Family Tree Software

[chrissy1]

New problem now. I have taken the plunge and bought FTM and inserted the disc to install it, but I am stuck at the first hurdle asking if I want to a)install the Avanquest customised toolbar (the icons of which I don't understand at all apart from Facebook and youtube which I don't want) b) whether I want the Avanquest customised websearch as default and finally c)whether I want to set the home page to Avanquest customised search page. I also read something about Firefox somewhere, which I don't have installed......
I have never heard of Avanquest but does this mean it will this over instead of Google as the search engine? Will it affect FTM if I untick these boxes as I prefer to stay with Google as it's easy to find my g-mail from here, if that's what it means. The handbook omits to explain any of this.

 

[AdrienneQ]

I always say no to all these sorts of offers. So I would recommend you untick.

 

[chrissy1]

Thanks. I wasn't sure what it was asking to be honest. Unticked that and registered FTM and all went well until it asked me to accept an update which it said was essential to make FTM run as it had a patch. (At least, I think that's what it said). Now the message has come up saying FTM has stopped working. A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly and Windows will notify me if a solution is available.............................. It did say it might need something to do with a firewall ot antivirus but I didn't understand that and ignored it....... The icon still says FTM isn't working when I click on it.... Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Alexander Bisset]

AHHHH, Ok penny dropping. In all likelihood the computer is still trying to index the photos. The indexing process which involves creating a thumbnail does indeed lock the file and make it "in use" for a period of time. It is not likely to be that the photos are read only then only that they are being indexed. Vista has a nasty habit of not finishing this process until you close and re-open the window.

When you "rotate" them how are you doing that right click and rotate? Or are you opening them in a program and rotating then saving? If so what program?

 

[Alexander Bisset]

AvanQuest are the authors of the Family Tree Maker, Ancestry are the brand owners and publishers. Their plugin toolbar is best ignored.

I'd be happy to have a look this evening at the install if you like and see if we can get it fixed. I suspect its just a tick box to allow it to communicate with Ancestry.co.uk. ie: its firewall rule probably didn't get created.

 

[chrissy1]

AHHHH, Ok penny dropping. In all likelihood the computer is still trying to index the photos. The indexing process which involves creating a thumbnail does indeed lock the file and make it "in use" for a period of time. It is not likely to be that the photos are read only then only that they are being indexed. Vista has a nasty habit of not finishing this process until you close and re-open the window.

When you "rotate" them how are you doing that right click and rotate? Or are you opening them in a program and rotating then saving? If so what program?

I have seen the word 'thumbnail' elsewhere associated with a blank white space, so I have deleted the white space in the past, assuming whatever it was didn't work, but not got any white thumbnail spaces here in the folder I am having problems with. Will try closing the computer down, as you are right, it may be still trying to process my renaming of each individual pic, though I think it has been cloesed down since I tried to label them all. I have tried 'click right and rotate' and also 'turn clockwise/counter clockwise'. (Think one term was in 'pictures' in a folder and one in Windows Live Gallery or Windows Gallery, but neither have worked.)

I have ignored the toolbar etc thanks, but I can't get started with FTM as it still says it isn't working.
I am out this evening, prob until about 9-9.30pm, but would definitely like help fixing the problem with the FTM installation at some point if you don't mind. I have no idea what to do about it and it definitely won't work as it is!! (I always ignore anything about updates....maybe this is why, tho' I think Windows might update automatically)

 

[Margery]

I can't get started with FTM

Chrissy, you have my sympathy. I have tried to install FTM but could get no further beacuse it said that I had to download an update. When I tried to do so, the message read "RT Patch Error Failure opening new file". I fear that my very slow internet connection (via satellite) might be the problem. My son will be visiting in 3 weeks time so I will hand it over to him. I really have put it on the back-burner and all my initiual enthusiasm has disappeared.

 

[chrissy1]

Same here Margery - all the enthusiasm dampened. However, I am going to ring the UK helpline number and see if they can sort it for me
0800 404 9723.
There are also numbers for US, Canada and Australia as far as I recall and one for 'others'. I located the telephone numbers on www.familytreemaker.com site if that is any help to you.

 

[chrissy1]

Margery - I have spent the last 6 hours intermittently talking to 7 different people on the FTM helpdesk and FINALLY got FTM 2014 working and my tree downloaded. I too encountered problems trying to download the patch automatically, but the problem was caused by using WINDOWS VISTA operating system rather than my slow computer. Apparently there are multiple problems with Windows Vista as Vista is no longer supported with Windows updates and this causes compatibility problems, but the FTM helpdesk systematically took me through each step and solved each new problem that arose, so I would definitely recommend giving them a call. Once I got past the problem of uninstalling and reinstalling the program the program and installing the patch manually, I had registration problems which they also guided me through. (It's a free call number) It may not necessarily be the speed of your internet that is the problem.....................

My final problem, which FTM were unable to solve was that my GEDCOMS are apparently version 5.4 and FTM 2014 can only import 5.5 or newer. (Mine are pre 2001 from my trusty Reunion program which dates from ca 1995-7) However, if anyone else has this problem FTM suggested free software programs from Humo-gen which can convert them, though I have no idea if they are either safe or work, but I have solved the problem by exporting my gedcom to Rootsmagic free version (or Legacy 8 free version), both of which accept old gedcoms and created a new gedcom from there which is acceptable to FTM and seems to have loaded OK. However, after all this hassle (and I still haven't tried to activate my free subscription to Ancestry yet...!!!) I am wondering if it might be easier to simply purchase the full version of Rootsmagic. However, I will give FTM a try and see how I get on. Nothing lost, as the 'free' subscription pays for the program.

I hope I don't have all the same problems again when I get my new computer with Windows 10.........

 

[trebor]

However, I will give FTM a try and see how I get on.

Hi Chrissy
I resisted both Ancestry and FTM for many years - I bought various copies of FTM to get access to Ancestry and then ditched them both after the "trial" period finished. However since the latest release of FTM I have been totally at home - it gives me the view that I want with descendants and ancestors visible at the same time, I have uploaded my tree to Ancestry (as a private tree but with the option that it can be found) and the amount of new information I have found has been unbelievable. I have always been a Find My Past die hard but although I am now running both subscriptions (Lost Cousins special deals have made this possible) I am leaning heavily toward Ancestry because of its ability to link directly to FTM and make the entry of new facts unbelievably easy. I have the option to view all my tree on my PC without internet access plus I can log in on any PC with internet access and see my tree, do searches and update accordingly - my PC based tree is then updated as well using the Sync feature and I have not lost anything. To me it is the best thing I have done since I first started researching my family tree - FTM plus an Ancestry membership is almost perfection - if I could also link FTM with Find My Past that would be heaven but I know it will never happen.

 

[Bryman]

Apparently there are multiple problems with Windows Vista as Vista is no longer supported with Windows updates and this causes compatibility problems

Sorry to learn about all of your difficulties but you are learning quickly and seem to be getting things sorted eventually. Well done.

Regarding the lack of Windows updates for the Vista operating system, someone is feeding you a few porkies. I am using Vista and get regular updates applied automatically. Vista is still supported by Microsoft but perhaps the problem lies with FTM.

I am wondering if it might be easier to simply purchase the full version of Rootsmagic.

I am sure that it would be the simplest way to go initially but may not be what you want in the longer term. I think you are doing the right thing in trying several alternatives before jumping in with both feet. After you have made your decision and got everything working to your satisfaction, these 'little' challenges will soon pale into insignificance. Good luck with reaching a decision soon.

I hope I don't have all the same problems again when I get my new computer with Windows 10.........

No. You will get new problems with the new operating system. However, upgrading to a new OS by purchasing a new machine is probably a good way to go if that is affordable for you. A new OS will undoubtedly come with extra requirements and a new system will reduce the need to further upgrade the hardware and drivers to make best use of the available facilities. Just watch out for 'attachments' becoming obsolete. When I upgraded to Vista, many years ago, I found that drivers were no longer available for my recently purchased Canon scanner and HP printer, etc.

 

[chrissy1]

Sorry to learn about all of your difficulties but you are learning quickly and seem to be getting things sorted eventually. Well done.

Regarding the lack of Windows updates for the Vista operating system, someone is feeding you a few porkies. I am using Vista and get regular updates applied automatically. Vista is still supported by Microsoft but perhaps the problem lies with FTM.

Yes, it was FTM that told me that.....but come to think of it I haven't seen any of those lengthy updates recently.

No. You will get new problems with the new operating system. However, upgrading to a new OS by purchasing a new machine is probably a good way to go if that is affordable for you. A new OS will undoubtedly come with extra requirements and a new system will reduce the need to further upgrade the hardware and drivers to make best use of the available facilities. Just watch out for 'attachments' becoming obsolete. When I upgraded to Vista, many years ago, I found that drivers were no longer available for my recently purchased Canon scanner and HP printer, etc.

Mmmm - not thought that I might have to replace the printer/scanner. The scanner rarely works anyway but the printer part photocopies and does instant photos of whatever size I want........and I love that facility. Photos were totally hit and miss before that. Prob whole printer/scanner machine needs replacing though if I am honest and the computer needs to be replaced before it dies. I've been putting it off for some while now, as with replacing my old FH program.

However, I have got FTM accepting photos and all my tree (including copious notes) appears to have transferred over successfully, so I am feeling quite pleased tonight. (FTM staff worked for their money today as I hadn't a clue what I was doing!!) There is a list of about 60 errors which I can't make head nor tail of, but I suspect some will refer to dates as my old program had a different way of doing things.....I can understand errors in Bapt, Deat, Chr, but where it has found Nat, Immi, Emig, Ordn, Barm and a whole load of other things from, who knows? Maybe tomorrow I will try the inbuilt internet facility...... Steep learning curve but slowly getting the hang of it - some of it at any rate. Hope I settle in to it as well as you, Trebor. I do actually prefer Ancestry to FMP, but like you, subscribe to both since FMP introduced newspaper archives.

 

[Norman]

Your Vista will be still supported until April 2017 assuming you have installed the latest service pack (2). clicky Your scanner may not have drivers available for Windows 10 from the manufacturer but VueScan may have drivers available and is far and away a better program than any manufacturer's program that I have come across. Not sure about your printer though but if it has a scan/copy ability then Vuescan may well work with it too.

 

[chrissy1]

Thanks, Norman. I should have known better than to trust the guy at FTM! (though some of the people on the helpdesk were extremely knowledgeable and helpful.)

Printer is HP C5280 photosmart - has a scanner inbuilt (which rarely works) and photocopier and photo printer.....but it has prob had its day, so if I have to replace it, so be it......but thanks for the info and warning. I will check it out when I replace the computer. (No holiday this year, so computer instead.)

This forum has brought about amazing consequences - firstly I have actually replaced my ancient FH program which has served me since ca 1995, thanks to all the helpful advice I have received; secondly I have sorted all my photos (from 2006 on), catalogued them and successfully put some into my new FH program and thirdly, as a result of posting some photos to my cousin in Australia relating to my aunt who was a missionary in Fiji, she rang me this morning and we chatted for an hour. Thank you to all who have helped - MUCH appreciated.

 

[Tim]

I can understand errors in Bapt, Deat, Chr, but where it has found Nat, Immi, Emig, Ordn, Barm and a whole load of other things from, who knows?

Normally I would say that FTAnalyzer is the best thing for resolving this issue. It will list all the errors for you to work through. But before you start with FTA (which you should do soon), here's something you can try in FTM.

If you go to Publish, which is on the top Menu Bar, and select Person Reports from the menu on the left. Then click on Data Errors Report, and then click Create Report (found on the far right).

Hopefully this will list the people where you have created these unknown facts for.

If not, then I can help you with FTA.

 

[chrissy1]

I have already tried FTA on my old program but unfortunately all my census info etc is included under 'notes' and FTA won't recognise it, but I used FTA to correct any typing errors etc and as my program had quite a few date errors as I seem a bit dyslexic when it comes to figures! In all I think I altered about 100+ items.....

Thank you for the assistance above. I will look at that shortly..............

I have finally found where FTM has hidden all the Christening and burial dates, occupations, religion and education facts, but I can't make the 'facts' button immediately below the photo do anything......

Also, I don't seem to have these shaking leaves which are described so maybe I have inadvertently turned something off and .........and the handbook doesn't seem to help, though I suspect it could be because I was instructed to bypass the registration process in order to get the program to work. I have yet to discover why I don't seem to be able to save any census entries and why when I am connected to Ancestry the automatic name fill doesn't seem to work any more but I am sure I will get there eventually.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Chrissy your GEDCOM file that you supplied me by email imported with NO errors into FTM 2014 on my machine so I'm not at all sure why it wasn't importing on yours.

The facts button shows the facts tab this is the default so if you are already showing facts eg:name,birth etc then clicking it won't do anything. Click the media button next to the facts button to show media then click the facts button again to go back to facts.

I suspect what you want is the customise view button at the foot of the page to change which facts are displayed by default.

My offer of giving the machine a quick look over and advising on your issues still stands. Let me know a convenient time.

 

[chrissy1]

But before you start with FTA (which you should do soon), here's something you can try in FTM.
Hopefully this will list the people where you have created these unknown facts for.
.

Well that has condensed the list from 2 sides of A4 gobblydegook down to a mere 6 'error' facts, none of which are actual errors - 4 missing birth dates which I don't know (2 born in Fiji where I have no access to records); a missing marriage for a person who never married but adopted 2 wards and an invalid education date, but I have not entered any date for education.

 

[Bryman]

. . . and an invalid education date, but I have not entered any date for education.

Don'tLTBSGYDown. You are getting there, even if it seems slower than you might wish. I suggest that you look on this as a chance to gain experience rather than a pain in the ***. The invalid education date is probably not that but something else that the software is making a guess at. This is really an opportunity to clean your data rather than a malfunctioning piece of software.

I have already tried FTA on my old program but unfortunately all my census info etc is included under 'notes' and FTA won't recognise it,

Don't give up on FTA. It is a VERY useful program and Alexander keeps enhancing it as more users pass back comments and suggestions. I used it to identify where I had 'missing' census information stored as notes and then updated the individual entries with 'real' census data. Now Alexander has added the capability for that information to be detected within notes. When you have got over your current challenges, give FTA another try and you may be very pleasantly surprised. Even if FTA still fails to recognise the data in your notes, Alexander may be able to tweak things to accommodate you as long as you have used a consistent format for that information.

 

[chrissy1]

I have been very quiet over the past few weeks as I have been trying to get to grips with my new FTM. Reluctantly, I decided to briefly put my tree privately online while I enter the relevant census, will and PR information. The advice is to respond to all the shaking leaves ASAP so that any new info is obvious, so after seeing a ridiculously large number of hints, I made a start. On clicking on the icon which shows the number of hints, it reverted to zero, but despite spending weeks inputting new information and deleting hints continually, the number has risen yesterday alone from 7 to 1859!! (An extra 40 appeared between last night and this morning!) I know I have a fairly large tree, but does everyone else have this problem?

I tried to backup my tree last night to an external hard drive and eventually left it to its own devices and went to bed as after 10 mins the green progress line had only moved imperceptibly. I have no idea how long the process took, but it had completed by this morning, though in the meantime, FTM had developed a fault and crashed, so I had problems restarting the program.

The backup file size was 1,286,116KB and I still have photos of people and places and censuses, wills and PR to attach, having only completed my maternal line and a small proportion of my paternal line and I am aware that many of the relevant census entries haven't appeared in the hints. I have searched out some and made a note to add others manually in due course. It recommended that I condensed the file, but that only decreased the size by 2.1%. Is FTM going to cope with more data? I am getting a bit concerned, especially as the backup took so long and caused FTM to crash.......

Is this anything to do with me using Vista or do other people have this problem?