Budget Disappeared.

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Answers

  • Jeff Hitz
    Jeff Hitz Member ✭✭
    edited July 2022
    Still no fix on budgets disappearing that I can see. [Removed - Rant/Off Topic]
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    I have supplied two sets of pre and post budget loss backup files to Quicken for use in their investigation. Quicken is working on it.  Still personally curious for folks who have lost budget recently:
    - what antivirus software are you using?
    - are you running cloud drive software of any sort even if not involving Quicken data files?
    - are you running the most recent release of Quicken (July release put out last week)?
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    Weirdest budget loss occurrence yet for me:
    1) opened up Quicken
    2) checked budget, all good
    3) did a backup
    4) did a one-step update that resulted in single transactions in three credit card accounts and one investment account
    5) went into first credit card account, accepted transaction
    6) checked budget, all good, did a backup
    7) did same sequence for two more credit accounts, one transaction each, budget good after each
    8) went into investment accounts, accepted one transaction, checked budget all good
    9) used CTRL+B to do a backup (did nothing else): backup ran but at end got the pop up window "file contains no budget categories" and budget was gone. made an immediate backup. Checked and budget indeed gone.
    10) Restored from the backup that was executing or had finished executing (Not sure which) when pop up window appeared and all good, budget was there and ok.
    Note: both the pre-budget loss backup file and post budget loss backup file are exactly the same size.

    After this weird incident I poked around a bit on file/folder permissions. I had been sharing the top-level folder/directory which was causing some weirdness in effective permissions but as my user ID is an Administrator that should override any permission issues. Stopped sharing the master parent folder and set myself as the owner of that folder and everything within it. Not likely it will make any difference but looking at everything I can think of outside software itself.


  • Bob_L
    Bob_L SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    That pop up is really interesting as it begs the question as to why it would be there in the first place. I am not a developer, but it seems to me it would make de-bugging easy to find what is calling that and why. But anything is easy for he who doesn't have to do it!

    Quicken Business & Personal Subscription, Windows 11 Home

  • med.quid
    med.quid Member ✭✭
    Here's an update from my issue.
    1) Restored from known good backup -- Verified that the Budget was present.
    2) Did a Backup of the 'now' current (with Budget) file.
    3) Did a OneStep Update, unchecked Cloud Synch. The 'update' seemed to take ~20 minutes. I thought about canceling the process, but just let it run (was working on some other stuff on another computer)
    4) Update finally completed... I was over joyed! It wasn't hung up.
    5) Checked to see if Budget was still available.........NOTHING. Budget Gone. Got the following message on the pop-up when selecting 'Budgets' under the 'Planning' menu. "This quicken file contains no budgetable accounts or categories. The budget feature cannot be used at this time."

    A bit frustrating.

    Quicken Version 42.8 Build 27.1.42.8, File size: ~186MB
    OS: Windows 10 Home
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    Can you successfully restore from your backup in step #2?

    If so, or if from prior good backup, if you execute same following steps do you again lose budget? 
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    I have been able to maintain budget availability for 4-5 days in a row.  I run budget reports, but have avoiding going into the Planning/Budget Tab to make minor modifications.  While we wait for the long awaited solution, I am able to get pretty good actual vs budget pictures this way.  After any significant tasks that may have freaked out Quicken, I run the budget report.  Usually its there and I perform a Ctrl-B Backup each and every time.  Fingers crossed this will works for weeks at a time until I don't have to :smile:  
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • med.quid
    med.quid Member ✭✭
    @mtn_living

    So... I successfully restored from step#2. This time I selected the 'Reset the cloud and replace the cloud data with this restored file' thinking that perhaps a 'clean' slate in the cloud was a good decision.

    2) Cloud Synch completed....Budget still there in the client. (BTW, Still not showing up on the Mobile App correctly - continues to spin 'updating').

    3) Ran OneStep Update. Well, after it 'synched' I had a bunch of 'Quicken is unable to update your account. Click here to add you account again.'

    4) Started to 're-add' accounts. Started with Wells Fargo and it just hung up. I force stopped Quicken after ~20 minutes of 'updating'.

    5) Wrote this blog response.

    6) Going to try again later.

    Still a bit frustrating.

    Quicken Version 42.8 Build 27.1.42.8, File size: ~186MB
    OS: Windows 10 Home
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    mtn_living, I appreciate your problem solving logic.  Do we know if Quicken has engaged the community of affected subscribers in an attempt to conduct their own fact finding/problem solving process directly with the users on this or other posts?  Would be encouraging to hear if ANYONE has been engaged directly by Quicken to understand and explore potential underlying causes of the software flaw.  Other than the Quicken help team occasionally acknowledging the problem with no know timing of fix, there seems to be no feedback.  For a company that utilizes "Net Promoter Scores" as a means to track customer satisfaction, surprised there is not at least a monthly status published.  (I hope you do not consider this "griping")

    Wonder if they could simply introduce budget recovery "button" as it seems that may not be gone at all, just irretrievable.   Has anyone kept working with a file where the budget was lost, and have then reappeared several sessions later?
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    Yes, Quicken engineering is engaging directly with a couple of directly impacted users in a methodical problem solving process. 

    Meanwhile, the more specific step-by-step experiences leading to budget loss (or even not) on here the better. The gold nugget would be if anyone can consistently repeat a very specific sequence of events producing lost budget. 
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    Thanks for that update mtn_living.  Are you one of the directly involved users?

    Also, as seems evident from people's posts, I don't think there is a single specific sequence of events that causes budget loss.  So many of us have experienced the budget loss so often, I think a direct linkage to a specific set of activities would be apparent by now.  (This has been going on for years)  I think that most of the issues are with longer-terms users with larger files, wherein I suspect that Quicken software is not able to maintain retrievable access to the budget files due program memory allocation issues associated with larger files and memory intensive tasks.  Those moments when Quicken is suspended while "processing" during memory intensive tasks for larger files is when we hold our breath and hope we can still access the budget.  Which is not to say that the budgets cannot disappear for no reason at all.  Best thing Quicken has done to help is to add time stamp to backups so we can make many backups per session/day in case we have to go back through several files to find restore-able budgets.  Obviously not ideal, and not even a "band aid".

    Another thought came to mind, I wonder if we were able to go directly to the Budget area without being underneath the "Planning" Tab might avoid some trouble.  Part of the association weakness might be linked to the hierarchy of access???
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mobleyw
    mobleyw Member ✭✭✭
    Updates 7-21-22:
    Since my last report, I have lost my budget on more than 2 occasions, losing count. It is frustrating because the issue seems to happen so randomly without a discernable pattern. I have been able to recover the budget by "restoring" on the 3rd or 4th attempt using exactly the same restore file which first informs me with the standard message that this file has no budgets..., then invites to create new budgets, but then on the 3rd or 4th attempt of restoring exactly the same file, the budget reappears - sometimes with my internet disconnected (to avoid the backup sequence I frequently see when restoring prior to losing the budget) and recently even with the internet connected and noting the backup sequence again, even though I have checked "No" to Quicken Cloud back-ups.

    I also note that files restored to my laptop show the budget... most of the time, even though the PC says the files does not contain a budget. They are restored from the same file on the same Thumb drive. I do note however that the laptop also loses the budget, but not as frequently as the PC - but the laptop is not used as frequently as the PC. Mostly I am using it to have a second source for the file with my budgets to recover when they are lost on the PC. I "restore" a second source to the laptop every Saturday.

    I have Windows 11 with Microsoft Security watching and scanning periodically for malware. I check frequently for software installs and have found none I am unfamiliar with. I use OneDrive to backup files on my PC, but specifically omit all Quicken files from that process. There are no Quicken files on my OneDrive, confirmed more than once recently. I have the latest version of Quicken and allow Quicken to update as often as they request.

    BUT: 2 NEW DEVELOPMENTS
    1. I back up Quicken very frequently with the budget showing in order to name it according to the date, time and "with budget" to confirm I was visualizing a working budget at the time of the backup. Just now, I did just that. i entered one bill into a Quicken credit card account manually, not downloaded or "updated". Consistent with my habit, I immediately backed up to my Thumb drive. Much to my dismay, from this simple transaction and backup, I received the "budget does not exist..." message WHILE MY BUDGET IN THE FILE I JUST BACKED UP SHOWING ON THE SCREEN - as it was showing when I did the backup! Please see the appended file.

    2. OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE, after all this, I just received this AM an email from a Quicken engineer who contacted me a couple weeks ago, or so, by email. He asked for a detailed description of my problem, and I sent him 2 different scenarios, like those above. His email today states that he thinks they have identified the problem and he has requested that I download a "new version" of Quicken to see if it will resolve the problem. I will do so in the next day or so when I can spend some additional time on my PC and report back to the community and to the engineer with the results of the new version.

    Everyone, please keep us all updated with thoughts and i will do the same.
    See the image...
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    Much appreciated Mobleyw!  Let's hope Quicken has solved the problem in the "new version".  Hoping for an end to this nightmare for all of us!  Please be sure to update us when you have tested the new version.
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    RE: New Developments #1, no budget immediately after backup: as noted in prior post I had exactly same thing happen yesterday. Weirdly though was able to restore from that same backup and budget was fine so software lost budget connection apparently after backup had completed but before I did anything else. Still perplexed that you have to try multiple restores to get the budget backup back but mine restores consistently on first restore.
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    Mobleyw,
    Was the software that the engineer wanted you to download a beta version (i.e., not available to everyone)?
    Thanks
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mobleyw
    mobleyw Member ✭✭✭
    CMRater, et. al: The software link was provided in a brief email - to "try out" and see if it works. Assume "Beta". My plan was to backup a file with budget showing today, but in spite of several restores of earlier files form this week which showed the budget at the time of back up, I am unable to recover a visible budget on my PC. Will be trying the new update and see if the problem resolves and report back later this AM.
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    Thanks mobleyw.  Good Luck!
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mobleyw
    mobleyw Member ✭✭✭
    Update
    In summary - things may be better...
    1. As above, unable to visualize budget on PC with multiple restores earlier this AM
    2. Downloaded and installed the "Fix" from a link in my email.
    3. Brief new Quicken setup with log-in, etc.
    4. First Quicken view - all accounts accurate, with NO BUDGET -INVITED to create new budget, etc... as usual = brief disappointment!
    5. Restored from backup on 7-19, backup done with budget visualized
    6. Relief - budget visualized.
    7. Updated all bank accounts, credit cards, etc with habitual frequent backups while visualzing budgets, always accessed through the Planning tab.
    8. Made a few minor revisions to the budget - backed up and budget still visualized.
    9. Restored this final PC backup from my Thumb drive to my Laptop for "safe-keeping"
    10. Upon opening file in laptop, budget gone - even though visualized at time when backed up on PC. Laptop still running old version, not "Fixed"
    11. Did a second restore of exactly same file from Thumb drive - and budget visualized... Backup sequence to Quicken Cloud noted, even though Cloud back up checked "OFF"...
    12. Sent brief response to Quicken engineer who sent the Fix link - briefly outlining above without all the details, with gratitude for his help.
    13. Requested notice from him when this fix is released to community - then I would likely install it on my laptop as well - but waiting for final general before installing it there.
    Will keep you posted.
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    Suggest you do send all that detail to engineering. Super interesting and looks good. I’m not ready to declare 100% sure it’s fixed without more time and interaction. Your tests are very encouraging. So far my budgets are in good shape too.
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    mtn_living, did you also download/try the beta?
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    Somewhat encouraging mobleyw.  Thanks for the update.  Will be interested in hearing how it goes from here.  Hopefully not too long before a widely available fix.
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    I was able to make two backup files, one with good budget and one immediately after budget loss. I supplied these and they said they think they were able to identify problem using those files. I’m on the second beta which I think is same as mobleyw is using. After 4-5 days all good but since I previously made it a week without budget loss I’m still withholding judgment but definitely progress. Still backing up rigorously and every few steps and writing down every action I take.
  • mobleyw
    mobleyw Member ✭✭✭
    Latest response from Quicken engineer:
    "We’ve sent this fix to few more users who reported the same issue. Once we get satisfactory response from all of the users after using this fix version for good number of days without reoccurrence of the issue, then we can roll it out with R43 release for all users.

    Thanks for testing the fix for us as we were not able to reproduce the problem in-house!"
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    Thanks both!
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    Has there been any technical insights or explanations as to what has caused the budget loss.  Just curious 🙂
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mtn_living
    mtn_living Member ✭✭✭✭
    No, only that they saw something between my two files that led them to what they think is/was the problem. Nothing beyond that. Once truly solved I'll ask.
  • tdreed1265
    tdreed1265 Member ✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    I too received the Beta version and just loaded it up today. Same initial experience as mobleyw in that there was no budget when Quicken first started up. Restarted, still not there, so restored from the last backup (of which I take frequent backups). There was a short sync somehow with Quicken online and then the budget was present. Will work with the beta for a few sessions and check back in. I lose my budget about every other session, so I should know fairly quickly if there is an improvement.

    I also note that I keep getting messages to update Quicken. I'm suspecting that it's just some check that happens on the server and reports back that my version doesn't meet the expected version.
  • GuyManDude
    GuyManDude Member ✭✭
    I have been losing my Quicken budget for years (for no discernible reason), so I just stopped using it altogether. Too much time wasted re-creating things and sitting on the phone with tech support, who never acknowledged there was an issue. But with no budget, my family has been flying blind financially, which is very irresponsible and defeats the purpose that Quicken was built for in the first place.

    I truly hope they are actively working on a fix....
  • CMRater
    CMRater Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2022
    Understand your sentiments GuyManDude.
    Have also been losing budgets for years.  Apparently enough users have experienced the issue that there now appears to be a real effort underway by Quicken and select users to solve!  Sounds like they are close.🤞
    Quicken User Since - 1991
  • mobleyw
    mobleyw Member ✭✭✭
    Bad News: Budget Disappearance Issue Not Resolved with Fix:

    Made decision to "Test" the Fix and close and reopen Quicken this AM since budget disappearance in the past was associated with closing and re-opening. So:
    1. Made a "fresh" backup of the Quicken file left open all night, which was previously backed up and restored on my laptop at the end of my session yesterday - see above. Backup from this AM was the same open file, unchanged from the file backed up yesterday = no additional data entries, etc. No changes at all - just left open all night.
    2. Closed Quicken
    3. Re-opened Quicken, logged in as requested, noted cloud backup sequence, and received error message that this file contains no budgets...
    4. Attempted to restore this same file from this AM backup x 3 with same results. (This has seemed to work in the past with random success of restoring the same file).
    5. Decided to try to Restore the file created at end of session yesterday, which was restored to my laptop yesterday, which showed budget on the second restore attempt on Laptop.
    6. Restored this last file from end of session yesterday, noted cloud backup sequence again (even though cloud backup checked "OFF" in preferences) and budget has reappeared.
    7. So, I am back to where I was yesterday at end of session, having lost nothing, other than time and confidence in budget data access and stability.
    8. Will copy and paste this experience to the engineers and await further suggestions from community and Quicken engineers. Quicken to stay open in the meantime...
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