* FH and windows 10

[blackbill]

I have recently bought a new PC which has updated me from Windows 7 to Windows 10. My Family Historian is version 6. I have found Windows 10 to be extremely challenging with all sorts of things, particularly the awful onedrive which seems to take over and leave me totally confused about where my files are. I have backups of my FH files on a separate hard drive but am finding it difficult to find advice on the Forum. I've found with other forums that advice often doesn't apply to Windows 10 so before I post any detailed query here can anyone point me to specific advice in the FHUG on handling FH files on Windows 10 ?

[tatewise]

To be honest, I am surprised you are having that much difficulty, as much of Windows 10 is very similar to Windows 7.
Fundamentally, FH and its files are handled identically on Windows 10 and Windows 8 and Windows 7.
The project files are still located by default in the ...\Documents\Family Historian Projects\ folder just as before.
So that is why you will not find any specific Windows 10 advice here.

There is no need to use OneDrive and if you don't want it to run then right-click its cloud icon in the Notification area bottom right and select Settings. In the Microsoft OneDrive dialogue choose its Settings tab, and under General untick Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows. Don't put any files in the OneDrive folder, just keep them in your Documents, Music & Pictures folders as on Windows 7.

What you may have overlooked in migrating from PC to PC is to transfer not just your Projects but also your preference & customisation settings. Do you need help with that?

What are your specific problems?

[blackbill]

Hi Mike

Thanks very much for your reply. You are right that Windows 10 is very similar to Windows 7 but I made the mistake of not fully understanding how Onedrive works when I first got my PC and have got myself into a mess with files. However I am slowly getting that sorted and is not the subject for this forum. I do not intend to use Onedrive in future.
This is my file structure:
Documents
Family Historian Projects
> Black Riach Project.fh_data
> cache
> log files
> media
> plugin data
> ancestral sources.appdata
> snapshots
> Public
> Black Riach Project [gedcom icon, not folder]
> Family Histtorian Sample project

The cache, llog files, media, ancestral sources.appdata and snapshots folders are all empty.
When I run Family Historian and open the Project Folder only the sample project is available

[tatewise]

It appears that you have not correctly migrated the entire Black Riach Project from PC to PC.

I presume there should be media files in the Media folder, and I would expect files in the other folders.
There should be a Black Riach Project 'Gedcom File' in the Black Riach Project.fh_data folder.
There should be a Black Riach Project 'Family Historian Project File' in the Black Riach Project folder.

I suggest you study the how_to:family_historian_migration_guide|> Family Historian V5 & V6 Migration Guide.

If anything is not clear then please do ask for advice.

If you need to post screenshots then follow the advice in info:forums#posting_topics|> Posting Topics.

[davidm_uk]

If it helps here's a screenshot of my FH project folder structure, showing just the Family Historian Sample Project:

FH Folders.JPG (52.67 KiB) Viewed 9972 times

You'll note that the gedcom for that project is in Family Historian Sample Project.fh_data folder. Media files are all in the Media folder under sub folders for Census, Certificates and Places.

There are a few extra folders that won't be there for a new project (that's from where I've been experimenting with the Sample Project, eg. creating a CD), and there's a folder used by Ancestral Sources if you install that program.

My own projects follow a similar structure under the top level Family Historian Projects folder, which you note is on my D: drive under a folder _Data. That's where I keep all of my working data folders/files. You can choose where FH creates it's Family Historian Projects folder.

[tatewise]

Thank you for the screenshot David, which is similar to how_to:v4:understanding_projects#project_structure|> Project Structure.
But blackbill should not need to know that detail if the project is simply copied from old Windows 7 PC to new Windows 10 PC and all the customisations are migrated using the Backup and Restore FH Settings Plugin as per the migration guide.

[davidm_uk]

I don't disagree Mike, but I do think that it helps if you know a bit about the structure and where things should be, and then maybe think carefully about changing anything, or recognising that something is missing or in the wrong place.

As for the Knowledge Base, mountains of valuable information, but one has to have some idea of what to search for, unless one has the time and inclination to skim read through the whole thing to get an idea of what's in there and what it might be called. I still struggle to find things sometimes, and don't regard myself as a novice.

[tatewise]

You are missing the point David.
blackbill does not need to know the Project structure, just how to copy Projects from PC to PC as per the how_to:family_historian_migration_guide|> Family Historian V5 & V6 Migration Guide.

[blackbill]

Thank you both David and Mike. Here is where I'm at.
1. When I transferred from my old PC to the new one I carefully followed the Migration Guide and for a couple of weeks it all went well with FH. I was even able to open my project a couple of days ago, although I don't know how and have not been able to do so again.
2. I have moved all my files from Onedrive to my PC and unlinked the two.
3. After studying the file structures which you supplied I was able to locate my project file and get it in the right place. I now have my Project file apparently visible when I open the project window but when I click on it it gives an error message to say the .ged file cannot be found. When I check my file structure I can see that it is missing. I have searched Onedrive (including the recycle bin) and the other places it might be but can not find it. The windows 10 search does not find it either.
So I am beginning to despair, but the fact that I know it was there recently gives me hope as I have not deleted anything since I got into this muddle.

[tatewise]

Earlier you said that all the Media files were missing too.
So I suspect that the rearranging with OneDrive has upset too much.

I suggest you start again from the old Windows 7 PC and follow the how_to:family_historian_migration_guide|> Family Historian V5 & V6 Migration Guide repeating what worked successfully two weeks ago. Since it is a repeat, it should go quickly and smoothly.

Yes, you might be able to dig around on the Windows 10 PC and find some of the necessary files, but you will never be sure you found them all.

BTW: Assuming you use Ancestral Sources, don't forget the ancestralsources:ancestral_sources_migration_guide|> Ancestral Sources Migration Guide.

[blackbill]

Hi Mike
Thank you for your continued support. Unfortunately I have cleared all files from my old computer. As I said in a previous post, everything seemed to be working well with the new PC so I prepared the old one for passing on. I'm going to seek help from Currys where I bought the PC as it's not only FH files which seem to be missing. I am hoping that they are somewhere on the PC otherwise 20 years of family history work will have to be repeated (although I do have paper copies of everything).
I am also having problems with back up and although I did back up my files it would appear to have been after the problem occurred. Lessons learned all round!

[davidm_uk]

If you only unlinked your OneDrive folder it may be that the files are still on your OneDrive in the cloud. DON'T relink, instead use your web browser and go to OneDrive (https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/) , log in with your account name and password and see if the files are there. If so you can download them to your PC.

Even deleted files on the OneDrive cloud can be recovered for a limited period of time. So have a good look around if they don't appear there at first glance.

[tatewise]

What media did you use to copy FH Projects from Windows 7 PC to Windows 10 PC as per migration guide?

Did you use the external drive you mentioned in your first posting?
Did you use a USB memory stick?

If so, are those FH Project files still on that media, and thus can be copied into Windows 10 PC again?

blackbill said earlier that nothing had been deleted.
So it is a mystery that missing files cannot be found anywhere.
Even if the OneDrive app is stopped, its folder should still exist with all the files that were online.

[E Wilcock]

I would second the suggestion to go on line using your normal browser, go to One drive, sign in and look at your one drive files on the cloud.

Windows 10 is very insistent on one backing up automatically to one drive which I myself did not want to do. Due to lack of free space. Instead of accepting my decision I get error messages come up on windows 10 telling me there has been a failure to back up.

If you have been uploading these nested folders to One Drive, you could easily run into trouble.
When passing genealogical data to a relative in Canada we discovered that One Drive may strip off the outer folder during the downloading process. In my case this was a folder holding a website - I could upload and download it with no problem on my own computer, i.e. the computer from which the files originally came downloaded them correctly.
However the recipient who repeatedly reported problems, was using a different computer. I eventually went to my daughter's house and tried downloading the files from One Drive onto her computer and discovered that the files had been downloaded but without the enclosing folders. I cant say that the same would happen with fh Projects, (I was using Second Site) but it is a possibility. You were moving files from one computer to another - I solved the problem by creating an extra level of folders in One note (on the cloud site) I put my original folders into a new coverng folder and it was that extra covering folder that was stripped away and discarded in the download.

If you find your missing projects on One Drive, you might consider doing the same before you download to the Windows 10 computer.

Even if you think you have lost files, it is worth doing a search - I have "lost" fh projects when inexact work with the mouse accidentally drops one fh project inside another. The program fh will sometimes report the presence of multiple files - but sometimes it can fail to find the project at all. Luckily Windows search is now very quick and I simply run a search and retrieve the missing Project.

I dont use One drive to transfer work - I use drop box or a memory stick and have been moving fh projects back and forth between my Windows 7 desk top and Windows 10 lap top once or trice a week for over a year now with no problems. But that is because on both computers fh know the default location of its Projects.

I set up Windows 10 with a view of file explorer very similar to that in Windows 7. i.e. you can create folders and even use a green desk top view similar to Windows 7. That means that under Documents I have a folder called Family Historian Projects and that is where all my fh Projects reside (on both computers).

I hope this may be useful and that you find your files - but I thought it might help to let you know that someone else had folder problems using One Drive.

[blackbill]

Thanks for all your helpful comments. I took my old PC drive back to Currys and (as you probably know) nothing is ever fully deleted from a drive and I was able to get my missing .ged file back. I now have Family Historian working with all my data files. However I don't have my media files properly installed in FH. I attach a screenshot of all media and the photos are all listed but no thumbnails appear. I have all the photos saved in a file but not imported to the media folder in FH. Does anyone know of a shortcut way to do this or am I going to have to import them all over again to FH?

[tatewise]

From your screenshot it seems all your media files are expected in the project Media folder and no sub-folders are involved.

So copy all your saved photos into the ...\Family Historian Projects\Black Riach Project\Black Riach Project.fh_data\Media folder using Windows File Explorer. That is all.

In other words you are rebuilding the FH Project structure bit by bit, and now are putting the media files back where they belong, just like you did with the GEDCOM file.

[blackbill]

Thanks for that Mike. I have done as you suggested and it has partially worked. As you will see from the screenshot. Some files have produced thumbnails but most have not. Any thoughts?

[tatewise]

Sometimes it takes a while for all the thumbnails to get created.
Try double-click on any records on the left to open Property Box and see if 'missing' photo is shown.

The concept is that the Media\... filenames shown in your screenshot must match the filenames in the Media folder.

Scroll that screenshot left-hand pane up & down and check that every file should be in the Media folder and not a sub-folder.
Browse the ...\Family Historian Projects\Black Riach Project\Black Riach Project.fh_data\Media folder using Windows File Explorer and review all the photo filenames there to see how they match up with the FH Media\... list. Presumably there should be no sub-folders containing photo files.

In FH try using Tools > External File Links and click the Auto Repair Links button.
Does that clear all the X marks?

If not, then it is a matter of going through each mismatched filename and changing the filename either in FH Media Window or in Windows File Explorer until they all pair up.