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Investment accounts are loading very slowly

fmashby

Windows 11, Quicken R65.29, Build 27.1.65.29 More system details below.

I run Quicken off of the Solid state Drive.

This has been ongoing for months, but seems worse recently. It takes 10 to 15 seconds for an investment account to load. I have 7 accounts to update and reconcile. It's frustrating to take this much time. If I load one and later come back to it, it is better, but still takes 5+ seconds to load. I have performed all of the recommended fixes without success. I have validated and supervalidated the file. I have archived the investment accounts. I tried archiving the entire file from 11 years to 5 years without any change in the speed. I rebuilt investing lots and deleted and rebuilt the pricing history. I examined hidden files and made sure that none were updating. I reset the cloud data. I turned off all other software except Norton antivirus. VPN is not running. Appreciate any other recommendations or fixes to try.

The investment accounts open about the same speed on my Surface Pro 7, running a 10th generation processor with 8 of Ram.

More system details.

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Windows

Accounts

Performance Issue

Comments

SirWm

90 minutes later, the import completes…

None of the accounts have correct values after the import.

That is to say that a "before" set of account values does not match at all the "after" set of account values.

The export/import was a complete failure. I have no way of knowing how the 'archive' process affected the results of the export/import.

This time, none of the accounts had correct values - many are negative.

SirWm

what a waste… during the import process, I am getting questions like shown in the photo.

How the heck am I supposed to know the answer to this question? The import process is supposed to be "just do it" , with no inputs from the user. " … you just entered?" You are kidding, right ? I entered NOTHING. The import process is running. Why am I being prompted ?

The more I work on this issue, the more I am losing respect for the Quicken product, and its development team.

SirWm

I am trying the export/import idea again, but this time I am limiting my dates to be

1/1/2020 to present. We'll see how that goes…

Rocket J Squirrel

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20548868#Comment_20548868

It may, in fact, updating after each transaction is imported. Next time, show a different Quicken page that doesn't need to update, e.g., your checking account register.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20548869#Comment_20548869

There is no 64 bit Quicken.

SirWm

@Quicken Kristina

what a waste !

It took an hour and 3/4 for a QIF file to be imported into an empty quicken file as documented above.

My cash accounts all have LARGE negative balances.

Accounts that were closed with zero balances now have balances that are non-zero.

The only account that seems to be right is my DISCOVER credit card plus credit card accounts that had zero balances before the process began resulted in zero balances, so there is that piece of good news.

Some of the brokerage accounts are close-to correct. Others are double in value. Accounts that should have been zero have negative balances.

This is not a good look for the Quicken Team.

For the record, I said to export and import "all" things going back to 1988 , which would include accounts closed with zero balances ( I guess… ).

SirWm

… just a random observation…

I see a 32 bit Quicken is running on my 64 bit machine …

SirWm

good grief… the import operation is SO SLOW… It appears to me that Quicken is trying to update the HOME / Dashboard page with each transaction that is imported… who the heck programmed this ??? I am sitting here for more than 30 minutes…

more later…

SirWm

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20546305#Comment_20546305

I will try this and report back. Thanks.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

If you have already tried making a copy of your file and validating that copy, and it didn't resolve the issue, then the next step is to export your file and import the data into a new file. Since you have investment transactions, you would need to export to QIF. To do that, please follow these steps from our article on exporting Quicken data:

Choose File menu > File Export > QIF file.
In the QIF File to Export to field, Quicken displays the preset path of the export file. Select the appropriate option:
- Enter a name for the export file at the end of the existing path (make sure there is a backslash \ before the file name). Quicken automatically adds the correct file extension.
- Click Browse to select a different location. Enter a name in the File name field, and then click OK to return to the QIF Export screen.
In the Quicken Account to Export from list, select the account from which to export transactions.
In the Include Transactions in Dates field, enter the dates of transactions to export.
- To export all transactions, enter the dates of the first and last transactions in your register or transaction list.
In the Include in Export list, select the items to include in the export.
- Select Transactions to include the data in the account's register or transaction list.
- Select Account List to include all your accounts.
- Select Category List to include the Tag List in addition to your list of categories.
- Select Memorized payees to make available from QuickFill and the Memorized Payee List all the transactions you had Quicken memorize in the previous file.
- Select Security Lists to include all your securities, security prices (including price histories), security types, and your investment goals.
- Select For Macintosh Users to includes securities, security prices, and the last-saved budget so you can import them to a Quicken for Macintosh file.
- Select Business Lists to include invoice items and all templates (only in Quicken Business & Personal).
Click OK to create the .QIF file.

Next, create a new Quicken file. To do that, follow these steps from our article on creating a new file:

1. Choose File menu > New Quicken File.

2. Select New Quicken File.

3. Click OK.

4. In the File name field, enter the name of the new file then click Save.

Don't use any of these characters: * ? < > | " : \ / (asterisk, question mark, left and right angle bracket, pipe, straight quotation marks, colon, BACKSLASH, FORWARD SLASH). Also, don't add the .qdf extension; Quicken does that for you.

5. Sign in with your Quicken ID. If you are prompted to create a Quicken ID but already have one, click Sign In under the Create Account prompt.

6. Select if you want to use Mobile.

7. Click Add Account, then close that window, since you will want to import your data before connecting accounts.

To import your data into the new file, follow these instructions from our article on importing files:

Go to the File menu in Quicken and select QIF File
In the QIF Import window, use the dropdown menu to select the appropriate account.
Browse for and select your QIF file.
Select the optional items you want to include (Transactions, Account list, Category list, etc.) These should match the items you included in your Export.
Click Import to import the file.
Review the imported transactions in the account register for accuracy.
Ensure all transactions are correctly categorized, reconciled, and in the appropriate account.

Once you have confirmed everything imported correctly, if the issue with slowness is resolved, reconnect your online services.

If the issue is not resolved, you can return to your original file. For instructions on switching between Quicken files, please click here.

Let me know how it goes!

SirWm

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20545368#Comment_20545368

yes - all of that was attempted before I posted.

I do not understand why a discussion of 'payees' has started. Brokerage accounts deal with stocks, not vendors/people/payees.

None the less, my settings are that old payees get removed after 7 months.

Quicken is the problem - no doubt in my mind. As soon as I touch a brokerage account, the WHOLE MACHINE bogs down. ( I have no problems when a brokerage account is not touched. )

Jim_Harman

I believe there is a checkbox someplace that will do that for you, automatically deleting payees that haven't been used in 18 months or more.

To auto-delete unused Memorized Payees, go to Edit > Preferences > Data Entry and Quickfill and check the "Delete memorized payees not used in last XX months" box, then exit and restart Quicken. This will not delete payees that you have locked, so if you regularly lock your memorized payees, you must delete them manually.

To delete a block of old Payees, you can click on the Last Used column header to sort the least recently used Payees to the top lo the list, then click on the first one you want to delete and Shift-click on the last one. Click on any of the trash can icons in the selected transactions to delete the whole selection.

Jeepien

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20545309#Comment_20545309

I believe there is a checkbox someplace that will do that for you, automatically deleting payees that haven't been used in 18 months or more.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @SirWm,

Thank you for reaching out. You mentioned that you have already tried validating. Did you try all of the suggestions from my original post?

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20529390#Comment_20529390

As @Jim_Harman suggested, it could also be another process running on your computer causing the slowness. Have you checked for any background processes or programs that may be competing with Quicken for resources?

I look forward to your response!

Jim_Harman

@SirWm Sorry, I don't have any new ideas on this. For reference, my system is a low end desktop:

Intel 15-12400 processor, 237 GB SSD drive, 12 GB memory
Norton 360 antivirus is running
Quicken R66.28
QDF File size 211 MB
135 memorized payees
QDF on C: drive, automatic backups to a OneDrive folder
Open time to file password 2 sec
After password, to Planning > Tax Center 9 sec
Open investing account with 1,042 transactions 3 sec
Open another acct with 2,660 transactions 4 sec
Return to first acct < 1 sec.
Manual backup on exit to thumb drive varies, 13 - 35 sec.

I suspect that if your account sizes are similar but performance is slow, something is running in the background that is slowing down disk access.

RalphC

@SirWm My 30 year old data file does not have the issues that yours has. My file information report has similar numbers as yours except for the Memorized Payees. Your 2101 Memorized Payees is extremely large. I have 30. Out of GP and to clear out data file bloat, I'd trim that file to payees you only actually use and are current as a start to renewing your data file.

SirWm

@Quicken Kristina - any new thoughts on this ?

SirWm

@Jim_Harman - any new thoughts on this ?

SirWm

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20539125#Comment_20539125

After the 'archive' process, each of my BROKERAGE accounts
contain less than 1,300 transactions.
My DISCOVER credit card account has over 10,000 transactions, and opens
very quickly with no real lag observed.

The accounts that are opening slowly are all INVESTING accounts
( brokerage, IRA ). Each of these accounts takes 10 seconds or more to open.
( I am using the stopwatch function on my phone. )

Each of my BANKING accounts ( checking, savings, credit card ) open
in about 3 seconds, which is acceptable to me.

All of the INVESTING accounts are slow in opening. The BANKING accounts are not.
The number of transactions does not seem to be a factor - just the type of account.

If I switch from account A to account B and then to account A, the second reference to 'A' is
not any faster.

AND, in a new observation, when I exit Quicken, the exit process is so slow that I see
each of the accounts that I opened/used being closed one by one in reverse order
( most recent closed first ). There is a "half window" that appears for each account that is closing.

Rocket J Squirrel

@srwm said "Don't blame the anti-virus."

The only AV I use is Microsoft Defender. After I added my Quicken Windows program and data directories to its exclusion list, QWin ran faster. I can't explain it but theorize that Defender goes crazy because QWin opens and closes files rapidly and often.

fmashby

I just checked mine after doing all of the fixes above and when I first open an investment file it takes 10 seconds. When I reopen it, it was down to 3 to 4 seconds. The slowness, both downloading and opening investment accounts, has become noticeably slower over the past several months. I don't know of any other fixes to apply.

Jim_Harman

@SirWm Please go to Tools > Account List. If the # of transactions column is not showing, click on Options and add a check mark next to it.

What type of accounts are opening slowly?

Are some slower than others?

Do the accounts with more transactions open slower?

How slow are they?

If you go to a different account then back to a slow one, is it faster?

How many transactions are there in a slow account?

SirWm

could it be that quicken is trying to do something useless as it moves from account to account like, say, update pricing on stocks ??? This slowness is very frustrating.

SirWm

QUICKEN R65.29 is just SLOW. It is pathetic that people have been complaining about it for MONTHS, and nothing has been done.

DO not blame WINDOWS. Don't blame the anti-virus.

My file is on SSD drive, as is the program itself.

I have tried the archive idea, but that just screwed up my datafile. Anything beyond a year has been lost due to the quirks of the archive process. Comparing year-to-year is now a lost capability for me because of 'archive'.

I've done the 'validate' files, and 'super validate ' files with no issues discovered.

Processor affinity - what a joke! A classic "simple" application like quicken should not care or have to care about processor affinity.

I have snoop'd the internet traffic, and quicken is not doing anything in this regard when moving from one brokerage account to another. quicken is just getting lost in its own underwear when moving from account to account. It is so slow that is seems like the program is waiting for some lock or semiphore to timeout before continuing.

It anything, based on the info in this thread, AND THE REPEATABILITY of the issue, the quicken team is doing absolutely nothing with this issue. AND it would appear that the quicken team does not use it own product for themselves. If the team were using the product, this issue would have been fixed a long time ago.

I use the stock-quote feature the most. If I find another tool/program that has this feature, I will be done with quicken. Subscription pricing and poor performance do not make for happy customers.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for the follow-up,

I'm glad to hear marking old accounts as closed helped reduce the issue.

How are your active accounts connected? I notice Direct Connect tends to update fairly quickly and is faster than Express Web Connect/Express Web Connect+ (if the financial institution gives you the option).

Thank you!

fmashby

I had used the Archive Transactions before, without improvement. Today, I closed multiple old accounts that had been transferred, some years ago, but not closed. That seemed to cut the loading time in half, to about 6 seconds. It still took over a minute to download to active accounts. I remembered that taking less time, but am not sure.

fmashby

Thank you

UKR

Thanks for all this information.
You mentioned that you have archived transactions. If you performed a file split or Year End Copy with a cutoff date, that mostly removes reconciled banking transactions, but it typically leaves investment transactions (Buy, Sell, etc.) in the investment registers, to retain complete trading history for tax purposes.

Have you ever performed this procedure?

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 transaction registers moving to an archive data file and none remaining in the active data file.

File Information otherwise looks OK. The following won't do anything about investment performance but may help with overall register performance.
- You might consider cleaning up the Memorized Payee List, letting Quicken remove unused MPL entries older than [xx] months. I would start with setting this to 18 months, but you may reduce this number if you desire.
- Your number of Categories is a little higher than usual, IMHO. Removing unused categories would be a start.
If you have subcategories nested down to more than 4 levels (you can have up to 16), think about reducing the levels wherever possible.

Performance of the same data file on two different computers:
If your data file performs better on what appears to be a smaller computer, this may be related to the number of CPUs you have and their processor speed (GHz).
Quicken does not use multiple processors in parallel. It only uses one CPU. So, I'm guessing that an 8-way 2GHz system may perform slower than a 4-way 2GHz system (you get 1/8th of 2GHz vs 1/4th).

fmashby

File size - 232,715 kb, RAM 16 GB, 49% available, see below, File information below, Running Windows 11, not a day trader, over time have invested in many securities, but have archived, # of transactions below,

Interestingly, I copied my file to my tablet, also Windows 11 with Norton, and it opens accounts in half the time, 6 vs 12 seconds, though it is older with a slower chip than my desktop.

UKR

Slow performance, especially in investment registers?
Please provide more details about your Quicken data file.
• I'd like to know if you have account registers where a single account is approaching or exceeding 10,000 transactions.
• What is the file size, in KB, as shown by Windows File Explorer?
• And I'd also like to see the "File Information" window (See below)
• Is any cloud backup software (Dropbox, MS OneDrive, etc.) actively accessing your Quicken data file while Quicken is running?
• What is the complete path and file name of your Quicken data file (e.g. C:\Users\username\Documents\Quicken\QDATA.QDF)?
• How much total RAM do you have installed?
• How much of the available RAM is in use after Quicken has started? Windows Task Manager will give you this information. 80% or higher?
• What version of Windows are you running?
• Are you a day trader or have invested in many hundreds of securities over time? How many securities do you currently own? How many total securities have you ever owned?

About file size and number of transactions:
You can find out how many transactions you have in your data file by doing this:

Click Tools / Account List. This should tell you how many transactions you have in each of your accounts in an optional column, "# of Transactions".
If this column is not shown in the Account List, click the Options button at the bottom of the Account List window, then click "Number of Transactions" to add the column.
File Information: Click Help in the Menu Bar. Shift+click About Quicken and it'll give you a File Information box. Please capture an image snapshot of this File Information box and attach it here. Crop, black out or delete personal information from this image.
The Windows Snipping Tool can be used to capture a partial screen image and save it to a file of file type PNG or JPG only.
To attach the image here please review
How do I post a screenshot in the community from a mac
How do I post a screenshot in the community from windows

fmashby

I found this on setting the priority to above normal. I tried that without any improvement in speed.

To set the GPU priority to "Above normal" in Windows, you can use the Task Manager or the NVIDIA Control Panel. Here's how to do it: