Temporarily restoring a previous year's backup

I had closed out 2009 and earlier into several files, removing those
transactions from my active Quicken.

How do I access one of those files without screwing up my current data?

Thanks.

 

I don't think you should have any significant concerns about the affect of
accessing one Quicken file on other Quicken files ... especially, if you
make no changes to the file(s) you access directly.

But if you intend those "closed out" files to remain *exactly* as they
were when you created them, you may want to consider not opening them in
Quicken.

When Quicken opens one of its files, it automatically does certain things,
such as processing alerts and scheduled transactions (Reminders).

You can avoid having Quicken modify your "archive" file by "restoring" the
archive to some temporary folder and accessing the data there. The
original archive will remain unchanged when you handle it that way.

 

John Pollard has written on 6/14/2011 9:45 AM:

When I open a backup file, doesn't it overwrite the file that's current?

If not, and it is just added to what's current, how do I remove it from
the current file?

How would I open them?

I don't follow you. How do I restore a backup to a temporary folder
without opening it in Quicken?

Thanks.

 

No. But you should not "open" backup files.

If you "open" a backup file, nothing happens to any other Quicken file.
[Also see above.]

Don't confuse "open" with "restore".

A "restore" basically copies a Windows "file" (usually a "backup" file)
from one folder to another. In Quicken, if the folder you want to restore
to (to copy to) contains a file of the same name as the backup file, the
restore will over-write the existing file (Quicken will ask before doing
that). If the folder you want to restore to does not contain a file of the
same name as the backup file, the restore will create a new file in that
folder (and you would then have to "open" that restored file).

To restore to some other folder than the folder containing your regular
Quicken file; have Quicken open a file in the folder where you want the
restored backup to go. [Quicken "restores" into the "current" folder,
which is usually the folder where the currently open Quicken file
resides.]

To do that, tell Quicken to create a "New" file in the folder where you
want to restore the backup (you could create a Windows folder to use for
only this purpose). You can create a new file with any name, but if you
give the new file the same name as the backup, you'll only end up with
only one Quicken file in the folder. When you have the New file open in
Quicken, initiate the restore; you'll get your backup restored into the
chosen folder. When you've finished doing whatever you want with the
restored backup, you can have Quicken delete it.

 

John Pollard has written on 6/14/2011 4:50 PM:

OK, I'm thoroughly confused. Let me restate my goal.

My current Quicken configuration contains transactions from 2011 only.

I would like to look up some transactions from an earlier time. I have
QDATA.QDF files which were created by making a backup in Quicken after
each day's transactions. These date from 2007-2010.

Since only Quicken can load/read/access a QDF file, it seems to me that
I need to open one of them with Quicken.

If I do, what will happen to the data that Quicken has already opened?

Thanks.

 

You are confused on file manipulation. You need to learn how to use
Windows (I assume you are using Windows) to copy a file. You want to
make a COPY of your Quicken data file(s) to a temporary folder that you
created, then open Quicken as usual and then click on File on the menu
bar, then click on Open in the File dropdown menu.

You will now get a dialog box that you can manipulate to point Quicken
to the temporary file you just created.

When you get done with the temporary file, re-open your 2011 file using
the same technique you used to open the temp.

I would give you step-by-step instructions but I don't know what
operating system you are using. Windows 7? Windows XP? OS X?

PS. Buy a Windows for Dummies book, or whatever operating system you use
Dummies book, and start reading.

 

"Nestor" > wrote

You're right, of course.

The "copy" can be done using only Windows.

The reason I suggested the approach I did is that it does not require the
user to know anything about the Windows makeup of their Quicken data; it
will work the same for any Quicken version I know of. Prior to Q2010,
Quicken data was stored in multiple Windows files, and the user had to
know how to identify all of those files (they did not have the same
extensions in all versions of Quicken) in order to use Windows to make an
accurate "copy" of their data.

Now that the newest Quicken versions have all Quicken data in one Windows
file, copying that data to a new location using Windows is quite simple.

The only new zinger is recognizing that the most current Quicken version's
backup files now have a new file extension (.QDF-backup) ... and Quicken
won't "open" files with that extension directly. Quicken will offer to
over-write the currently open file (if it has the same name) ... which is
not wanted, for the purpose of this discussion; or to "restore" the backup
with a new name ... which should work for the ends desired here.

 

I do not want to copy any files.

I am very familiar with file manipulation in Windows, DOS, CP/M, Unix
and Linux.

Let me restate what I have and what I would like to do.

When I open Quicken, my 2011 data appears as a check register. I do not
want to lose any of that data, no matter what I do with old files.

I would like to look at some old data, stored as qdata*.qdf.

How do I look at the old data without losing my current data?

IF THE ANSWER IS: File > Open, then will the file I open overwrite the
current data?

IF THE ANSWER TO THAT IS: No, the old data will be added to the current
check register, then how do I get that old data out of the check
register when I am finished looking at it?

Thank you for your patience.

 

When you open another older file, the data from it will replace the data
displayed from the current file. You can later go back and open the
normal current file, and it will be intact. After that, both files will
appear on the recent files list on the file menu.

 

Here's what I'd do:
1. Save what u have now with a "backup" (under file operations).
2. "Restore" (under file operations) the file u want to look at and do
your looking.
3. "Restore" your original backup from step 1, above, and you're back to
your original file situation.

 

Jim H has written on 6/15/2011 6:35 PM:

Thank you for a definitive answer!

If I close Q after opening the older file, and then close Q, and re-open
it, won't it open the last file it had?

How do I get the normal file to replace this new thing?

Q 2010 -- no recent files list under File. ???

 

D. Parker has written on 6/15/2011 7:00 PM:

Wow! That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

 

It depends. In Q2011, the qdf file is the only file that holds all
quicken data in that file (obviously). In earlier versions, and I don't
remember whether this changed with 2010, or already with 2009, in earlier
than 2009 versions, the data was scattered over some 4 to 6 files, with
the qdf file having the bulk, but stock prices were in another file, etc.

The most important thing is what you named the different files (or file
sets, as in before 2009). Obviously no 2 files can have the same name,
unless they are located in different directories. So it is up to you to
look that up.

I now have just 1 quicken file that I still use, but in the past I did
the finances for a couple of non-profits too. So I had household, NP-1
and NP-2. In terms of Q2011, there would be a file household.qdf, and
files NP-1.qdf and NP-2.qdf. If I had need to look at all these on a
regular basis, I would make shortcuts in some easily accessible folder
such as quicklaunch that point at each one of these qdf files. I'd
assign them different icons for easy recognition. Double clicking on the
shortcut for a file would launch that file. No problem cross-
contaminating another one. I bet that even if the filenames were
identical nothing untoward would happen as long as the files were in
different (sub)directories. But it would be confusing. And as said
before, when Q opens a file, it is examined for new reminders,automagic
entries etc. Which is why the advice was given to USE COPIES of the
original files.

HTH

 

What's been left unsaid during this whole discussion was the original post
about 'closing' (whatever THAT means and "...removing those transactions
from my active Quicken.". Not that it matters now, and this is a religion
to some, but in many cases, there's no need to do that given today's disk
sizes and speeds, and so forth.

And if one does do that, it leads to these types of problems!

 

Correct. And that's why I don't do this kind of archiving. I do save
backups, though, and they may serve the purpose of the OP, although I can
make any kind of report for any time period at any time (except futurecasts
that would be worth anything).

 

I have kept all of my transactions (checking, credit cards, investments,
loans, etc) going back to 1996 in my active Quicken file which is
currently 90mb. It is very useful to have it all in one place so I can
answer questions like "When was the last time I installed a water
heater" and use "Find" to get the answer. Also useful to answer
questions like how much did I spend on auto fuel, property taxes, etc,
etc annually over the last 15 years. I do have annual backups so I can
restore to a previous year if necessary.