No need for embarrassment, John... It's a lot to learn all at once!

Hi Geoff, or anyone: I have been trying to save Family Tree and backing it up. But I seem to have done something.
Each time I open Legacy Family Tree. Instead of just opening it brings me to the Open Family File page, where I have to click the file which I want to open.
Can this be fixed
Regards Alan

Hi Alan, Go to Options > Customize. The second section of the General tab shows the family file options, Starting Family File. Select the option you prefer and look in the next section too, Starting Family. Be sure to look in the first section too - it has lots of options in how Legacy starts. I like to start with 'Legacy Home View' to get all the latest news and check for updates. My family file opens at the same time so I click on the Family tab when I am done with the new. I hope this helps

Hi Bob: What can I say, if I had Brains I would be dangerous. That worked a treat, and i even changed it to open on the home page like yourself.
Thanks for getting back.
Regards Alan

Hi Alan, don't beat yourself up about it. We all need help once in a while. BTW, I recommend spending some time in all the tabs offered in Options > Customize. It allows you to customize how Legacy works in many ways. I have adjusted many of the defaults to suite my desires. There are a few tools in there too to help us out. Like the "Test All Multimedia Paths". I only have a few photos in the default location. If I should reorganize my actual photo locations I loose the links in Legacy. This tool is a godsend to me. IMHO, Legacy is absolutley the best package out there!

I have purchased a netbook. Are there any problems installing Legacy to netbooks? Are there any other issues with netbooks I need to know about?

Cindy
I have been using a netbook for several months now. Had no problem installing Legacy on it. Since it's so small and light weight it's great to take on trips. I was even able to download the driver for my printer from the internet so I can print from it.

Carldine,
I was hoping someone would say that! I had read where some people had some problems with netbooks. I can't wait to get mine, it will be so nice. I have a laptop, but it's still too big. Thanks!

I purchased a netbook just one week ago. I installed Legacy 7.0 Deluxe on it right away. No problems so far. I love it and I'm looking forward to taking it on a trip next week. I have an external cd drive and that makes it even more useful.

Barbara, Thanks for your input. I have Legacy 7.0 also. I'm really looking forward to getting my netbook. I'm glad to hear you've had no problems so far. Now, if I can just get that netbook!

I've used an Acer Netbook for all of my teaching and demonstrations and conferences around the world for the past six months. I've even recorded Legacy webinars on it. I've still not had any problems. I wouldn't use it for my personal every-day use, but it's a great travel companion.

Geoff, That's good to hear. I don't plan on using my netbook every day, but I know it will be great to take to libraries, courthouses, etc. Thanks!

At the moment I do not know

Any news yet on the nFS update? Ogden Temple district will be live next Monday.

Joyce, the latest updates are here and here. We're working as hard as we can....There are some things everyone should do with their Legacy family files before working with the new FamilySearch. We'll be publishing articles about this on our Legacy News blog soon.

This question may have already been asked previously.....

I have Gedcoms from different branches of my family. I've only imported one into legacy so far - but wondered if it is possible to import other gedcoms into legacy and what will happen if I do?

I'm a bit worried that if I import other gedcoms that my whole family tree will just be a complete mess - but would love to get away from having to individually add all the info if at all possible.

Allysa, IMHO, you should import the gedcom into a new family file in Legacy. Then you can check it all out and determine if it is worth importing. If there are people you don't want in your file, you could delete those people and export to a new gedcom, then import into your family file with everything like you want it.

Allysa...I have imported GEDCOM files many times before into Legacy. The best method is to import each one into a separate Legacy database. You may wish to clean up the data while it is separate but that is not necessary. Next, import all of the GEDCOM created Legacy databases into a single database and allow Legacy to renumber the RINs and MRINs with a different sequence of numbers for each of the imported files. Last, have Legacy "find duplicates" in the combined database and note by the different number sequences which GEDCOM was the source of the records. A cleanup of the data in the combined file will allow more duplicates to be found. Once finished with the merge you can see which records from each contributing GEDCOM did not match anyone by looking at the Name List sorted by RIN or the Marriage List sorted by MRIN. This is what I call putting everything in one pile and then fixing the entire mess in one place. If you assign a unique master source to each GEDCOM import, then you can use those sources to identify the various data sets later even if RINs are renumbered.

Hi All: My Question is each and every time I close down my Legacy file I am asked if I want to Back up this file, Do I need to back it up each time I have been using it,
Regards Alan.

Hi Alan,
Concerning backups; This, I feel, is ALL personal preference. I don't back up every time. I choose not to turn off the reminder. If I have only changed a couple of notes or added a couple of dates I skip the back up. It is so easy to just click 'No' and the program closes. If I have worked in there for a couple of hours adding new data then I always back up my latest work. BTW, I always back up to a separate drive in my computer. If my Legacy drive decides to quit working all together, I still have a back up on a working drive. I occasionally back up to a 750 GB USB drive. I know people who will burn a backup to CD and bring it to work with them, or somewhere else off site. If your house burns down it doesn't matter how many drives you have backed up to, it is all gone. Try to imagine the worst case scenario and act accordingly. Most of us have access to online storage for free through our Internet ISPs. Check to see if you have this feature and take advantage of it.

How do I transfer files from my flash drive to my main Legacy program on my PC? I use a netbook when I go to the library, then store all the information on my flash drive. Thanks!

What kinds of files? Legacy data files? JPGs of documents? Word docs?

The simplest answer is to use Windows Explorer to move/copy any files from location A to location B. Somehow I don't think this is the answer to your question.

They are Legacy files.

So, did you create a new Legacy File on your netbook? Did you first copy your working data file to the netbook before you went to the library? If so, you would copy the file back to it original location overwriting the old one. If you created a new one, then you will want to merge the files. I always copy my working file to my laptop when I go to the library and copy it back when I get home. God forbid if I don't do it right away and start adding data to the old file forgetting to get the latest version from my laptop.

Yes, I copied my working data to my netbook with my flash drive, then copied a new one to my flash drive when I was finsihed. How do I copy the new file back to the original location, overwriting the old one? Do I use restore family file?

I use Windows Explorer. Legacy doesn't care if the file is today's or yesterday's file. It will load the file it finds in the Data directory. You are not restoring a family file unless you first backed it up. I am assuming you simply copied the fdb from one machine to the other.

Sorry Cindy, you have left out too many details to make it easy to answer your question.

Yes, that's what I did. I copied the fdb from one machine to the other. Sorry I didn't make that clear. I'm a bit technically challenged, I may not use the right vocabulary.

Bob,
Could you tell me how to transfer the information from my flashdrive ( a Legacy file) to my Legacy file on my PC? Thank you!

Is the Legacy file a backup? I go to File-Restore Family File and restore it to my Legacy file on my pc. I back up to my flashdrive whenever I add new information. I also use the backup on the flashdrive to restore it to other computers that have Legacy installed such as at our Genealogy Club Library.

Hi Cindy, from our conversation you indicated that your flash drive contained a family file [ending in fdb]. I assume that you used Windows Explorer to get it from your laptop to your flash drive. A backup file ends with 'zip'. If it is a zip file use restore in Legacy. If it is an fdb file, use Windows Explorer to move or copy the fdb to your desktop in C:\Legacy\Data [default location]. You will be warned that "a file by that name already exists, do you want to overwrite it". Answer yes because the file on the flash drive has new data that is not in the original file on your desktop. You could actually work from the file on your flash drive by going to File > Open Family File and migrating to your flash drive. I don't recommend that. If you forget to do that even once, you will be updating the older file on your desktop instead of the newer file on your flash drive.

Thank you for your help. I've figured out my mistake and now know what to to.
I was making it much harder than it actually was!

Lisa,
If you put the history in the "notes" section for the main person of that group, that might help. I'm really not sure. Sounds like a good idea.

I have been waiting patiently (impatiently) for a response to my plea placed very early this morning only to find I placed it in the wrong place... so here I go once more. I have been maintaining two (almost) identical files... one on ancestry tree, and one on my pc. I downloaded the ancestry tree and merged it with my pc tree, and the merge has been VERY DIFFICULT. It doesn't want to make a match if the user id is not the same. I found one place to turn that option off, but it doesn't seem to make a difference, so it's a long and dreary manual merge process...
any suggestions?

In Legacy 4.00, is it possible to create a list of those persons on my database who were alive in 1911, so that they can be checked against the 1911 Census, please?

David - it has been a while since I used V4 - but I think this will work. Do a search for Individual - birth date before 1911 AND death date after 1911. You should get everyone (with known birth and death dates) alive in 1911. Works in v7!

To Gloria,

I maintain about 4 trees on both Ancestry.com and also two software products, Legacy and FTM2010. I find it much easier to update information on Ancestry and then I just download the updated files with a different name to the software. I name the indivudual files with a name along with the date of update and then use the new files in the software rather than fooling around with an merging which I think is a total nuisance as you alluded to. You could also do that in reverse if you with to upload to Ancestry. FTM2010 allows you to download all your photos, etc. from Ancestry and also the same for uploads; whereas, with Legacy you can only do GEDCOM files at the moment. .

I do the reverse. My computer file is my master. If you decide to keep it on Ancestry the cost is high and something else may come along that you prefer more. If you keep the tree on Ancestry or any other web location you are commiting to a long term relationship.
Dave Plaskett

David,

I don't feel I'm committed to anything by having the same duplicate files in three places; Legacy and FTM plus Ancestry. I have been with them a long time and have made connections by being a member. If anything else were to come along I could always drop Ancestry, if I were so inclined, and still have my duplicates in two other places right on my computer. I do agree the cost is high but it does suit my purposes for now.

Gloria,
I had to merge a bunch of people not too long ago. When you get to the window that says "Merge Options" select the "Special Duplicate Searches" tab, then check the third choice to use Intellishare. Hopefully, this will help.

I am sitting here wondering if I can possibly research CODs. That is, can I go to a resource somewhere, enter a person's name, and get there COD (Cause of Death)? I am attempting to track hereditary causes of death whenever possible. I realize that X years probably have to pass, but this would be a good thing to track if I can. I can make a list of the ancestors I have no COD for, and then attempt to check those names, if I can. Is this possible in some fashion? (No, I don't expect Legacy to do that for me.)

Thank you.

Robert

Robert,
You would probably have to write to the county health dept. of the place they died and request a death certificate. Some places you will need to provide proof of relationship. You might be able to order the death certificates online, but the COD would only be on the death certificate.

Robert,
Try pilot.FamilySearch.org. They have some death certs online. I have seen some from Texas and from Arizona. I'm not sure what others there are. I have one from a young man in AZ who's cause of death was homicide! Would like to delve into that more.

I have been using Legacy for years & am very happy with it. My cousin recently convinced me to upload my trees to ancestry.com. Uploading was not a problem but I would like to be able to sync my trees in Legacy & on Ancestry. Ancestry doesn't offer a merge function & since uploading my file I have many duplicates because of a spelling difference or something. That's just one of my issues with Ancestry. Is there some future plans that will allow me to work on my trees in Legacy & upload the changes to the original file on Ancestry?

I'm passing this along as info for Legacy users. Yesterday, I upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium from Vista Home Premium (x64 bit system). Upgrade took 2 hours, 5 minutes to complete. First problem noticed was that my Brother DCP-7020 would not print. Called Brother and learned that Win 7 driver would not be available until early Dec.
This morning MS Update downloaded 7 updates, including driver for my Brother printer, which works OK now.
Second problem encountered this morning was Norton Internet Security 2009 was incompatible with Win 7. Downloaded and installed Norton Internet Security 2010 (free download with my subscription). Norton now OK.
No problems found thus far with running Legacy 7 Deluxe with Win 7.

Glad to know things are running smoothly! I haven't upgraded yet, so I'm glad to hear you didn't have much trouble.

Has anyone used the Heritage Collector Suite?? Is it a separate program from Legacy?

Your post has so far gone unanswered Barbara and although I haven't much to tell you I have decided to answer. I bought Heritage Collector a couple of months ago but have not used it much yet as I have had too much other FH work. The little I have makes me think it was a good buy. I bought it because I saw it demonstrated at a Family History Conference and liked it.

Barbara, the program (separate from Legacy) is a photo/video organizer that you can use to create books and/or slide shows among other things. It has a little learning curve, but is a very worth while program.