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Can I delete some old Quicken program/install files (edit)

Ranger

I have some unknown Quicken files that have plagued me for some time. I have contacted the community some time ago and they do not know what they are from or what to do with them. I do not know if I can delete them, uninstall them or what. There have been updates since they have appeared and they seem to propagate with each update. I discovered them when I ran an IOBIT uninstall for another program and saw them. I am including an image from IOBIT uninstall for you to see. You will notice there is a file for each year and each has the same size. I have nothing to Quicken except the updates when they are issued. When I now execute Quicken I get a white screen for some time before I am asked for my password. I then enter my password and get another white screen delay before I can do anything with the program. Will somebody please help or forward this to QUICKEN experts to resolve? It just gets worse and I have a hearing problem which makes telephone contact difficult. THANK YOU!! John Bohler

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Accepted answers

GeoffG

Not do go down a software uninstaller rabbit hole, but RevoUnistaller is a highly rated app that is free and may cleanup the registery fragments better than IOBIT. If you go this route, check out a few videos how to use and hopefully will address your issue.

https://www.revouninstaller.com/

All comments

Greg_the_Geek

The Quicken 2011 - Quicken 2017 names are remnants of old Quicken installations and can be deleted. The Quicken installed on 11/7/2022 is your current Quicken installation and should not be deleted.

Ps56k2

I thought this was resolved last year - and… as mentioned in your 2022 discussion - are these really there ?
If they are not in the \Program Files (x86)\ folder for executables, then what and where are these ghosts ?
If the actual Windows UNINSTALL program doesn't see them…. then I wouldn't worry.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7923019/quicken-files

Chris_QPW

I think there might be a bit of a misconception of what is going on here.

When you install Quicken it installs a lot of files and some Windows Registry settings.

One might think that if you do an uninstall that all of this is removed, but this is wrong.

First off, they purposely don't remove everything because you might be either reinstalling or installing a later version and some of those files have your personal preferences in them. But even past that, the installer might install something that might be used by other programs, and out of caution not remove it when you uninstall.

IOBIT uninstaller on the other hand is going to track down any references to a give install and flag it as something you can uninstall with it. There is a danger in this. Say there is a Windows registry setting that points to the uninstall program, and that uninstall program is the same name in every year version of Quicken. Then all of these are pointing at the same thing, and if that uninstall program is run you will in fact uninstall the current version of Quicken. And that seems to be the case just looking at your screenshot. You will notice that the date on all of those entries at the same as the latest install.

Frankly I don't know how smart IOBIT uninstaller is, as in will it know not to uninstall the current version and just remove the references? I don't know.

My take on this is, that those entries are in fact not causing any harm, but if they are really bothering you what I would do is select Quicken 2011 through 2017 and unistall them. This might uninstall Quicken Subscription. If it does, just reinstall it.

Ranger

Bucky Badger, I apologize for my continued persistent questions regarding the questionable files. I just do not understand why Quicken would install a new version and not get rid on files utilized in the install process. I could not find the files in the Quicken folder in the Program 86 folder. I also ran a delete process for all leftover installation files and they remained after that. However, I did find them in the Registry Editor file, not that I know what that means. I will include a copy of that here. My question now is do I delete or uninstall? I was driven back to the problem by the excessive load time encountered each time I use Quicken and fear of loosing data by doing something that i am not sure of. A BIG THANKS AGAIN!

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Rocket J Squirrel

If these, as I suspect, are installation files, you don't (can't) uninstall them. You simply delete them.

It appears you are hiding filename extensions. This is a very stupid Microsoft default which makes it difficult to tell what types of files you have. You should open the C: drive and change this option. Then you can see if you have executable programs (.EXE) or Microsoft installers (.MSI) for example.

In any event, the safest thing to do if you need the disk space is to move the mystery files to offline storage, e.g., a USB drive.

Chris_QPW

Seeing your latest screenshot has me wondering if there is something wrong with your machine. Maybe an anti-virus program or such blocking uninstalls.

Whereas it isn't hard to believe that the uninstall programs might miss an entry here or there. The one you are pointing at is the Windows Registry entry for the uninstall program itself. In other words, if you go to the Windows installed Apps section of the Settings you will see “Quicken 2011”, because of that entry. If you selected to uninstall it, what Windows does is use this entry in the Registry to determine how to uninstall it. Well, one of the last things the Quicken uninstall would do is remove this Windows Registry entry to get it off of the installed Apps list. And clearly that didn't happen, and it isn't a one time fluke. It didn't happen for 2011 through 2017, and probably wouldn't happen for Quicken Subscription.

If this part of the uninstall isn't working one would have to wonder what other parts didn't get uninstalled.

And the very fact that an anti-virus program might be getting in the way, might be the cause of the slow startup time for Quicken.

I would be inclined to turn off the anti-virus software and see if that makes a difference on the startup time. If so, find the settings in it needed to exclude the Quicken files.

Past that let me state that you can uninstall all of this and not affect your data file(s).

To get a really clean unistall you would want to make sure that you also get rid of all the Quicken configuration files. You will have to make sure your preferences are how you want them after you reinstall, but that is about it.

Configuration files are stored at:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming

C:\ProgramData\Intuit\Quicken

C:\ProgramData\Quicken

EDIT:

Just to make sure the above is clear, you would be removing the configuration folders AFTER you have uninstalled everything. And also if C:\Program Files (x86)\Quicken is around after the uninstall, then you would delete it too.

Ps56k2

I did a search of my Registry - starting at the /Uninstall/ node -
and didn't find any references to these types of “Quicken” entries

Ranger

I really do not know what to do now. My experience is with the IBM systems and writing in Autocoder, ALC and Cobol so that should tell you I go back awhile. I just finished running utilities from HP to check for various problems. I then checked the Registry Editor file and the Quicken 2011 is still there. Is there a simple step 1, 2 3 etc. procedure to find and resolve this mess? Last year, I uninstalled Quicken and reinstalled it again and it basically didn't do anything. Is there any utility that can search for a registry problem and resolve it? Thanks for all your assistance! John

Greg_the_Geek

Have you tried selecting Quicken 2011 - Quicken 2017 in IOBit Unstaller and uninstall or the garbage can next to each listing? As @Chris_QPW posted, you can always reinstall the current Quicken.

Ps56k2

simple solution - put down the hammer and just ignore it

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Ranger

Greg, I went to IOBIT Uninstall and uninstalled Quicken 11 and 12. It indicated both were uninstalled along with any leftovers. I looked at the Registry and they are still there. I ran an IOBIT Uninstall again and they are still there also despite the message that they were uninstalled. As suggested by Pa56k2 the problem of slow starts appears to be getting worse and I find it difficult to ignore. I also disabled my virus protection and it made no difference. I also checked my storage and I am using about half and Windows indicated that is fine. I need a 12 year old grandson.

GeoffG

https://www.revouninstaller.com/

Greg_the_Geek

I would suggest using the free Revo Uninstaller Portable version. It will remove the remenants of the old Quicken installation and not install itself.

https://www.revouninstaller.com/start-freeware-download-portable/

Ranger

Greg, I typed a lengthy reply to you and then checked the "yes" to problem solved and I do not see my reply. I should have saved a copy but I did not think the system would not send the message if I answered "yes" to if the problem was solved. I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but it took some time to do everything. I had to uninstall each Quicken separately and the first ones took some time. The REVO you suggested worked well after I figured it out. I also wasn't sure if it would not save the backup files, so I did a backup on a zip file to be sure I would not loose anything. I sincerely thank you for all your patience and assistance these past few days. I was at my wits end in resolving my problem. Many many thanks to you for all the help. I wish I could send a dinner out your way as a token of appreciation. My very best wishes to you. You deserve The Quicken Medal of Honor! John

Greg_the_Geek

I'm glad I was able to help get your problem solved. Thatns for letting me know.