How do I archive 20 years of data?

rCadianne

I have been using Quicken since 1994. It is now very slow to update transactions. I read that it is probably because I have so much old information. Closed accounts, long-standing accounts .. I really don't need more than 5 years. How do I move data from 2017 and prior to a separate file that I can search if needed? Several accounts I have had since 1990, so I can't delete those transactions as it would ness with my current balance. I have read that the archive function does not work and leaves a mess of your balances. So .. what do I do?

Mark1104

it is unlikely to be the size of the file at issue.  My file is also from 1994 and i have no issues (file size is 255mg).  How old is your PC/ Laptop - that is more likely the issue in my view.  (mine is under a year old). 

Archiving only moves the banking transactions and not the investment transactions.

Mark1104

it is unlikely to be the size of the file at issue.  My file is also from 1994 and i have no issues (file size is 255mg).  How old is your PC/ Laptop - that is more likely the issue in my view.  (mine is under a year old). 

Archiving only moves the banking transactions and not the investment transactions.

rCadianne

@Mark1104 , you may be right. My computer is about 5 years old.

Chris_QPW

I haven't found that the computer's age has a lot to do with Quicken's performance. One thing that does how fast the drive is.  Modern SDDs help for instance.  Memory used to be a bottleneck a long time ago, but unless you are running a lot of other programs at the same times as Quicken, that shouldn't be the case anymore.

To get to the bottom of "very to update transactions" one needs to first define that with actual numbers, and also clearly state where exactly the problem is.  For example, talking about problem entering transactions in an investment account is quite different than talking about non-investment accounts.

And the "size of the data file" isn't the right thing to look at, it what is in that data file that counts.  For instance, "active traders" are going to have much more performance problems than people that don't have any securities but have tons of accounts and transactions.

Here is another thread where I recently pointed out a few things about Year End Copy.
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20336655#Comment_20336655

Mark1104

Chris - when I stated 'age of computer' I was incorporating all its components, whether that be RAM, SDD, etc.  So if a 'modern SDD' helps, that infers that 'age' is part of the issue as if it is not 'modern', it is aged ...:-) 

A larger file would require more time (or more RAM) to read the entire file.  It will get read, it is just a matter of how quickly.  I suspect someone who migrates from a 5 year old computer to a brand new one will see improved performance - one of the reasons will be the improvment is SSD as you state  

Chris_QPW

More RAM isn’t going to help for larger data files.  Quicken is a 32-bit program, it theoretically RAM limit is 4GB, but in reality on most hardware it is 2GB, that is the amount of RAM you see when you hold down Ctrl+Shift and select About Quicken.  What’s more in practice Quicken actually uses far less than 2GB.

Note that SSDs can be put in old computers for far less than buying new.  But of course new hardware can help, but I was just pointing out the part that tends to give the most bang for the buck.  One of things to note is that people have come on here complaining about performance problems with computers that brand new top of the line.  Sometimes they are complaining about the fact that Quicken is the slowest program that they have and they have to wait x seconds on it to start and things like that.  And well, Quicken is going to be slow with any computer if that is what they expect.  At other times they have a really hot computer and they are really getting slow performance in comparison to say what the average user might see.  Sometimes that is in the fact that the GPU and Quicken’s graphic calls don’t get along.  Sometimes it has to do with some network problem or such.

Like all troubleshooting throwing out generalizations without digging into the actual causes of the problem isn’t a good idea.

rCadianne

Thank you for reviewing my complaint and offering solutions!

So my computer is older, but my chief complaint is that about a year ago I noticed that Quicken slowed down, defining 'slowed down' as going from about 3-5 seconds to update a transaction to 50-60 seconds per transaction. So reviewing and accepting 10 transactions takes 10 minutes. Entering a new transaction easily takes over a minute each time.

My thought is that, although I need the historical data because it is directly related to my current data, I do not need to keep transaction data from 1994 accessible.

Is there a way that I can take transactions older than 5 years and move them to a non-accessed file that will allow Quicken to search for data when I ask for it specifically? I cannot help but think that moving 25 years of data off-line would improve my Quicken performance. I amplanning on upgrading my computer anyway to accommodate work needs, but if the issue is more related to the number of records I have versus to size of my RAM, then I will continue to experience time lag on the number computer as well.

Chris_QPW

Indeed 50-60 seconds per transaction is extremely slow.  As for the rest I think you will find most of the answers in the thread that I referenced in my first comment.

Also are you talking about an investment account or a non-investment account?

You should also look at this FAQ:
FAQ: Are there any Windows settings that can improve Quicken’s performance? — Quicken

rogerg

Did you run the Validate and Fix Database step?

[Deleted User]

> @Chris_QPW said:
> Like all troubleshooting throwing out generalizations without digging into the actual causes of the problem isn’t a good idea.

Exactly - we can at least attempt to narrow this down a little bit here.

First: try creating a brand new file. Add one of your accounts to it. Then add or update a transaction in that account: how many seconds does that take Quicken?

Perhaps it's much faster than before. That might be because the file is smaller. We can try to make this comparison more fair though. Switch back to your regular Quicken file, and export the data from one or more accounts (go to "File" > "File Export" > "QIF File..."). Then switch back to the new file and import this data. Now - how long does it take to update a transaction? (If some things don't transfer over correctly, that's totally fine - we are just trying to measure how fast Quicken is when it has more data.) Repeat as needed.

This isn't perfect and very well might not pinpoint the issue. On the other hand, it might rule some things out. If you only export/import data from recent years, but find that the new file is just as slow to use, then the file is probably not your (main) issue here.

TTSguy

Defragging and optimizing your drive may be another option. some apps that help clean up the PC can also be helpful. Glary Utilities, CCleaner, and Advanced System Care can be included as options to "clean up" you PC. All 3 have free downloads.

[Deleted User]

> @TTSguy said:
> Defragging and optimizing your drive may be another option

We should really determine first if the problem seems related to Quicken itself or not, by trying to use a new file as suggested.

There are endless ways we could suggest here how to optimize the computing environment. (The most effective way would be to zeroize the disk and then reinstall the OS and then Quicken - but this is also the most extreme approach without changing the PC/hardware.) But these might not get at the real problem at all if it's actually an issue in the way the Quicken software is handling the existing Quicken data.