Quicken Backups

Posted by DGD on August 29, 2009, 12:50 pm

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I have Quicken 2009 HAB Cdn Version. Quicken backs up the data
regularly, but when I check the back-up files, I noticed that only the
QDF file is backed up. The others are not, in particular the QPH file
(which contains all of the price histories as I understand it). Is
there something that should checked somewhere to ensure all of the
files are backed up?

A typical file set of quicken has five
files: .QDF, .QPH, .QEL, .HCX, .IDX.

What is contained in these last three files?

Doug

Posted by John Pollard on August 29, 2009, 2:13 pm

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DGD wrote:

> I have Quicken 2009 HAB Cdn Version. Quicken backs up the data

> regularly, but when I check the back-up files, I noticed that only the

> QDF file is backed up. The others are not, in particular the QPH file

> (which contains all of the price histories as I understand it). Is

> there something that should checked somewhere to ensure all of the

> files are backed up?

I know of no option that is intended to control which files in Quicken's
fileset get backed up ... because Quicken intends to always back them all
up.

Do you by chance use Vista? If so (for that matter, even if not), I
suggest creating a new Windows folder (as the Windows user that runs
Quicken) for your Quicken backups. See if that helps.

[Also, do not keep any Quicken data in any Program Files folder. Or any
other folder that your Windows user does not have full access (read/write
access) to.]

> A typical file set of quicken has five

> files: .QDF, .QPH, .QEL, .HCX, .IDX.

> What is contained in these last three files?

The QEL file contains your online account setup info and the Financial
Institutition Transaction ID's for every transaction you have downloaded.
Quicken important.

The IDX file is some kind of index file; if it's missing Quicken will
create a new one, with no apparent problem to the user. Not very
important.

I believe the HCX file is strictly a Canadian file; the Canadian FAQ's
mention the file extension, but I don't see any description of what it is
for. If the Canadian version keeps foreign exchange history, perhaps
that's what the HCX file is for.

--

John Pollard

Posted by DGD on August 29, 2009, 7:52 pm

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> DGD wrote:

> > I have Quicken 2009 HAB Cdn Version. =A0Quicken backs up the data

> > regularly, but when I check the back-up files, I noticed that only the

> > QDF file is backed up. =A0The others are not, in particular the QPH fil=

> > (which contains all of the price histories as I understand it). =A0Is

> > there something that should checked somewhere to ensure all of the

> > files are backed up?

> I know of no option that is intended to control which files in Quicken's

> fileset get backed up ... because Quicken intends to always back them all

> up.

> Do you by chance use Vista? =A0If so (for that matter, even if not), I

> suggest creating a new Windows folder (as the Windows user that runs

> Quicken) for your Quicken backups. =A0See if that helps.

> [Also, do not keep any Quicken data in any Program Files folder. =A0Or an=

> other folder that your Windows user does not have full access (read/write

> access) to.]

> > A typical file set of quicken has five

> > files: .QDF, .QPH, .QEL, .HCX, .IDX.

> > What is contained in these last three files?

> The QEL file contains your online account setup info and the Financial

> Institutition Transaction ID's for every transaction you have downloaded.

> Quicken important.

> The IDX file is some kind of index file; if it's missing Quicken will

> create a new one, with no apparent problem to the user. =A0Not very

> important.

> I believe the HCX file is strictly a Canadian file; the Canadian FAQ's

> mention the file extension, but I don't see any description of what it is

> for. =A0If the Canadian version keeps foreign exchange history, perhaps

> that's what the HCX file is for.

> --

> John Pollard

John,

Am not using Vista. I created another backup folder and did a
backup. Same thing happened. Only the QDF file is backed up. I then
noticed on the Quicken Window that opens to do a backup a statement at
the top that says "Backup Data file: Home Accounts_20090522.QDF"
The file name is correct, its my QDF file, but it appears that Quicken
will only back up the QDF file and nothing else. You can't change
this in the window, it's simply a statement. The price histories are
certainly in the QPH file because I extracted the data from an older
one last weekend using the QPH file extraction utility you pointed to
me to. Does Quicken in the US version do this as well or is it a
"feature" of the Cdn version?

Thanks.

Doug

Posted by John Pollard on August 29, 2009, 8:47 pm

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DGD wrote:

>> DGD wrote:

>>> I have Quicken 2009 HAB Cdn Version. Quicken backs up the data

>>> regularly, but when I check the back-up files, I noticed that only

>>> the QDF file is backed up. The others are not, in particular the

>>> QPH file (which contains all of the price histories as I understand

>>> it). Is there something that should checked somewhere to ensure all

>>> of the files are backed up?

>> I know of no option that is intended to control which files in

>> Quicken's fileset get backed up ... because Quicken intends to

>> always back them all up.

>> Do you by chance use Vista? If so (for that matter, even if not), I

>> suggest creating a new Windows folder (as the Windows user that runs

>> Quicken) for your Quicken backups. See if that helps.

>> [Also, do not keep any Quicken data in any Program Files folder. Or

>> any other folder that your Windows user does not have full access

>> (read/write access) to.]

>>> A typical file set of quicken has five

>>> files: .QDF, .QPH, .QEL, .HCX, .IDX.

>>> What is contained in these last three files?

>> The QEL file contains your online account setup info and the

>> Financial Institutition Transaction ID's for every transaction you

>> have downloaded. Quicken important.

>> The IDX file is some kind of index file; if it's missing Quicken will

>> create a new one, with no apparent problem to the user. Not very

>> important.

>> I believe the HCX file is strictly a Canadian file; the Canadian

>> FAQ's mention the file extension, but I don't see any description of

>> what it is for. If the Canadian version keeps foreign exchange

>> history, perhaps that's what the HCX file is for.

> Am not using Vista. I created another backup folder and did a

> backup. Same thing happened. Only the QDF file is backed up. I then

> noticed on the Quicken Window that opens to do a backup a statement at

> the top that says "Backup Data file: Home Accounts_20090522.QDF"

> The file name is correct, its my QDF file, but it appears that Quicken

> will only back up the QDF file and nothing else. You can't change

> this in the window, it's simply a statement. The price histories are

> certainly in the QPH file because I extracted the data from an older

> one last weekend using the QPH file extraction utility you pointed to

> me to. Does Quicken in the US version do this as well or is it a

> "feature" of the Cdn version?

The US version of Quicken shows basically what you describe; but I don't
think that just because it says "Home Accounts_20090522.QDF" means that it
will only backup the QDF file. My backup dialog only displays the name of
the QDF file (just as yours does), but my backup backs up all the files in
the Quicken fileset.

I would move my Quicken fileset to a new folder (created by the Windows
user that uses Quicken).
[I would experiment with backing up to my hard drive, and to one, or more,
offline media; using the new fileset.]

But before I did anything else: I would rename my Quicken data fileset
(using Quicken's Rename feature) so the name was less than 8 characters
(and did not include any non-alphanumeric characters - including spaces).
I would also make sure my Quicken file resided in a folder which I had
read/write access to, and whose name was shorter than 39 characters, and
whose path name did not include any non-alphanumeric characters (including
spaces).

--

John Pollard

Posted by DGD on August 29, 2009, 10:48 pm

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> DGD wrote:

> >> DGD wrote:

> >>> I have Quicken 2009 HAB Cdn Version. Quicken backs up the data

> >>> regularly, but when I check the back-up files, I noticed that only

> >>> the QDF file is backed up. The others are not, in particular the

> >>> QPH file (which contains all of the price histories as I understand

> >>> it). Is there something that should checked somewhere to ensure all

> >>> of the files are backed up?

> >> I know of no option that is intended to control which files in

> >> Quicken's fileset get backed up ... because Quicken intends to

> >> always back them all up.

> >> Do you by chance use Vista? If so (for that matter, even if not), I

> >> suggest creating a new Windows folder (as the Windows user that runs

> >> Quicken) for your Quicken backups. See if that helps.

> >> [Also, do not keep any Quicken data in any Program Files folder. Or

> >> any other folder that your Windows user does not have full access

> >> (read/write access) to.]

> >>> A typical file set of quicken has five

> >>> files: .QDF, .QPH, .QEL, .HCX, .IDX.

> >>> What is contained in these last three files?

> >> The QEL file contains your online account setup info and the

> >> Financial Institutition Transaction ID's for every transaction you

> >> have downloaded. Quicken important.

> >> The IDX file is some kind of index file; if it's missing Quicken will

> >> create a new one, with no apparent problem to the user. Not very

> >> important.

> >> I believe the HCX file is strictly a Canadian file; the Canadian

> >> FAQ's mention the file extension, but I don't see any description of

> >> what it is for. If the Canadian version keeps foreign exchange

> >> history, perhaps that's what the HCX file is for.

> > Am not using Vista. =A0I created another backup folder and did a

> > backup. =A0Same thing happened. =A0Only the QDF file is backed up. =A0I=

then

> > noticed on the Quicken Window that opens to do a backup a statement at

> > the top that says "Backup Data file: =A0 Home Accounts_20090522.QDF"

> > The file name is correct, its my QDF file, but it appears that Quicken

> > will only back up the QDF file and nothing else. =A0You can't change

> > this in the window, it's simply a statement. =A0The price histories are

> > certainly in the QPH file because I extracted the data from an older

> > one last weekend using the QPH file extraction utility you pointed to

> > me to. =A0Does Quicken in the US version do this as well or is it a

> > "feature" of the Cdn version?

> The US version of Quicken shows basically what you describe; but I don't

> think that just because it says "Home Accounts_20090522.QDF" means that i=

> will only backup the QDF file. =A0My backup dialog only displays the name=

> the QDF file (just as yours does), but my backup backs up all the files i=

> the Quicken fileset.

> I would move my Quicken fileset to a new folder (created by the Windows

> user that uses Quicken).

> [I would experiment with backing up to my hard drive, and to one, or more=

> offline media; using the new fileset.]

> But before I did anything else: I would rename my Quicken data fileset

> (using Quicken's Rename feature) so the name was less than 8 characters

> (and did not include any non-alphanumeric characters - including spaces).

> I would also make sure my Quicken file resided in a folder which I had

> read/write access to, and whose name was shorter than 39 characters, and

> whose path name did not include any non-alphanumeric characters (includin=

> spaces).

> --

> John Pollard

OK, I think I figured it out. Quicken will automatically back-up all
files every seven days, saving up to five copies and then will re-
write over the oldest file. All of these are saved in the Quicken
Backup folder. I can see all of the back-ups of all the files in
this folder. If one uses the backup command from the menu structure,
only the QDF file is saved (which I have always saved to a different
folder from the autobackup folder - why I can't remember, but I did).
Why the other files are not saved, don't know, but they are saved in
the automatic backup done weekly. The weekly timing of this auto
backup does not seem to be configurable.

Doug