In microsoft.public.money, Mikie wrote:

- quote -

At the bottom of this response I address your main problem, but I
wanted to first comment on setting things up for your backups:

In Money 2004 Tools-> Options-> Backup
I suggest checking
x Automatically backup to hard disk on exit
x Prompt me before backing up each time*
x Make my file small ...

Automatically backup to floppy/removable drive every _14_ days

Select the drive to be a USB flash drive. They typically act like a
big floppy. Remember that your hard drive could fail, so keep extra
backups on other media, and maybe in the safe deposit box.

* This has two advantages. You can change the file name
occasionally. I like to pick a name something like money050211.
Then it is easy to change the name to have multiple backups. The
..mbf extension is automatic. The other advantage is that you can
choose "Don't Back Up, or you change your mind about exiting by
simply clicking the X in the upper right of the pop-up box.

- quote -

Money should open the last-used file. I don't know why it is working
the way it is for you. If you use Vista, it is important that your
file not be in the ProgramFiles area.

One way to open Money to a given file is to create a shortcut to
the file, and double-click that shortcut to open. You can do the
same from Windows Explorer or a search.

You might do Start-> Search for *.mny. Based on date and size,
right-click the right file and create a shortcut that you can put on
your desktop.

I have a major problem, my software or my 80 year old brain!

When I finish for the day, I click on the Drop Down File (Extreme
left, top) and then click Back Up. Or I just click the X in the upper
right of the page.

Either way I'm out out of Ms Money.
BUT, trying to get back into my files is THE problem:

I click on the MS MONEY Desktop icon and I get an all blue page with
the words also in blue that read MS MONEY. No data at all!

So I go to the upper left drop down file and I get about 6 or 8
options. I try each one and I just can't get into my files.

Why can't I automatically get my files without doing a kabuki dance of
clicks and disappointments?? What a lot of time I wasted trying to
find the my files so I can start working!

Thankfully and humbly
Mike, Picture Rocks, AZ