unofficial microsoft.public.money FAQ and A
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Q) Can a new version of Money open my old version data file/backup file/backup diskette(s)?
A) The newest version of Money is designed to open and upgrade older version Money data files, backup files, and backup diskettes for all older versions of Money, with caveats as noted below.
1) Upgrades are not supported across different localizations of Money. E.g., M99 for UK will not upgrade to M04 US. For more information, see "Why do I get the 'incompatible versions' message when upgrading my data file?".
2) Beginning with M03, a significant number of users have had problems with the upgrade process. For more information, see "I thought Money files were supposed to be upward compatible. How come Money[new] crashes when upgrading my Money[old] data file?".
3) Be sure you have a good backup file/set of backup diskettes. For more information, see "You must help me! My only floppy backup has a data error reading. What do I do?".
Q) Can I access my file on my desktop over my home network from my laptop?
A) It works fine IF you assure that only one machine has the file open at a time. This includes subtle things like MoneySide and MoneyExpress. My only file corruption in the last three of four years came from inadvertently opening Money and working in the data file on the WiFi laptop when the desktop machine also had the file open. Whatever else, have a backup strategy.
Setting up a network and opening/accessing file shares is beyond the scope of this newsgroup. You might want to consult one of the operating system specific newsgroups if that is the kind of help you are looking for.
M05 refers to a feature they call "file sharing". It isn't. It's just a way of adding multiple Passports to allow access to the subset of data that is copied from the local file to MSN web servers and made available via the web interface
Q) How do I backup to CD-RW? CD-R?
A) First, remember that a CD-R, CD-RW, or any of the various forms of writable DVD is not a general purpose random access storage device and needs software to begin to pretend to be.
(Such software is referred to as "packet writing" software and includes things like DirectCD or Drag-to-Disc from Easy Media (Coaster) Creator by Roxio and InCD from Nero. That having been said, the poor reliability many people experience with packet writing software in general and DirectCD in specific suggests it is a very poor choice for backing up critical data like your Money file. At less than a dime per media in quantities of 100, burning a CD-R with a copy of your Money data file seems like a better choice.)
Like any file, your .MNY data file can be stored on writable optical media the same way you put other files on them. For instance, if you use WinXP, you can backup to the hard disk mirror created by WinXP and then burn a CD after you've exited Money. If you like Nero, go ahead and burn a CD with your Money data file and don't drag Money into the problem at all. Etc.
Second, don't expect the "backup to floppy" choice to offer up your writeable CD. Is the writeable CD a floppy? No, it is not. Why would Money think it is? Newer versions (M04?) say "Removable." But they still don't recognize devices that do not have normal FAT/NTFS file systems--i.e., CD/DVD writeable.
When a WinXP follow-on product supports the Mt. Rainier technology, and when you have hardware that also supports Mt. Rainier, then maybe Money will be a little savvier about writable CDs.
Read the referenced MSKB for information about using the backup methods in Money to backup to writeable CDs.
M06 updated the backup tools--the first time in many versions that backup functionality has been improved--and provided direct access to writable optical devices that the operating system knows how to deal with. Perhaps this was because they broke the floppy disk backups so severely in M05?
Reference courtesy of Glyn Simpson, Microsoft MVP - Money
References:
MSKB: Q265130 backup to writeable CDs
Q) How do I move accounts from one Money file to another?
A) The only way to do this is File|Export and Import via QIF files. Beware that duplicate account names ("Checking") in the exporting and importing account will cause problems and one or the other account should be renamed before you do the export/import. Also beware that transfers between accounts to be moved will necessitate importing all interlinked QIF files simultaneously. Finally, QIF export/import will NOT move things like bills associated with the account or account detail information.
Because of all of these limitations, make sure to work in copies of the target file before you get this all tuned to produce acceptable results.
Q) How do I start over with a new data file?
A) There are two ways to do this. File|New… is an old favorite. You can also delete, rename, or move your data file so that Money cannot find it when you start Money--Money will then offer to create a new file. Answer derived from one posted by Cal Learner, MVP.
A) You don't. The only ways to undo the effects of archiving are to go to the archive file and enter/import newer transactions or to export the transactions from the archive file and import them into your current file. Both involve going through the .QIF export/import process. Neither is trouble-free. See the MSKB for Microsoft's approach.
Archiving will shrink your file size somewhat. There have been some reports that archiving helps performance problems. That's about all it does. On the down side, in addition to not providing any way to put the archived data back in the ongoing data file, archiving will not remove old investment account activity and related transfer transactions. In some versions, archiving seems to have many problems adjusting the account beginning balance for removed transactions.
For these reasons, many of us do not recommend archiving and do not do it ourselves. If you start recording all kinds of interesting memo data (like serial numbers for your toys, warranty lengths, the genus and species of plants you bought for your garden and so on) you, too, will not want to archive.
If you archived recently enough, you can use the archive file you created in place of the file that Archive removed transactions from. It has all of the transactions in your entire Money file as of the date you archived, not just ones before the archive date. This is another result of the rather odd design for archiving.
References:
MSKB: 133485 How to un-archive
Q) I just archived. But there are many transactions left from before the archive date. Why?
A) The more you know about archiving; the less likely you are to do it. All pain. Precious little gain. I do not recommend archiving. YMMV.
First, there is little reason to archive--as you've found out, by design the impact is limited--and some reasons not to--primarily that you can't go back at all easily once you've archived and your archive file will overlap the file you use going forward since it's just a backup prior to removing transactions. If, like many of us, you record all manner of useful data like the serial numbers of your toys and when you bought a battery for the car last, taking this data out of your main data file is not something you'll want to do.
Second, archiving does not remove all transactions. Transactions related to investment buys/sells and, hence, capital gains, for instance, are not archived.
Third, there is little evidence that archiving has a significant impact on performance, especially given the limitations on what data it actually removes.
Fourth, hard disks are selling for less then $0.75/GB and the smallest 2.5" laptop drives being manufactured today are typically 10GB in size. Very few people have data files bigger than, say, 50 MB. That makes 200 extremely large Money data files you can store on the smallest hard disk being manufactured today. (Capacities and costs as of 11/24/2004. The trend of larger disks costing less money will no doubt continue. This answer may or may not be updated accordingly.)
There are a number of MSKB articles on the subject of limitations of archiving. On-line help even describes it pretty well. Also, see the question "How do I un-archive?"
References:
MSKB: 191537 How archiving really works II
MSKB: 306825 How archiving really works III
MSKB: 77462 How archiving really works
Q) I just bought a new computer with the current Money pre-installed. How do I transfer my data from the old version/old machine?
A) Go find your Money data file and copy it to the new machine. Your file will be named *.mny, so if you do not know where it is, you can search for it. Likewise, going into File|Open should enable you to see where the current file is located.
The best ways to move the file are to burn a CD, use something like a network or laplink, use some diskette copy or backup/restore routine that can span multiple diskettes, or consider this an excuse to buy one of those neato new USB memory keys. Second best is to use the Money backup to floppy capability to backup on the old version/old machine and restore on the new version/new machine. BUT BE SURE NOT TO TRASH THE OLD COPY 'TIL YOU HAVE THE NEW COPY RUNNING! Sometimes data errors and so forth occur--you'd be surprised how many people get here when their ONLY backup copy is trashed and want to know how to recover.
When you first open the data file from the old version, Money will rename your existing file and create a new file from the data in the old one except upgraded to the current file format.
When you start the new version of Money on the new machine, be sure to tell it to skip Passport. If you find you need it later, you can go add it.
If you use Money backup/restore, you might just want to first go open the sample data file, so it will skip lots of non-pertinent steps like the interview. Then you can restore the old copy from floppies using the Money File|Restore menu choice.
Also, be sure to copy your Tools|Options settings by hand since many of them are NOT stored in the data file. You will also have to redo printer setups.
This discussion assumes that the old system and new system both use the same region settings and both old and new versions of Money are the same localization (e.g., Money US or Money UK.) If either of these assumptions is violated, it may not be possible to do what you want.
Q) I just reinstalled M98--it can't read my data backup floppies. Now what?
[Relevant to Money98 (v.6)]
A) Money98 originally didn't know how to do a multi-diskette backup. (This was bizarre since M98 was the first version where data file size grew by an order of magnitude.) If you made a Money98 diskette-spanning backup using Money98, you must have installed the patch that provided this functionality and now the patch is lost. (The outcry over the lack of spanning backup and the suddenly huge data files--small by the standards of current versions--led to release of the patch.) You will need to get it and reinstall it to read your diskette-spanning backup. Once installed, you will need to look not under the File menu but under Tools|Multi-disk backup. You can also see the MSKB item for more information.
Possibly a better course would be to consider migrating to a newer version of Money. The never version will know how to read the format written by the M98 diskette-spanning backup patch.
Thanks to Bonnie Synhorst for this answer; the MSKB link was provided by Kimberly Renna-Griego, MVP.
References:
Money98 diskette-spanning backup patch (get file mdbr1.exe)
MSKB: Q179397 M98 Diskette-spanning backup/restore
Q) What is this .LRD file with the same name as my Money data file? Should I worry about it?
A) It's a record-locking file used for internal purposes by the database engine Money uses. It opens when you open a Money file and disappears when you close it normally. You may see one left around if Money "abnormally ends" or ABENDs. (That's IBM talk for "crashes.") It means nothing to the user. You can safely ignore it.
It will also be there when Money Express is open in the background.
If you sign-in to Money with "Use Money's online features that require .NET Passport," then 2 or 3 (depending upon version) Money background processes are spawned. These background processes, mis.exe, misuser.exe (Money 2003-4 only) and mnyschdl.exe, are spawned and continue to run even after closing your Money file and exiting Money itself (msmoney.exe), whether or not Money Express is enabled. If you have enabled Background Banking as well, one or more of these background processes will be periodically locking your primary Money file. The list changes slightly for M05, but the basic issue is still the same: depending on what you enable in Money, your Money data file may still be in use, and the .LRD file still relevant, when you are not actually using Money.
Additional information about situations that will create the lock file borrowed from an answer by Brent Neville who has also provided updates.
Q) What should I do to close the year in my data file? Should I archive?
A) Lots of people want to do something to "close" out a year's worth of data in Money. There isn't really any need to do anything. Money will happily carry on from here. Any need to look at data by year is best accomplished with customized reports. But you may also want to make a "snapshot" of the data to file with your taxes or similar records for the year. Lots of people think, reasonably enough, that Money's Archive or Backup functions are somehow useful for this. Perhaps not.
Understand that:
A Backup is supposed to be a file that enables you to Restore a file exactly as your data file was at the point in time where the backup was performed. Money's backup cannot always achieve this.
An Archive is a copy of your entire data file at a given point in time but just before the archiving function destructively and irreversibly removes a bunch of data from, and modifies other data in, the main data file you intend to use going forward. I do not recommend archiving. All pain. No gain.
If you want to have a high-probability-of-recoverability of your Money data as far into the future as my crystal ball can see, there are two things I recommend:
1) Make a copy (not a Money File|Backup, just a Windows Explorer File Copy) of the .MNY file as it now exists, and burn it onto a CD-R or two. Use the quality media for this. (The $0.02 per disc white label media may be great for your MP3s, but this is serious data we are talking about here.) Turn off all of the esoteric burning format options. (The system that you need to read this on may not have been invented yet so it is best to stay mainstream.) Test the CD-R(s) in at least one, if not several, other machines to make sure you can read the file back correctly. (The burner that burned the CD may be the only drive in the world that can actually read it.) Label the CD-R(s) with the exact version of Money that wrote the file, as displayed in Help|About. (This will be something like 14.0.115.1105.) File at least one of the CD-Rs in your safe deposit box or other off-site location. This will be usable as long as you can run the noted Money version or a future Money version that supports that file format. Money File|Backup should provide a 100% path back to the original data file. For all too many people it does not seem to do this.
2) Create two favorite reports. One is Account Transactions for all accounts and the other is Investment Transactions for all accounts including closed accounts. Customize them to the date range for all of the year you want to capture and set all of the flags for every column to appear. Clear any other customization that filters out data. Spot check the resulting reports to confirm that you haven't accidentally left anything out. Then do one or more of the following: a) print to paper, b) print to .PDF or Microsoft Office Imaging files, c) "Export to Excel" .CSV (comma separated value) format files. (.CSV files can be read by Excel but they can also be read with Notepad or any other text editor and are easy for even savvy 12 year olds to write programs to parse back into more usable forms.) If you make the files, follow guidance above for what to do with them. If you print the reports, save a copy with, say, your tax returns and associated data. These will be usable for access to the data--but not by Money--in the event some point in the future arrives and there is no Money version that can read the data file from #1. It will not get all of the data (quotes, payee addresses, loan terms, account details like account numbers, comments, and credit limit are all lost this way) but it's about as good as Money will let you get.
Q) When I archive, Money complains that my floppy disk is full. How can this possibly be?
A) The archive file is a copy of your entire data file made before any transactions are removed. Archiving knows nothing about compressing data files nor does it know about spanning multiple floppies with large files. (Just because Money backup to floppy knows how to do both of these things, don't think that archive does. It doesn't.) Given these facts and the fact that virtually every data file created by Money is larger than 1.44MB, it should be obvious that unless you have that rare data file that will fit on a floppy, the message you are getting is just Money telling you a fact of life.
Q) Where is Money hiding my data from me? In the registry? In the ether?
A) This question comes up over and over again in many disguised forms. Examples include "How do I just start completely over?," "I want to move my data to a new computer but can’t figure out where it is on the old one, what do I do?," and the ever popular "How do I backup my Money data to a CD-R instead of a floppy?"
Money is a file-oriented program. It stores your data in .MNY data files just like Word uses .DOC files, Excel uses .XLS files, Notepad uses .TXT files, and Access uses .MDB files. These files are all just data files that can be moved, copied, deleted, renamed, shared over the network, or burned to CDs, no matter what application originally created them. Perhaps part of the problem here is that Money users generally use the same single data file for months or years at a time--and Money always opens the last file they used--so they may not even remember that their data is in a file named what they told Money to name it and stored where they told Money to store it. Take note: there is a File|Open choice in Money, just like in Word. Money also has a File|New choice, just like Word.
There are some additional considerations:
1) While Money stores all of your account and transaction data in the data file you designated when you first setup the file, it stores your Tools|Options settings in the registry. The Tools|Options settings are the only thing that you ever put into Money that is not stored in a .MNY data file. This can be an issue when you reload your system or move your data file to a new system but the Tools|Options settings get lost. Particularly painful is when printer alignment settings for printing checks get lost. Write them down before replacing your system or reinstalling the application.
2) It is generally considered a "best practice" to store your .MNY files in the My Documents folder tree, not somewhere in the Program Files folder tree. All of the reasons for this are beyond the scope of the FAQ, but think of it this way: it's like throwing your coat in the back seat of the car vs. under the hood. The back seat is your space--under the hood isn't. This advice is particularly import for Windows Vista users since, for standard user accounts, Vista will "pretend" to update files stored in Program Files but will promptly revert them to their original contents when you exit Money.
3) Money can have your file open for access--and so can MoneyExpress and MoneySide. You should always avoid doing anything to the data file (like copying it to a CD-R as a backup or opening it over the network or from a different user profile) when the file is already opened since this can cause data file corruption problems. An .LRD file in the same folder with the same name is usually an indication that something has the data file open.
4) Starting the Money application directly--as opposed to opening a .MNY file from the Windows file explorer--results in Money trying to open the last .MNY file you used from the exact same location. If, say, you've moved your data file, this will result in a "file not found" type of error. This message does not mean that Money lost your data--it means that you've hidden your data from Money. Go find your data file using the Windows file explorer and r-click Open it or double click on it. After doing this, Money will now know where your file is located.
5) Because your Money file is just a file, you can burn it to CD or whatever else you want to do with it, just like any other data file. Money really doesn't care. Likewise, whatever you do with the file is at your risk, not Money's.
6) If you don't remember where you told Money to put your file or what you told Money to name it, here are some ways to find out:
- Search your system's disks for files of type Microsoft Money File (files using the extension .MNY).
- The Money title bar shows the name of your file, as in "MyDataFileNameIsHere – Microsoft Money" when you are using Money.
- The Most Recently Used choices numbered 1 through 4 at the bottom of Money's file menu are the four most recently opened Money data files
- If, with your file open, you go to Money's File|Open dialog it will show you the directory (folder, if you prefer) where your data file is located as this is the place it will start looking. If there is any doubt where this is, pull down the little arrow next to the "Look In" pull-down.7) Because your Money data file is your data file, you are responsible for protecting it as you would any other file with important data in it: this means backing it up, keeping copies before reloading your machine, and so on.
8) Money File|Backup creates files that are not identical copies of the original file. For reasons unknown, occasionally this difference is relevant. If you really have to be sure you have your data--like when migrating to a new system or reformatting your present hard disk--it's a very good idea to have both the Money backup .MBF file and the real .MNY data file both copied onto, say, a writable CD or, better, several writable CDs, which you have tested in alternate machines from the one that wrote the CD, before destroying the original. The best method, if possible, is to get the new installation working before destroying the original.
Please see this disclaimer if you are using Money 2005 or this comment if you are using Money 2006.
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Last update: 10 December 2006 |
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