You cannot synchronize data between Microsoft Money and MSN Money

The Web Access option in Microsoft Money lets you synchronize your data with the MSN Money Web site. However, when you try to synchronize your data with MSN Money, you may receive an error message that resembles one of the following error messages:

This issue may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• The system date and time are incorrect.
• The Windows Live ID account information is not valid.
• There is an error message that is associated with one or more of your accounts.
• Your Money account name contains characters that are not supported.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer or the temporary Internet files folder contains information that is not valid.
• A program, a Web service, or a setting is interfering with the synchronization process.
• Your Money data file contains information that is damaged or inconsistent.
• Your installation of Money is corrupted.
• Your installation of Internet Explorer is corrupted or is outdated.
• The Money data file was open and was signed in to Windows Live ID overnight.
• A program that is running in the background is interfering with Money.

Note Microsoft Money 2007 and Microsoft Money Plus will download only those accounts and transactions from MSN Money that were imported from your financial institutions to MSN Money. These versions of Money will not synchronize exactly like earlier versions of Money. No information from your Money file will be uploaded to MSN Money, and the Portfolios on MSN Money and in Money are independent after any initial download from MSN Money into a new Money file.

Microsoft Money 2006

To resolve this issue if you are running Microsoft Money 2006, exit and then restart Money 2006. When you reopen Money 2006, make sure that you sign in to Windows Live ID. We recommend that you do not leave your data file open overnight because Windows Live ID will automatically sign you out.

If the issue is not resolved after you exit and then restart Money 2006, follow the steps in the "All versions of Microsoft Money" section.

All versions of Microsoft Money

To resolve this issue, follow these steps in the order in which they appear. After you complete a step, try to set up the synchronization process. If the synchronization process still fails, go to the next step.

Note Make sure that you have a backup and a copy of your Money data file before you begin. For more information about how to create a backup of your Money data file, open the Microsoft Money Help file, search on the "Backup" topic, and then read the "Create a backup of your Money file" subtopic.

For more information about how to create copies or backups of your Money data files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Step 1: Correct the system date and time

1. In the notification area, double-click the system time display.
2. In the Date and Time Properties dialog box, verify that the date and time settings are correct. If the settings are incorrect, correct them, and then click OK.

Step 2: Test the connection to the Windows Live ID sites and services

To synchronize your Money data file by using MSN Money, use your Windows Live ID credentials to add a password to the Money data file.

Note To see your synchronized data, log on to the MSN Money Web site by using the same Windows Live ID credentials. Verify that your Windows Live ID credentials still work on the Windows Live ID sites and services. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the Internet, and then visit the following Windows Live ID Web site:
   https://login.live.com (https://login.live.com)
2. On the Windows Live ID sign-in page, type your Windows Live ID credentials, and then click Sign In.
3. If you cannot sign in to your account, contact Windows Live ID Member Services for support. To do this, click the Customer Support link on the Windows Live ID sign in page, and then click Get Answers from Customer Support. Or, visit the following Windows Live ID Web site:
   https://accountservices.passport.net/CustomerSupport.srf (https://accountservices.passport.net/CustomerSupport.srf)
   Note If you do not want to contact Windows Live ID support, you can try to create a new Windows Live ID e-mail address. To do this, click the Sign Up link, and then associate the account that has your Money data file.
   
   For more information about how to do this, see the “Step 8: Test with new Windows Live ID credentials and Money file” section.
   
   If you can successfully sign in to your Windows Live ID e-mail address, go to step 3.

Note When you use any new Windows Live ID credentials, you must also sign in to the MSN Money Web site that has the new account credentials.

Step 3: View the error message that is associated with your account

For more information about how to determine whether a specific error code is associated with your account, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If no specific error code is associated with your account and if you still experience the synchronization issue, go to step 4.

Step 4: Rename the account by removing unsupported characters

The synchronization process may fail if you use any characters that are not supported in any one of your account names in Money. Characters that are not supported include the following characters:

• &
• %
• /
• \
• ?

If one or more of these characters exist, replace the characters that are not valid. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Money, click Account List.
2. Right-click the account that contains the unsupported characters, and then click Rename.
3. Change the name so that it no longer includes these characters, and then press ENTER.

If your accounts have no unsupported characters and if you still experience the synchronization issue, go to step 5.

Step 5: Reset Internet Explorer options, and then remove all cookies and temporary Internet files

1. Open the Internet Options dialog box. To do this, use the method that is appropriate for your operating system.
   • In Windows Vista, click Start
     Collapse this imageExpand this image

     
     , type inetcpl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
   • In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click the Privacy tab, and then move the slider to the bottom to select Accept All Cookies.
3. Click the Security tab, click the Internet icon, and then click Custom Level.
4. In Reset custom settings list, click Medium Low.
5. Click Reset, click Yes when you are prompted to make the change, and then click OK.
6. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Restore Defaults.
7. Click Apply, and then click OK.

After you have reset the Internet Explorer settings, delete the Internet cache, and then remove all the Windows Live ID, Hotmail, and MSN cookies that are on the computer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Internet Options dialog box. To do this, use the method that is appropriate for your operating system.
   • In Windows Vista, click Start
     Collapse this imageExpand this image

     
     , type inetcpl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
   • In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type inetcpl.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click the General tab, and then click Delete Files.
   
   Note For Windows Internet Explorer 7 and for later versions of Internet Explorer, click Delete in the Browsing History section. In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, delete the cookies and the history.
3. If you want to delete all the temporary Internet files, click OK when you are prompted.
4. Click Settings.
   
   Note For Internet Explorer 7 and for later versions of Internet Explorer, click Settings in the Browsing History section.
5. Click View Files, and then delete any cookies that end in "@passport," "@msn," or "@hotmail."

Note The cookie files store some settings information for Web sites. If you have no saved settings or if you are comfortable with resetting this information, you can delete all files in this location.

If you still experience the synchronization issue, go to step 6.

Step 6: Isolate and then disable or remove the software that is interfering

Certain kinds of Internet security software, antivirus software, Internet Acceleration software, and firewall software can interfere with the ability of Money to complete the connection to the MSN Money server. In this case, you must perform a clean restart of the system.

For more information about how to do this, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note On a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows 95, the issue may still not be resolved after you perform a clean restart. You may have to remove the security software to connect. For information about how to perform a clean restart in this case, see the computer documentation.

After you are in clean-start mode, try to set up the synchronization process again.

If this step resolves the issue, isolate the software program that is interfering with Money by using the Msconfig tool.

For more information about how to troubleshoot issues by using Msconfig, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you still experience the synchronization issue, keep the system in clean-start mode, and then go to step 7.

Step 7: Sign out of all Windows Live ID sites and services

Occasionally, the synchronization process can stop because of interference that is created by other Windows Live ID sites and services.

If you are set up to log on to any Windows Live ID sites automatically by using your Windows Live ID credentials, start Internet Explorer, and then sign out of all the Windows Live ID-enabled Web sites. If you are using MSN Messenger, sign out of this service also.

If you still experience the synchronization issue, go to step 8.

Step 8: Test with new Windows Live ID credentials and a new Money data file

The information that is associated with your current Windows Live ID credentials may be damaged. To test whether this is the cause of the issue, create a new set of Windows Live ID credentials, and then try to set up synchronization to a new Money data file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you have logged off your Windows Live ID credentials on all other Web sites.
2. Visit the following Windows Live ID Web site:
   https://login.live.com (https://login.live.com)
3. Click Sign up for an account.
4. Create a new set of Windows Live ID credentials by following the instructions that appear.
   
   Note You must create Windows Live ID credentials for a new e-mail address that you have. Do not create another account for the e-mail address that you currently have set up for the Windows Live ID.
5. After you create your new Windows Live ID credentials, visit the following Money Web site, and then click Sign In:
   http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp (http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp)
6. Start Microsoft Money.
7. Click File, click New, and then click New File.
8. Type a name for the file, such as SynchTest, and then click OK.
9. If you are prompted to back up your data, click No or click Don’t Backup.
10. In the new file, click Next, click Accept, click I already have a Passport, and then click Next.
11. Type the new Windows Live ID credentials that you created in step 4, and then click Next.
12. Accept the default settings for the rest of the setup process.
13. On the Money Home page, click Tools, click Settings, and then click Access My Money Data on the Web.

Follow the instructions to finish setting up the synchronization.

If the synchronization still fails, the issue may be related to your Money installation or to the installation of Internet Explorer. Go to step 11.

If you can synchronize by using new Windows Live ID credentials and a new Money data file, determine whether the Windows Live ID information, the MSN Money information, or the Money data file is the cause of the issue. To do this, go to step 9.

Step 9: Test your Windows Live ID and MSN Money information

To test whether the Windows Live ID or MSN Money information is damaged, use your original Windows Live ID credentials to sign in to a new Money data file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that you have logged off your Windows Live ID credentials on all other Web sites.
2. Visit the following Money Web site:
   http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp (http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp)
   Then, sign in to the MSN Money Web site by using your original Windows Live ID credentials.
3. Start Microsoft Money.
4. Click File, click New, and then click New File.
5. Type a name for the file, such as LiveIDTest, and then click OK.
6. If you are prompted to back up your data, click No or click Don’t Backup.
7. In the new file, click Next, click Accept, click I already have a Passport, and then click Next.
8. Type your original Windows Live ID credentials, and then click Next.
9. On the Do you want to use your MSN Money data page, click Yes, I want my file to use the data stored on the MSN Money Website, and then click Next.
10. Accept the default settings for the rest of the setup process.
11. On the Money Home page, click Tools, click Settings, click Internet Updates, and then click Read Call Summary messages.

If you do not receive an error message, the synchronization process was successful. Examine the information in your data file to make sure that the information is accurate. A successful synchronization process indicates that the issue is with your current Money data file. To troubleshoot your data file, go to step 10.

If you continue to receive an error message, the issue is not with your current Money data file. The issue is probably with your Windows Live ID account or with your MSN Money data. Go to step 10.

Step 10: Repair your Money data file

For more information about how to resolve this issue by using the repair utilities for Microsoft Money, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you run the Repair utility on your data file one time and if the issue is not resolved, you may have to run the Repair utility again on the file. Or, you may have to run a deeper level of repair to repair all the damage. After you use the Repair utility, try to synchronize your data.

If you still experience the synchronization issue, your file may be too damaged to repair. Because the file that you created earlier worked as expected, you can use the Export and Import procedure to move your data to a new file. With this new file, you can set up synchronization.

For more information about how to export and import your account information in Money, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Step 11: Reinstall the MSN Money controls

For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you still experience the synchronization issue, the Microsoft Money installation may be damaged. Go to step 12.

Step 12: Remove and then reinstall Microsoft Money

For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you still experience the synchronization issue, the Internet Explorer installation may be damaged. Go to step 15.

Step 13: Delete all MSN Portfolio entries and then re-create them

Note Before you do this, you must back up your portfolio data.

For more information about how to back up and to restore your portfolio data, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: In the MSN Money Web site, remove all entries in the portfolio so that the portfolio is empty, and then try to synchronize. If you are successful, you can populate the MSN Money portfolio with the investment data in Money.

If you still experience the synchronization issue, remove all the data that is stored on the MSN Money Web site. Go to step 14.

Step 14: Delete all My Accounts information from MSN Money

For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Step 15: Repair Internet Explorer

For more information about how to repair Internet Explorer, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you still experience the synchronization issue, you may have to install the latest version of Internet Explorer. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site: If you received any error messages during the repair or the installation of the latest version of Internet Explorer, there may be a problem with your installation of Windows. Contact Windows Support to resolve this issue.