Help - How do I delete multiple transactions at once?

[Greg Bradburn]

I am using Quicken 2003 and I finally managed to get the auto-update
feature working with my bank.

The problem I have is that the data file contains data going back
three years and I'd like to delete all the transactions before
November 2003. There seems to be no way to select multiple
transactions in the register for deletion. I can only select one at a
time. Obviously I'm not going to sit there and hit delete thousands of
times. I know there must be a way to do this but I can't figure out
how.

I tried exporting all the transactions on or after 11/01/2003 to a new
file but when I open that new file, I can't get the online stuff to
work for those same accounts. I have no idea why.

I figure it will be easier to delete the old transactions from my
existing data file than to get my accounts configured correctly for
online updates in the new file.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Greg.

[John Pollard]

Greg Bradburn wrote:
> I am using Quicken 2003 and I finally managed to get the
auto-update
> feature working with my bank.
>
> The problem I have is that the data file contains data going
back
> three years and I'd like to delete all the transactions before
> November 2003. There seems to be no way to select multiple
> transactions in the register for deletion. I can only select
one at a
> time. Obviously I'm not going to sit there and hit delete
thousands of
> times. I know there must be a way to do this but I can't
figure out
> how.

As of Q2002, there is no way to do this; and I doubt it changed
in Q2003.

> I tried exporting all the transactions on or after 11/01/2003
to a new
> file but when I open that new file, I can't get the online
stuff to
> work for those same accounts. I have no idea why.

I don't understand why you do not want the old data; what is
useful about starting at 11-01-03.

How did you create your "new" file? How did you "export all the
transactions on or after 11/02/2003 to a new file"? In Quicken
an "export" is a specific process whose output is not a Quicken
data file, but a QIF file.

You can make a "copy" of your Quicken data file that has no data
prior to a date you specify. In Q2002,

File > File Operations > Copy

Enter the date range to copy. If you do not want *any*
transactions prior to the start date, uncheck both the "Include
all ..." check boxes.

The route to this choice may have changed in Q2003, though I do
not think so.

What is "online stuff": what exactly did you try to do and what
happened?

--

John Pollard
j underscore pollard at bellsouth dot net

[Greg Bradburn]

John,

Thanks for the prompt reply. The issue is that I was negligent about
downloading my transactions into quicken. The last time I did an auto
Update was August 2003. Only transactions from 11/04/2003 are
available for download now so I have a large gap which of course puts
my quicken balances out of sync with the online balance.

Essentially, the "online stuff" I talked about was just the Auto
Update which downloads all new transactions from my Bank into Quicken.
I then categorize everything so I can produce reports showing where
all the money went :)
What happens, with the new file, is when I try to "active" my account
for online access it "fails". I don't remember the specific error but
having just got off the phone with my bank to get the existing account
files working I didn't want to deal with it.

The benefit of starting at 11/04/2003 is that I can set the starting
balance for that date and work with a smaller (hence faster, more
responsive) data file.

It's not crucial. I can of course enter a "balance correction"
transaction before 11/04/2003 to sync the balances up.

I was just looking for a nicer, cleaner alternative.

"John Pollard" <invalid...@noisp.com> wrote in message news:<zHfQb.22592$nQ3....@bignews1.bellsouth.net>...

[John Pollard]

Greg Bradburn wrote:
> John,
>
> Thanks for the prompt reply. The issue is that I was negligent
about
> downloading my transactions into quicken. The last time I did
an auto
> Update was August 2003. Only transactions from 11/04/2003 are
> available for download now so I have a large gap which of
course puts
> my quicken balances out of sync with the online balance.

Obviously it is your choice about what you keep and what you
don't, but I have data back quite a few years and I would not
want to lose any of it. It does not seem to create any problems
for me or cause Quicken to run slowly. If it were me I would
initially put in an adjusting entry for the difference, then
over time I would manually enter those missing months of data.

> Essentially, the "online stuff" I talked about was just the
Auto
> Update

Are you talking about something different from "One Step
Update"?

> which downloads all new transactions from my Bank into
Quicken.
> I then categorize everything so I can produce reports showing
where
> all the money went :)

> What happens, with the new file, is when I try to "active" my
account
> for online access it "fails". I don't remember the specific
error but
> having just got off the phone with my bank to get the existing
account
> files working I didn't want to deal with it.

The specific error would be useful for determining what is wrong
and how to fix it or work around it.

Still don't know how you created the "new" file. I have made
Quicken copies of my data file and not had any trouble enabling
accounts for online access in those copies; indeed, the accounts
are already enabled if they were enabled in the original.