Has the Wells Fargo 297 error been figured out - still unable to download 5 months

mjcleland

I have checked internet settings and all comply - where can I get an update on what to do to fix this issue?

Change software or change banks?

No problems with 5 other financial institutions

Boatnmaniac

mjcleland said:

Thank you - I appreciate this. It would be interesting to know when that support was dropped. As a long time subscriber, receiving regular updates from Quicken, I would have thought there would have been notification.
Possible I missed it.

Support has never mentioned my OS not being supported.

Mark1104 said:

It appears Quicken posted updated minimum requirements in late October, 2022.  There was no "announcement" per se, just that the website listing the minimum requirements was updated with no additional 'fanfare'.

While it may not be the relevant reason for the failure (I think it is), Quicken states it does not support Win7 any longer. 

Back in Q4 of 2019 and through at least the 1st half of 2020 Quicken did announce that Win 7 support would end in Jan 2020, coinciding with Microsoft's end of support date for Win 7.  Here is a snapshot of one of the announcements that Quicken made in 2020. 

Unfortunately, Quicken has more than one location showing minimum requirements and one of those locations (at the bottom of the product selection/comparison screen) was not updated like the picture above until just in the last few months.  (Now it looks like all the of the min requirements listings have been updated to not only have removed Win 7 but have now added Win 11.)

I had also gotten popups in Quicken for a while in Q4/2019 with a very similar Win 7 discontinuation announcement.  Unfortunately, I did not take a snapshot of one of those.

That bit about "...we cannot provide assistance if a problem occurs..." should not be considered firm in all situations.  Quicken Support can and will provide support for many issues encountered while running Quicken on Win 7 provided the issue is not related to compatibility issues.  But if/when it appears that the cause of the issue might be related to Win 7 compatibility then Quicken will not be able to provide troubleshooting support and we should not be expecting them to fix any compatibility issues.

mjcleland said:

Since these 297 errors continue in the population, lack of Win 7 support may not be the relevant reason for the failure.

I won’t have an updated machine until April

As mentioned by @Mark1104 , there are quite a few other posts in this Community regarding this OL-297 issue being experienced with WF...and only with WF...where no amount of troubleshooting has fixed the issue.  In one of those threads someone had actually done some detailed technical troubleshooting and verified (and provided testing evidence) that some configuration setting on the WF server(s) that Quicken connects to is no longer compatible with Direct Connect connections from Win 7 systems.

What others have done to resolve the issue:

1. Deactivated the Direct Connect connection and set it up with Express Web Connect, instead. 
   
2. Deactivated the Direct Connect connection and instead use Web Connect (manually downloading and importing transactions data from WellsFargo.com in "Quicken" formatted files), instead.
3. Upgraded their operating system to Win 10 or Win 11 or bought a new computer with Win 11 already installed.
   

Since you won't be getting an updated computer until April, you might want to temporarily use options 1 or 2.  Either that or manually manage your WF account(s) until you get that updated system.

Regarding OL-297 errors with other financial institutions:  OL-297 simply means that an Internet connection could not be established with the Financial Institution.  There can be many different reasons for this and it does not identify the specific cause.  This Win 7 compatibility issue at this time appears to be affecting only WF, not other Financial Institutions.  But I think it is reasonable to assume that Win 7 will become an issue with others at some point, as well.

Mark1104

@mjcleland - what version of WINDOWS are you on? Have you called Support? 

Boatnmaniac

The Alert for OL-297 error code with Wells Fargo shows it is resolved but it does not say what, if anything, users need to do to get the connection working, again:  https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7922653/new-10-27-22-wells-fargo-ol-297/p1?new=1.  But I do see a few other posts of OL-297 errors so I wonder whether or not the issue was really resolved.

Have you tried Reset Account?  What was the result?

Have you tried Deactivate/Reactivate?  What was the result?

Until this issue gets resolved you can try setting up the connection for Express Web Connect instead of Direct Connect.

Another option would be to use Web Connect (manually download from your online account in QFX or "Quicken" format and then import that file into Quicken).

Also, which version of Windows are you running?

mjcleland

Thanks for your help! I have called support (no resolution and no real diagnostic help after the 20 questions approach)

I’m running Quicken Real Estate on Win 7.

> Have you tried Reset Account?  What was the result? —— yes, it hung the application and delivered no change

> Have you tried Deactivate/Reactivate?  What was the result? - Quick 297 error when the app attempts to login at WF

> Until this issue gets resolved you can try setting up the connection for Express Web Connect instead of Direct Connect. —— Have tried changing method to no effect. When trying to change back to Direct Connect, I receive an instantaneous 297 error when the app attempts to login at WF.

Since financial downloads have worked with WF for over a decade. I don’t want the go the spreadsheet download route, but I do understand that this is a highly manual solution.

Mark1104

@Mjcleland - Quicken is no longer supported on Win7 - and there are other posts that the Wells servers don't support it either.  How old is your desktop / laptop? 

https://www.quicken.com/support/quicken-system-requirements

Desktop

Windows (US & Canada)

• Computer: 1 GHz or higher
• Operating System:
  • Windows 8 & 8.1 
  • Windows 10. Not compatible with Windows 10 in S mode. For more information about S mode, click here. 
  • Windows 11. Not compatible with Windows 11 in S mode. For more information about S mode, click here.

 

mjcleland

Thank you - I appreciate this. It would be interesting to know when that support was dropped. As a long time subscriber, receiving regular updates from Quicken, I would have thought there would have been notification.
Possible I missed it.

Support has never mentioned my OS not being supported.

Since these 297 errors continue in the population, lack of Win 7 support may not be the relevant reason for the failure.

I won’t have an updated machine until April

Mark1104

It appears Quicken posted updated minimum requirements in late October, 2022.  There was no "announcement" per se, just that the website listing the minimum requirements was updated with no additional 'fanfare'.

While it may not be the relevant reason for the failure (I think it is), Quicken states it does not support Win7 any longer. 

Boatnmaniac

mjcleland said:

Thank you - I appreciate this. It would be interesting to know when that support was dropped. As a long time subscriber, receiving regular updates from Quicken, I would have thought there would have been notification.
Possible I missed it.

Support has never mentioned my OS not being supported.

Mark1104 said:

It appears Quicken posted updated minimum requirements in late October, 2022.  There was no "announcement" per se, just that the website listing the minimum requirements was updated with no additional 'fanfare'.

While it may not be the relevant reason for the failure (I think it is), Quicken states it does not support Win7 any longer. 

Back in Q4 of 2019 and through at least the 1st half of 2020 Quicken did announce that Win 7 support would end in Jan 2020, coinciding with Microsoft's end of support date for Win 7.  Here is a snapshot of one of the announcements that Quicken made in 2020. 

Unfortunately, Quicken has more than one location showing minimum requirements and one of those locations (at the bottom of the product selection/comparison screen) was not updated like the picture above until just in the last few months.  (Now it looks like all the of the min requirements listings have been updated to not only have removed Win 7 but have now added Win 11.)

I had also gotten popups in Quicken for a while in Q4/2019 with a very similar Win 7 discontinuation announcement.  Unfortunately, I did not take a snapshot of one of those.

That bit about "...we cannot provide assistance if a problem occurs..." should not be considered firm in all situations.  Quicken Support can and will provide support for many issues encountered while running Quicken on Win 7 provided the issue is not related to compatibility issues.  But if/when it appears that the cause of the issue might be related to Win 7 compatibility then Quicken will not be able to provide troubleshooting support and we should not be expecting them to fix any compatibility issues.

mjcleland said:

Since these 297 errors continue in the population, lack of Win 7 support may not be the relevant reason for the failure.

I won’t have an updated machine until April

As mentioned by @Mark1104 , there are quite a few other posts in this Community regarding this OL-297 issue being experienced with WF...and only with WF...where no amount of troubleshooting has fixed the issue.  In one of those threads someone had actually done some detailed technical troubleshooting and verified (and provided testing evidence) that some configuration setting on the WF server(s) that Quicken connects to is no longer compatible with Direct Connect connections from Win 7 systems.

What others have done to resolve the issue:

1. Deactivated the Direct Connect connection and set it up with Express Web Connect, instead. 
   
2. Deactivated the Direct Connect connection and instead use Web Connect (manually downloading and importing transactions data from WellsFargo.com in "Quicken" formatted files), instead.
3. Upgraded their operating system to Win 10 or Win 11 or bought a new computer with Win 11 already installed.
   

Since you won't be getting an updated computer until April, you might want to temporarily use options 1 or 2.  Either that or manually manage your WF account(s) until you get that updated system.

Regarding OL-297 errors with other financial institutions:  OL-297 simply means that an Internet connection could not be established with the Financial Institution.  There can be many different reasons for this and it does not identify the specific cause.  This Win 7 compatibility issue at this time appears to be affecting only WF, not other Financial Institutions.  But I think it is reasonable to assume that Win 7 will become an issue with others at some point, as well.

mjcleland

Yep - this all makes sense now. And my thread of hope dies.

Thank you for this very complete explanation. And the effort to do so. (Both Boat and Mark)

The win 7 drop was a surprise in that I know my system is ancient I watch for those messages.

Again - Thank you Community