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Posted by Han on May 17, 2008, 9:20 pm
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> MaryL wrote:
>> Here are the steps I took:
>> While in Quicken (checking account, using QDATA.QDF), I backed up
>> (not copied), as follows: Ctrl-B > L:Quicken Backup. Drive L is a
>> Memorex thumb drive. I have a folder on that drive named Quicken
>> Backup. Using this method, files have always backed up to the
>> folder. I never restored until this attempt, so I can't guarantee
>> that they are correct. Numerous backups were in the folder, so I
>> deleted all of them and started over again when I encountered this
>> problem. The following filenames were listed (each one with an
>> underscore and the date plus the number 17 before the three-letter
>> extension): QDATA.QDF, QDATA.QEL, QDATA.QPH, QDATA.IDX. Thus, the
>> files were QDATA_20080517.QDF and similar filenames for the other
>> files.
> Huh?!? 17 is not just a number added onto the end. Today's the 17th!
> That's way it says QDATA_200805*17*.QDF! You need to pay attention to
> detail and think. BTW there is a toggle in the Quicken Backup dialog
> that states, and I quote
>
> Add date to the file name (Home_20080517)
> This will help you identify which fiel is the latest backup.
>
> People who understand computers realize this is unnecessary as files
> have creation and modification timestamps already courtesy of the file
> system. BTW I call my Quicken database "Home". If you toggle off that
> toggle then no _<date> will be appended to your backups. About all the
> date toggle does is ensures that if you back up another time you'll
> get another copy of your backup, since the file set is dated (except,
> of course, if you backup multiple times in one day, then the last one
> will overwrite the previous one).
>> I notice when I open Quicken on the desktop, the name is simply
>> QDATA.QDF where I am asked for my password. However, when I open
>> Quicken on the laptop, the name is QDATA followed by an underscore
>> and the date plus what appears to be a backup number, thus:
>> QDATA_20080517.QDF.
> Ah, again, there's no backup number - the 20080517 is a date (meaning
> 05/17/2008 or today!).
>> First, I backed up from Drive C on the desktop computer to Drive L
>> and then attempted to restore to the laptop, as follows: From within
>> Quicken on the laptop, I selected File > Restore Backup File. I
>> selected E:Quicken BackupQDATA_20080517. (There was a number 1
>> followed by a space immediately to the left of the name.) Drive E,
>> of course, is the drive letter where the same thumb drive is placed
>> on the laptop computer.
>>
>> Instead of installing, this error message appeared: "One or more
>> backup files is missing."
>>
>> I tried this several times, with the same result.
> Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing and expecting
> different results? Nevermind...
>> Next, I decided to try the process in reverse to see if I would get
>> the same error message from my desktop. That is, I deleted
>> everything on Drive E, then backed up from the laptop to Drive E
>> (using exactly the same procedure as shown above). When I used File
>> > Restore Backup File from within Quicken on the desktop, I received
>> the identical error message: "One or more backup files is missing."
>>
>> I have not used the copy command to move the files. However, I do
>> regularly backup (using CTRL-B) to different disks so that I would
>> not lose all my data if something were to happen to one of the disks.
> Well considering you've never done a restore and can't seem to manage
> to get a restore to work I would think you should be extremely
> concerned that none of your backed up files provide you with any
> protection if something were to happen! I would think at a minimum, if
> you were gonna rely on backup/restore as a mechanism for disaster
> recovery then you would have at least done a dry run of it. Anyway,
> let's do that now. Let's remove the laptop, thumb drive and sneaker
> net from the question. Let's just try a simple backup and restore
> shall we?
>
> First a word about backups. Question: What's the difference between
> the set of files that comprise your active Quicken database (and
> you'll note I never call it a Quicken file because it's not a single
> file - it's a database) and the backup copy of your Quicken database
> that you just produced? The answer is... drum roll.... nothing (As far
> as I can tell). About the only difference is that it has a different
> name. So, IOW, if you had a Quicken database named QDATA and you did a
> backup calling it QDATA_20080515 then Quicken can equally open either
> QDATA or QDATA_20080515. They are the same (that is until you update
> either one of them).
>
> So then let's do this. Open your normal Quicken database and do File:
> Backup but this time select Browse under the "Select the disk drive
> and path to the backup folder". Browse your C Drive. Click on the Make
> New Folder button int he Browse For Folder dialog and type in
> "Backup". Now you have a folder called C:Backup. Click OK and you
> should see "C:Backup" as your backup folder. Click OK to perform the
> backup.
>
> Next close Quicken. Start a Windows Explorer and browse to C:Backup.
> You should see QDATA_20080517.QDF, etc. Double click
> QDATA_20080517.QDF. Viola Quicken starts and it looks exactly like
> your normal Quicken database does.
>
> Close Quicken. Now start Quicken again and open your normal QDATA
> file. Add a bogus transaction for depositing $0.01 into your checking
> account. Now select File: Restore From Backup. You should see the
> C:BackupQDATA_20080517.QDF in that menu. Select it. You should see a
> dialog box that says "File restored successfully. Open the file by
> choosing Open from the File Menu."
>
> What just went on here? Well Intuit, in it's effort to make backups
> more reliable, have introduced concepts and the like that inevitably
> make things more complicated than necessary, all in the effort to
> spare people from learning or understanding what a file system is or
> how it operates. This File: Restore from Backup merely copied the
> fileset of QDATA_20080517.* from C:Backup to wherever you happen to
> store your Quicken database. For example, if I now select File: Open,
> I see no only my normal Quicken database (named Home) but the copied
> backup set, i.e. Home_20080517. The difference between the two Quicken
> databases? One has an extra deposit for $0.01.
>
> So I could open Home_20080517, inspect it and if I deemed it OK, I
> could do File: File Operations: Delete to delete my old Home Quicken
> database then probably File: File Operations: Rename to rename
> Home_20080517 -> Home.
>> After I saw your most recent message, I double-clicked on the qdf
>> file *directly from the thumb drive.* That seems to have
>> copied/restored everything into the Quicken program on the laptop.
> No, it opened the Quicken database residing on the thumb drive. As I
> said, there's really no difference between an active Quicken database
> and a backed up one.
>> Do you have any idea what I am doing wrong when I when using the
>> Restore Backup File command?
> Let's get the backup and restore thing working from one machine before
> we introduce thumb drives and multiple machines...
>> Is double-clicking on the qdf file directly from the USB drive really
>> a correct way to do this? (That is, I had used My Computer to access
>> files on the thumb drive and double-clicked on the qdf file at that
>> time.)
> Again, you just opened a Quicken database that resided on a thumb
> drive. It really has little to do with copying Quicken databases from
> one computer to another.
>
> Question of curiosity however: Can you open this Quicken database from
> the laptop? From the desktop?
Now I am confused. Making a backup from within Quicken now has generated
duplicate files with the same time stamp and also with filenames
Qdata_20080517 in both the original Qdata data directory and in the newly
made Backuptest directory, at least after the (succesful) restore. So
Restore just makes a copy of the backup file set in the original data
directory, and you would have to rename the file set to get the original
filenames back. Hmm. That may increase safety, but also confusion. Let
me go and undo this and stick with my "manual" system.
--
Best regards
Han
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