Extreme slow transaction registers (Q Windows under Parallels on a Mac)

mtbdog

Entering transactions of any type in any register taking 10-15 seconds before I can enter another or switch to another task. This is an older data file that is quite large, 308 mb. Another file (doing my mother's bookeeping) is newer and much smaller. Transactions are almost instantaneous in that file.

Quicken Classic Premier v. 64.35

Win11 running in Parallels VM on Mac Mini M4.

Data file is on local SSD drive, not in OneDrive or iCloud.

Any new ideas about this?

Quicken Anja

Hello @mtbdog,

Thanks for the detailed breakdown—the file size and age definitely stand out as factors here. Performance slowdowns like this are often related to file data integrity (especially in long-running investment registers), even when the file is stored locally and the system specs are solid.

Please take a moment review this support article. It covers key areas to review and walks through creating a file copy and validating it, which can help identify or repair data issues that build up over time in larger files:

Since you mentioned the slowness only occurs in the older / larger file — not the newer one — the Copy & Validate portion of that article is the most relevant next step to check for data integrity issues or damaged lots.

Hope this helps!

UKR

Win11 running in Parallels VM on Mac Mini M4.

Have you configured Parallels with enough RAM so that Windows 11 can run without running short on memory, needing to page excessively? IMHO, 8 GB or more should be defined. The more, the better. The old "4GB RAM is plenty" doesn't cut it anymore.

mtbdog

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20521579#Comment_20521579

Hi UKR.

Great suggestion. Glad someone knows Parallels.

I just checked it. CPU & Memory set for "auto": 4 cores and 6GB RAM. Changed it to Manual, still auto for CPU cores and manual 8 GB RAM. (CoPilot AI said 8 GB remaining for the Mac should be adequate for what I do.)

I did a couple of test transactions in an investment account. About 7 seconds of erratic hourglass after entering until I can enter another, which is still slow. But I can live with it compared to 10-15 seconds waiting.

Switching to/from/between investment account(s) is taking about 5 seconds. Switching between non-investment accounts less than a second.

Overall improvement seems like. I'll see how it goes over the next few days and report back. [fingers crossed].

Thanks.

mtbdog aka steve

mtbdog

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20521339#Comment_20521339

Hi Anja.

Thanks for this. I will give it a try and report back. I've already made the changes recommended by UKR, which have improved performance to tolerable. Hopefully this can elevate performance to even more tolerable! 😁

mtbdog aka steve

Quicken Anja

@mtbdog Glad to hear UKR’s suggestion helped bring the performance to a more tolerable level—that's a good sign! 😊

If you following the other steps I provided as well, feel free to circle back and let us know how things look. Your updates are always helpful for others running into similar performance issues.

Thanks for keeping us posted!

UKR

Transaction entry in investment account registers can become slow, the more transactions and securities are to be tracked in Quicken.

If you're an active trader and/or your current investment account has many transactions pertaining to sold and no longer held securities you may want to consider this:

Archive Investment Transactions

For a couple of years now, a new function has been available in Quicken, Archive Transactions. It will split your investment account register into two parts, leaving only those securities' transactions where you currently hold >0 shares in the active register. The rest is moved to a new Archive register within the current data file.

Having less transactions in your active register might improve performance.

Please read and carefully follow instructions here: How to Archive Investment Transactions to Improve Performance

Eventually, after a couple of years, you might consider splitting your data file in two, with all the archived investment transactions moving to an archive data file and none remaining in the active data file.

mtbdog

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20521339#Comment_20521339

Hi Anja.

I just did the copy/validate. Still takes about 2 seconds to switch between investment accounts. Seems like an improvement that I can live with. Will see how it handles transactions of the next few days.

Also going to look into UKR's suggestion about archiving.

Thanks to both of you for suggestions.

Quicken Anja

Thanks for the update, @mtbdog—glad to hear the Copy & Validate improved performance. Archiving older investment transactions is a solid next step and can lead to further speed improvements in large files.

We appreciate you keeping us posted!