Is it safe to store the Quicken Classic file in a Cryptomator vault?

marcaronson408

I understand that the quicken database should not be placed in a directory that is cloud-synced using tools like OneDrive. I have also seen the warning that comes up when one tried to open a file that is stored in OneDrive.

Is it safe to store the Quicken Classic database file in a Cryptomator vault? When I tried to do this, I receive the same warning message that I received when I tried to place the database in OneDrive. Note that the Cryptomator vault was located in a local directory that as not synced to any clould service.

Thanks in advanced for your help!

Marc

Chris_QPW

Yes, you can set the automatic backup to be in Dropbox/OneDrive. I think that the articles that talk about this were written are before Quicken Windows allowed you to change where automatic backups would go.

Quicken Anja

Hello @marcaronson408,

While I am not familiar with Cryptomator Vault, we do advise against storing Quicken Data files on any and all external drives.

We understand some users may still do so anyway, however, please note that we only recommend storing Quicken Data files on your main computer hard drive (C: Drive). to avoid data damage and/or corruption. If/when this happens, you will no longer be able to access your data or it can cause you to lose data over time.

You can, however, store backup files on external and cloud drives, though we would still recommend restoring them to your local hard drive when opening them.

Hope this helps!

Chris_QPW

I suspect that it would work fine, as long as it isn't in Dropbox.

Quicken is making the judgement on the warning based on the fact that the this is presented as a "mounted drive".

There are basically three "dangers" that the warning is about.

1. If on a network, the network might have errors and Quicken isn't designed to detect them and make sure the problems aren't transferred to the data file.
2. Sync might not be smart enough not to do it at the wrong time or try to do a partial sync.
3. The sync might lock the data file when Quicken wants access to it.

This type of encryption works at the file system level and as such is reliable and doesn't "sync" in a manner other than normal "disk syncing" and doesn't lock the files.

This shouldn't be any different than "Can I keep my Quicken data file in a Windows encrypted folder?"

marcaronson408

My apologies for being so late in responding to your replies. I didn't get any notifications — I'll need to check my settings.

@Quicken Anja The Cryptomator vault is strong in the C-drive, which is the main boot drive.

@Chris_QPW Thank you, your answer makes sense to me.

I have a follow-up question for you. All the articles talk about it being safe to direct the manually created backups into a dropbox / onedrive folder. Is it also safe to configure things so that the directory path for automatically created backups is in a dropbox / onedrive folder?

Thank to both of you,

Marc

Chris_QPW

Yes, you can set the automatic backup to be in Dropbox/OneDrive. I think that the articles that talk about this were written are before Quicken Windows allowed you to change where automatic backups would go.

marcaronson408

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20448433#Comment_20448433

Thank you!

Marc

marcaronson408

I've been operating successfully for a couple of weeks w/ my quicken file in my Cryptomator vault. No onedrive or other cloud sync involved. Today, I am suddenly getting the error shown below when I try to open the file.

I have tried the following to resolve the problem:

• Copying the file to a folder outside of the Cryptomator vault and not synced to OneDrive
• Rebooting
• Pausing and exiting OneDrive. Exiting Cryptomator and my backup software (Duplicati).
  • I want to reiterate that the file is not in a OneDrive synced folder. I did this "just in case".

None of these solve the problem.

Is there a way to recover from this?

Marc

Chris_QPW

You need to find out what program is locking your data file. Note that if you are using Quicken's update scheduler, that might be what is doing it.

Here is how to find out which program is locking the data file:

How to Use Resource Monitor to Find Which Process Has Locked a File » Winhelponline

marcaronson408

@Chris_QPW thank you for that info. Unfortunately, it only shows "qw.exe" using it. I believe that qw.exe is Quicken. When I exit quicken, after a bit, it no longer shows up. I tried making a fresh copy of the file in regular folder — same issue.

I contacted support via chat — they tried several things via a screenshare, but they didn't help and told me that I need to restore from a backup.

I have restored a backup and re-done my edits.

I'm going to stop using Cryptomator for this fille.

I've encrypted my entire disk using bitlocker, so at least I am protected if my laptop is stolen.

Do you take any extra precautions to secure the quicken data file?

Marc

Chris_QPW

You might consider using a Quicken File password. It would just be one more level of blocking people from reading the file.

I am confused, are you saying restoring from a backup did fix the problem?

That seems really strange that would be the fix, but if it is then I'm sorry I led you down that path.

marcaronson408

Restoring from backup solved the problem, but left me with 1-2 hours of work I had to re-create.

»I'm sorry I led you down that path

Please don't apologize — that was really helpful information. I am keeping it in mind for future reference,

Thanks again for jumping in and spending time trying to help me solve the problem — very much appreciated.

Marc

RalphC

@marcaronson408 Cut and paste the full path to your data file (not your backup file, but the data file that Quicken accesses) here. I think you're accessing your data file from a server.

marcaronson408

Hi @RalphC, thank you for the suggestion.

I double-checked to make sure that the QDF file was not in OneDrive.

I did this by right-clicking on it. Files that are in OneDrive have a right-click-menu-entry labeled "OneDrive→". The folder that the QDF file is in and the QDF file itself do not have the "OneDrive→" entry, so they are not in OneDrive.

I do not use any other cloud sync software, like gdrive or dropbox, and I don't have any network drives mapped to appear like local drives.

Marc

RalphC

You didn't paste the path to your data file.

marcaronson408

C:\Users\Marc Aronson\Q-Vault