R52.33 - Unable to open data file on first try - then opens after pointing to file (edit75)

I've been experiencing exactly the same scenario as Biker70 describes for the last week or so. WIndows 10 QW Premier R52.33 27.1.52.33. File resides on onedrive but I've never had this problem before. If it is a OneDrive problem why does it always work when you click on the file in the QW dropdown list?

Agreed! "Jim_Harman Oct 31, 2023" post is an excellent temporary workaround that works for me too.

Quicken is living in Microsoft’s world. They are going to have to adjust to the update and make it work.

There is a difference between opening an active Quicken file from a cloud service versus opening it from your local drive and simply having a backup on the cloud. My active file is on my D:\ drive and simply gets backed up to the cloud. Did Microsoft change something to make even that relationship not work? Apparently. But my financial data is important enough to have backed up off site that it would behoove Quicken to figure out how to address the problem. I won't accept the risk of 'single point of failure'.

Yes, my active Quicken file is on my D:\ drive. It gets backed up to OneDrive but my active file is on my D:\ drive. And I have the same problem everyone else is having.

"How does Quicken figure out how to address a problem caused by a Microsoft OneDrive update?" Easy, I did it all the time when I was an IT Director and Programmer. When MS changed things in one of their server products that messed up our systems, we investigated, adjusted code, tested and released an update ourselves. We didn't throw our hands up and say, "Well, nothing we can do.". And I suspect Quicken is doing the same thing right now - they just aren't there yet.

I have the same problem with my password protected file after installing the update referenced in this thread. I can open my file from the file menu on the 2nd try. Like others, my QDF is located in my MS oneDrive folder has it has been for several years. Note, I have also notice very slow file opening if Google Drive is running, even though my QDF is not on my Google Backup list.

All this makes me wonder if OneDrive switched to using NTFS volume shadow copies. This is a BAD thing for any database.

A database can be in an inconsistent state at any given time. That is why it is important to only back them up when they are in a known state. The NTFS volume shadow copy can be created at any given moment in time. It is in fact what is done for Windows restore points. In a very short period of time a shadow copies enough information that it can bring the volume back to that state. Works great if you know that the system has just flushed all file system and any file or part of the file system that might be in an inconsistent state can be rebuilt. But terrible is you have a database in an inconsistent state that can't be rebuilt.

Newer databases generally have enough systems in place that they can rebuild from what might be an inconsistent state.

Quicken's database is very old and doesn't have this.

So, what should be used instead?

When Quicken opens the data file it locks it (this normal for most programs). This lock tells programs like OneDrive not to try to do anything with it until it is closed, and the lock is removed. A shadow copy ignores such locked files.

I remember the same problem happening in Dropbox a few years ago.

It is very tempting to use the volume shadow copy because of the fact that you can do it almost instantly and do the backup from the copy while the rest of the system just continues on.

When using the lock to gate this you have this flow:

Quicken opens/locks file, no backup is being done until you close the file. If you leave Quicken open all day long you have no backup. EDIT: Note that if the user calls for a backup while Quicken is open, what it does is close the data file, make a copy, and then open it again. In the previous sentence I was referring to you have no "external" backing up your data file. But it can also be noted that any backup system that jumps in can disrupt Quicken's backup/reopening of the data file because even though it is a short period of time, the lock on the data file will be off between the closing and reopening of the data file.

Once Quicken closes the data file, that allows a program like OneDrive to jump in and open it and lock it so that they too can read through and send the data to the server/cloud knowing it isn't changing while sending. This is why if Quicken closes a data file and then wants to open it back up again right away (like while doing Validate & Repair) it will encounter OneDrive's lock on the file and not be able to open it. This is the secondary reason Quicken Inc suggests not storing your data file in a cloud folder.

Note there is the opportunity to use the Windows shadow copy after the lock is removed, and therefore not need to keep it locked for syncing to the server for OneDrive, and not interfering with Quicken reopening it. But a service like OneDrive should never ignore the lock that a program like Quicken puts on it.

I have the same problem. First noticed at the end of October when I would get the open failure, then I would try again and file would open. Now, it is a hard failure. Did the validate file function. It found and fixed a number is issues for some very old transactions (like from 2013), then opened the file. But, when I close the file and try to reopen, it fails. I do the validate again and it opens the file.

DITTO. Dropbox. will open then under file|open very😒

I have been having the problem since the "new update" to classic, and I don't use onedrive. Sometimes on the 2nd or 3rd try it will load in and work fine. It's more than a onedrive problem. My files are on my pc.