How to recover info about a check written long ago - over 25 years ago

Jack

Quicken for Windows 10 Enterprise, R51.12

I have been using Quicken since the DOS version! I think I am asking a hopeless question, but I will do so anyway. Is there anyway I could recover information about a check I wrote in the 1990s?

Many thanks for any thoughts or guidance.

John

UKR

Please remember: When restoring a data file from a backup, to take a look at old data, be sure to rename the restored data file to something other than the name of your live data file!

For example, your live data file name is Clarke1.QDF.
if the backup file is called Clarke1-2017-12-31.QDF-backup
leave the timestamp on it and call it Clarke1-2017-12-31.QDF storing it in the same folder as your live data file.

You do not ever want to write over your live data file by using the same file name. BTDTGTS!

volvogirl

You should be able to open or restore her backups in your program. What version do you have? What version did she use? You might have to convert her data file through an intermediate version to get to your version. Copy all her .qdf or .qdf-backup files to a flash drive to copy to your computer.

You don't need to install another Quicken program on your computer. Your existing program should work. Your data is not kept in the program but in a separate data file. Be careful if her data file name is the same as yours. Do you have your own data file names or just use the default name of qdata.qdf?

Chris_QPW

No Quicken (Inc) doesn't keep any backups.

Ps56k2

asked and answered in your other thread ..

Updated topic title to better reflect actual Q&A. Also have requested Admins to merge the old + new threads …. Same discussion.

and as mentioned - the main Quicken QDF data file has ALL your data from whenever you created that Quicken data file … the backups are merely copies of that data file.

If you created NEW Quicken data files thru the years, then your current QDF data file will not have the older data - and thus you need to continue your search for files older than the earliest entries in your current QDF data file.

Ray Cosner

Your bank may still have an image of the check on file.

Jack

That seems to be my last chance. I will visit them soon. Thanks. I was hoping Quicken kept some of the backups and I could download them, but that seems to be a false hope.

Jack

Ps56k2

Just like any other software - the only backups are the ones created on your local computer/s - and as mentioned, if you created NEW Quicken data files, then those backups will only have copies of data from whenever you created your NEW data files.

And I doubt that any bank is going to have an image from 1997 - earlier- that’s over 25 years ago -

The backups I have on my drive only go back to 1997 and I need some information from earlier.

mshiggins

It should not be difficult assuming you have kept all your history from when you started using Quicken in one data file.
What do you know about the check - payee, amount, date, etc.?

Jack

Hello MS. Thanks for the reply. The answer is: I probably do not have all of my history from when I started using Quicken in one Data file., or at least I am not certain. I do back up quicken with every use and the backup goes to a folder on my second HD (D:\). In looking at that folder, the oldest file I see is Clarke1-2017-12-31.QDF-backup.

So I am assuming that somewhere in the past I edited the backup folder and removed earlier backups.

It's looking like I'm out of luck. It's not a critical financial issue, just a curiosity one.

I appreciate your response and any advice you may give me.

Jack

mshiggins

If you never you used Year End Copy or started a new file or deleted data, your data should be in one file.

Jack

I have an old computer which has quicken on it and the data should go back a long way. It's being used by my son. I am going to have him copy all of the backup files and put them on a flash drive. To get to review the data, I'm thinking I should install Quicken on a computer which does not currently have Quicken on it, say, my laptop. Then I could restore the data from the old backups I will have on the flash drive. I'm hoping this will then enable me to view the transactions. Where do I get the Quicken program to install on the laptop? Buy a trial version? Use my current one?

I sense you are telling me that the backups I have on my current machine should go all way back to the area I'm interested in, but they do not seem to. My current register goes back to 1997.

Thanks for your patience and any more advice.

Jack

mshiggins

Backups only contain the data from the file that it was backed up from. Your data file - the file you are currently using - should have all of your transaction history.

UKR

Please remember: When restoring a data file from a backup, to take a look at old data, be sure to rename the restored data file to something other than the name of your live data file!

For example, your live data file name is Clarke1.QDF.
if the backup file is called Clarke1-2017-12-31.QDF-backup
leave the timestamp on it and call it Clarke1-2017-12-31.QDF storing it in the same folder as your live data file.

You do not ever want to write over your live data file by using the same file name. BTDTGTS!

Jack

Thanks. I am still a bit confused. I'll look over it and follow your instructions. I think it's safest if I just install another copy of Quicken fresh on my laptop and then restore from the old backup which was taken from wife's computer. There were different bank accounts then which no longer show up on my current Quicken program.

I appreciate your advice.
Jack

Jack

Backups only contain the data from the file that it was backed up from.
Your data file - the file you are currently using - should have all of
your transaction history.

MS. I understand, or think I do. But I guess I have two systems. One was on my wife's computer when she did the checks, but for the last few years I have done them on my computer, and I think I did a completely new system. On my wife's quicken there should be some bank accounts which no longer show up on my Quicken. Sorry to make this complicated!

QWinUser

Jack - what information you get from Quicken about that check is only as good as how much information was entered when it was first posted. I know this is a long shot also, but have you considered asking your bank if they could provide a copy of the check?

Jack

Again, I think I have not been clear. I actually have two Quicken systems, one was on my wife's computer and one is on my current computer. My wife quit using Quicken about five years ago because of health issues. When I installed a new version of Quicken on my computer, I did not copy files/backups from my wife's. All I now have from my wife's computer system is a lot of backups. As you point out, since data are cumulative, I should be able to find what I am looking for by opening Quicken from my wife's computer. But all I have are the backups from her D:\ drive. As I understand it, the latest of these backups should open all of the data back to when the program was installed. But how to get access? My thought was to do a new install Quicken on my laptop, and then use one of the old backups to restore the files (thus preventing any damage to my own (desktop) functioning Quicken). The stumbling block in this scenario seems to be choosing a version of Quicken to install on the laptop. At this point I am willing to purchase a new Quicken program if necessary. I apologize again for flogging this dead horse, but I seem close and just need a bit more advice, I think. Many thanks for help from all.

Jack

volvogirl

You should be able to open or restore her backups in your program. What version do you have? What version did she use? You might have to convert her data file through an intermediate version to get to your version. Copy all her .qdf or .qdf-backup files to a flash drive to copy to your computer.

You don't need to install another Quicken program on your computer. Your existing program should work. Your data is not kept in the program but in a separate data file. Be careful if her data file name is the same as yours. Do you have your own data file names or just use the default name of qdata.qdf?

Jack

Comments I post do not seem to be showing up. I will use this one as a test. Maybe I've used up all the space I'm allowed!

Jack

Volvogirl,

I posted a long comment to your kind reply yesterday, but it disappeared. But I think what your are telling me is that I can take a backup of my wife's program (not used for ?10 years) and restore it within my own currently running program. When I open my Quicken then, it will be as if I were opening my wife's Quicken at the time the backup was made. The version of Quicken, will, of course be different.

Fine, so far. I will get to review the check register as if I were using her program at the time the backup was created.

Now that I have perused the ancient check register, I need to restore my own currently functioning Quicken program. All I have to do now is back up from a .QDF file I normally create every day, and use the latest one.

Will there be a problem if my backup from my wife's old .QDF file re-created her earlier version of Quicken?

All just a little scary. That's Why I thought doing my search on a separate computer (my laptop … No Quicken installed) would be safer. The problem is I don't know which version of Quicken to install on the laptop.

I know I am asking a lot. I appreciate your all the responders' input.

Jack

Jack

Hi Volvogirl

I am using Quicken Premier Version R51.12, Build 27.1.51.12, membership valid until March 16, 2024. This program runs on my desktop. All of my backups are located on my second hard drive, D:\ and have the filename containing the date, for example: clarke1-2023-08-14.QDF-backup

I think my wife’s computer was running 2016. Backups are also on her D:\drive in this format: clarke1-2018-11-29.QDF-backup.

I would like to review the check register from the version on my wife’s computer, which (I think) would show earlier transactions than my version, since my desktop Quicken only shows backups since 2017. There was a bank change also which is confusing.

Obviously I am fearful that if I open one of my wife’s backups in my desktop computer, I will lose data. That’s why I was attempting to do this “clean” by installing Quicken on my laptop and then restoring from one of the old backups on my wife’s d: drive.

Jack

Does Quicken keep any of my backup files? The backups I have on my drive only go back to 1997 and I need some information from earlier. I must have deleted them when I changed computers (several times).

I doubt there is any solution to this problem, but thanks for telling me and closing my query.

Jack

volvogirl

No. Only the backups you keep. You need info from before 1997? Your current data file doesn't have all your history?

Chris_QPW

No Quicken (Inc) doesn't keep any backups.

mshiggins

The OP’s other question on this topic:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7938665/recover-info-about-a-check-written-long-ago

Ps56k2

asked and answered in your other thread ..

Updated topic title to better reflect actual Q&A. Also have requested Admins to merge the old + new threads …. Same discussion.

and as mentioned - the main Quicken QDF data file has ALL your data from whenever you created that Quicken data file … the backups are merely copies of that data file.

If you created NEW Quicken data files thru the years, then your current QDF data file will not have the older data - and thus you need to continue your search for files older than the earliest entries in your current QDF data file.

Ray Cosner

Your bank may still have an image of the check on file.

Jack

That seems to be my last chance. I will visit them soon. Thanks. I was hoping Quicken kept some of the backups and I could download them, but that seems to be a false hope.

Jack

Chris_QPW

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20379081#Comment_20379081

Let me clarify something especially since what I responded in your other thread.

When I said that Quicken (Inc) doesn't keep a backup, I meant they have no "recovery service" of all your old data based on say some data stored on their server.

You sort of indicated that the computers that the Quicken data was stored on were gone, so that is what I was going on.

Quicken (the program) in fact, does make backups, but it is up to the user to save them on their local disk, removable disk, or on a cloud account.

And the type of those files are .QDF-backup. The .QDF-backup file is in fact the same format as the .QDF format. If you change the .QDF-backup to .QDF you can just open up it up in Quicken (make sure this is a copy so that you have the original). In this case, it would be safer to do this rename and then open instead of opening the .QDF-backup. When you open a .QDF-backup it does want to try to restore some information from the Quicken Cloud, and that might mess things up. If you open a .QDF file, but don't do any kind of updating, you should be safe.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20379057#Comment_20379057

This forum software has some anti-spamming that will sometimes redirect comments for new users to the moderators to approve them, thereby delaying when they show up. It isn't really an indication that your comment is taken as spam, it seems to be random.

Ps56k2

Just like any other software - the only backups are the ones created on your local computer/s - and as mentioned, if you created NEW Quicken data files, then those backups will only have copies of data from whenever you created your NEW data files.

And I doubt that any bank is going to have an image from 1997 - earlier- that’s over 25 years ago -

The backups I have on my drive only go back to 1997 and I need some information from earlier.

Ps56k2

what bank - and has it changed names or been merged in the last 25 years - which may be a major problem with any kind of records.

State laws generally require banks and credit unions to keep a copy of all checks for seven years. Contact your bank or credit union directly if you need to obtain a copy of a cancelled check.

Jack

Many thanks to all who replied. I finally get the picture. I learned that I have to remove the -backup addition to the data file name if I just want to view it. It was confirmed that I need to find older backup files than I h ave to get the information I want.

Much appreciation!

Jack

Jack

PS56K2

Well, it was Florida Bank (or ? Bank of Florida) then it became Iberia Bank, then it became First Horizon Bank. So those changes ... plus the 7 year rule for keeping records, makes it very unlikely the Bank could help me. But I think I am finally getting the idea that if I remove the -backup addition to my data file, I can open it and view it without actually destroying my current configuration, that is, I would be opening the backup file to view it, but not using it as a new backup. If I am correct, that is very valuable information and I can work with it.

Thanks again.

Jack