Question from a computer novice: I want to transfer Quicken

[Kingofalldems]

from an old computer to a newer one. I back it up with floppy discs. My newer computer has no port for floppies. Anything I can do?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Some questions....

Is the old computer still working ?

What Operating systems are your old and new computers running ?

Does the old computer have ethernet or USB ?

You can always buy a USB floppy drive for the new computer (about $20).

[Kingofalldems]

2. Thanks. Last sentence might be my answer.

[davepdx]

3. I'd suggest using either a flash drive or the cloud

If you have a USB port on your old computer you could copy the Quicken backup files to a flash drive. If you don't have a USB port then you could get a cloud account like Dropbox (probably the free one would do) and copy the backup file(s) to Dropbox. You could then transfer the backup files back to your newer computer.

[Kingofalldems]

4. No idea what a flash drive is

but this is an old--15 yrs at least--computer, used only for Quicken, no internet. This brings up another question--do the backup floppys contain the enitre Quicken program or is it only files? I have been told it is the entire program but don't know.

[davepdx]

5. If you have a USB port you can possibly use a flash drive

A flash drive is one of many names (jump drive, thumb drive, memory stick among others) for a solid state memory device that plugs into a USB port.

Here is a link that might help:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive

The flash drive plugs into the USB port and it is recognized by the computer as a drive and it is given a drive letter by the operating system. You can then copy files to and from the flash drive just like you would to a floppy drive. The one key point is that the operating system has to support USB drives. I *think* that you have to have Windows ME or newer Windows versions in order to use flash drives. I don't think that Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows 98SE supported flash drives. If you have one of the older versions of Windows (95, 98 or 98SE) then the USB floppy drive may be your best option. If the computer has an operating system that will support a flash drive then you probably want to get as small (capacity) a flash drive as is possible. For perspective, a 2 GB flash drive should cost in the $5-8 range.

As for your question about Quicken and whether the backups floppies contain the entire program or not - I'm reasonably sure that the backups only contain your data, not the program. That is the case with the past two versions of Quicken that my wife has had on her notebook - only data.

Edited to add: If your newer computer doesn't have a floppy drive then you probably are going to have to purchase a new version of Quicken to install via CD or DVD unless the newer computer already has Quicken loaded on it.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

6. flash drives

98SE had USB support but I believe there were problems with USB attached drives. In general custom drivers were required.

[davepdx]

7. I had trouble remembering so I looked it up on Wikipedia...

...assuming the dates there are correct.

Windows 95 came out in August, 1995.
Windows 98 came out in June, 1998.
Windows 98SE came out in May, 1999.
Windows Me came out in September, 2000.

According to the Wikipedia article of flash drives, flash drives were first commercially available in 2000. I guess custom drivers would have been needed for earlier versions of Windows (95, 98, 98SE).

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

9. custom drivers

That would be my guess. I was repeating general information about non-specific media attached via USB.

[ChromeFoundry]

8. Get a GMail account

email the files to yourself.

[HopeHoops]

10. Zip the files in the Quicken data folder and e-mail them to yourself.

Then access the e-mail from the new computer.

Works great.

[CK_John]

11. I would look into an ide to usb adapter kit for under 10$ and then you take the hd out of your old

PC and connect it as an external drive to your new PC (if it is a PC).

The floppy drives are only 1.4 mBytes seems too small for program files.

Here is link for one on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter-Converter-Optical-External/dp/B001OORMVQ/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_2