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QData.qdt backup file problem?

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James Crowell

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
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I am upgrading from the DOS Quicken [Version 6.0] to the Windows Quicken 98
Version.

When I first tried this, back in May, the program destroyed my old DOS Data
and was unsuccessful in creating the new 98' files. Luckily I had the old
DOS QData file backed up. I reloaded the QData files and continued to use
the DOS version till now.

Yesterday, I decided to try again to load the DOS data into the Windows 98
version.

However, when I try to copy the Quicken DOS Ver 6.0 'QData.qdt' file to a
Floppy or to another HDD folder I receive the following message DOS error
message:

"not ready reading drive c:" error?

I can copy other files successfully so the problem is unique to the
QData.qdt file.

The destination location does have a small portion of the file when the
above error occurs.

Also, the size and date of the file, using a DOS Dir command, seem to be the
same as the day I reloaded the file following the above reported 98' load
failure.

Any ideas as to what is going on and how to fix it?

Thanks,
Jim

Bill H

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
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This does not make any sense. If you have been using the file with
QDos for the last few months it should have changed. Could you being
using a shortcut of some type (I am not familar with QWin 98) that no
longer points to the right place.

Also you should NEVER copy qdata.qdt. You should copy qdata.*

But have you tried BACKUP and RESTORE from within Quicken. That copies
all of the appropriate files and will span multiple disk if needed.

Bill

Andrew DeFaria

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
to James Crowell
James Crowell wrote:
However, when I try to copy  the Quicken DOS Ver 6.0 'QData.qdt' file to a Floppy or to another HDD folder I receive the following message DOS error message:

"not ready reading drive c:" error?

I can copy other files successfully so the problem is unique to the QData.qdt file.

If you are copying a file with "copy" or say the Explorer and you receive such an error then you have a bigger problem than you think. Think about it. You're only using a simply command, copy, and a simple file that just happens to be named Qdata.qdt and just happens to be part of your Quicken database. But copy doesn't know that. To copy it's just a file.

So the error you see above is trying to tell you something and that is that you have disk problems! How else would drive C become not ready?!? If I were you I would try scandisk, locate all the backup I had and a little bit of prayer is usually appropriate here.

Sorry, but you first have to resolve your disk problems before you can continue.

And...@DeFaria.com http://www.defaria.com ICQ#: 25286737
Unofficial Quicken Web Page: http://www.defaria.com/Quicken
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James Crowell

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
to
Bill H

>This does not make any sense. If you have been using the file with
>QDos for the last few months it should have changed. Could you being
>using a shortcut of some type (I am not familar with QWin 98) that no
>longer points to the right place.
No shortcut here. When I use the DOS version of Quicken 6.0 I select an
option from a DOS Menu.
That option calls the same .BAT file as I was using before trying the
Quicken 98 install and import.

The MS.DOS formum suggest I have a bad hard drive and that I should use the
'ScanDisk' facility. I find this confusing because Quicken was processing
the file just fine just before I tried to copy the file to a Floppy and then
to a different HDD folder.

I really do not want to try a 'ScanDisk' till I have the data backed up
somehow.

>Also you should NEVER copy qdata.qdt. You should copy qdata.*


I know. Back in May I found that the 'qdata.qdt' file was close to the 1.4
MB Floppy Limit. Therefore, back then, I backed up the QData.qdt file to one
Floppy and the other QData file to a second Floppy.

>But have you tried BACKUP and RESTORE from within Quicken. That copies
>all of the appropriate files and will span multiple disk if needed.


No. Is this capability available in DOS Version 6.0. If so, this may save me
because it looks like Quicken DOS version 6.0 is processing the data just
fine.

Do you know what format the Backup Quicken Command uses when writing the
file to the HDD?

Thanks,
Jim

Andrew DeFaria

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
to
James Crowell wrote:
The MS.DOS formum suggest I have a bad hard drive and that I should use the 'ScanDisk' facility. I find this confusing because Quicken was processing the file just fine just before I tried to copy the file to a Floppy and then to a different HDD folder.

I really do not want to try a 'ScanDisk' till I have the data backed up somehow.

It's very likely that only a small portion of your Quicken database resided on a bad sector or something. Normal usage might not have cause to read nor write that sector, but a backup or file copy will have to read every byte in the file and it undoubtedly trip on on the bad sector.

There's not much you can really do, the sector is bad and short of some low level tricks that might work (maybe Norton), scandisk is about all you can do.

Please route messages appropriately!
Home: And...@DeFaria.com http://www.defaria.com ICQ# 25286737
Work: def...@cisco.com Phone: (408)-527-1280

Bill H

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Aug 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/12/99
to
On Thu, 12 Aug 1999 15:31:43 -0400, "James Crowell"
<pcs...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>Bill H
>>This does not make any sense. If you have been using the file with
>>QDos for the last few months it should have changed. Could you being
>>using a shortcut of some type (I am not familar with QWin 98) that no
>>longer points to the right place.
>No shortcut here. When I use the DOS version of Quicken 6.0 I select an
>option from a DOS Menu.
>That option calls the same .BAT file as I was using before trying the
>Quicken 98 install and import.
>

>The MS.DOS formum suggest I have a bad hard drive and that I should use the
>'ScanDisk' facility. I find this confusing because Quicken was processing
>the file just fine just before I tried to copy the file to a Floppy and then
>to a different HDD folder.
>

That and the fact that you said that it was still showed the same
size/date as the file 4 months ago made me question if you where
looking at the "real" file. The backup within Quicken will use
"whatever" file it is using.

But they might be right. The "directory" entry might have been screwed
up for sometime, but still point to the right place.

>I really do not want to try a 'ScanDisk' till I have the data backed up
>somehow.

If you do you let me know, if you lose any data. If you do have to
"reconstruct" and/or reindex, etc you should do it with QDos 6 and
get a clean copy before trying to convert.


>>Also you should NEVER copy qdata.qdt. You should copy qdata.*
>
>
>I know. Back in May I found that the 'qdata.qdt' file was close to the 1.4
>MB Floppy Limit. Therefore, back then, I backed up the QData.qdt file to one
>Floppy and the other QData file to a second Floppy.
>
>>But have you tried BACKUP and RESTORE from within Quicken. That copies
>>all of the appropriate files and will span multiple disk if needed.
>
>
>No. Is this capability available in DOS Version 6.0. If so, this may save me
>because it looks like Quicken DOS version 6.0 is processing the data just
>fine.

I assume so. Multi-disk backup is in QDos 8 and I assume all of the
version. I don't know the format, but I am under the impression that
if is will fit on a single drive (small file on a floppy) or HDD.

I have never used backup in the 10 years using Quicken. I use tape
backups.

You might also try COPY from within Quicken. That reads and write the
data file set at the new location/name. But it will not span multiple
disks.

Both are available from the Files menu from the Main menu.

BUT I HAVE FREQUENT, MULTIPLE BACKUPS.

James Crowell

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Aug 16, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/16/99
to
Bill H,

>That and the fact that you said that it was still showed the same
>size/date as the file 4 months ago made me question if you where
>looking at the "real" file. The backup within Quicken will use
>"whatever" file it is using.


It turned out that the DOS Quicken program was using a 'QData.*' set in the
C:\QuickenW folder. Recall that back in May I loaded the Deluxe Quicken 98
Windows program under Win 3.1 to resolve a potential Y2K problem with the
DOS Version 6.0 app. At that time, while trying to import the old DOS data,
Quicken 98 aborted and the original QData.* files were not in the original
C:\Quicken directories. I reloaded the missing files and told my people to
continue with the DOS version till I had more time to get the Quicken 98
working.

It looks like, during the above import attempt, somehow the DOS Quicken app
"Directories" pointer was changed to the new QuickenW directory.

Anyhow, the QuickenW QData.* files have today's date and have changed in
size since the May 99 problem occurred. Also, I can successfully copy these
files to another HDD location. One file is to large to fit on a 1.4 MB
Floppy, so I will do another backup to a ZIP drive before I try the Quicken
98 import again next week.

Perhaps the bad sector on the original QData.* files caused the Quicken 98
import to fail.

Thanks for the help,
Jim

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