Opening old backups applies all subsequent auto transactions

[Nickallington]

Hi there
I wanted to check financial status from several years ago and compare it to current. I was able to open my old backup files OK, but all the automatic and scheduled transactions promptly updated themselves, destroying the backup's integrity and the snapshot of that date. I presume there is a way to open an old file without destroying it - how is it done? That is, without deleting all scheduled transactions prior to creating the backup in the first place...
Thanks