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How to rebuild QDF file - Support says it is corrupted

Haapy

Windows 10, Quicken Deluxe R50.16.

Support told me that I had corruption issues - ticket 10344890, however, Quicken still works for 95% of what I need.

I have 3 credit cards and 3 investment accounts with cash accounts.

I would like to know what the current method is to rebuild my QDF, either export from my current QDF and import to a new QDF or copy from the old to the new or another way.

I have searched the community and most of the posts are old and I want to make sure that I do this right.

Thank you.

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Accepted answers

Boatnmaniac

Data base files are a whole different animal from application files like Excel or Word. But at some point a corruption can be such that there is no fixing a file. This is true with application files as well as data base files. As mentioned earlier, Validate and Super Validate are tools that can easily and accurately fix some (not all) data base corruption issues and it can also fix some (not all) program issues. Maybe Validate/Super Validate can be improved upon and maybe at some time those improvements will be rolled out to us….we can only hope.

Since it does sound like your data file is corrupted beyond current repair/rebuild capabilities that even the copy process cannot fix, what you could try doing is to export the accounts data in QIF format from the file with the corruption issue and then import it into a completely new file. I probably would not try to export in QFX format (which works quite well for spending accounts but does not work at all with investment accounts) as it will also require another export/import of investment accounts in QIF format. Doing 2 separate export/import processes like that would break transfer transactions that might exist between investment accounts and other accounts. So, if you have transfers into/out of investment account you should do just a single QIF format export/import which should retain all the transfer transactions properly. You can read more about the processes at:

Export QIF File: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-export-data-quicken
Import QIF File: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-import-data-quicken-windows

Note that this export/import process will not transfer assets and debt accounts properly and many of the loan accounts will have their Account Type changed. To fix these types of issues will likely require manually setting up new accounts for them and then move the transactions from the wrongly set up accounts into the correctly set up accounts. And other debt and asset accounts will need to be fixed, as well. If you don't fix these other account issues and instead opt to delete those accounts, any transfer transactions between those accounts and your spending and investment accounts will be broken so traceability of those transactions will be lost.

Also, all of the online setup connections will be deactivated and will need to be set up, again. In addition, global and account-level Preferences and saved customized reports will need to be set up, again. Completing the entire process, including all the fixing that will need to be done, can be very time consuming.

Is it worth the effort? That is only something you can answer. I don't know what the significance/risk is of the data file corruption you have is. It is safe to say that corruption issues do not self-resolve and unless they can be fixed (something that does not appear to be the case with your main data file) they can eventually get worse. But maybe it won't get worse and you will be fine continuing to use your current data file without any additional corruption issues showing up.

Other than this, I have no other suggestions at this time. Perhaps someone else will weigh in with something else.

BTW, you do use Quicken cloud account(s). Beginning with 2014 every data file has a Quicken cloud account. It has information in there like your subscription information, the version you are using, whether or not you are using a validly licensed software and some other rather benign information.

But if you use Express Web Connect or Express Web Connect+ connection methods there will also be related financial institution and account information, transactions data and, in the case of Express Web Connect, online account login information for those accounts that is saved there. This information is not available for use with Mobile & Web unless you turn on Mobile & Web Sync which will also then add a lot more information to the cloud account.

All comments

NotACPA

The BEST method is to restore from a backup created before the corruption

Haapy

And if I do not have that backup?

(This corruption must have happened years ago).

Boatnmaniac

@Haapy - Can you provide some insight into what the "corruption" issue is?

Having that information can help in defining which steps might be best for you to take.

And it is possible that Support is mistaken and it is not a corruption issue. Details about what issue(s) you are seeing can help to confirm this or maybe identify another cause.

Haapy

Yes, it started here.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7914351/dashboard-glitch

Then I called support and they could not fix it.

Suport also noted that the Dashboad view did not have a Main option.

They had me create a test QDF and all the little glitches went away.

Support said they could not help me and closed the ticket.

Thanks.

Haapy

So…. is there any way to safely rebuild a QDF file?

Quicken Kristina

Hello @Haapy,

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. I can see that when you contacted Support, they had you validate your file. Did they also have you do a Super Validate? If not, then I would recommend following these steps:

Please save a backup file prior to performing these steps.

Super Validate:

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

If the super validate doesn't correct the issue, since you said you don't have a backup from before the issue started to revert back to, the next thing to try is creating a copy of your data file, which will rebuild all of the internal lists and database tables. If successful, you would then move forward with the copied file. To create a copy, please navigate to File > Copy or Backup File... > Create a copy or template (see examples below) which will also allow you to select a date range to move forward with.
If you wish to move forward with your entire data file, please check the full date range of your entire data file before copying so you can enter the correct date range if you do not wish to "shrink" your file by eliminating certain dates.

It's important to know that all online services in the copied file will be disconnected, 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.

If the issue is not resolved in the copied file either, then feel free to switch back to your original file.

Thank you!

Boatnmaniac

@Haapy - I was about to reply suggesting that you make a copy of the current data file as mentioned by @Quicken Kristina so I won't rehash that.

But before you start doing that I recommend that you do the following:

In each account register enter and save the dollar amount of the Opening Balance transaction into the Memo field of that transaction. (Sometimes, not always, when reconnecting an account the Opening Balance transaction amount gets changed. Having the correct amount entered into the Memo field makes it very easy to see if this issue exists and to know what it needs to be corrected to.)
Make sure that all transactions in all accounts are Reconciled. (Sometimes, not always, when reconnecting an account, duplicate transactions will be downloaded and when they are entered into the account they will have a Cleared status. Having all previously entered transactions marked as Reconciled makes it very easy to know which transactions are duplicates of the original transactions…the Cleared transactions…and will need to be manually deleted. Of course, new transactions might also be downloaded and those you will keep because there will be no Reconciled matching transactions for them.)

You do not need to do these things but doing them can save you a lot of troubleshooting time later should you encounter either of these issues during the account reconnection process.

Haapy

@Quicken Kristina

@Boatnmaniac

Thank you both for your concise instructions.

I did perform a Supervalidate, no errors, no change to the Quicken Dashboard.

I will be performing both your instructions (Boatnmaniac first, Quicken Kristina second) in the next few days and will post results.

Haapy

@Quicken Kristina @Boatnmaniac

I printed your instructions to read and understand before executing them.

This procedure is exactly what support had me do. It did not change the dashboard (missing Main) nor the date last updated when using One Step Update. This is when they closed the ticket and politely said that they were done and could not fix the problem.

OK, I can live with this glitch. My accounts balance month over month. I just hope that there is not some underlying corruption that will be disasterous down the road. I do perform a backup everytime I exit Quicken and keep about 20 backups rolling.

My final question is why does Quicken not provide a simple method to repair a QDF file (both banking and investing acccounts)?

Thanks.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your response,

I'm sorry to hear that procedure did not work. Sometimes, using the copy method to truncate your file (carry forward just the years you need and keep the old file for reference) can resolve the issue, if the problems are coming from the older data in the file.

To answer your final question: Quicken does provide methods that are effective for dealing with many file issues. The Validate and Super Validate tools, restoring from a backup that predates the issue, and making a copy of the file are able to correct the vast majority of issues.

Thank you.

Boatnmaniac

@Haapy -

This procedure is exactly what support had me do. It did not change the dashboard (missing Main) nor the date last updated when using One Step Update. This is when they closed the ticket and politely said that they were done and could not fix the problem.

Which procedure? There were 2 different procedures in @Quicken Kristina's post:

Super Validate: Validate and Super Validate are the "simple" methods to repair a QDF file. However, they cannot fix all issues/corruptions. Sometimes it just gets to a point where a file gets corrupted and nothing can fix it. If this is the process you refer to in your last post, then it sounds like the QDF file corruption might not be repairable.
Create a Copy or Template: This is the 2nd process that was suggested if the Super Validate does not work. This actually creates a new data file (with all the data included in it) with a new data file ID and a new Cloud Account that should all mirror the success you had when you created a new Quicken file from scratch that had no issues. During the copy process all online services (such as account setups for downloads) will be deactivated so after the new file is created those online services will need to be set up, again. Setting up those online services, again, is where there can be some other issues encountered and that is what my last post was about.

So, was it #1 or #2 or both that your last post refers to?

Haapy

Sorry for the confusion.

I did both 1 and 2 above in that order for the Quicken support agent.

The Quicken support agent had me do only 2 of the 4 credit cards and not any of the investment accounts.

I do not use a cloud account.

All went well, but the Dashboard and One Step update did not change.

When I created a new test QDF, both items worked.

Haapy

I guess by the lack of further suggestions, the conclusion here is the same as that of support - Quicken has no easy, accurate way to rebuild a QDF (banking and investing).

This would be a good thing for the developers to work on.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Boatnmaniac

Export QIF File: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-export-data-quicken
Import QIF File: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-import-data-quicken-windows

Other than this, I have no other suggestions at this time. Perhaps someone else will weigh in with something else.

Haapy

@Boatnmaniac

I thank you so much for for this detailed instruction, very valuable information. I would only hope that the developers come up with a more user friendly way for accomplishing this task.

My QDF file has minor corruption in my opinion. These problems have been with me for a long time, however my banking and investment accounts download and update daily and balance monthly without errors. I backup after every exit and hold 20 backups on my ssd plus more on my offline backup device. So right now performing this process is not worth the effort, but it is sure nice to have this documentation if I really need it. This wold be nice to add to a support caegory as a how to.

Yes, I did check and I do have a Quicken cloud account, however I am not syncing it. Thank you for that info.

I appreciate all your input.

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