I recognize the difficulties you've experienced, @peggyg. I'll make it up to you by providing some troubleshooting steps to fix the issue you're having.

Usually, the Automatically Recall Information settings in the Preferences will stick to what you have selected and remain enabled until you change it. Since it's been frequently turned off, it's more likely a temporary data issue with QBDT. Thus, you can follow these steps to help you resolve this.

Let's start by opening a sample file to determine if the behavior is identical to your original company file in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). Here's how: 

1. Press and hold the Ctrl key and double-click your QuickBooks program icon.
2. Hold the Ctrl key until the No Company Open window shows.
3. From the No Company Open window, select Open a sample file.
4. Choose any sample file from the list.

Once opened, set your Preferences, enter your transactions, and observe if it functions well. Your original company file might be damaged if the feature is still unchecking itself. Let's return to your original file, update the program to the latest release, and perform the verify and rebuild tool. It's a built-in tool that auto-detects and self-resolves minor company file data issues. 

Here's how to verify data:

1. Navigate to the File menu.
2. Choose Utilities, then select Verify Data.
3. Click OK when you see the message.
4. If Verify finds an issue with your data, you'll be prompted to Rebuild Now or View Errors.

Next, here's how to rebuild the data:

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Choose Utilities, then select Rebuild Data.
3. Click OK if you receive a prompt to back up your company file.
4. Click OK when you get the message, Rebuild has completed, and proceed to the next step.
5. Rerun Rebuild Data to make sure there are no errors.

On the other hand, if the problem also occurs in the sample company file, you can use QuickBooks Tool Hub to repair your company file issues in QBDT. For a step-by-step process, feel free to utilize this article: Repair your QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

However, I recommend contacting our Technical Support Team if the issue continues. They have the tools to look into your account and verify what caused this issue.

Also, here's an article for additional troubleshooting steps to help you fix this issue: Fix data damage on your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

If you have any additional QuickBooks-related concerns, please post them here in the Community space. I'll help you out again. Take care, and have a nice day!