Data Loss After Updates

Quicken,

Quicken continues to consistently lose data with every update (and the updates are so frequent that this often happens multiple times per month now). Quicken apparently can't handle the backup path that it selected on install, so the automatic backups just quietly fail, and even my own carefully created manual backups (and I back up all the @#$%^ time now, given Quicken's incredible fragility) frequently fail to restore hours of lost work. The fragility of Quicken for Windows has becoming absurd. Is there any hope that this will ever be fixed? Is the Windows version being neglected in favor of the online version (which I have been loathe to use, for obvious security reasons - reasons that are obvious to anyone who really thinks about the issues of having even more financial data stored online, anyway). I have been using Quicken for >25 years now, but I have about had it. Is it time to cut my losses, bite the bullet, and just switch to something less fully functional but more reliable? I hate to flush all of the time I have put into Quicken, and I wish I could just go back to a stable version from about 10-15 years ago, but I was railroaded into "upgrades" to maintain online functionality. Is there any hope?

Jonathan Moretz
Long-suffering, and formerly loyal, Quicken user

P.S. - In addition to what any poor Quicken support engineer might have to offer - and genuinely appreciate any such help and feel deeply for the plight of anyone who has to support this house of cards, I would really welcome input from other Quicken users. Has anyone found an adequate, and above all stable alternative? Has anyone used Personal Capital? I know it is nothing like as complete as Quicken, but it might be adequate (and way less frustrating).

Comments

  • Tom Young
    Tom Young SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    You've probably heard the joke about what to do when you've dug yourself into a hole? STOP DIGGING!

    I'd give similar advise here: Stop accepting updates!

    As a long-time user of Quicken you probably understand that "updates" are notorious for causing damage of some sort to to existing, working, functions and very, very, frequently are simply Quicken's attempt to add "more bells and whistles", the majority of which you probably can live without. I very, very rarely update Quicken, frequently going over a year before accepting one. Every once in a while Quicken does add something that piques my interest and I'll use that update, but only waiting for several months to see if the update has created big problems.

    I don't know what you've tried to get this working better for you - Copy file and validate copy, clean uninstall of the program and downloading a fresh copy, and contacting Official Quicken Support and allowing for screen sharing are common suggestions - but if at the moment you have a version that's working for you then stay with that as long as you possibly can is the best advice I can offer.

  • Rocket J Squirrel
    Rocket J Squirrel SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 12

    It has been theorized in another thread that QWin is failing to properly close the data file when updating itself, possibly resulting in damage. If you do want an update (maybe it fixed a bug you encounter), it's probably safer to decline the update, close QWin, and download and run the corresponding manual patch.

    https://www.quicken.com/support/update-and-patch-20182019-release-quicken-windows-subscription-product/

    Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.

  • retird
    retird Member ✭✭✭✭

    For my 2-cent's opinion as has been posted many times….. I never update a new revision untill it seems OK and few, or no bad comments here. Sometimes that may be weeks for things to settle down. I always do a Mondo Update with Quicken closed.

    Windows 11 (2 separate computers)..... Quicken Premier.. HAVE USED QUICKEN CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 1985.

  • Good advice from all. Unfortunately, I already have UAC in Windows set to the maximum, and this doesn't seem to be preventing the automatic updates. Quicken seems to have conveniently overlooked providing any way to turn off their shoddy "updates". After decades of frustration, I think it's time to take the stop digging advice and just stop using Quicken. It's hard to give up after so many years, but I can't think of any great benefits that I have derived from using Quicken for so long, but I have wasted countless hours on this needless masochism. I just cancelled my subscription (or at least I tried to - it's anyone's guess if Quicken actually does it). Anyone else in my situation should strongly consider doing the same and just writing off this garbage and living life blissfully free of Quicken like the most of the rest of humanity. Good luck to all.

    Jon

  • Quicken Janean
    Quicken Janean Moderator admin

    Hi @DocJon, Can you please upload your logs by going to Help> Report a Problem when you get the chance and let me know when you have done so? Thanks!

    Quicken Janean

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  • Janean,

    Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your taking the time to respond, but I have given up on Quicken, so I don't plan to take the time to pursue this. I hope Quicken is able to make some progress on the data loss issues, though, for the sake of the poor masochists who continue to use it.

    Jon