FTA problems today

[Doreen]

Am I the only one unable to open FTAnalyzer today? If so, can someone help me please? I get the following error message:
ERROR SUMMARY
Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
* Activation of C:\Users\Doreen\Desktop\FT Analyzer.appref-ms| resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
+ Value does not fall within the expected range.

BTW, I've only started using this in the past month -- I am one of those who had all my census info in notes -- and what a great resource this is! Thanks!

 

[Katie Bee]

I have used FTAnalyser today and it updated to the latest version for me with no problems.
Sorry I can't help Doreen, but I am sure Alexander will be able to help.

 

[Bryman]

I too have downloaded and used v3.6.0.1 without any installation difficulties so can only suggest that the FTA product itself is ok and there is probably some inconsistency with your environment.

Have you tried removing FTA and starting again from scratch?
If the same error is produced then Alexander is probably the only person that will be able to help.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Hi Doreen

Sorry to hear you are having issues. The nature of the error you are getting is usually caused by an interruption to the install process whilst it was upgrading. The solution that Bryman suggested is spot on.

From control panel | programs and features (or control panel | "add programs" if you are still using the now defunct Windows XP) you can uninstall FTAnalyzer. Once the program has completely uninstalled you should visit the website and click the download button which will install a fresh clean copy fixing the error. You won't lose anything as your settings are stored in your windows profile.

Hope this helps if not I'll send a private message and get you to email me some log files so I can diagnose the problem.

 

[Doreen]

Thank-you, Katie Bee and Bryman, for taking an interest in my problem. I will wait for Alexander to see my posting and help. Or am I able to contact him through this forum?

 

[Alexander Bisset]

I just answered

 

[Doreen]

Hi Doreen Sorry to hear you are having issues. The nature of the error you are getting is usually caused by an interruption to the install process whilst it was upgrading. The solution that Bryman suggested is spot on.
.

Cool, Alexander - I think we must have pressed 'Enter' at the exact same moment I have now re-installed FTA and all looks good. And, of course, I'm now asking myself the age-old question, "Why didn't I think of doing that!"

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Good to hear Doreen. Don't worry I get that a lot, users at work where I'm an IT Manager often complain that problems that have plagued them all day disappear when they try to show them to me. One user at work now actually demonstrates the error to a colleague before calling me just so someone else has seen the problem so that when it magically just works when I'm standing next to her and she demonstrates it to me, she then has backup in the form of another person prepared to say it didn't work earlier.

Another user has taken it to a different level and will ask me to pop into her office and just stand there chatting whilst she tries something "just to make sure the computer will get it right". I think they think I have some mystical power over the computers that they dare not misbehave whilst I'm there. Sadly that's not true

 

[Doreen]

Good to hear Doreen. I think they think I have some mystical power over the computers that they dare not misbehave whilst I'm there. Sadly that's not true

LOL Alexander - and thank-you for being so gracious! Could I ask one more question about FTA? As mentioned, I've had all the census info in my notes and had already entered about 1000 names into Lost Cousins before switching programs to one that allows for the LC fact. Is "one-at-a-time" the only way for me to clean things up and get everything entered, or have I missed an easier way?

 

[Bryman]

One user at work now actually demonstrates the error to a colleague before calling me just so someone else has seen the problem so that when it magically just works when I'm standing next to her and she demonstrates it to me, she then has backup in the form of another person prepared to say it didn't work earlier.

It is amazing how often just getting the user to explain/demonstrate the situation makes the problem go away, or at least get resolved in the user's mind.
I once had a colleague who suggested that he distribute cardboard cutouts (or photographs) of himself so that users could explain problems to his image, or did he have an ulterior motive?

 

[Katie Bee]

I once had a colleague who suggested that he distribute cardboard cutouts (or photographs) of himself so that users could explain problems to his image, or did he have an ulterior motive?

I am surprised my husband has not suggested that! I may put a photo by the computer any way!!!
All my problems disappear when he looks over my shoulder!

 

[Alexander Bisset]

LOL Alexander - and thank-you for being so gracious! Could I ask one more question about FTA? As mentioned, I've had all the census info in my notes and had already entered about 1000 names into Lost Cousins before switching programs to one that allows for the LC fact. Is "one-at-a-time" the only way for me to clean things up and get everything entered, or have I missed an easier way?

It depends on whether there is any rigid structure to the notes that I could get the program to understand by adding a new detection routine. Ie: something that is EXACTLY the same format for every census. The likelihood however is that with the best will in the world even if you were trying to be consistent that some differences would be present meaning some wouldn't be recognised.

It would be my guess that almost no-one had Lost Cousins facts tagged in their file prior to using FTAnalyzer. So you are not alone there. The purpose of them is to highlight to the program where you have already found someone and entered onto Lost Cousins. So that the list of who to look for gets smaller and more manageable.

So what you may wish to try is to enter the Lost Cousins facts first as you won't likely have them and then decide if you want to add the census facts individually. The search summary report for census will show you orange blocks for census where you have a Lost Cousins fact but no census so it would let you track your progress. In doing that you'd probably come across new census entries too.

On the up side none of the effort is wasted as it means that you are enhancing your file so that other programs or websites will understand the data better too. This is especially useful if you want to send a snippet of your tree to a found Lost Cousin when you share information. You'd then know that it would show up correctly in their tree regardless of what program they used.

 

[Tim]

Which software do you use Doreen? There are quite a few help pages here under the topic of Using FTAnalyzer with popular Family History Programs.
If you're software's not mentioned then we can add something to the documentation for you.

 

[Doreen]

Which software do you use Doreen? There are quite a few help pages here under the topic of Using FTAnalyzer with popular Family History Programs. If you're software's not mentioned then we can add something to the documentation for you.

Tim, I have switched over to Roots Magic and did use the documentation on this help page. I'm making headway, but then I pulled up a report that said something like 1,081 people are missing a 1911 census and I thought, what if? FTA is a great tool and, on the up side, I am cleaning up my tree rather nicely.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

You must have a rather large tree if you have over 1000 people possibly alive on the 1911 census. Of course you are likely to have a lot of these people on the 1911 census already so as you proceed and enter these as census facts the numbers will go down.

It's amazing how when you get detailed analysis you can see from the reports where you have missed something eg: you've got a census for a brick wall for 1851, 1871 and 1881 but didn't notice you had a gap for 1861. It's tiding up these loose ends, improving your data and filling in the gaps that gives you pointers for extra data to search for. Sometimes this gives you a eureka moment but we can't always be that lucky. More often you just get the satisfaction of knowing that that part of the tree is tidied up.

Often though the process of tiding up fixing errors etc throws new light on an old problem, I've had lots of feedback from users where they have fixed bits of their tree and in doing so realised where they made a mistake. Often this is a simple case of a typo in the data entry.

Eg: in one instance a lady told me that the program had highlighted an error with a mother being too young to have been a parent it turns out she had a typo and transposed 1845 for 1854. Fixing that error then she realised that she might find that elusive baptism and suddenly a whole new line opened up as the certificate had the fathers name. Something she'd previously had as a brick wall now came crashing down. This was apparently one of those annoying families with a common name where the people seem to age randomly between census records and where the mother had died young so finding the child in the census had been a problem.

 

[Tim]

Tim, I have switched over to Roots Magic and did use the documentation on this help page. I'm making headway, but then I pulled up a report that said something like 1,081 people are missing a 1911 census and I thought, what if? FTA is a great tool and, on the up side, I am cleaning up my tree rather nicely.

That's great to hear Doreen. That's the main purpose of the software, it helps you to analyse your tree.

Just shout if you have any questions, or the documentation is unclear.

 

[Doreen]

You must have a rather large tree if you have over 1000 people possibly alive on the 1911 census. Of course you are likely to have a lot of these people on the 1911 census already so as you proceed and enter these as census facts the numbers will go down.

I suspect, Alexander, this number will go down considerably when I've done a lot more tidying up! I'm afraid that, when I first got into this hobby about 10 years ago, I was one of those who was more interested in collecting names - I know . The tree I am currently working on has a lot of my earliest finds, therefore, I have a lot of unknown death dates that I will be looking for as I go along. I think my 'how-to' book would be one of 'this is what you should NOT do'! Although FTA has not yet given me a Eureka moment, I, too, have fixed a number of errors that I would not have noticed otherwise. FTA and the Lost Cousins forum have been a great motivators!