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Problem restoring from floppy disks

d.ma

Hi everyone,

I am not using Quicken myself. I am the IT support at work. My boss told me he was a volunteer treasurer at Country Fire Service many years ago. He used Quicken back then. He now wants to access the old backup files. He did not know the year and version of the Quicken he used. He does not have the old computer with floppy drive anymore.

I was given 2 floppy disks.

Disk 1 contains 1 file.

"QDATA1.QB1" created on 24 May 2005, modified on 20 June 2010.

Disk 2 contains 2 files.

"Q3.DIR" created on 25 September 2005, modified on 20 June 2010.

"QDATA1.QB2" created on 25 September 2005, modified on 20 June 2010

No other files, like ".QEL" or ".QSD" on disks.

I have tried these on an old Windows Vista Home computer.

I installed Quicken 2004 delux —> Restore Backup File —>select the "QDATA1.QB1" on floppy drive —> got an error "unable to read the data on this disk. Try to find another backup to restore your Quicken data…"

I uninstalled Quicken 2004 —> installed Quicken 98 —> Restore Backup File —> select the "QDATA1.QB1" on floppy drive —> disk1 done and asks to insert disk #2 —> error message "file NOT restored" after inserting and reading disk 2.

I uninstalled Quicken 98 —> installed Quicken 2000 delux —> Restore Backup File —> select "QDATA1.QB1 on floppy drive —> disk1 done and asks to insert disk #2 —> file successfully restored —> i can see a new QDATA1.QDF appears in C:\QUICKENW —> but when tried to open it, got error "can't open the file".

I followed the instruction on a post here "Convert Data From an Earlier Version of Quicken (When to Use an Intermediate Version)". However, Quicken 2004 and Quicken 2013 can't even open and read the "QDATA1.QB1" on floppy disk1.

Summary:

Quicken 2000 delux is the closest one. It can read and restore from both floppy disks but cannot open the restored "QDATA1.QDF".

Quicken 98 can read and restore from disk1 but failed at disk2.

I am stuck here. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!

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q_lurker

However, Quicken 2004 and Quicken 2013 can't even open and read the "QDATA1.QB1" on floppy disk1.

You would want the QW2004 installation to be opening (not restoring) the QDATA1.QDF file that the Q98 restore created. Be sure to keep a separate copy of that QDF file. As soon as QW2004 stars opening it, it will likely be changing it also.

d.ma

Hi q_lurker, thanks for the answer. I followed your advice and used Quicken 2004 deluxe to try to open both "QDATA1.QDF" files that were restored by Quicken 1999 basic and Quicken 2000 deluxe. I just got "Can't open the file" message on Quicken 2004. DATA_LOG.TXT shows "QDF: No error". I just can't open it.

Ps56k2

are there other files that were "restored" along with the QDF data file -
—
And FYI - If your Quicken was before 2010 you should have several files making up the data.
The main data file ends in .QDF.
All Quicken versions prior to QW2010 store your data in a series of files
all sharing the same filename but with different extensions like
- .QDF .IDX, .QEL, .QPH
and all 4 of those files were rolled into a single-file .QDF starting in 2010.

"QDATA1.QDF"

d.ma

Hi Ps56k2, Thanks for the reply. Yes, there other files restored from the 2 floppy disks as shown in the picture:

Ps56k2

looking at those date codes -

Where are you located ?

d.ma

Hi Ps56k2, I am in South Australia

Chris_QPW

I don't have any great ideas on how to get this to work, but I wanted to point out the difference between the file types @d.ma showed and what @Ps56k2 is talking about. For older version so Quicken the "data file" was several separate files. This is what @Ps56k2 is showing. On the other hand, when you did a backup, it was to one file .QBD (with one exception), so you shouldn't expect to find all the files that @Ps56k2 pointed out.

The "exception" to the one .QDB file is if the backup wouldn't fit on one floppy. In that case it would store multiple files one per floppy disk and I do believe that is where the .QB1 and .QB2 come from.

During the restore I would expect you to open the .QB1 file and then when it was finished with that one, it should have asked for the next file/floppy.

d.ma

Hi Chris_QPW, thanks for the reply and sharing the info about the file extensions. You are right.

On the 2 backup floppy disks, there are only 3 files: QDATA1.QB1, QDATA1.QB2, Q3.DIR.

During the restore, it did ask to open the .QB1 on disk#1 first, and then the .QB2 on disk#2.

The 5 highlighted files that shown in my picture are the files restored from both disks. The only trouble is I can't open them by using any Quicken versions (I have tried 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2010 so far)

Chris_QPW

As far as I know the "change of format cutoff points that are no longer supported" are something like 96 and 2004, past that it "it has to be that year version or later. What I mean by this is the data format changed in a way that isn't backward compatible. As in 2004 can't convert a data file before 96, and versions, and versions from 2004 can open any data file that is that year or older back to 2004. So, for instance, 2013 can open a 2004 data file and convert it but can't open 2014 data file. I notice that you didn't mention 2013. It is in that same article you referenced, as a free download. It is the last version of Quicken that is completely offline (doesn't require a Quicken Id).

I don't know how much the restore actually does. It may just be an extract/combine operation so that unlike actually opening the data file, it might not care what year version the data file is.

Just did some more testing. Starting in Quicken 2004 the backup file isn't .QBD this is a 2004 backup:

That means that for sure your backup comes from a version of Quicken before Quicken 2004.

This is a backup from Quicken 96 (or qw6 as it was called):

I just had another thought since you are in Australia, there branch/sold rights for Quicken in Australia for use by Recon. It is possible that your data file is in fact a Quicken Australia version.

I have no idea if they can give you what is needed to recover a data file in a format so old, and they even hide the fact that they have such a program. Years ago, they renamed it to personal plus, and it is hard to find on their website.

https://www.reckon.com/au/personal/plus/

q_lurker

The Reckon point is key, I suspect. The QW2004 you downloaded (?) from the Quicken site is a US version. I don’t think there was compatibility across those versions.

mshiggins

How about the trick to use Microsoft Money to open the non US Quicken file, then opening the Money file with US Quicken?

d.ma

I downloaded, installed and tried Reckon Personal Plus 2004. It still can't open the file, but the log said something different "QDF: Damaged data block. Cannot attempt data-specific validation. Your file is from an earlier version of Quicken", while using the US version, the log just said "QDF: No Error".

I think we are heading to the right direction. I will try to find a Reckon Personal Plus that is equivalent to US Quicken 1999 or 2000 to try. I really appreciate all your contributions!

d.ma

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20388356#Comment_20388356

Hi mshiggins, wow! I didn't know the trick. thank you very much for letting me know. Let me try it now.

d.ma

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20388356#Comment_20388356

Hi mshiggins, any particular version of Microsoft Money you recommend? thanks!

Chris_QPW

I was going to point you to this article that has a link to where the right version of Microsoft Money "should be", but it looks like Microsoft has gotten rid of it.

https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-importconvert-my-microsoft-money-work-quicken-windows

Which reminded me that I archived them on my website:

https://www.quicknperlwiz.com/ms-money-sunset-editions.html

d.ma

Hi Chris_QPW,

thanks for the MS Money. I have tried both and others download from archive.org. Unfortunately, none of them worked.

I got error message "you are attempting to convert a corrupted Quicken file. Try reindexing your Quicken file by clicking File Operations from File menu, and then clicking Validate. then Try converting it again". However, I cannot find "File Operations" in the File menu.

I think my only hope is to get an AUS version of Quicken. I have asked for help on some Australian forums. Hopefully, someone in the community still has a copy of this vintage software back in Windows 98 era. Thank you very much again!

d.ma

Perhaps, it only works on the files from US Quicken version too.

q_lurker

@d.ma

It must be either:

You really like your boss,
You really like a challenge, or
Your boss is a real a______ and you need this job badly.

You are really jumping through hoops to get at 20-year old info about a volunteer county fire service.

d.ma

Hi Chris_QPW and q_lurker, thank you very much for the great thinking! I have never thought of the compatibility issue between the versions of different countries. This is the strength of the community - we have different people look at the same problem from different angles to overcome one person's mindset. I downloaded, installed and tried the Personal Plus 2004. Although it still can't open the restored "QDATA1.QDF"file, the DATA_LOG.TXT shows different message now:

QDF:

Damaged data block

Cannot attempt data-specific validation.

Your file is from an earlier version of Quicken.

While using the US version before, the log just says: QDF: No error.

What I will do now is to try to find the Reckon product that is equivalent to US Quicken 1999 or 2000. On Reckon website, the earliest one I can find is Personal Plus 2004. I think we are heading to the right direction now. I really appreciate all your thoughts and help here! I will keep you updated as I go. Cheers!