server error moving 2007qfdm to 2017... what gives??

George Soluk

In 2017 version when I open 2007 qfdm document it says "error connnecting to server" downloading conversion utility. What can I do??

George Soluk

I want to move all of my old records forward to newer version to maintain access… Help please

jacobs

In earlier versions of Quicken Mac, there was a conversion utility which downloaded to and ran locally on a user's Mac. But that conversion utility used a heavily modified version of the old Quicken 2007 code — and that was a problem once macOS Catalina came out, because the old 32-bit code in Quicken 2007 (and thus the conversion utility) can't run on Catalina or later. The developers came up with the clever solution of uploading the Quicken 2007 data fille to a server, which runs the conversion software and sends back to the user's Mac the intermediate data format which modern Quicken Mac then imports.

This change took place sometime shortly before Catalina was released in 2019. My guess is that your old Quicken 2017 program is trying to connect to the old server which downloaded the conversion utility, and that server no longer exists. If you upgraded to the current Quicken Mac, I believe your conversion woud work successfully. If you want to stick with the pre-subscription Quicken 2017, it's possible you may not be able to convert data from Quicken 2007 in that version any longer. Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.

If there's another way around this, hopefully one of the other Quicken Mac experts here will chime in and suggest a different path forward. Otherwise, since Quicken 2017 hasn't been supported software for several years now, I suspect you'll need to move to the subscription version of Quicken if you want to preserve your old data.

George Soluk

Jacob

Thanks very much for the explaination. As usual they seldom think of us who have retired and simply need to view our older records. I only have 32Bit machines available to me. Do you know if they ever made the conversion utility available for download for those of us who spent the money and are now retired on a small pension and cant afford an additional monthly outlay?

George

jacobs

George, if you had converted in the years leading up to macOS Catalina, it would have worked for you as you expected. But they don't continue to maintain older versions of the program, and updating old servers, for users who choose not to pay for upgrades. You can use the old program "as is" for as long as it works for you, but they don't offer ongoing support for it.

Yes, there was at one time a downloadable version of the conversion utility for Quicken 2017. But I don't know of any way to get it/install it now. Perhaps one of the other Mac gurus here will know if there's some way to hack this.

Your other option at this point is to purchase a subscription to Quicken Deluxe for one year, then not continue the subscription past the first year, and continue to use the software. Here's the catch. Once your subscription lapses, Quicken steals the right 20% of your screen for a permanent message about renewing your subscription. It's annoying, but it's their idea of a compromise for allowing people to continue to use the software without charge. If you have a wide enough screen, this may not be too much of an inconvenience to work around. Or you might find it very annoying to have to do more horizontal scrolling to see all the columns in your registers. If you go to the Quicken page about their Data Access Guarantee, click on the "What does this look like" link and it will give you an idea of the message boxes which will appear. Or here's what it looks like, courtesy of a Quiciken Windows user:

Again, if you have a wide screen, you may find this workable. Or not. 😀

smayer97

This is a long shot but you could try out QMac subscription for the 30-day trial period, convert QM2007 to QMac-sub, then export the data using QXF and import it back into QM2017. There are database differences so there is a good chance it will not work. But you can try… then get a refund within 30 days.

Keep in mind that QMac-Sub currently still runs on 32-bit Macs. But it has been announced that the next upgrade, v6.13, will no longer, as it will require Catalina macOS 10.15 or higher, though you will still be able to use the older version without upgrading, if you choose to keep it.

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George Soluk

I'd like to thank all that posted responses..

Bottom line though is that the makers of quicken do not understand that the data within their apps is like print on paper. You should be able to pull it out and review the records. The fact that you cant do that is a serious flaw. the fact that you cant easily move old records forward is shamefull and a total failure to understand their customers legal needs.

They need to release a utility that allows Quicken owners to move records through their various data formats. Accountants recommend that businesses keep records active for 15 years for IRS purposes. Thats a well known guideline. Early Quicken versions complied with that practise. They need to go back to that level of service.

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jacobs

@George Soluk I'm sorry, but I disagree with some of your assertions.

You decided to keep using software which was discontinued many years ago, and are now blaming the company for not making it easy to transfer your data. In fact, they did make it easy to transfer data for many years — right up through today — with some clever and helpful workarounds to the changes in Apple's operating system and hardware. You originally said users like you "simply need to view our older records". Well, you can do that! As discussed above: buy a subscription and update your data to the current version. If you just need it to access your old data, you could even ask for a refund within 30 days and get your money back; although you'd have a canceled subscription, you would be able to continue to launch the program, view your data, and get reports.

If instead you want to continue actively using Quicken, it's certainly not unreasonable for them to ask you to pay for it after 16 years of using it for free. And they even give you the option to use it for free if you're willing to put up with the annoyance of the block of space urging you to renew.

You allege there's a "serious flaw here". Where's the flaw? If you want to be able to pull out old software and data and use it as is after 15 years, you can do that — just keep around a computer which has the old operating system, and the old software will continue to work. But eventually, that old computer will die, and you'll need to move forward. No software vendor can stay in business if they do all the work to update their software to run on modern computers and operating systems without charging people for their work. There is no free lunch. ;) Your old software works on your old computer, but no one promised to keep your old computer or old software runnig in perpetuity.

You said: "they need to release a utility that allows Quicken owners to move records through their various data formats." That's not in their interests, but more importantly, it's just not technologoically feasible. The Quicken 2007 database was crafted for computers of the late 1990s, and uses an arcane data structure. It's so complicated that even Quicken had a hard time extracting data from it. As I mentioned in a post above, the way they came up with to do that is to use a modified version of the Quicken 2007 code to export the data to an intermediate format, which they could then program the modern Quicken Mac to import. That Quicken 2007 code is old 32-bit software which simply cannot be made to run on modern Mac operating systems. Advancing that code is such a dead end that back in 2007 they concluded they needed to stop developing it and start over from scratch, because they saw the brick wall ahead of them. You're saying they should just magically make a complete re-write of the old code happen — a course they abandoned about 17 years ago. Again, if you want access to your old data, they have provided a way to do that.

You then said: "Accountants recommend that businesses keep records active for 15 years for IRS purposes. Thats a well known guideline." Really? Well known by whom? I've never heard of 15 years. I ran a busines sfor nealry 40 years, and never kept all financial records that long, per my accountants' recommendations. Here's, directly from the Internal Revenue Service website, is what IRS says about record retention for small businesses and self-employed people:

1. Keep records for 3 years if situations (4), (5), and (6) below do not apply to you.
2. Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return.
3. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction.
4. Keep records for 6 years if you do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return.
5. Keep records indefinitely if you do not file a return.
6. Keep records indefinitely if you file a fraudulent return.
7. Keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the date that the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.

And additionally, they state: "If you have employees, you must keep all your employment tax records for at least 4 years after the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later." There is no mention of 15 years. For most individuals and businesses, keeping 6 or 7 years is more than enough, unless you don't file returns or know there are questionable practices throughout the years which IRS might challenge and extend the time period backward. (They can't just come in now and ask for review your records from 15 years ago; they can only go back 3, 6 or 7 years as described above, and can only go further back if they find fraudulent behavior — cheating, non-filing — in those years). I can't imagine any accountant recommending keeping all the details of your business records for 15 years.

Additionally, keeping records does not require being able to run the software you ran years ago. It only requires that you print reports (on paper, or PDF) whihc document and substantiate your income and expenses. If you don't have those records printed (to paper or PDF), go ahead and do so while you can still use the old software. That's on you; not Quicken. But again, their "data access guarantee" insures you can still use the current softweare to view and/or print your old data, as described above. So suggesting they have failed to provide an adequate "level of service" is not founded.

P.S. I'm a fellow user like you. I bash Quicken when I feel they have done wrong, but in this case, I think you just have some misconceptions about your respoionsibilties for accessing your data versus Quicken's. My intent here not to criticize you, but to help you understand what is available to you and how you can move forward should you choose to.

smayer97

I disagree… it is not unrealistic to have kept a converter available, either built-in, or otherwise for users to access, but simply noting any caveats to potential (but not automatic) incompatibility. QM2007 to QM2017 does NOT need their server solution. The fact that this is the only solution available is what the OP is contending with. And there is merit to that position.