Family Historian User Group

When attempting to do a backup of my file, I get a popup error box saying, "Unable to open zip file. Cannot perform backup". This has been happening every time I try to do a backup, since I first installed FH, and after doing a re-install. My FH file is kept on This PC > Documents > Family Historian Projects > ... Then there is the Project folder. Inside is the Public folder and the folder with the same name as the Project. Inside that folder is all the goodies.

On a separate note that may have to do with this problem - If I try to make a copy of my project by using the More Tasks button in the Project Window, I get the following error (see below).

Any ideas would be appreciated!

You appear to have some very strange characters in the Project file name, a little diamond. Have you tried removing them?

When performing a Project Backup, what is the full filepath shown at the top of the Enter Backup File Name dialogue?
Does the problem happen with the Family Historian Sample Project?

The Copy Project problem is probably when copying Media files.
Use the Tools > External File Links... command and review especially Broken Links Only.

BTW: When posting screenshots of problems, please try to obscure as little as possible by moving windows around.
Being able to see the entire Veenstra Primary... project entry might give us some clues.

That fixed the backup challenge (Thank You!), but I'm still having a problem making a copy of the file through the Project Window. The purpose of making the copy is because I'm doing some testing of various plugins and want a backup in case I do something in my learning process. I guess the successful backup would serve the same purpose, would it not? In which case I don't really need to have the copy.

I advise that you use File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup... to check it brings back everything you expect.

Thanks everyone!
The Copy File is still not working, but as Mike suspected, I have a LOT of media files that need to be re-linked after my final download from RM7 - which I am still working on.
The backup is working fine now! I am backing it up to OneDrive\Backups\FamilyHistorian.
The restoration of the backup did not go well! I received the following error message: (See Below)
Keep in mind that I am not done getting my media up to par, but I do have ALL my media files in the Media File of the Project Folder. I just need to provide the appropriate links for a number of them that have none.
I just tried copying the Backup file from OneDrive to the FH file on my hard drive and ran the Restore from there, but it gave me the same exact result.
Thanks again!

tatewise wrote: ↑

30 Mar 2022 17:04

I advise that you use File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup... to check it brings back everything you expect.

Out of interest when you restore a Backup does it over-write or create a xxxx(2) project structure?

If the former testing your backup by overwriting something that works and then finding the backup is dodgy may not be advisable. (I have seen this happen in the corporate world with a dodgy backup tape overwriting a perfectly working PC with a valuable dBaseIII database!)

Checking backups is always advisable, but there are good and bad ways of doing so!

Chrisv wrote: ↑

30 Mar 2022 23:28

...
The restoration of the backup did not go well! I received the following error message:
...

A file date of 1/1/71 and file time of 00:00 usually spells trouble in the file system!

David, when a Project Backup is restored it creates a new Project.
Unfortunately, neither the FH Help nor the FHUG Knowledge Base clarifies that point (the KB did before the recent rewrite).

The Last Updated value of 1/1/71 00:00 only indicates a problem with the Project's GEDCOM file, which is confirmed by the error message showing it is missing!

Chris, you may as well use More Tasks > Delete Project to remove that faulty Project.

I don't understand how a GEDCOM file can go missing from a Project Backup file, unless somehow the strange diamond character you had in your Project name is still interfering somehow.

Also, why are you referring to the Backup file as a .zip file? It is now a .fhbak file.

Please try repeating the Backup and Restore exercise, but first use the Family Historian Sample Project for practice.

I don't know why a GEDCOM can go missing. When I ran the Restore Backup for the file, it would load about half the files and then the message would pop up saying that a .zip file was unable to open. I learned my lesson of "always show a screenshot of any odd behavior or anything needing clarification"!
The good news is that I decided start over by Importing a new GEDCOM from RM7. It hurt to lose the last week of work getting the file where I wanted it, but it will be worth it. I have learned a heck of a lot, so it should go pretty quickly and most importantly - The Backup and the Restore went without a hitch and I was also able to make a copy of the file using the Project Window > Copy Project... which also worked!
I did find it interesting that the old file had about 5500 files in it and the new identical (almost) only had only about 1700 files. Also, the old file had many, many broken links and the new file had only 25. I can deal with only 25! It was probably something to do with me trying to get the messed up media files in order...
Thanks everyone for your help and your patience! This group is Great!