This group doesn't look too promising, but hopefully someone can help. I have been using MS Money since 2002. Needless to say, my money file has gotten huge and Money runs sluggish. Is there anyway to make the file smaller without losing data or starting over? If I could even pare it down to the last five years that would help a lot. However, since all files are inter-connected I can't simply go in and delete the first five years. I am totally dependent on MS Money for keeping track of my finances, so I really don't know what to do. I have upgraded the program several times, so it isn't like I am using the old Money 2002. I downloaded the latest Money Deluxe from the Microsoft site, but that simply uses your backup file and goes from there and there isn't any technical support for this software. Anyone?
If you are certain it is the file size that is causing the problem, the Archive feature would make it smaller. But my file size is about 170 MB with many years of data. There are some sluggish features (initial start, creating reports that include "ALL" data) but it doesn't seem to be a major issue for me. If you do decide to Archive, you might want to make a copy and try it on the copy first. Personally I find it very convenient to have all my data in the one file.
Note that the more active forum is at http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/money/threads?ppud=4 That requires a log-in to post. As Ron said, Archive will remove non-investment transactions older than a date you specify. It will not remove quotes, which is what often take up a lot of space. People looking for making the file smaller via archive are usually disappointed.
How slow, and what version of Money are you using now? If it's really slow, then the problem is probably due to some corrupted Bills entry/entries. A new feature was added in Money 2007 and is also in Plus including Sunset: File->Repair->RemoveAllBillsData This Remove All Bills Data feature would be for people who have experienced their Money file to run excessively slow. To get some information within the program, File->Repair->RemoveAllBillsData Read the information. Then click cancel. Before proceeding, make an extra copy or backup of your file in case you want to undo something. The problem will be that if you remove all bills, you will probably want to add at least some of your bills back. This can be done manually with the aid of the reports that you print out before removing the bills. A technique that could help simplify re-entering your bills afterward would be to go your register and selecting a representative instance of your past bill and selecting "Make Recurring" (Ctrl+E). This would be especially helpful if the bill is complex, such as involving a split.
