After second set up of EWC+ for Bank of America many categories have disappeared

dbb1954

I had to reset the Express Web Connect + for my Bank of America accounts as the initial configuration of the new protocol failed to update several of the accounts after several successful weeks. After I performed the reset, several categories disappeared from my category list. More distressing is that all BofA accounts disappeared from the transfer category list and the auto detect feature for possible transfers stopped working entirely.

When I try to add the accounts back in as transfer categories manually using the brackets ([ ]) - I get a message that the account does not exist in Quicken. What gives?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @dbb1954,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and telling us about this issue.  I'm sorry to hear you're running into this problem. Do you keep your Quicken file on your C drive or is it on a shared network drive?  Is your Quicken file synced with any cloud service, such as One Drive or Dropbox (if it is, you will usually see the service name listed in the file location)?  The simplest way to check your file location, if you have Quicken up and the file open, is to click on File, then look near the bottom of the list, just above where it says Exit.  It will list the file locations for the 4 Quicken files you have most recently accessed, with the one you are currently in at the #1 spot.

Thank you.

dbb1954

My Quicken file is stored on my local c drive. The file is not synched with any other service. It is backed up daily to a local attached usb drive and backed up to dropbox once a month.

Here is some additional information that might help you troubleshoot this issue. When the issue with Web Connect was identified I was having trouble reinitiating the service. I called into your help desk and the agent there suggested I make a copy of my last good backup and then reset the web connect + with BofA. This worked as far as the Web Connect was concerned. When I completed that process I renamed the "restored" copy file and checked all account balances and recent transactions. Everything seemed ok. It was later that I recognized that many categories, including the transfer account categories were missing.

One last note - the copy was made to the attached USB drive and after the reset it was moved to the c drive. I am not sure why this would matter, but your questions seems to imply that might be a problem.

Thanks-

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your response,

It is possible that some of the information may not have copied over correctly. Did the agent have you run a validate and/or super validate after you copied the last good backup? If they didn't, I would recommend performing a validate and super validate. They won't make the missing categories reappear, but they may be able to correct the issue with Quicken not recognizing the transfer account you're putting in [].

First save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Validate: 

1. File
2. Validate and Repair File...
3. Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

If the issue persists, proceed to Super Validate. If the issue is resolved after performing validation, then please disregard the instructions to Super Validate.

Super Validate:

1. File
2. Hold CTRL + Shift and click Validate and Repair File...
3. Super Validate File
4. Click OK
5. Close the Data Log
6. Close Quicken (leave it closed for at least 5 secs)
7. Reopen Quicken and see if the issue persists.

Thank you.

dbb1954

Hi Quicken Kristina-

Thanks for the tip. It appears that the transfer accounts have returned as categories after the normal validate - I will continue to monitor the situation.

For my own edification, what is the difference between the normal a super validate processes?

Finally, my Quicken file has data going back to 1986. Is there a pruning option available? I would like to bring this file down to a manageable size.

DB

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

The super validate performs the check in a slightly different way than a regular validate does. As a result, it can correct some things that the normal validate does not see.

There are a few ways to prune your file. The simplest way is to create a copy (File>Copy or Backup File, then select Create a copy or template) and select the date range you want to carry forward. Then, you can keep the old file for reference in case you need that older history, and use the newly copied file going forward. Note: It's important to know that doing so will disconnect all online services in the copied file and you will need to sign back in with your Quicken ID and reconnect all of your online accounts, online billers, Quicken Bill Manager services, etc if you plan to use that copied file going forward. The reason for this is that the new copy also creates a new and separate dataset ID.

Depending on how much you want to prune and how much history your financial institutions provide for download, starting a new data file may be a viable option.

The final option is more labor instensive and is recommended only if the other options listed above do not work: you can backup your file, then manually delete older transactions. Please note that you may need to create new opening balances for the accounts after removing the older transactions.

Thank you.

mshiggins

@dbb1954 please be aware, any transaction data removed from your file (aka pruning your file) will be nearly impossible to add back. You will no longer be able to view or run reports for the removed transaction data without opening the archive file. Note - only one Quicken file can be open at a time, so side by side comparisons are not possible. Also, if your file is password protected and you change the password on your main file, you will have to also change the password on the archive file.

For these reasons, most Super Users here would recommend NOT pruning your file.

If you are having performance issues like the file being slow to open or slow transaction entry, there are ways to improve performance that don't involve pruning the file. If you just want to reduce clutter in lists or accounts, there are ways to do that as well.

dbb1954

msshiggins-

Thanks for the follow up here. I have always been reluctant to "prune" the Quicken file for the very reasons you posted. Although I rarely go back five or six years in my research, the comfort of having the data available always "trumped" the benefits of a prune or trim. Your comments are appreciated.