FH Not Reponding

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 21 May 2015 16:40

I am having real problems trying to upload some media. My OS is Vista. I have been using FH for some time and this is the first time I have had this problem despite having previously uploaded hundreds of media items. When I click on the dropdown to 'insert from file', the screen fades and I get the 'FH not responding' message from Windows. I can only close ,eventually, via Task Manager. I have tried opening a different project, closing and reopening after a lengthy interval, watching carefully to ensure no inaccurate or careless clicking. It did work once after many, many, tries and I thought the problem had solved itself, but the issue returned on the nextattempt. I am not having any other problems with my PC or other programs - any suggestions, please?

Post by **tatewise** » 21 May 2015 17:42

That is an unusual problem Marina.

Presumably no other program, especially another copy of FH, is running at the same time.

Does the problem happen with other commands such as Add > Pictures and File > Import/Export > Import > Query?

Have you restarted your PC?

Did you change anything about the time the problem started? New anti-virus product, auto-backup, cloud storage, etc?

As a matter of interest are you using an Administrator Account or a Standard User Account?
Is there another Windows account on the PC you could try, like the Guest Account?

If we get nowhere, then perhaps a reinstall of FH V6 will cure it.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 21 May 2015 22:45

Thanks Mike. It does happen with e.g. 'Add Pictures' which I have just tried. My FH is now kaput yet again! I have not changed anything else recently and am on an Administrator account. I will switch off for tonight, try again tomorrow and if the problem persists I will uninistal and reinstal. I will let you know what happens

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 22 May 2015 08:39

If you "drop" an image on to the media window in Family Historian does it also lock?

I wonder if you have previously added an image from an external drive, FH remembers the last used location, I seem to remember Vista does not always behave well if you ask it to access a drive which is no longer available.

Post by **tatewise** » 22 May 2015 10:47

Yes, either an external USB drive, or memory stick, or camera, that is not now connected.

Try reconnecting the same device, and use FH Add > Pictures, then change the input device before disconnecting.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 22 May 2015 15:19

I think that may be the answer. I had previously transferred holiday photos onto my laptop via a memory card. I could not follow your advice to 'Add Pictures' as the screen faded away and 'hung' before I could do anything else, but after much fiddling with the memory card and trying to ensure it was uninstalled correctly, after one or two misfires it seemed to be working OK However, I then had one more try before posting this message and it was 'not responding' again with the screen fading. Now a final try has worked, so it seems that something is not always working correctly? What did you mean by "change the input device before disconnecting" please? When you click on Add Pictures, it simply opens a location for you to choose the pictures?

Post by **tatewise** » 22 May 2015 15:57

FH remembers the device (drive letter) & folder that was last used.
So next time you use Add > Pictures, etc, FH tries to open that last used folder.
If that was on the problem memory card, then it might explain why it gives 'not responding'.

So with the memory card fitted OK, ensure the FH Add > Pictures default location is a folder on your C: drive, by selecting a file located there, instead of the memory card drive letter. You don't have to complete the transaction, but hopefully FH will remember that C: drive location for next time, and avoid trying to access the temperamental memory card.

BTW: Do you use the Safely Remove Hardware icon to remove USB memory sticks, memory cards, camera, etc...?
When a USB device is plugged in, the icon should appear in the Notification Area bottom right, near the Speaker and Date/Time icons. It looks like a USB plug with a green circle & white tick, and when you hover on it, the tooltip says Safely Remove Hardware. Left-click on that icon and select the device to remove, and wait until Windows says it is OK to do so, otherwise you can upset Windows and damage the device.

Alternatively, right-click the device drive letter in Windows Explorer, and choose Eject before removing the device.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 22 May 2015 17:59

Sorry to be a nuisance, but the issue is still not completely resolved. Sometimes it works OK and I have done what you said and ensured the destination folder is on the C: drive. I also always uninstal hardware in the safe and approved manner. However, on the occasions it doesn't work (about 3 times out of 4), I do not get as far as being offered a destination location for the pictures. The mere act of clicking on 'Add Pictures' or alternatively 'Insert from file' 'hangs' the program and I have to close via Task Manager/Processes/End Process before trying again.

Post by **tatewise** » 22 May 2015 18:50

Here are a few other things to try.

Is there another Windows account on the PC you could try, like the Guest Account?
You enable Guest via Control Panel > User Accounts > Manage another account > Guest > Turn on.

Presumably, using Windows Explorer to find and select files works OK.
i.e. double-click on a Word document opens Word, or double-click on a Gedcom file opens FH.
And in say Word you can use Insert > Picture to select an image to insert into a document.

Try simply re-installing the latest FH V6.0.4 free download from http://www.family-historian.co.uk/downl ... ee-upgrade.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 23 May 2015 09:08

Have you tried using Drag and Drop?

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 23 May 2015 09:46

Everything got worse and worse and I realised it had to be a problem beyond just FH. So I phoned a friend who talked me through some checks on my laptop and, eventually, we discovered that something called 'Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface' was not working. Uninstalling and allowing it to reinstal itself seems to have solved the problem - at least I hope so! Trying to find out exactly what this does has left me little the wiser and certainly no closer to understanding why it would have prevented me adding images to FH?

Post by **tatewise** » 23 May 2015 10:37

Teredo is a temporary measure that assists with the Internet transition from IPv4 to IPv6 addresses.
Not sure why it impacts FH in that way, but glad to hear it is fixed now.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 24 May 2015 12:36

Oh dear - that was only temporary. Since then I have disabled Internet Data Matching as that seemed to be a problem, but the problem has persisted again today. I am now thinking of reinstalling FH. Should I uninstal first? I started with V5 and then upgraded to V6 and then updated to latest version recently. Should I go through that process again using the V5 licence key I have?

Post by **tatewise** » 24 May 2015 15:51

Did you try my other advice about using the Guest account, and experimenting with opening files via Windows Explorer?
If they both fail then the problem is deeper and wider than just FH, and reinstalling probably won't help.

To reinstall see Knowledge Base Installation Guide for details.

No need to uninstall anything.
Just reinstall the original download of V6 that came with its licence details.
You may be asked for both V5 and V6 licence details, so have them to hand, but it may use the existing Registry details.

Then install the latest free V6.0.4 download.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 24 May 2015 18:54

Yes, I did try the Guest account, but was not clear about the meaning of the results. However, I can now confirm that with a Guest account switched on as well as my regular Administrator account, all the things you suggested work fine. I have also now reinstalled FH, but the problem is still there. I am utterly at my wits end with it all - what on earth can be wrong?

Post by **tatewise** » 24 May 2015 19:12

It is something of a mystery.
Just to be sure, please confirm that in the Guest account FH can add pictures OK and opening files via Windows Explorer works OK, and in the Administrator account opening files via Windows Explorer works OK, and only FH fails when adding pictures. What happens if you try opening other files via FH, such File > Import/Export > Import ... etc.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 24 May 2015 19:37

I'm sorry. I am a bit confused about the different accounts, never having ever used them before Whenever I go to User Accounts, it only shows Administrator, but when I go to Manage another Account' it seems to show I have a Guest account which I then select. But when I go back to it later, it seems to have reverted and I am looking at only the Administrator account? Regardless of what account/accounts I am on, everything works except FH. I probably didn't explain clearly a few messages back but it is not only adding pictures that is now a problem - it can be anything! I use FH and may make one mouse click or several dozen but at some stage, the program will 'not respond' again. After I had reinstalled I had the programme open for a while and was doing something else. I then went to look for a person in my file and when I went to enter the name to search for them, my first mouse click in the search box didn't function and the prgram failed immediately?

Post by **tatewise** » 24 May 2015 20:06

If the User Accounts page indicates the Guest account is enabled, then close that page and Logout of your Administrator account. You should be presented with a login screen offering the choice of your Admin account and the Guest account. Click the Guest account icon, no password required, to login to that account. Eventually you will get a new desktop screen and be able to run FH, Windows Explorer, etc, but within the Guest account. To switch back, Logout to return to the login screen and choose another account.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 25 May 2015 09:35

Mike - you are probably fed up of this never ending query, so I shall quite understand if you want to give up, especially if it may have nothing specific to do with FH? I can't get anywhere with the Guest Account as it is 'not responding' to Personalised Settings' and thus does not create the desktop. My problem persists. This morning I browsed the net, sent emails, looked at some documents etc all with no problem. I then started with FH and after a few moments and whilst repeating an action I had done several times before, it just 'stopped responding'. I have tried looking at Event Viewer etc, but my technical knowledge is limited and I cannot see anything obviously wrong anywhere?

Post by **tatewise** » 25 May 2015 11:25

Your description of the problem suggests FH works for a while and then stops responding.
So I have been thinking about what FH does in the background when it starts up.

So lets try disabling FH startup actions via Tools > Preferences.

On the General tab click the Advanced... button at the bottom.
Change Thumbnail Images option to Load When Needed and click OK.

On the Internet Data Matches tab change Match Types Required to Disable.

On the File Load/Save tab untick Enable Autosave.

Click OK, close & open FH and see if that is any different.

One other idea is to try running Vista in Safe Mode and see if FH exhibits the same 'not responding' symptoms.
To enter Safe Mode, restart your PC and while it is starting up tap the F8 function key every second until the option to choose Safe Mode is displayed.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthepro ... -vista.htm gives a series of 5 screenshots by clicking the arrow on right.
Once logged in you should be able to run FH as normal, but does it say 'not responding'?

davidm_uk · Post by **davidm_uk** » 25 May 2015 12:10

Mike, I'm not sure how best to do this, but is there some way of checking that FH is not trying to access any files (multimedia, thumbnails, backups, or anything else) that it thinks are on another device that's not available, or maybe a "rogue" file path in the GEDCOM?

Post by **tatewise** » 25 May 2015 12:37

David, thank you for your thoughts, and it does seem it may be an unavailable device symptom.
I doubt it's a "rogue" file path in the GEDCOM because Marina says FH fails with various Projects.

However, Marina, it would be worth checking Tools > Preferences > Backup has a valid Default Backup Folder selected.

Also as another check use Tools > External File Links and ensure Media are all within Project Data Folder and no drive letters are mentioned.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 25 May 2015 13:29

It looks as if a post I sent about the results of your previous suggestions (about 14:00) is not visible to me - did you get it?
Re. your latest post - yes to both

Post by **tatewise** » 25 May 2015 14:19

No, the 14:00 posting is missing.

MarinaGirlnin · Post by **MarinaGirlnin** » 25 May 2015 14:33

Here is my former reply recreated. Disabling the Startup items made absolutely no difference. Starting in Safe Mode seemed to work, but in order to recreate what I had recently been doing (cutting and pasting some gmail content into Notes fields) I needed a browser so I enabled Safe Mode with networking. As far as I can tell this seems to be working and I am in this mode now. I do however need to revert to a regular setup at some point as I need sound (to see one of Jane's videos, so that I can alter some media links). The only differences I have noticed is the way in which FH now opens (but maybe this is a feature of Safe Mode?). My default project does not open immediately, but I get the Project Window and have to select a project. Then the Property Box just says Record Properties and I have to click elsewhere and then go back to it before the content appears. Does any of this mean anything? I do feel encouraged that Safe Mode at least works, although I am not certain I have replicated all the moves I have made in the last couple of days.

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