* A Slight Laptop Problem

[PyreneesPirate]

Hello to all the FHUGs,

I am hoping that someone can conjure up something for me. I have upgraded to Ver7 and I decided to convert all my Paper clippings from Generic to Templates, this I have been working away since Christmas and have nearly finished Phase 1. This includes "Text to Sourcing each one and WP'ing each one..... a lot of time, but very rewarding!!

Today, the screen on my laptop went u/s and I have tried everything to reboot FH7, but no luck, unfortunately. I have managed to detach the hard disk and I have connected it via a USB cable to another laptop which has my trial version of FH7 on it. My problem, I know, but my last FH7 backup was on 3 Jan, before I carried out the bulk of this work......

I have access to the old hard disk and I can access all the directories. The last gedcom file produced was for Saturday and it has all the work that I have completed up to the 23 Jan (phew!) I bet you know what's coming now..... I copied this GEDCOM safely away from the FH Directory, just in case. Then I set up a new project and imported the GEDCOM and all my work was there, but no settings came across and of course the links were broken. I haven't touched my main project yet, in fear of really causing problems.

I am sure somebody has been in this position before...... I know I should have backed up, I normally do it every week, but I have been so into converting the newspaper items I just basically forgot!!

SSSOOOOO, is there any way of rescuing the settings, i.e. Taking the main project and importing the GEDCOM file etc. It is possible that I have saved them somewhere, because I have downloaded Mike's Backup and Restore plugin for Ver7 around Christmas when I upgraded from Ver6 to Ver7.

Any help would be really appreciated, please......

an unhappy PP

[tatewise]

Have you an HDMI cable you could connect your laptop to a TV and get the display that way?

Your main mistake is just copying the GEDCOM.

Copy the whole Project folder that will include your Media and that can be your backup.
Then you can open your main Project as normal.
Alternatively, if you import anew Project from that backup GEDCOM within the copied Project folder all the Media will be imported too.

If you only download my Backup and Restore plugin, but never ran it, then that is worthless.
If you did run it then the settings will be wherever you told it to put them, usually the same folder as FH Project Backups.

Failing that, the majority of settings are in what was the C:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\ folder.
So just substitute the drive letter for the old hard disk.

[PyreneesPirate]

Hello again Mike and thanks for coming back to me (is that 20100 yet?) Appreciate your help as always.
I am in a bit of a tizzy at the moment so please bear with me.

Have you an HDMI cable you could connect your laptop to a TV and get the display that way?

My laptop only had an HDMI connection and I have tried numerous ways of trying to resurrect the software on a second screen but to no avail (maybe it is the VGA card or motherboard thats the problem), I have even tried putting the hard disk in three other laptops none of which would boot!!!!

Your main mistake is just copying the GEDCOM.

I have two projects now......the original with data from 3/1 and a GEDCOM version which is up to date data wise, both of which have lost the settings. I have copied the Media file across and repaired links and that worked well, however, I am missing the icons and the custom facts etc.

Copy the whole Project folder that will include your Media and that can be your backup.
Then you can open your main Project as normal.

Alternatively, if you import anew Project from that backup GEDCOM within the copied Project folder all the Media will be imported too.

If you only download my Backup and Restore plugin, but never ran it, then that is worthless.

If you remember, I had problems running it, I couldn't get it to run because the directory string was too long, so I changed it and then it was too short!!

If you did run it then the settings will be wherever you told it to put them, usually the same folder as FH Project Backups.

I'll check and see.

Failing that, the majority of settings are in what was the C:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\ folder.

Can't find this directory on the E: drive, i.e. there is no E:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\ folder
Not that I can find anyway.

So just substitute the drive letter for the old hard disk.

I suppose I just need to find these settings and copy them over into either of the projects?

Sorry Mike, I am a bit worried that I might have messed things up big time. It's been a hard day!!

[tatewise]

I'm not surprised the drive won't boot in another laptop. All the device drivers would be different.

Sorry, I'd forgotten it was you who was having long path problems. A fix is on my backburner list of jobs.

See Family Historian Program Data Folder which explains how to reveal the normally hidden ProgramData folder.

[PyreneesPirate]

Ok I have found the hidden directories on E: drive and I have copied the Family Historian directory to the same place on the C: drive. The custom facts have returned but not the icons, even though they are in the C: directory. I seem to have lost all the box conditions?

Also I have a duplicate project, can I just delete that?

[tatewise]

I presume you modified one of the core toolbar Diagrams to add the Icons. Not recommended.
Unfortunately, core Diagram settings are held in the Windows Registry which is on your E: drive but not easy to decipher.
If you had saved it as a Custom Diagram Type then it would have been in the E:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\Diagrams\Custom\ folder.

In your current situation, I'm not sure I would advise deleting anything just yet.

[PyreneesPirate]

I presume you modified one of the core toolbar Diagrams to add the Icons. Not recommended.

Sorry Mike, I am not sure what you mean by the first line.......... What I did was write a line of code for each icon event (that you kindly sent me on another thread) in the Diagram boxes area to change from Flags to Conditions. I don't think that I have modified a core diagram, if I did it was purely by ignorance / accident?

Unfortunately, core Diagram settings are held in the Windows Registry which is on your E: drive but not easy to decipher.
If you had saved it as a Custom Diagram Type then it would have been in the E:\ProgramData\Calico Pie\Family Historian\Diagrams\Custom\ folder.

Having looked, unfortunately, there are no Custom Diagram settings on the E: drive, so does that mean I am going to have to rewrite these conditions again? If so, how do I change them in a Custom and not core diagram so that I can store them safely for the future?

In your current situation, I'm not sure I would advise deleting anything just yet.

Thanks for your continuing help Mike.

[tatewise]

The core Diagrams are opened by clicking the four icons in the toolbar or the first two in the Charts menu.
Their Diagram > Options establish the defaults for all Diagrams and are saved in the Windows Registry (don't ask why).

Use Diagram > Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type to save to the ProgramData ... Custom folder.
Usually, I advise doing that, but sometimes forget for established users like yourself.

Even if you continue using the customised core Diagrams the ProgramData ... Custom folder holds a backup.

You are suffering an unfortunate series of coincidences...
You did not create a Custom Diagram Type backup copy.
My Backup and Restore plugin fell foul of the Windows long path limitation.
Your laptop screen has failed unexpectedly.
They always come in threes!

[PyreneesPirate]

Ok Mike,

That makes me feel much better after a bit of a **** day. I think we have all been there sometime haven't we? It's a mere drop in the ocean in comparison to what's going on in the world at the moment!!

I'll create the Custom Diagram and revisit what you advised me on the Box Conditions and hopefully the icons will return. Is there anything else you may think that I may be missing that I need to check?

I have just backed up what I have got to an external drive (I always do that anyway), I just got so embedded in the Word processing and News Templates that I forgot to backup, I think that I had about 3 more news articles out of 200 to finish then I would have backed up, screen fades away, no vga or hdmi output etc etc. We live and learn, sometimes the hard way!

I'll let you know how I go........many thanks again for your time.

PP

[tatewise]

See Understanding the Scope of Features that explains where settings are saved in FH V6 and needs updating for FH V7.
You will see that many Tools > Preferences are saved in the Windows Registry so check those settings.

[PyreneesPirate]

Hi again Mike,

An update.....On my temp laptop I.....

Reinput the icon rules in the diagram box entries, plus a few flag entries and that worked well.

Used the Backup and Restore settings facility and also backed up total database.

New laptop arrived today, so removed link to old HP laptop and installed V7 on new laptop via the Calico website.

Restored my project no problem. Downloaded the plugin Backup and Restore, checked the backup/restore file location, all ok. Restore and received an error message along the lines of..............Your restore files are not compatible with the Version 7 that you have on the new laptop. I can only assume I have version 7.0.xxx on the temp laptop I initially did the backup and the new Version 7.0.xxx that I have just downloaded on the new laptop are different?? Is there anyway around this? Or am I a victim of circumstance?

I am sure that you know the answer to this!

Thanks again,

PP

[tatewise]

The error message should have said about using the Options tab to Allow the FH Program Version to be later than the Backup Folder Version and that is also explained in the Help & Advice FAQ that refers to the Options to relax the rule that versions must be identical.

I spend a lot of time writing the Help & Advice but sometimes wonder if anybody reads it. Moan over

[MFriend]

Hi PP:

This may not be of much help to you now, but might be for folks in the future that read this thread.

As Mike said, your drive will not boot in another laptop (different motherboard, drivers, etc).

There might be another way to boot it but it would depend on if you have access to a computer that is running a WIndows Pro version (as opposed to the OS being Windows Home edition).

Windows 10 Pro can run what is called a Hyper-v machine (a virtual machine or copy of a machine). For example: My son's laptop died last week with his school work and programs on it. His hard drive was still good. I pulled the drive and connected it externally to my computer. Then I used a free backup program called https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree (the free version has everything you'd need) to make an exact image of the hard drive connected externally. Part of the Macrium software is the ability to then boot the backed up drive image as a virtual machine (called Macrium viboot). So in essence it will boot your the image of your old computer and let it run virtually inside of your new computer. That would let you run FH and do a proper export that could then be copied to your new computer.

I've made virtual machines out of about a half dozen "live" (computers installed on physical machines) and they have all ran just fine as virtual machines. .... just a thought.....

Matthew

[PyreneesPirate]

Thanks Mike and Matthew,

I’m afraid I have been away from my laptop since Wednesday, should be back up and running tomorrow.

I’ll try and hunt down a Windows Pro machine to see if I can resurrect the hard disk. Very good idea!

Thanks for your help.

PP

[PyreneesPirate]

Ok, following on from the other night.

1) I ran the restore settings (on my new laptop) for a previous version (after viewing the option), this brought back most things APART from my custom diagram box settings and icons.

2) I returned to my temporary machine and decided to upgrade to the equivalent version of FH7, no problem, then I decided to run again the back up and restore custom settings plugin to gain the equivalence with my new machine. When I ran the plugin, it didn't give me the option to change anything beforehand etc, it just commenced and after 20 seconds or so, it failed, with cannot access Registry error.

3) I deleted the plugin and restored from the plugin section of FH. Ran again, same events, same error.

4) I then copied the hidden FH directory from the temp pc to the new pc and if I now select to compile a diagram it is still missing the icons and box diagram rules. However, if I then select the Custom diagram they appear.

Is there a way of selecting the custom diagram as the default option?

I am an average user and I won't be the last person to experience a total PC loss, I have backed up on a regular basis, but when I restore I still have issues with the Icons etc. Why doesn't the backup, backup the custom changes and the whole directory? I understand if you store your media externally and would have to use the relink option. Perhaps there is any easy explanation to this?

Any info would be appreciated.......I must admit for the first time in eleven years of using a very good product, I am beginning to lose a bit of trust in the system and operations. Certainly when upgrading is concerned.

Thanks again
PP

[tatewise]

It is important to understand that FH uses the Windows Registry for many settings instead of the ProgramData folder.
Users have complained about the way settings are all over the place but not much as improved.

The core standard Diagram Options and thus Box Conditions for Icons are saved in the Windows Registry.
Also, Records Window custom Column expressions and widths are in the Windows Registry.
For further details see FHUG KB Understanding the Scope of Features.

So the question is did you use the Restore option Registry Data Keys button and follow the instructions careful to ensure FH is closed when the restoration command script is run? Otherwise, when you close FH it wipes out the restored Windows Registry settings.

I cannot explain the Read Registry access error without seeing the message details. It is not a common occurrence.

BTW: Are you using a conventional Windows 10 PC with no unusual configuration settings?

Yes, you can set custom Diagram settings as the default by using Diagram > Options and clicking Set as defaults... at bottom left. That technique was once described in the FHUG old KB but it seems to have vanished in the new KB.

[PyreneesPirate]

It is important to understand that FH uses the Windows Registry for many settings instead of the ProgramData folder.
Users have complained about the way settings are all over the place but not much as improved.

The core standard Diagram Options and thus Box Conditions for Icons are saved in the Windows Registry.
Also, Records Window custom Column expressions and widths are in the Windows Registry.
For further details see FHUG KB Understanding the Scope of Features.

Thanks again Mike, I will have a good look at the Understanding Scope of Features

So the question is did you use the Restore option Registry Data Keys button and follow the instructions careful to ensure FH is closed when the restoration command script is run? Otherwise, when you close FH it wipes out the restored Windows Registry settings.

Not sure Mike, maybe that's what happened?

I cannot explain the Read Registry access error without seeing the message details. It is not a common occurrence.

BTW: Are you using a conventional Windows 10 PC with no unusual configuration settings?

The backup and restore settings was very peculiar, as I had backed up on the same machine just a day before, the only difference being, I had upgraded to the newer version of FH7, it didn't run and after a few seconds it crashed FH7. I am using bulk standard Win 10 Pro on the temp machine.

Yes, you can set custom Diagram settings as the default by using Diagram > Options and clicking Set as defaults... at bottom left. That technique was once described in the FHUG old KB but it seems to have vanished in the new KB.

I did look for that option.....couldn't find it!! However, I have set that as default and all is back to normal, I think.....I have now completed a new backup of FH7 (and it took a few seconds, this new PC is quick!!) and I have run your backup and restore settings plugin on the new machine and that run as well (very quickly).

Would that be sufficient for now or do I need to check anything else?

For Matthew, I have downloaded the Macrium product and I have found a Win 10 pro pc, so I will be looking to run the old laptop hd in a virtual environment, as I have other items on the disk that I need to view, so fingers crossed!!

Thanks for your help.

[tatewise]

Ok, so the Registry access error was some sort of glitch.

When you successfully ran the Restore did you use the Registry Data Keys button?

[PyreneesPirate]

Hi again Mike,

I have managed to Restore FH7 on my new laptop. I ran the Restore Settings plug-in and I noticed that the Registry button seemed to be greyed out.....(or is it grey normally)? I had Program files button in green, and skip button. I did select the registry option.....

Anyway, through a bit of trial and error, resaving and Re-restoring, and saving the custom diagram as default, it seems to be acting normal again. I have closed the program and reopened it and the diagram is functioning well with the icons.

I have backed up again - FH7 and Backup Custom Settings, I assume that’s ok and the registry has all its components.

Over the next couple of days, I will check the program and do some actual Family history work. Any problems I’ll update.

Thanks again for your help.

PP

[tatewise]

If the Registry Data Keys button was greyed out, then you had not ticked Allow Restore Registry Data on the Options tab, which is what the Help & Advice says.

So the Windows Registry is never being restored and I cannot say how much of that matters for your customisations.

[PyreneesPirate]

Ok Mike,

I think after a week or so, my mind has become a bit fuzzy with one laptop giving errors on the plugin and the new one functioning correctly. I will make sure that in future I tick the restore registry box when reinstalling the settings.

Is there a registry box tick on the plug-in for both backup and restore settings or just for restore?

[tatewise]

It is only for Restore because Backup is only performing a 'safe' read operation, whereas Restore is 'writing' to the Registry and some users are nervous about such things, despite FH doing it all the time, so I thought it best to make it an option as explained in the Help & Advice which would be an informative read.

[Sharon]

Mike - where can I find the Help & Advice topic you refer to please?
Thank you,
Sharon

[LornaCraig]

Sharon,
It's the button at the bottom of the plugin window

[tatewise]

Also, if you visit the Plugin Store and search the Plugins for V5 or the Plugin Help using the Plugin name then you will discover the same Help & Advice, sometimes via a See Help page for more information link.