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From: Jim H on 2 Aug 2010 19:38
Jeff(a)nospam.invalid wrote:

> I also like to keep all my data and have not archived, but it leads me
> to wonder if these are concerns:
>
> a) Large files are more prone to corruption than small files. While it
> is true that backups add a layer of safety, one may not detect the data
> corruption until years later when all the backups are also corrupted.
>

Unless something is broken, files are not prone to corruption at all. I
used to write software for testing disk and tape storage. Disk storage
is very reliable, and it has extensive error checking to insure that
when a failure does occur, it can be detected, and often corrected. The
errors that can't be corrected are usually severe enough that the data
can't be used at all.

Most data corruption is caused by faulty software, or a defective disk
drive (which is almost always completely destructive of the data). In
both cases, file size has no bearing on it. But, even if it did, Quicken
data files are certainly not large files. A single DVD image is at least
10 times the size of a quicken database.

If you are using USB thumb drives with no error detection or correction,
then all bets are off.
--
Jim


From: D.Duck on 2 Aug 2010 20:55


"Ray" <nospam(a)aol.com> wrote in message
news:C56dnQETIJWqzMrRnZ2dnUVZ_tydnZ2d(a)atmc.coop...
> On 8/2/2010 6:26 PM, R. C. White wrote:
>> Hi, Ray.
>>
>> Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away...
>>
>> I was an accountant. I kept books. BIG books! With pen and ink (remember
>> those?). Each year's books for one company might weigh 10 pounds. A set
>> of books
>> for 20 years might outweigh me! To keep the physical labor of handling
>> those
>> books manageable, we would "close" the books each year-end. Then we would
>> open a
>> new, slimmer set of books for the new year. If we needed to look back in
>> 1970 to
>> see what had happened in 1965, we had to - first - FIND the 1965 binders,
>> and
>> then carry one from the vault to our desk, open it - then take it back
>> and get
>> the other binder, the right one, we hoped... You get the picture.
>>
>> When I first started using Quicken - in 1990 - the situation was some
>> better.
>> But still, with those floppy diskettes and even with the humongous 5 MB
>> (yep, M!
>> B) HDDs, it often took a good bit of disk shuffling to find information
>> from
>> just a few years ago. Especially if we continued the pen-and-ink model of
>> closing our electronic books each year and creating an annual archive,
>> deleting
>> prior years' data from our working file to make room for the new year's
>> transactions.
>>
>> Finally, as disk drives grew, we could store 20 years' data in a single
>> file
>> using only a tiny fraction of a hard disk. Nowadays, many (most?) of us
>> Quicken
>> users like to keep ALL our financial history in our current working file.
>> My
>> Quicken file has data back to 1990; its total size is a little over 50 MB
>> now.
>> That's, let's see, 1.6667e-4 of that 300 GB HDD. (I don't read scientific
>> notation very well, but that's a very small fraction!) Even with a dozen
>> backups, there's plenty of room. So I don't feel a strong urge to remove
>> enough
>> data from the file to save disk space. And, I don't notice any slowdown
>> in
>> performance, sp that doesn't motivate me to shrink the file, either.
>>
>> What does motivate me - to keep the data intact and at hand - is the
>> ability to
>> look back and see that I paid $71.88 for the local phone company to
>> install my
>> telephone on November 13, 1990, including the first month's service.
>>
>> I think I recall trying to archive the first year or two of my Quicken
>> data, but
>> haven't tried it since. I know the option is still there in the 2010
>> program
>> (File | File Operations | Year-end Copy), but I have no interest in using
>> it.
>> But I don't mind if Intuit leaves it there for those who want it.
>>
>> RC
>
> there is nothing anywhere in Quicken that states you gain anything except
> some file space .. in this day and age .. no more floppies.. so DVD-RW
> disks .. flash drives... and external hard drives are the norm.. seems
> like there is no worry about the file size anymore... looked to me like it
> was kinda useless...
>
> I questioned this because a friend of a friend uses Archiving but has no
> idea why he uses it except that someone a while back told him to.. go
> figure..
>
> I found this link.....a number of items in Quicken explained
> http://financialsoft.about.com/od/quickenforbeginners/tp/Work-With-Quicken-Data-Files.htm
>
> as well as this
> http://financialsoft.about.com/od/advancedtutorialsandtips/ss/q04_archive.htm
>
> I've been using Quicken Backup to a DVD-RW disk for a while now... I also
> Backup to a 'My Quicken Backup' folder I created on one of my hard drives
> separate from the main Quicken folder.. as well as backing the entire
> Desktop up to an External Hard Drive

And then if the house burns down you better have backed up to a HDD kept in
a family members home or use one of the on-line storage services.

I believe you can never have enough backups of critical data. Hey...I wear
and a belt and suspenders. 8>)

From: John Pollard on 2 Aug 2010 21:37
Ray wrote:
> a long time Quicken user --just some personal accounts... nothing
> elaborate...
> .. just wanted to know what is the purpose of Archiving Quicken Data
> files... I backup on a weekly basis or when needed.. can't see the
> need for it... am I missing something.. thanx :)

I think others have already noted that your understanding of "archiving"
isn't correct. It's not backing up.

I suggest you ask to have someone demonstrate - *conclusively* - what the
advantages of "archiving" are. I don't believe you will find any
conclusive evidence that "archiving" is advantageous in the current world.
Guestimates don't count.


--

John Pollard
news://<YOUR-NNTP-NEWSERVER-HERE>/alt.comp.software.financial.quicken
Your source of user-to-user Quicken help


From: R. C. White on 3 Aug 2010 00:03
Hi, John.

Right!

Backups are to make sure that what I saved yesterday is still usable today.

Archives are to make sure that I have a record of what happened two or ten
years ago, in case I ever need or want that information.

Two different ideas for two different purposes. Both valid and valuable,
but each for a different purpose.

What Ray originally asked about is kind of a hybrid of these two ideas: To
remove obsolete data from the current operating files so that (a) we don't
trip over it, and (b) so that it doesn't slow down or otherwise hinder
current activities. This WAS a valid purpose when we were dealing with
those large books that I mentioned. Those suckers got to be cumbersome!
:^{ But Quicken on a reasonably modern computer is neither slow nor
cumbersome, even with 20 years' data instantly available, for most of us.
So I think that the practice of annually "closing the books" and removing
last year's data is obsolete and unnecessary.

Note that I did NOT say that BACKUPS are unnecessary!

I also did not say that it is a bad idea to have some older backups/archives
in safe storage. Maybe not necessary, but certainly not a bad idea.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(Retired. No longer licensed to practice public accounting.)
rc(a)grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Using Quicken Deluxe 2010 and Windows Live Mail in Win7 x64)


"John Pollard" wrote in message
news:i37rss$v72$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...

Ray wrote:
> a long time Quicken user --just some personal accounts... nothing
> elaborate...
> .. just wanted to know what is the purpose of Archiving Quicken Data
> files... I backup on a weekly basis or when needed.. can't see the
> need for it... am I missing something.. thanx :)

I think others have already noted that your understanding of "archiving"
isn't correct. It's not backing up.

I suggest you ask to have someone demonstrate - *conclusively* - what the
advantages of "archiving" are. I don't believe you will find any
conclusive evidence that "archiving" is advantageous in the current world.
Guestimates don't count.


--

John Pollard

From: Jim H on 3 Aug 2010 01:27
D.Duck wrote:
>
> And then if the house burns down you better have backed up to a HDD kept
> in a family members home or use one of the on-line storage services.
>
> I believe you can never have enough backups of critical data. Hey...I
> wear and a belt and suspenders. 8>)

Once a quarter, I start a new DVD, and take my latest DVD to the safety
deposit box at the bank. Worst case, if the house burned down would be
data that is up to 3 months old.
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