Quicken datafile "not valid" error

[DaveD]

I just upgraded from Retrospect Pro 7.0 to the latest 7.7. Now I can't open Quicken data after a Retrospect backup. Turns out it is exactly the problem reported by knowledgebase article #28114, published way back when... So the archive flag is being turned off on backup, and Quicken doesn't like that. Retrospect Help tells me to set up my backup script to _not_ turn off the archive bit. That would be done from the Manage Scripts... Options... Windows System setting. That capability does not exist on 7.7, in any case I cannot find it anywhere. The archive flag must stay on. Any ideas?

Thanks, DaveD

[Mayoff]

How old is your version of quicken? Retrospect does change the archive flag in some situations, but so does EVERY other backup program

[DaveD]

7.7.3.102. Just upgraded to 7.7 and that maintenance level last week. Previous release was last maintenance to 7.0, and I didn't have this problem. It may be that I was able to tell 7.0 to not turn off the archive bit, or maybe it left it on by default?

 

Reading a bit more about this, it appears that Retrospect 7.7 turns off the archive bit for at least one valid reason, that being to tell whether, if the option is enabled, it needs to back up a workstation's NTFS file security information, as Win XP will turn the archive bit on whenever the file security information is changed. If I am digesting this correctly, would it then _not_ mess with the archive flag if I _don't_ tell it to back up the workstation NTFS file security information (this option is off by default)?? Make sense?

 

DaveD

[DaveD]

Sorry, wrong product. This is Quicken 2001. I know, it's really old, but it does the job well and, as you can see, upgrading software is not without its challenges. My wife is the exclusive user of Quicken and, even more than I, doesn't like change and the hassle that often comes with change. So we stay there until forced to move forward by loss of operating system support.

 

Regarding the previous post, the question about backing up the workstation's file security information still applies. I don't have to back that up; I can turn that option off. But I would do so only if Retrospect then leaves the archive flag alone.

 

DaveD

[DaveD]

In my opinion, the fact that I am running an older level of Quicken, still supported by the operating system, doesn’t mean that Retrospect support should conveniently choose to ignore my problem, as appears to be the case here. I believe that Retrospect support should be assisting with any application problem that results from a backup made by a supported version of Retrospect. But once support learned that I am running an older level of Quicken, this thread went silent and I had to solve the problem myself. Just in case anyone cares and would like to know just how this (apparently) works, I am appending the results of my experience here.

 

I believe that earlier versions of Retrospect provided an option to not reset the archive attribute, but it isn’t clear that this could have been the case because, as I stated in an earlier append, if the user chooses to back up file security information (in an NTFS environment), Retrospect must interrogate the state of the archive attribute to determine whether file security information has changed. In any case, when I did my upgrade from Retrospect 7.0 to 7.7 several days ago, my ability to verify the options regarding that attribute on the earlier release were gone forever, so I cannot tell for sure. But in the event the user has selected the option to back up file security information, it is clear that in order to not uselessly back up information that hasn’t changed, Retrospect must turn off the archive attribute once the backup has been made.

 

So what changed when I moved to 7.7? The upgrade retained all of my existing automation, including my backup scripts. Was my problem rooted in the selection, on my backup scripts, of the option to back up file security information and, if so, did the upgrade process turn on this option in error or did I perhaps, without later remembering the action, change that option myself after the upgrade was complete? In any case, repairing Quicken and turning off this option solved the problem—Quicken is now working properly after doing normal Quicken updates and a couple nights of Retrospect backups. Retrospect is also no longer turning off any archive attributes.

 

But as I mentioned above I had to repair Quicken for it to work properly. This consisted of restoring the entire QUICKENW Program Files directory and its subdirectories from the last backup I had made pre-7.7. Only then did the customizing—screen make-ups, financial and retirement planning—and other Quicken functions return to pre-7.7 backup settings. So even though there were no changes to any of the files in the Quicken directories (it also makes use of many .ini files and none of those were changed either), the Quicken operational characteristics were drastically altered after the 7.7 backup, and restored when I restored the pre-7.7 environment. This did not include restoring the Quicken data files themselves, as I had done that earlier (and turned on the archive flags), allowing Quicken to run but not restoring the earlier operational environment.

 

I can only conclude that Quicken makes use somehow of the NTFS directory structure to store information about its operational environment, and that information is altered by a Retrospect backup, especially when Retrospect is told to back up file security information. Can that be so?

 

So I ordered the latest Quicken 2010 and will go through the time and effort to upgrade, even though Quicken 2001 gives me everything I need. It has to be done eventually, and hopefully Quicken will have fixed its archaic file structure. But I wouldn’t bet on it, and I’m not looking forward to the potential upgrade hassle.

 

All this is not to imply that Retrospect has a code defect and that is isn’t working as it should be. My problem is that the Retrospect help files and user documentation aren’t nearly as up to date as the Retrospect software is, and along with the fact that it doesn’t get as deeply as it should for a professional version of a product (many small enterprises bet their life on backup software like Retrospect and need detail), it can be confusing and misleading. Retrospect support should be making up the difference between current code and current documentation, and at least providing additional in-depth information as needed. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make for happy customers.

 

My experience after forty plus years in the information technology industry is that many customers have no choice but to run what we called (several years ago when I retired) “legacy†applications, and these applications, just like everything else in their enterprise, are central to their business and to their survival. The backup and restore of those legacy applications by Retrospect needs to be as vigorously supported as the rest of the mix of software that Retrospect touches.

 

DaveD

Edited May 20, 2010 by Guest