Still trying to obtain info from old backup files

Hello Quicken people! I have a help request. I posted some of this a year or so, but was not able to get the problem worked out. Perhaps it’s impossible. Anyway, I thought I’d try again.

The Problem: I have old quicken backups which contain some information on checks written which will help me to solve some old problems. It’s not a financial catastrophe, mostly curiosity about where some money went.

The current version of Quicken won’t read the old backup files. So I thought I might be able to install an older version of Quicken, but Windows 10 or 11 won’t install the older Quicken program. What is left to do?

My elaborate plan was to install Windows 7 on a laptop I’m not using, then install the older version of quicken on that Win 7 machine, and maybe that will let me search the old backup files. (I bought Windows 7 and Old Quicken program)

Is that a workable solution? I am concerned that I won’t be able to install the old Quicken program because the program can’t be installed without permission from the mother site.

Also, I have elaborate instructions from Quicken about restoring files back to Quicken 98, but that’s getting a bit complex for me.

To summarize, all I want is for somebody to open the old backups, copy the register and save it as a pdf or print it. Well, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I’m having a hard time accepting that there is no way to accomplish this. I’m sure the CIA or FBI could figure out a way to do it! I’d be happy to pay some Quicken pro to do it, but the online offers to do this don’t seem very reliable. As I say, any suggestions or specific recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

John