How I got Quicken to be lightning quick again -- is it too risky?
For the last ~6 weeks, Quicken has been notably slower for me — taking 4-6 seconds to change registers, much slower external updates, etc. I did all the usual things — Validate and Super validate, and "correcting all of the busted splits; archiving transactions; etc. Still, it was painfully slow, even though the file size is pretty manageable (30Mb), and my computer is up to date (W10 Enterprise, 32 Gb RAM, SSD).
Playing around a little, I have excluded Quicken from both of my spyware/antispam/antivirus programs, Windows Defender and Malware Bytes Premium. In Malware Bytes, I added qw.exe and my Program Files (x86) folder to the Allow List. In Defender, I allowed Quicken and Quicken CEF Subprocess to communicate through the Defender Firewall.
With these changes, Q is blazing fast again — changing between registers is instantaneous (again), reports load very quickly (again), but I'm not sure whether the transaction download is actuallly quicker.
So, what sorts of risks am I undertaking by excluding Quicken from my Malware and Defender's protections? I'd really appreciate the community's advice on this.
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I found that Quicken caused my Win10 Pro's Antimalware process to consume CPU at a very high rate - more than Quicken itself, bringing Quicken to a crawl.
Disabling antimalware for QWin is one of the suggestions listed in this FAQ.
No one wants to be responsible for telling you to lower your security levels just in case something bad happens after that. You'll have to make your own determination and act at your own risk. I want to tongue-in-cheekily say that the more we discuss exempting QWin from antimalware, the more likely it is some bad actor will notice and act upon that information. So keep it to yourself. 😎
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.
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Let's look at the risks. First qw.exe. What does it take to replace that file with a virus?
It takes special administrator privileges like you need during an install.
If the virus made it past the anti-virus software during the install, there is a highly likelihood it would be able to do it while running. In other word, once infected all bets are off. Yes, it might be slightly easier to target an executable that they know people are going take out of anti-virus scanning, but person I doubt that Quicken would be a good candidate because not enough people use it.
As for the CEF process, that is Quicken's use of an internal web browser. If blocked most likely help and maybe other online features will stop working, so it doesn't seem like something you would want to block.
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If you practice safe computing by not surfing to sketchy web sites, not clicking on links of unknown origin, etc., you're probably fine. However, now that you have a good system again, you could slowly start adding the protections back to the system one-at-a-time. Enable one and work with it for a week to see if that's the culprit. I'd start with Windows Defender as I have no problems with it and it's a Microsoft product. However, Malware Bytes I'm not so sure of.
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On my system I only us Malwarebytes and have been using it for close to 10 years. I have Defender disabled. I am using the latest version of Windows 10 and Quicken "Classic". I never EVER click on links in email, internet surfing or links of unknown origin. I use a program called Password Agent that I keep all my passwords for EVERYTHING in. In it for each item you can type in the internet address. I leave the program running in the background 24/7. Whenever I need to go to say a credit card account I find it in Password Agent click the "Open Link" button on the toolbar and I am at the credit card site where I enter the needed information to access the site. I also do not leave Quicken running 24/7. I close it and do a manual backup whenever I am done with it.
The only time Quicken seems "slow" is when it is doing a one step update. I currently have 18 accounts that are updated. I do NOT use the mobile web feature and I leave it turned OFF. Going from transaction to transaction or adding a new transaction is instantaneous even in on credit card account where there are almost 20,000 transactions in it.
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Interesting discussion but we, as customers, should not even consider, nor have to sacrifice, security of our computers in a effort (untested) to resolve OSU slowness. I did a quick search on the word "slow" and huge number of pages of posts going back to 2020…… still no ETA for resolution.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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@retird It depends on what your definition of "slow" is and on the computer hardware and OS that Quicken is running on. Of everyone using Quicken if there are two computers that have the same hardware specifications I would be surprised. The mobile/web sync "feature" IMHO is the main culprit in this. The OS will also make a difference. I had Quicken installed on a new (2021) Alienware (Dell) laptop with Windows 11 on it. It ran Quicken very slowly. I erased and reinstalled the OS on the laptop this time with Windows 10 Pro and Quicken was lightening fast and the laptop was made for Windows 11, go figure.
Bottom line, there will never be an ETA for a resolution to this that will solve it for everyone. There are just too many variables to consider.
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Good advice all around. I've got my defenses back entirely in place, but made the graphics and process priority tweaks suggested by Rocket J Squirrel, and it's noticeably faster than before, and it's nice to have all the walls back up. Thanks to all.
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Of everyone using Quicken if there are two computers that have the same hardware specifications I would be surprised.
And Quicken defies "logic". You might think that if you have the most powerful computer out there with the most powerfule GPU and all your computer would run Quicken the fastest, but lots of times Quicken defies this logic.
For instance, I always just use a CPU with the GPU built-in and have never had to make the tweaks the Rocket J Squirrel has suggested to get Quicken to run as fast as anyone has ever reported on here.
That's great to hear.
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@Chris_QPW Like I said there are just too many variables including users and their knowledge of how their computer/OS/GPU works.
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hum…. both of my computers have GPU coprocessors also and have had no change in OS/hardware/ router/ internet service. Both used to run Q as fast as @Chris_QPW reports but no longer……. As previously stated ALL other software runs super fast except Q….. Q does defy logic….. and to me Q is an outlier but hopefully Q will get fixed eventually…. I laugh when blame is directed at the user and their knowledge of how their computer/OS/GPU works without any evidence to justify such claim.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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You are misreading what is being said. This isn't about blame. This is simply pointing out that it is a complicated problem that is influenced by many factors. You seem to want to believe that Quicken Inc developers can change one thing or wave a magic wand and it will be fixed for everyone. That is simply not the case. Just as there never will be "a fix" for all the download problems, because the causes and source of the problem isn't in one place.
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@Chris_QPW …. there are many here who point to everything but Quicken for the slowness issue. You didn't say what @Snowman said. Many of us here have jumped thru every hoop many times including sending sanitized files and logs to do our part to help getting this fixed. To date we have had no correspondance back from Quicken other than there is no ETA for a resolve. If the source of the problem is in many areas then Quicken should know the areas and address all of them. If it will never be fixed then Q needs to tell the customer… If it can't be fixed then tell us up front Quicken and we can move on knowing the speed we used to have is no longer possible.
As I previously posted I can live with the slowness but will not except that it can't be fixed. Thus I continue to post about it as do many others. One sincere post from leadership at Quicken concerning this issue stating if it can or why it cannot be fixed would go a long way with all of us who have this issue. If it's a third party aggregator issue or an issue with the Financial institutions, or whatever, just say so and get with them and fix it.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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As I previously posted I can live with the slowness but will not except that it can't be fixed.
Of course it can be fixed from a technical standpoint, but that is a really naive way to look at it.
For instance, there is no doubt in my mind that the GUI controls/arrangement and reprocessing data that could be cached is the problem in the investment register. But to fix it would mean a rewrite of that whole section. I just don't see them doing that for a number of reasons.
In general, that goes for a lot of other things in Quicken. Quicken has built up a large feature set, but it hasn't been kept up to date. All these different APIs and building on infrastructure that wasn't design for it, takes a toll.
People way underestimate what such operations take, not to mention they see the word "soft" and think that it means that it is "easy to change". For instance, request like having an unlimited undo, or run on a network, …
Easy to say, but if the infrastructure wasn't created at the beginning of the project, it can be like asking a builder to put a high rise on the foundation of a single-family home.
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@Chris_QPW …. You said earlier it can't be fixed and then you said from a technical standpoint it could…. Which is it?
"naive" definition…. showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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Just changing the Improve Graphics Settings made a great improvement in the One-Step Update process.
I would highly suggest trying the change.
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Ok, my grammar/ability to communicate in a way that you might understand, isn't 100%.
"Can't fix" → could be reasons, technically impossible, or doesn't make sense from a resources business standpoint, or even that doing so might cause more problems than not doing anything.
It is technically possible to fix such problems, but it is my belief that it isn't possible from a resources/business standpoint.
For what it is worth, I did try the Improved Graphic Settings on my machine, but it made no difference to the speed of my One Step Update. This is no surprise to me, because I have long ago looked in the Cloud sync log, and all the delays I'm seeing are where Quicken is waiting for the Quicken Cloud server to return data after Quicken requested it. So, in my case all the delays are either in the Quicken Cloud Server, or Intuit's server, or the financial institution. I long ago documented the difference in speed for instance between Direct Connect and Express Web Connect + and nothing has changed. Basically, a couple of minutes for One Step Update.
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@retird "hum…. both of my computers have GPU coprocessors also and have had no change in OS/hardware/ router/ internet service. Both used to run Q as fast as @Chris_QPW reports but no longer……. As previously stated ALL other software runs super fast except Q….. Q does defy logic….. and to me Q is an outlier but hopefully Q will get fixed eventually…. I laugh when blame is directed at the user and their knowledge of how their computer/OS/GPU works without any evidence to justify such claim. "
I thought one of your computers was a desktop and the other was a laptop. Did I misunderstand? If this is so the CPU/GPU are not the same on both. Further you state that there has been "no change in OS/hardware/etc…". When was the last time Windows updated your computer. If you have automatic updates for this turned on then you OS has changed. When was the last time you updated Quicken? Was this before or after any other updates to the OS or firmware updates to the GPU or other hardware? Are you trying to say that you never update anything? I do not think so but when you say there has been "no change in OS/hardware" that is in fact what you are saying and it it not true.
"As previously stated ALL other software runs super fast except Q…" If you had said "most other software" instead of "ALL other software" I would be more believeable. I seriously doubt you have checked ALL of the other software on your computers.
I have been involved with computers for 40 years. Thirty seven years ago I started keeping a log (at the time for my single IBM-PC XT) in which I noted the date and time of every backup, when software was updated and when the OS was updated etc. Also noted when any additions or deletions of hardware and software were made.
Over the years the log has become more expansive. In the early days it was a paper log but 12 years ago wrote a database program in Access and it tracks multiple computers and devices on my home network. I can quickly tell you the date/time and version of every Quicken update for my current computer and its relation to other updates. I also keep in the log solutions to problems that have cropped up and it is a great reference.
When an issue occurs I start checking when and what was updated and more often than not I will find what update caused the issue. Sometimes all I needed was to update my graphics card and the issue is solved or another time it may be something else. You may "laugh" when I point out (not blame) that users for the most part do not understand ALL of the individual things that can cause a computer to "slow down". No one solution is going to fix it for everyone and Quicken will not and should not say that this will never be fixed. You buy software and hardware and then you takes your chances. I do not use most of the "new" features that Quicken has added such as Mobile/Web sync.
Where do you keep your virtual memory file(s) and how large are those file(s). How much RAM is on your computers? These things can have a very large impact. My son just build a new computer and he put in an extra NvMe drive that he has the virtual memory file on and the gain in performance is staggering. On my computer I had an SSD drive dedicated as a Cache drive (for Photoshop, Premiere etc.) and I have set up the virtual memory file with an initial and maximum size of 33,800Mb on this drive as well. That is the only place there is a virtual memory file on my computer. There are an infinite number of potential ways to fix this, one just has to figure out what will work for their application and hardware. The majority of users have no problem with Quicken's speed and this fact shows that it is not a software problem per say but most likely one of the things that have been mentioned and more.
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I have the same issues with Quicken running very slow in a new computer i7 with Windows 11 Pro (don't think that make that much different between Pro or non), even after a clean installed Windows 11 Pro. I ask the question about running software faster in Windows 11/Pro in MSDN (I have very old game running very slow in Windows 11 too). Their developers believe that, Quicken is a 32 bit software. Since Windows 11 is pure 64 bit operating system, any 32 bit software including Quicken are running in a 32 bit emulator mode. Microsoft has no interest to optimize or run any 32 bit fast, WOW32 is being placed for legacy support only in Windows 11.
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I am wondering, people with the slowness problems, are you running Windows 10 32-bit or 64 bit? May be Windows 10 64 bit is updated with the new 32 bit emulator WOW32 that slowing down Quicken.
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Quicken Windows is 32-bit, but note it is 32-bit for everyone, and not everyone sees this slowdown. As for what MSDN people say, well they are going to look for the "simple answer", and to them that is just blaming it on the 32-bit emulation. First off, that 32-bit emulation is at the CPU hardware level and these days we run whole virtual machines with a mix of hardware emulation and software, and they run fine.
So, why the slowness? The very fact that it doesn't happen to everyone points to the fact that this is a multiple factor kind of problem, what might speed it up for one person might not for another.
But let me say one thing about another thing your old game running very slowly and Quicken, there is much more likely commonality that is making them slow in some cases. Quicken is a patch work of old and new code/APIs, your old game is going to also be using old code/APIs.
Quicken doesn't work well with high density screens, multiple displays and such, why?
Because down deep somewhere they are still calling libraries that were created before these were popular. The code wasn't design for them.
If I was looking for "generic problem" the one that is most likely to cause such problems, that would be it.
Some would say just rewrite it then. They have rewritten parts of it, but a total rewrite just isn't practical.
On the other hand, what is possible is to try to find solutions to a particular slow down. Whether that is tweaking something on the customer's machine or maybe rewriting a certain piece of code. On that last part they say they are trying to do this, but clearly that hasn't been as good as some people would like.
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@Snowman Yes I had a desktop and a laptop until 15 months ago. I replaced the desktop with a laptop that sets only on my desk. Both the laptop and the DESK laptop ran OSU very fast until they started slowing down.
No need to keep rehashing all the what-ifs and spec's of computers. The slowness issue is a constant discussion here by so so so many paying customers.
Quicken will either address this or not…. whatever the issue is Q should trace it down. Paying customers, such as me and many others, should not constantly "write a book" here as we can see it has not resolved anything.
So I have made enough noise about the issue, and spent way too much time . I'll pop in periodically to just keep saying "MINE IS SLOW TOO". I will read the "NEW books" other's write here.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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Quicken will either address this or not…. whatever the issue is Q should trace it down. Paying customers, such as me and many others, should not constantly "write a book" here as we can see it has not resolved anything.
If it was that easy it would already be done. And the "write a book" is more from other users just trying anything to help.
The first rule of trying to fix a problem is reproducing it. If Quicken runs fast on the developer's machine, how are they supposed to fix a slowdown that is happening on your machine?
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As said before many customers with this issue sent them sanitized files and logs as requested here….. standard default comment from them is NO ETA on solution was the last update in Alerts section of the Community…
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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@retired So what changed? Did windows update? How do you know if it did or did not? Have you tried removing Quicken completely and tried a clean reinstall? Have your validated and super validated you file? I do not “speculate” when it comes to computer issues. I know every update date and time when it occurs. Over time some updates have effected other software other than the one that was updated. By checking my log I can track what the culprit might be. That is not speculation that is investigation. The vocal minority have made this issue seem like an everyday occurrence when it is not. I have used Quicken since 1995 over a dozen computers (that I built except a couple of Apple workstations) and I have never had the slowdown that you describe.
Rehashing and reposting will not fix it. It is time for you see if you can fix it or find the cause, then you can share your solution. Since you claim both computers started to slow down at the same time what happened to both computers to cause this and start investigating what might have happened to both computers and proceed from there. No need to rewrite a “book” but you maybe you should crack a few books on troubleshooting and fix the problem.
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Quicken is slow…. not my problem…. not my computers … too many folks having this issue….
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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@retird So by not answering questions about what you have done to try and trouble shoot the issue "Quicken is slow…. not my problem…. not my computers … too many folks having this issue…. " you expect other users to help you? You need to write to Quicken directly and not waste the time of fellow users who are trying to help fellow users.
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@Snowman I think I have posted a lot of what I have done for months to help resolve this. I have went thru both computers, my network, checked my Internet Providers data flow with software I used when I worked in the IT department of a large corporation. They had over 2000 networked computers to maintain in 2 seperate buildings of which I built about 100 or so of them. Over the past 25 years I probably built around 7 or 8 computers for my use and a few for friends.
Only thing I have not done yet is to track down some software that will check data flow from IP address to IP address. I would assume Quicken has checked that already. If I can find that software (not going to buy any) I can trace data flow from each FI, thru all the servers to my computers.
I never ask what a persons qualifications and experience is when in a forum and almost never give my background, experience, and formal education in micro- computer technology, fiber installation, network design and troubleshooting. Nor do I mention my Microsoft Certifications.
In life many times the "squeaking wheel gets the grease" and my persistance "greased the wheel" in hopes something gets done. Time will tell. No more grease from me. As said many times I will live with the slowness only seen in Quicken on both of my computers in hopes that it gets fixed.
One thing I find pleasing about this forum is that not to many who come here want to personally attack others. That's refreshing to me as I helped moderate a large worldwide forum for almost 2 years and we were very present when personal attacks replaced civil discussion.
Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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@retird There was no information in this thread about previous posts nor any references to any threads in which you had posted so I had know way of knowing without asking questions. If you are trying to check data flow from IP address to IP address that is something that Quicken has no control of. What internet provider are you using. Usually depending upon who that is they will have an application that you can use that will measure the speed of your internet connection. If is data flow that is causing the slowness how does Quicken have the ability to fix this? Is the slowness you are seeing is with OSU and what is the definition of slow in you case and what was the speed before the slowness. Again timing is everything. Did the slowness occur after the connection methods where changed?
Now I have noticed "slower" download times in OSU but I am downloading information on a daily basis from as of today 18 different financial/credit cards and investment accounts. Before the financial institutions and credit cards companies started to switch from Direct Connect to other connection types my speed for this OSU update was on average 50 seconds. It is now 110 seconds on average after the connection changes. A change that is out of anyone's control including Quicken. To me 110 seconds is amazing considering all of the different accounts, FI and the information involved.
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@Snowman my ISP is Cox Communication fiber. As a side note about 2 years ago their data flow got really bad. Down/up, packet loss, latency, and jitter went way, way down. Long story short they would test from the main servers in my city to our neighborhood and all looked good. I found some software to borrow that would let me check from source location to my location. Cox was right that from their local server everything looked good. But the issue was servers (2) in 2 other states that had to pass the data. The software identified each server and location and gave the test results of each. After the ISP addressed those 2 servers all was perfect. The ISP corporate office was glad they got it fixed.
My Tri-Band Router measures Down/up and ping at the cable modem and is stable. I have software I run frequently that measures upload/download packet loss, late packets, jitter , and latency. I'll run 1 for you (note the time I set to run the test):
My Connection Methods have not changed since Schwab went to EWC+ so how long is that? At that point everything was just as fast after the change as it was before the change but has degraded since. Quicken also was as fast as all my other software before and after the change but now Quicken is the only outlier.
Slowness to me is usually between 2 and 3 minutes lately if less than 10 transactions are downloaded. It goes up from there. 4 FI's with a total of 9 accounts.
Hopefully I answered everything….
The only subject I have not talked much about is the fact that the servers 1 customer utilizes to transfer the data may be completely different than the servers the next customer has to utilize. The way I understand it Intuit is the go-between from the FI to Quicken and then to the customer. So the FI may send data thru many servers before Intuit receives it. I make no judgement about this being the cause as I have no test data to show that is could be the issue.
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Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.
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And what are they supposed to do if the problem isn't in fact the data file?
With the exception of too many securities/transactions/security lots in an investment account, I suspect that the problems people are having, most of the time have nothing to do with the data file. My best guess is that some graphical or network API behaves badly in certain circumstances, which might entirely related to the configuration of a given machine. Note, I'm not talking about "slow/old machines" this can happen to the most powerful machine out there. And depending on where the slowdown is happening it could be which financial institutions one is using. A sanitized data file is useless for that case.
As for the logs, they probably aren't very useful for these kinds of problems.
I think people think that because they see no progress on a given problem that means no one has ever looked into it. This is normal human nature, but it probably is wrong. But note that if they can't quickly reproduce a problem, they most likely will skip it and go on to something that can be fixed in a certain period of time. A problem that they will dedicate a developer or multiple developers on for a long time that is difficult to pin down, is going to have to affect a large percentage of the users. I don't see that here, at least not reported on this forum. Look at any thread where it affects a large percentage of people, and you see hundreds of comments in a very short period of time.
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