy," the standard cop out for software support. But I am getting to the point where I just might have to take the plunge. I am leaving tomorrow for the holidays so will not be able to attempt anything new until I return. I will let you know one way or the other how it turns out.

I just want to thank you again for the time and thought you've put into this. I suspect you are correct about Super Users vs. Support, but I think they are depending on you guys to do just that!

Happy holidays! I'll be back in touch!