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Money file deletes itself on exit RRS feed

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    I started Money a couple of days ago to find that my Money file had gone missing. I searched my computer in vain but it really wasn't there. I'm not prone to losing files so I was rather concerned. Fortunately, I had a recent backup.

    However, yesterday, after using Money for a while, I closed the program and, glancing at the window in File Explorer I realised that the file wasn't there. Sure enough, trying to open Money, I got a message telling me that the file was missing. Again, I ran a full search of my computer but it was not to be found. It had apparently deleted itself when I quit the program.

    I had experienced a few odd things happening a few weeks previously and created a new Money file in case my existing file had become corrupted. Will removing and re-installing Money help? Is it the program or the file that is corrupted? I have set Money automatically to backup on exit but I'm losing faith in the program if it can just delete a data file like this. Any helpful thoughts are welcomed. Thank you.

    I'm using Money 2004 (UK) and Windows 8

    Saturday, October 19, 2013 9:55 AM

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    Is your *.mny file in your My Documents folder?  If not, that is where it should be saved.  Since Vista, Money (and almost all programs) will not save Data Files in the Program Files hierarchy.


    • Edited by bobjbkln Saturday, October 19, 2013 7:51 PM
    Saturday, October 19, 2013 7:50 PM
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    Thanks for the tip. My Money file is not linked to my bank account so I'm hoping this isn't a factor. I download all statements and reconcile them manually.
    Monday, October 21, 2013 8:10 AM
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    Yes it is. It's been happily sitting in a folder in My Documents since the day it was created about 12 years ago. I bought a new laptop back in April and everything's been fine. The first time the file went AWOL was last week and I was puzzled because I'm really not prone to losing stuff permanently like this. The second time it happened, it was right before my eyes one minute on screen; then I closed the file and the Windows folder was empty - it had literally disappeared.
    Monday, October 21, 2013 8:13 AM
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    Is Money the only program exhibiting data loss?  Have you done a thorough virus/malware scan?
    Monday, October 21, 2013 4:20 PM
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    I've done a full scan and it's come up clean. It's the only file that has got lost (that I've noticed anyway).
    Tuesday, October 22, 2013 4:01 PM
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    Well I am at a loss.  At this point you need to do some Windows troubleshooting like going through the logs in the Event Viewer and seeing what was happening at the exact time the file disappeared.  I don't know enough to tell you where you should look or what to look for.  Hopefully, someone else here know enough about Windows to point you in the right direction.
    Tuesday, October 22, 2013 6:19 PM
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    Two other things to try that might give some insight:

      - what happens if you open and then close the sample.mny file?

      - what happens if you create a new test.mny file and save it to an external drive?

    Bill Becker

    Wednesday, October 23, 2013 2:09 PM
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    Have you checked that the location Money is set to back up to exists, and that your username has permission to access that location?

    And that the checkbox to backup on exit is ticked?


    Yes, backup is ticked and working fine - thank goodness.
    Thursday, October 24, 2013 3:48 PM
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    Two other things to try that might give some insight:

      - what happens if you open and then close the sample.mny file?

      - what happens if you create a new test.mny file and save it to an external drive?

    Bill Becker

    Sample.mny file: I get a screen saying that 'Money will update your file with the latest improvements', then a box saying 'Money cannot locate the sample.mny or cannot open it, possibly because it is a read-only file or you do not have permission to change it... '

    Creating and saving a test.mny file seems to have been problem-free.

    Since posting my initial question, my main file has (fingers crossed) been behaving itself but I'm a little paranoid now. If this had happened just once, I would have put it down to a blip but to happen a second time, right in front of my eyes, is scary. I'm trying to have faith in my backup!

    Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:11 PM
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    I suggest installing Agent Ransack, and searching your drives for *.mny.  You could run as admistrator, but that should not be needed. An advantage of that way vs the method described below is that you could sort the finds by date by clicking the column header.

    Alternatively, run a command window as administrator. Enter this command:

     dir c:\*.mny  /s

    It will take a while.

               =====alternate/additional info===========
    Here is another way to address it. Close Money. Locate your *.mny in your documents folder using Windows Explorer. Open Money by right-clicking that file, and choosing Open. See if changes are saved thereafter.
    Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:38 PM
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    I suggest installing Agent Ransack, and searching your drives for *.mny.  You could run as admistrator, but that should not be needed. An advantage of that way vs the method described below is that you could sort the finds by date by clicking the column header.

    Alternatively, run a command window as administrator. Enter this command:

     dir c:\*.mny  /s

    It will take a while.

               =====alternate/additional info===========
    Here is another way to address it. Close Money. Locate your *.mny in your documents folder using Windows Explorer. Open Money by right-clicking that file, and choosing Open. See if changes are saved thereafter.

    Excuse my ignorance but what will Agent Ransack do? I ran a full search of my C:\ drive when the file first went missing and it could not be located. I did the same thing the second time and still had no luck in finding the file. It had completely disappeared. I've now created a new file from the backup so, even if the old one is lurking in a hidden location, it's now out of date.

    I can open my new file with no problem and all seems well. Changes are saved and the file isn't doing a disappearing act on me when I close it.

    Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:34 PM
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    I am very glad your problem is solved. The search would be more of a solving of a mystery. I was suspecting it would turn up within %APPDATA%\ but a full search would be more comprehensive.

    I had instances where the provided search in Vista did not find everything. It might have been content that I was searching for.

    It works for me. Agent Ransack searches when I ask it to, and does not do anything on its own. But if you are successful using Start->Run, that's fine. I think that depends on the indexer, and Windows, even by default, does not index everything.

    Just for fun, try the dir c:\*.mny  /s bit and see if it finds more hits than your favorite search method finds. Nothing to download or install. I understand that Agent Ransack has an ominous name. :-) They also have it available as "FileLocator" for "corporate" use-- where people may be put off by the other name.

    Thursday, October 24, 2013 11:05 PM
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    I have recently experienced the same thing with my old XP computer running Money 2002. I saw my money file being erased as Money exits. And the deleted file, just like you said, cannot be found anywhere else afterwards. This does not happen often but does happen! Is there any solution to this? Am I the only person in the world still using Money 2002?

    Thanks.

    Tuesday, August 15, 2017 8:05 PM
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    I have recently experienced the same thing with my old XP computer running Money 2002. I saw my money file being erased as Money exits. And the deleted file, just like you said, cannot be found anywhere else afterwards. This does not happen often but does happen! Is there any solution to this? Am I the only person in the world still using Money 2002?

    Thanks.

    You tried the dir c:\*.mny  /s thing, right?

    I trust you are keeping extra backups on different drives, such as a USB flash drives.

    Tuesday, August 15, 2017 10:59 PM
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