Moving Quicken 2017 to a new computer (again)

Dboy

I have an old laptop (12 years old using Windows 7) running Quicken 2017 (I own the DVD software disc) and 2 years ago I swapped out my hard drive and loaded Windows 10 on it, then Quicken… it works just fine. Recently I finally decided to actually get a new laptop and ordered it with Windows 10. For the life of me I can NOT get Quicken 2017 to run without getting the dreaded blank screen. I have scoured the threads looking for a fix and have tried, to no avail, all the suggestions here. I refuse to pay for the subscription because it offers me absolutley no additional value. I'd be incredibly grateful if someone could outline the detailed steps I need to take to get it to work, otherwise I'll be returning this new Thinkpad. 😓 Thank you in advance.

Greg_the_Geek

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20350586#Comment_20350586

You have to show Hidden files and folders to see C:\ProgramData. The correct path is C:\ProgramData\Intuit\Quicken\Config\QUICKEN.INI.

Boatnmaniac

Within the past year or so Quicken made a change to the initiation process and that change is not compatible with unsupported, non-subscritption versions from Quicken 2014-2017. This non-compatibility issue seems to get triggered when reinstalling it or installing it for the first time on a new computer. I also think it probably gets triggered just about anytime something is done which causes Quicken to try connecting with or refreshing the Quicken Cloud Account (only my opinion).

If you have your old system and can retrieve your Quicken.ini file from it then maybe you will be able to get your new installation of Quicken 2017 to work. Copy that file from the old system and use that copy to replace the same file in your new system. Then try using Quicken, again.

Some have said to copy the entire Config folder from the old system and use that copy to replace the Config folder on the new system.

There is no guarantee that either of these steps will work for you. Some have said they work while others said they did not.

You can read more about this issue at Migrating Quicken 2017 from old to new computer - Quicken Data Access Guarantee — Quicken. It's a very long thread. There are quite a few others that are similar to it.

If you cannot get it to work for you then it looks like your only option to access your data file is to upgrade to subscription. After the subscription expires in a year you can either decide to renew it or to not renew it.

If you decide to not renew it you will still be able to use it manually (except for Starter which will become read-only) but about 20%-25% of the Quicken screen will be taken up by a banner reminding you to resubscribe. There is no way to remove this banner without resubscribing. But while that banner might be a nuisance it should not interfere with manual functionality.

Dboy

Thank you for your answer on this. I have tried to copy the Quicken.ini file as well as the whole Quicken folder. I've done this BEFORE running Quicken right after loading it to the laptop. I even disconnected from the Internet to try all this thinking that it was trying to update. Some users have said they got it to work and I'm just wondering how? I have it already running on Windows 10 so i feel like I should be able to get it to run on my new laptop with Windows 10. What I'm wondering is if I'm copying the correct files?

Local Disck (C:)/Windows/Quicken.ini and Local Disk (C:)/Program Files (x86)/Quicken

Boatnmaniac

I'm not a computer guru so I'm not the best person to ask about this. But I did see one person who is a much more savvy computer person say the path might be C:\ProgramData\Quicken\Config\QUICKEN.INI.

Also, I would refer you to the top of page 6 of the referenced thread where there is some discussion about where the file and config folder are located.

Perhaps someone else who has better knowledge of this will step in here and be able to give you a better response on this than I can.

Dboy

Thanks for the input but I don't have that path available on my Windows 10 hard drive. For starters, I don't have a folder "ProgramData". I'm wondering now if I need to copy the files from my Windows 7 hard drive instead. I just thought if it was running on Windows 10 then (in theory) I should be able to get it running on my new laptop with Windows 10.

mshiggins

@Dboy can you describe the steps you did to try to install QW2017?

Greg_the_Geek

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20350586#Comment_20350586

You have to show Hidden files and folders to see C:\ProgramData. The correct path is C:\ProgramData\Intuit\Quicken\Config\QUICKEN.INI.

Dboy

First let me state that I have 2 hard drives that I swap around on my 12 year old Thinkpad. The one has Windows 7 and the other Windows 10. I have quicken 2017 loaded on both and it runs just fine.

Here are the steps I've taken to try and get it to work on my new Thinkpad with Windows 10:

As stated in an earlier thread I used Revo Uninstaller to remove Quicken and any residual files. I turned off the Internet so there wouldn't be any automatic updates. Next I loaded Quicken from the original DVD disc I have and after it installed did NOT open the program and run it. I restarted my computer. I then went to this location "Local Disk (C:)/Program Files (x86)/Quicken" and deleted the Quicken folder. Next I went to this location "Local Disk (C:)/Windows/Quicken.ini" and deleted the Quickin.ini file (I believe that's the config file everyone refers to). Finally I load the files I copied (from the same locations on my other hard drive with Windows 10), back to where they should go. I restart my computer, and THEN I open Quicken and run it. Load my backup file from where I saved it and all I get is the blank screen.

I have done this process at least a dozen times changing things like NOT restarting it, but it all still yields the blank screen. I even tried copying the files from my hard drive with Windows 7, still a blank screen. What frustrates me the most is, I already have it running on a drive with windows 10 and can't understand why I just can't figure out how to move it over. The only think I haven't tried is changing the time and date on the computer to a date before April 2020 when the company stopped supporting stand-alone versions.

Any help (detailed please) you could provide or insight would be much appreciated. I feel like the solution is just around the corner…😊

Boatnmaniac

A new installation will never be allowed to run if it does not first have Internet access. One of the first things that Quicken will do during installation is to validate that the installation is a valid licensed version. If it cannot do that, then Quicken will not be permitted to open and run.

Dboy

BINGO!!!

To everyone here who offered help especially Greg_the_Geek. Turns out I was copying the WRONG configuartion file because the REAL one was hidden. Thank you!!!