View Full Version : Legacy Locks up
DavTer
07-07-2010, 6:37 AM
I have used Legacy ever since it hit the boards and have been rather happy with it until now. Last week as I was openning the program, it automatically downloaded an update (V7.4). It was a disaster. The uploading appears to have gone faulty and now I cannot access my family files. Some 6 days later I am still trying to get proper support from the Millennia Corporation. There is over 20 years of research gone into my files. I have quite a number of backups, etc, but not even their own sample files will work, the main screen is just 90 percent blank and will not display any files. Yes I have tried wiping the existing files/directory/ etc out. I have purged out the registry etc. ( Win XP Pro), many re installs, etc.
Need I say that I have a sick feeling about it all. Can someone suggest possibly another program that will open the *.FDB files, indeed almost any suggestion will be appreciated.
Dave
Dorset Girl
07-07-2010, 10:09 AM
Have you tried emailing the Legacy User Group forum - there have been a couple of people with similar problems recently and from memory someone came up with an answer. I have Legacy but the update doesn't automatically download - it usually asks if you want to download the new update or be reminded later. I have chosen the latter until they come out with the 7.5. They are usually pretty good on support so keep trying - we will have our fingers crossed for you.
Marion
Dorset Girl
07-07-2010, 11:14 AM
Something in here might help - www.
mail-archive.com/
[email protected]/msg03556.html
DavTer
12-07-2010, 2:16 AM
Thankyou for the reference to Legacy software forum. I did try with a msg very similar to the above. Apparently it was blocked. I also was in touch with Legacy support - yawn -yawn. They were bad news, they did not bother to read what I had written, my detail to then was rather exact. All they could come up with was along the lines of - yawn- yawn. This is NOWHERE good enough when I have invested over 20 years of research into their proprietry database software which once it locked up then all the many backups made over many years were useless, I could not read any of my files, everything was null.
This is not good enough by any measure. I have spreadsheet data going back to the early eighties which was "123" format, but with the progression of spreadsheets, well the present software can still handle via converter code these old files and all the files inbetween. Not so with the Jetbase used in Legacy. It does not have an emergency opener. One copy sits in memory and will not permit another, maybe earlier version to open. And ofcourse with each new version of Legacy update generally then they convert your old files to the present format, so until the present format can open your files, provided that is, the present format works.
To me the bottom line is this, for me to put most of my eggs in the one basket, is lunacy, it is ignoring the 20 odd years of research that can be locked up ever so easily. I need another parralel program.
Dorset Girl
12-07-2010, 11:51 AM
Dave,
I see one of the posts suggested to contact support where they may be able to repair the file - have they offered to do that. I appreciate that any old backups won't work in the latest version - personally I only keep the last months worth and always scrap the others. Would uninstalling and then reinstalling Legacy hep at all or have you tried that? I am no Legacy expert but have tried several programmes over the years and so far have found this to be the most satisfactory but I suppose every programme has its failings.
Does Legacy open up at all? If so what happens at that point? I am assuming you have done a restore and that still doesn't work? Sorry for what may seem silly questions - I am trying to think of things I would do but difficult to do when I can't go through the problem step by step. If I can think of anything else I'll come back to you - there has to be an answer somewhere - keep positive if you can.
Marion
Gill Hart
12-07-2010, 3:44 PM
Yes I have tried wiping the existing files/directory/ etc out. I have purged out the registry etc. ( Win XP Pro), many re installs, etc.
Need I say that I have a sick feeling about it all. Can someone suggest possibly another program that will open the *.FDB files, indeed almost any suggestion will be appreciated.
Dave
Have you tried downloading the software from the Legacy website again i.e. the full version rather than the update. I have used Legacy for a number of years and have found that it seems to work better (for me at least) if I download this way rather than letting Legacy update itself. The fact that not even the sample files work suggests that the installation has been corrupted.
You can use MS Access or OpenOffice to open up the .fdb file but unless you are familiar with these packages, I would suggest that is not your best way forward.
If downloading the full file/re-installation doesn't work, let me know and we can try something else.
Don't worry, if you have backups, then you will not have lost all your hard work
Gill
Hollytree
12-07-2010, 6:00 PM
Not sure if this really the right place, but as you are all talking about Legacy, someone might be able to help.
I have been sent by a researcher some family information as a Legacy attachment. I think that it is a chart, the file extension is .lwc, but I use Brothers Keeper, which suits me fine, no bells and whistles, easy to understand. Is there a viewing sort of programme that I can use to view the information, without my having to download another programme that will clutter up my hard drive?
Anne
v.wells
12-07-2010, 8:40 PM
Anne - does renaming the extension .lwc to .ged work? If it will save it with that extension then any family history programme will be able to open it. Of course, if you know and have tried this already, my apologies. :)
Gill Hart
12-07-2010, 9:48 PM
Unfortunately changing the file extension from .lwc to .ged won't help as it is not a text file.
The only way to view the file would be to download the Legacy software (google legacy family tree software), the standard version is free or alternatively, you could ask your contact to send you the same information as a gedcom instead.
The software will allow you to view the chart but not to edit any of the information as you do not have the database to which it relates. You can always uninstall the software once you have the information on the chart.
Hope this helps
Gill
Hollytree
12-07-2010, 10:02 PM
Thanks Vanessa, tried that..........before you posted Gill.......and as you say it don't work!........I'll try getting my contact to send a Ged file, if not then as you say will have to download Legacy. Thanks anyway
Anne:smile5:
v.wells
12-07-2010, 11:40 PM
I really wish people would ask what software you use when they want to send something. Sometimes I get sent stuff I can't open and have to ask for a resend in a format that I can work with.
Good luck Hollytree :)
DavTer
13-07-2010, 5:13 AM
Thankyou to both Dorest Girl and Gill Hart, I appreciate your input.
I have recovered my data. I took 2 new drives, formatted then, re installed XP and all those joys, all 8 hours of it on one and an image on the other. The image has the same secruity suite, etc. the data is there, but for how long?
But really what I am all about is this. My 20 odd years of research was hanging in the balance because of one propriety database. Gill I have yet to try Access to open the *.FDB files, I had taken it for granted that access would not open then. I am "NOT TOO happy" with either Legacy's database or with the support people with their "Yawn Yawn" attitude. I am presently looking at Rootsmagic mainly because that program apparently allows you to make a working copy to put on a memory stick, etc, so that you have both a copy for security and also a working, read only copy, to send to whoever. Iam greatly taken with the idea of backup security system for all the years of our work.
So if any of you good people have any further ideas about shall we call it, "Emergency backup", well let 'em roll. All the eggs in one basket is far, far, too dangereous for me.
Dave.
Hollytree
13-07-2010, 7:50 AM
For what it's worth, I 'scatter' my family research to the four winds of the house and my 'puters.......... as I said before use BK, but also backup onto disk, external hard drive, memory stick. Have a note book with all the information on, so when I update my 'main' database I have to remember to also back up/reload (whatever) that too..........have had problems with 'puters, but so far (taps head hard) not lost any thing significant. But I do print a lot of stuff too and file it away................. belts and braces and parachutes
My advice would be to avoid keeping your data in proprietry formats - so whatever format Legacy uses, it also permits the export of the database as a gedcom. Gedcoms, whilst not perfect, are fairly standard and can be read by almost any genealogy program out there. Yes, these various programs all tend to add their own little "extras" (Legacy does I know), but the resultant file is still easily imported to another program and the little extra bits don't cause any real problems (just inserting the odd line here and there which doesn't get used by other programs and so appears as text which you can remove at your leisure).
Backups of your gedcom and other data should be made in at least a couple of places - ideally on different media formats such as a copy on cd and a copy on a hard drive or USB key. If you have webspace, it is worth uploading the gedcom to a folder on your website - you don't have to make it accessible to others - but it is stored there and can be recovered if needed. An email system which has a lot of space is another idea - you can email your gedcom as an attachment to somewhere like a gmail account and then it is backed up there too.
Mark
Dorset Girl
13-07-2010, 2:27 PM
This doesn't help you Dave - it comes under the heading of closing doors after the horse has bolted. I have a copy of Legacy on a second computer and also on two backup drives. Every couple of weeks I will copy the latest data from my main computer over to those drives but leave the programme as it is. After having two crashes on one computer I get paranoid about losing data. I must admit I would be greatly disappointed with the lack of response from Legacy and personlly would be pounding on their doors - even if it meant a phone call to the States - their support site says they will ring you back within a day - don;t know how true that would be but I would certainly give it a go.
DavTer
14-07-2010, 6:45 AM
Apparently my last post did not get thru, si I will repeat what I think I said.
Thankyou to Dorset Girl and Gil for you input. it seems that this subject is not widely canvansed on these boards.
Now without going into long detail again, I think I have tried most things. I have now recovered my data by installing 2 drives/reformating/re install of XP, etc, etc, all 8 hours of it. I actually used an image on one drive.
Well I am again looking at my 20 years of data. Yea!
But the overall picture of what happened is horrifying to me. Open-Off/Access, etc do not open the legacy files. All the data is locked up in one propriety format, if and when it works - good, otherwise it is a nightmare.
I have been looking at Rootsmagic, possibly to run as a dual program, but more importantly Rootsmagic will download itself onto another drive/stick/disc, etc along with its operating program, and apparently run in a READ ONLY format. So I think this is much better than ALL my eggs in one basket.
Please give me your thoughts.
Dave
Advice I would give to anyone is to back up important files at least weekly to a medium which can be kept (e.g. CD or DVD). That includes data files and downloaded software update files. One normally has the option of saving updates to local disk and running from there rather than running directly and, in that way, it is possible to restore to a previous version of the program.
That does, of course, assume that the original software disk purchased has been kept :) I also advise that one should always make a backup copy of every original software CD and keep it in a safe place separate from the original. Many who regularly back up their data forget the software :)
Graham
Guest
14-07-2010, 12:04 PM
One of the reasons not to download a programme but try and get the CD - a lesson I have learnt over time!
Downloaded programs - and updates - can be written to CD, hard disk, memory stick or other medium for backup, whichever is most appropriate :)
Graham
Dorset Girl
14-07-2010, 12:17 PM
Something you don't always think of in the early days - and I do have a couple of programmes that have been downloaded but will not work after being saved to another form of drive - there has to be a link somewhere in the computer away from the main programme but I have no idea where it is!!! (: (Not that any of this helps Dave at this stage!!)
Guest
14-07-2010, 12:49 PM
Something you don't always think of in the early days - and I do have a couple of programmes that have been downloaded but will not work after being saved to another form of drive - there has to be a link somewhere in the computer away from the main programme but I have no idea where it is!!! (: (Not that any of this helps Dave at this stage!!)
It's the setup file which has to be backed up elsewhere, not the installed program.
Graham
Dorset Girl
14-07-2010, 1:18 PM
Is the set up file not in the actual Program File? Sorry - don't want to hijack Dave's thread - should we start a separate thread?
Good idea - see new "Back up your software as well as your data" thread.
Graham
DavTer
15-07-2010, 1:11 AM
Thankyou all for your thoughts re Backups.
I have keep over my work practices of years back and made a number of B/ups, various types of backups, then some of those B/ups I keep them "Offsite" ie. away from my main computer, away from my home, as once I rushed to restore a certain file, only to corrupt it also. This was a main beef with Legacy, all the re-installs, fresh d/loads etc, did absolutely nothing to restore the program with the data. No way was I going to commit my "Offsite" b/ups to a problem which still remains a mystery, a nasty mystery.
Mark your remarks about use of Gedcon, well I have never used Gedcom for backup before, but will now, something is better than nothing which is what I had, even with about 30 or so B/ups in the cupboard. Thankyou all
Dave.
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