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Very basic file restore questions - Quicken 9 Deluxe.

ellentk

Somehow I’ve been entering data in backups rather than in my qdata folder and now all my backups are up-to-date and files in my qdata folder are not.

So I want to restore qdata from a backup but don't know if I should execute the restore command from qdata or from a backup file.

I'm thinking that I should execute the command from qdata, not a backup, and answer "Yes" to “Overwrite the file which is currently in use?” Is this correct?

Also, I have exact copies of the most recent backup qdf files in qdata\backup on my hard drive and on two thumb drives. Is the restore likely to be more reliable if I choose the backup on my hard drive or on a thumb drive or does it not matter?

Thanks for your help.

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Accepted answers

Tom Young

Do you understand how, "somehow", you've been using backups instead of the actual qdata file? Make sure you understand that before you fix things or you'll probably continue to make the same error.

If you do now understand the problem with your use of the wrong files then I'd say that starting with the "correct" qdata file and restoring the associated up-to-date backup file is a one correct approach. Another approach would be to delete the qdata files or rename them so as not to get confused, and then using Windows File Explorer, copy the up-to-date backup file over to the qdata folder and then renaming the file "{correct file name}.QDF"

I'd just use the backups on the hard drive as that's the easiest way to go.

Ps56k2

just to clarify - the main QDF file and the backup files are merely simple copies of each other… that's why they work without performing a "restore" …

now - look at the upper top left corner of Quicken and see the name of the QDF file being used … it will also be at the very bottom of the Quicken—> File —> menu … with the full path & folder name.

what folder is this file - is it in the \backup\ folder ?

Ps56k2

yes - you need to grab all of those 4 files and treat them as a family …

All comments

Tom Young

Do you understand how, "somehow", you've been using backups instead of the actual qdata file? Make sure you understand that before you fix things or you'll probably continue to make the same error.

I'd just use the backups on the hard drive as that's the easiest way to go.

Ps56k2

just to clarify - the main QDF file and the backup files are merely simple copies of each other… that's why they work without performing a "restore" …

what folder is this file - is it in the \backup\ folder ?

ellentk

Thanks for your help Tom and Ps56k2. I never paid attention to quicken’s file structure. But I’ve spent the better part of this afternoon doing so and think I’ve come up with a good plan.

I think my mistakes were not understanding that backup qdf files can be loaded, that quicken loads the last file opened when it launches, and that I never paid attention to which file and folder I was working on as they all contain the same data. I probably caused the problem by opening a backup to check if all data was backed up and then closed quicken. I probably did this more than once.

In the future, I’ll make sure that the main qdata qdf file is loaded by choosing it from File/Open, or right clicking the qdf file in windows explorer and choosing “open with/Quicken Launcher” to open quicken and load that qdf file. And to double check, once quicken opens, I’ll look at the list in the file menu to see what file is in use. BTW, would double clicking a qdf file in windows explorer also launch quicken and load that qdf file?

Here’s how I plan to set up my quicken files. Using windows explorer, I’ll made a copy of the D:\Qdata folder and rename the copy Qdata.old. I’ll delete everything in D:\Qdata and just leave an empty Backup subfolder. Then I’ll copy the most recent copies of QData.IDX, QData.QDF, QData.QEL and QData.QPH to D:\Qdata from a backup folder. Should I also add the most recent backups to D:\Qdata\Backup or can I leave it empty?

Here’s how I plan to manage backups. I have three backup locations, one in D:\Qdata\Backup and two on thumb drives: H:\QuickenBak and U:\QuickenBak. I’ll delete all backup files but the most recent idx, qdf, qel and qph files from H:\QuickenBak and U:\QuickenBak. Does it matter if the QuickenBak folders have subfolders called Backup? It seems simpler to put the backup files in the folders’ root on the thumb drives as Bak is in the folders’ name, but does quicken make Backup subfolders automatically when backing up?

(BTW, I’m using an older version of that doesn’t display the complete path to a file on the top left or at the bottom of the file menu but I think I figured out that the qdf file is active.)

Thanks again for all your help. Please let me know if my plans will work and if I’ve overlooked anything.

Ps56k2

@ellentk - whoa…… what version are you running -
as the most recent versions do not have the multiple files you listed -
they only have the single ZIP consolidated QDF file - but much older versions still had the files split up -

Then I’ll copy the most recent copies of
QData.IDX,
QData.QDF,
QData.QEL
QData.QPH to D:\Qdata from a backup folder.

ellentk

I'm running Quicken 9 Deluxe. It works perfectly for my needs. Even though the backups are now compressed, wouldn't using explorer.exe to copy the four current backup files over the outdated ones in d:\qdata result in loading the current data from the newly copied d:\qdata\qdata.qdf when the now-current qdf in d:\qdata is called?

And the only change I'd make to my backup strategy is to back up to fewer subfolders and be more careful.

Ps56k2

yes - you need to grab all of those 4 files and treat them as a family …

ellentk

Thank you! You've been very helpful.

Chris_QPW

Note that if there is an Attach folder, you need that too, because that is where the attachments are stored. For instance if the data file is called qdata, then they would be in Attach\qdata.

q_lurker

@ellentk This very dated FAQ may entertain you and give you some insight and constructive thoughts about backups back in the olden days of Quicken but still applicable I believe for your QW2009 vintage. Note that MikeB originally composed this back around 2005, almost 20 years ago. Enjoy.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7093694/faq-mikebs-backup-strategies-a-readable-version

Ps56k2

so… @ellentk what timeframe is this originally from - looks like June 2018 -

I'm running Quicken 9 Deluxe.

ellentk

@Ps56k2 LOL! The data on my laptop goes back to 2012. But, of course, my backups do not.

I just restored my data using windows explorer. I renamed d:\qdata, created a new empty qdata folder and copied the most recent IDX, QDF, QEL and QPH files into it, opened Quicken and there it all was. When I clicked backup, Quicken asked if I wanted to create a backup folder and I clicked Yes. It did not ask me that when I backed up to my two thumb drives. So now I have d:\qdata\backup, h:\quickenbak and u:\quickenbak. And I renamed all the older folders so I won't accidentally click any of them.

And thank you for Mike's faq. It connected a lot of dots for me. Did he actually try to trademark REALLY BAD IDEA?

Thank you everyone for your help. (Now I can do my taxes, LOL.)

One thing I'd still like to do is remove the backup files that appear at the bottom of the File menu. Is there a way to do that within Quicken? Or Is there a registry setting I can change? Maybe one that specifies how many files are put on the list? Then I can change it to one, open quicken and see the backups are gone, close it and change it back to four in the registry?