Can someone help me with Quicken 2017 not opening files

Jon Leslie

I just installed Quicken 2017 with a CD onto my new Surface Pro… copied all my data files over from the old PC.. They will not open but will rather flash on the screen for a second and disappear. Apparently there is an isuue I am not aware of that is keeping them from opening and staying open. Can someone assist me with fixing this issue as I really do not want to use the newer online program due to the cost and am satisfied with the old Quicken 2017 standalone.

NotACPA

Q2017 is so old that it's no longer supported by Quicken, and thus can't be "registered" on your new machine.

AFAIK, your only options are to Upgrade to a newer version, Use Q Simplify, or continuing your old PC … but both of those 1st 2 options would have a cost.

Boatnmaniac

@Jon Leslie - A few years ago Quicken made a change to their initialization system that is not compatible with Quicken ID pre-subscription versions (QWin 2014-QWin 2017). Since support for these versions has long ago expired (3 yrs after the version releases) there is nothing that Quicken will do to assist in resolving the issue you are having.

There is an outside chance that one of a couple of different workarounds might work for you but the feedback from others has been rather mixed with most saying the workarounds did not work for them. However, you might want to give it a shot. The following link is to a website describing the workarounds that is owned and maintained by a long-time Quicken user and very active member of this Community.: https://www.quicknperlwiz.com/blanklogin2014-2017.html .

Your options if the workarounds don't work:

1. If you still have your old computer with a functional Quicken still installed you could continue to run your QWin 2017 on that instead of on your new Surface.
2. If you still have your old computer but want to run Quicken on your new computer: Download and install QWin 2013 Deluxe on your new computer for free from https://www.quicken.com/support/how-and-when-use-intermediate-version-convert-older-versions-quicken/ . This is the last version where a Quicken ID (actually, an Intuit ID) is not needed so it is not affected by this issue. You will then need to export all of your data from QWin 2017 in QIF format and then import that into the QWin 2013 installation on your new Surface Pro. But note that there will need to be a lot of manual tweaking of the imported data, especially regarding categories because the categories used in QWin 2013 and in QWin 2017 can be different from each other. So, be prepared for a rather time consuming conversion process.
3. If all of the above fails to work for you, then you will need to place an order for Quicken Classic Subscription which will be able to read and convert your QWin 2017 data without issue.

Sorry, but you are not the first to get nailed by this.

@NotACPA - You mentioned Quicken Simplifi as an option. Can Simplifi now import data from Quicken Classic? If not, then the Simplifi option would be a start from scratch option, right?