Quicken 2002, XG, 2004

What should I do when I get either the message "Can't open file", "Unable to open selected file" or "Data losses were found in your file"?

Background: " "The messages "Can't open file", "Unable to open selected file", or "Data losses were found in your file" may occur when attempting to open a file in an earlier version of Quicken. For some customers who have more than one Quicken version installed, this can sometimes happen unintentionally.

Quicken data files are not designed for use in more than one version of Quicken. If using Quicken on multiple computers, the most recent version of Quicken in use should be installed on every computer. Sometimes attempting to open a Quicken file in a prior Quicken program version will damage the data file. As the Quicken product improves and changes with each new version, the Quicken files that contain your records begin to contain new and different information. Often, when attempting to open a file in an earlier version of Quicken, this new and different information becomes damaged as the earlier version attempts to open information it does not recognize.

Note: Only versions of Quicken prior to Quicken 2000 will allow you to accidentally open, and therefore damage Quicken data files formatted for use in later versions.

Solution: Follow these instructions if you are trying to open your data file in your current version of Quicken. (If you are attempting to open your data file in an earlier version of Quicken, see solution 2, below.)

Verify that you have removed all earlier versions of Quicken from the computer. This will prevent accidentally opening (and possibly damaging) your Quicken data files in the future:

From the Windows Start menu, select Settings and choose Control Panel. This opens the Control Panel window.

In the Control Panel window, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. This opens the Add/Remove Programs Properties window.

Click the Install/Uninstall tab in the Add/Remove Programs Properties Window.

Choose the Quicken program to be uninstalled. For example, Quicken Deluxe 98.

Click the Add/Remove button, and the program will be removed from the computer. If a dialogue box referring to shared files appears, click OK to remove them.

After removing any earlier versions of Quicken from your computer, restore a backup (or one of Quicken's automatic backups) of your data file that has not been opened in an earlier version of Quicken.

Solution 2:

Follow these instructions if you are trying to open your file in an earlier version of Quicken. (If you are not attempting to open your data file in an earlier version, see solution 1 above.)

After a file has been converted to a newer version of Quicken of Quicken, it can no longer be used in earlier versions. If the decision has been made to go back to using an earlier version of Quicken, use this procedure to reinstall the older version and recover its data file:

Before converting a data file to the newer version, Quicken automatically saves a copy of the file from the prior program version and archives it. The older copy may still be opened in the older program. However, it will not have any of the information that was entered into the file when in the newer version.

Uninstall the current (newer) Quicken program. To uninstall:

Point to Settings on the Start menu, and choose Control Panel. This opens the Control Panel window.

In the Control Panel window, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. This opens the Add/Remove Programs Properties window.

Click the Install/Uninstall tab in the Add/Remove Programs Properties Window.

Choose the Quicken program to be uninstalled. For example, Quicken Home & Business 99.

Click the Add/Remove button, and the program will be removed from the computer. If a dialogue box referring to shared files appears, click OK to remove them.

After the newer program has been successfully uninstalled, use the correct installation procedure to reinstall the older program version.

After reinstalling the older Quicken program, recover the old data file. There are two ways to do this:

Restore a backup of the data file from the older version.

Open the archived copy that the newer Quicken version automatically made. This can be found in a folder where Quicken is installed (usually Quickenw). This folder will be named either Oldfiles or it will identify the older version in the file name, for instance, Q98files, Qw6files, etc.

Once recovered, the old file can be opened in its original state (prior to the conversion to the newer version of Quicken). No entries made to the data file in the newer version will appear in this older version file. These transactions will have to be reentered. If a substantial amount of data had been entered in the newer version, it may be helpful to use the Quicken export/import function to transfer the data into the older file. If the export/import feature is used, the QIF export file will have to be created before the newer version is uninstalled.