Stock registers have blank dates and actions - transfers do not record.

Donna Wagner

Two days ago I first noticed that the account registers for stocks no longer show any dates or actions. This is the case for all stocks including those whose records go back many years.

I recently purchased a couple of stocks and when recording the purchase, that's when I found all the missing dates and actions. Even with the new transactions - the date I entered and the action I chose immediately disappeared. The transfer to pay for the purchase records - but the transfer from the separate cash account does not record.

Yet, in the separate cash account, the ending balance does reflect the transfer. Also in the separate cash account, the running register balance shows millions of dollars (not possible) - and only the Ending Balance at the bottom of the account page is correct. I have reported this situation twice now - once two days ago, and then again today.

Tom Young

Is there any chance that your Investment Accounts have been switched to "Simple Investing?" Go look at the General tab under Account Details.

Boatnmaniac

Did this occur when your Quicken installation version was updated?

If so, you might want to restore a backup file from before that version update to see if this issue is present there or if it is OK. Quicken makes an automatic backup of the data file just prior to doing the version update and the prior version will be added to the backup file name. Following is an example of what that might look like…see they yellow shading. You should restore that backup file or one that is dated a little earlier than that.:

If it's OK, start using the restored file as your main file going forward.

Donna Wagner

Thanks but I do not use the Quicken update function on investments, I enter them all manually. And the dates have always been accepted and recorded as I made the entries - along with the action. And the transfer from the cash account was also made at the same time, and the running balance after each transaction was also always correct. All was fine until something happened since I last verified the accounts at the end of June. I had not yet done for the the end of July when I found this issue.

I did restore a backup from several days ago but it has all the same issues. So I also used the backup version that is about two days old to have Quicken use the Account Verify utilities. It found no errors in validating the data ODF file, and no read errors with the QEL file. And it did nothing about the problems. So I abandoned the older restored version and am continuing with the current version, which updates just fine with the bank and credit card accounts. As I mentioned, I do not use the update function on any of the investment accounts.

I did not notice the issue until a couple of days ago - but since I manually verify each account at the end of each month with the statements, this issue only occurred very recently. And no, they are not switched to "simple investing". I believe this is the result of a software update, since Quicken updates this software fairly often lately. I do not use the Cloud version, this is the current desktop PC version, and I do not access the account from any thing other than my desktop PC.

I appreciate the responses but so far nothing suggested would apply. The other oddity is the fact that the "Cash" account - which is nothing more than a manual entry account of the "cash" type, has suddenly got a running balance that is completely fictitious, in the millions of dollars, after each transaction entry. Yet the Ending Balance at the bottom of the account page appears to be correct.

Thanks to all for your suggestions - I hope someone will eventually figure out what happened and how to fix it.

Boatnmaniac

So, this issue might have existed or occurred at any time since your end-of-June investment account(s) updating/reconciliation and not just in the last couple of days, right?

If that is the case, you should be able to see the version update backup files for each of the June & July version updates in your backup directory. In addition to the version that was updated being added to the backup file name, you should also see the date that backup file was created.

Working backward from today, restore one backup file after the other through July until you find a file that does not have this problem.

If you cannot find a good file then it could be that one of the last version updates did not install correctly and causing your Quicken installation to be corrupted. So, another option to consider doing is to download and install the latest Manual Patch Update file from https://www.quicken.com/support/update-and-patch-20182019-release-quicken-windows-subscription-product/. . This will install the Patch directly over your current installation. If your issue is because of a recent version update that was done by Quicken, this should resolve that issue.

Tom Young

Difficult to know where this problem is coming from, it could be a faulty program install or data file corruption at work here.

If by and large your other Quicken information is correct - Banking, Credit Cards, etc. - then perhaps trying a Validate & Repair is in order. What's generally considered the "best" approach is to first make a Quicken copy of your current file. Quicken's "Copy" function does has some functionality that attempts to clean up a data file as part of the copy process. Then, using the copy of your live file do the Validate & Repair process, and see if that correct the situation. (The Copy process also disconnects all Accounts from downloading - if you have any - so you'd need to re-initiate the connections in the "new" file.)

Donna Wagner

To Boatmaniac and Tom Young - thanks for your help - I already did the Validate and Repair on a restore that was about two days old and had the issue with the Investment Cash and Stock accounts. It did not help. Also other types of investments, such as mutual funds, which like the stock are the "brokerage" type of account, still have all the date and action entries intact. It is only the stock accounts that are affected. I understand the point about going back to a much older backup to try to find one that doesn't have this issue. I may do that just to find out - but the thought of having to use a backup more than just a few days old would mean a nightmare of re-entering manually all the bank and credit card downloads that are updated daily. So I think I will try the Manual Patch Update first - and do it on the restored backup that is only a couple of days old. I will work on that attempt tomorrow - today I'm going to try to avoid having to consider this mess! LOL. Thanks again for all your suggestions. I've been using Quicken for about 20 years or more - ever since it first came out as part of Intuit with QuickBooks - which I also use. So I've lived through a few software glitches.

My plans for today changed - so I spent a bit more time on this just now.

The stock accounts are "brokerage" type. There are no dates visible in the account register, all the way back many years. BUT - if I "edit" an entry, in the Edit screen that opens, the date is there.

In the IRA Investment Cash account - which is the "cash" type - the dates are all there - but the running balance is off by millions of dollars - yet the balance at the bottom of the account has an accurate balance of less than $400.

On August 6, I created a new investment cash account to track the purchase of a new CD. That accounts records all the transaction details correctly including the ending balance and the corresponding transfer to come from the IRA Investment cash account. But the corresponding IRA Investment cash account does not record anything at all about the transfer - no date no amount - nothing. The last recorded transaction was on 7-28-2024, and the transaction details and date and amount are there - but the crazy running balance is in the millions, yet the bottom of the account balance appears to be correct.

It seems like the more I study this crazy situation the crazier it becomes. I will tackle it again early tomorrow morning. Thanks again for your patience and sound suggestions.

Donna Wagner

I worked on this again today. I restored a backup dated July 27 2024. I didn't overwrite the current file, I gave the restored file a different name. All the issues were gone - everything is normal. So next I reopened the current file with all issues, and printed out the account that have data that I will have to re-enter manually if I start back on July 27. That will be the bank and credit card accounts, and changes to investment accounts.

But - when I try to open the renamed account from July 27, 2024, Quicken gives the error that it is a read-only file and cannot open it. I used Explorer to view the renamed file properties, and made some changes to make it all access and applied the changes. But it still won't open. I have in in the default C:drive = This PC - Local Disk © - Program Files (x86), Quicken - and the new (old) July 27 file which I named HomeBkp 2024 copy 2024-07-27.PM08.11.QDF (the date and time that the file was originally saved on July 27 2024 at 8:11 pm.

So now - more research so that I can open the restored undamaged file and then re-enter manually all the transactions that have occurred since July 27 at 8:11 pm. At least I have a path to succeed - just have to deal with this read-only attribute.

Boatnmaniac

(Deleted comment….redundant of a prior post in this thread.)

Donna Wagner

Thanks Boatmaniac - I just made another update, right above yours. I am fairly doubtful that the patch could fix so many crazy things - but unless you have a suggestion for how to get the restored copy from July 27 to get past the problem of being unable to open it with the "read only" issue, I may try the patch idea first. I'm taking a break now for lunch - and I may give this a rest and let the smoke my head generated from working so hard clear out a bit - LOL.

Tom Young

Perhaps this:

To remove the read-only property:

1. Open the File Explorer and copy your Quicken data file to your hard drive.
2. Select the Quicken data file, right-click and select Properties.
3. In the Attributes area, click to clear the Read-only checkbox.
4. Launch Quicken.
5. Open the data file you changed the properties for.

But you didn't mention the "Copy" aspect before your validation and your problem might stem from that. A Quicken "Copy" also creates an new internal ID for the copied file. That internal ID is what identifies the file when it comes to "syncing." Even if you don't use mobile or web your file always attempts to sync to the cloud so opening your live file after getting a backup to work properly might be throwing things out whack when you go back to the file that's now working OK. Just a guess here.

Donna Wagner

Hi Tom - I started in on this early this morning. I had previously tried to reset the Attributes in the Properties, and had reset them all to give me all access - and it still refused to open because I had put it into the default Quicken file folder C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Quicken. I have since found I cannot put my restored working application file into that folder - it says I need Administrator Permission to put a file into that folder. So now I have it in an unrelated folder on my C:\ Desktop. It opens from there, and I have now allowed it to sync to the Quicken Cloud.

So now I'm working with the restored 7-27-24 Quicken file, which has none of the crazy errors. I have used Validate and Repair on it twice and let it fix a few unrelated minor errors. I will have to manually reenter all the transactions that have been downloaded since 7-27, but at least I can do that and go forward.

During all this research this morning, while using Windows Explorer to work in the Local Disk C:\Program Files (x86)\Quicken folder, I happened to notice a lot of executable Quicken Application files - all dated 8-1-2024. I seem to recall Quicken did a rather lengthy update around that time. So, I am now suspicious that the 8-1-2024 Quicken program update is the one that caused the crazy mess. I'm attaching a PDF image of what I found, in case this is of interest to you or anyone else.

Thanks again for all the ideas and help. If anyone has a way to get Windows to allow me to put my current working Quicken application file back in the Windows Program Files (x86) Quicken folder, where it used to be, I would appreciate learning now to accomplish that.

Thanks again to all.

Quicken Application Files dated 8-1-2024.pdf

Rocket J Squirrel

You should never put data files of any kind in the Program Files folders. Windows owns those folders. You need to put data files into data folders you have full access to.

Donna Wagner

Actually I did not do that - I believe that is where Quicken desktop installs the folders - at least that is where I have always found them. I know they are Windows folders. But thanks for the tip - I will move them all.