I wouldn't do that. The three largest tables in the database are usually: Audit records (who did what in the database), Bill Images (well, because images), and then Slips. A/R transactions would be much further down on my list of records to try to purge to gain a speed advantage.

Have you made sure to exclude from realtime antivirus scanning on all the machines?

I wouldn't do that. The three largest tables in the database are usually: Audit records (who did what in the database), Bill Images (well, because images), and then Slips. A/R transactions would be much further down on my list of records to try to purge to gain a speed advantage.

Have you made sure to exclude from realtime antivirus scanning on all the machines?

But the question still remains, why did the A/R transactions not get purged even though I ran a purge on everything predating 2014?

Without seeing what you did, hard to say, but my guess would be that you did not remove the default filter for having appeared on a statement.