* Backup failure

[seadog]

I was backing up my project and it failed because the P.C closed down, after reloading my pc and starting Family Historian I received the message when attempting to back up again,

"A problem Occurred. Task may not have completed correctly."

I would be grateful for guidance on how remove the task that is causing a problem.
I have also tried restoring and this fails as well on all backups i have.

[tatewise]

Sorry you are having those problems.
As usual, the more details you can provide the more quickly we are likely to solve the problem.

What type of Backup are you performing? Small, Medium or Full?
Presumably, that is via the File > Backup/Restore command.

Usually, there is a progress bar that counts the files being backed up. How far does it get?

Issues that can cause the Backup to fail include insufficient disk space, exceedingly large Media files, or another application that has a Media file locked open.

How are you restoring from Backups?
You should use the File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup... command and select a Backup .fhbak file.

See the FHUG Knowledge Base Backup and Recovery for detailed advice.

BTW: If you have a robust backup regime for all your sensitive PC files then you should not need to use the FH Backup feature at all. What general backup regime are you using?

[seadog]

The backup type I'm doing is a full backup, I Removed some redundant
backups to ensure there is ample space. I have tried a small back up and this fails like wise.
I am using the normal interface via Backup/Restore option, I can see the failed file size is only 1kb.
On the restore the count gets into about 2500 records, the back up I selected is prior to the issue and it is about size of the same as the others.
I am only running family historian and have reloaded the p.c.

[tatewise]

If the Small Backup is failing then something very strange is happening.
In your OP you said the Backup failed because the P.C. closed down.
It is possible that has damaged something with FH.

You say you 'reloaded' your P.C. but I'm not sure what you mean by 'reloading'.
Did you do anything particular to repair it or did you just reboot it as normal?

Sometimes performing a Restart (not a Shut Down) can reset your Windows Profile and fix things.

Presumably, Backup and Restore both worked OK before the unexpected P.C. close down.

Try reinstalling FH over itself.
Obtain a fresh installation file from https://www.family-historian.co.uk/install7
Then right-click on the installation .exe file and choose Run as administrator.
Does that fix the problems?

[seadog]

I have just downloaded a fresh copy of version 7 and installed it ok.
I ran a backup and it is still reporting "A problem occurred. Task may not have completed correctly."
I then closed the project down and loaded the sample project and tried a back up but got the same error !
It would appear to be a corruption in the system somewhere as the sample project is small and no complications of many links or data.

[seadog]

If I delete Family Historian completely from the P.C and download a fresh copy is that going to be any difference to what I have already tried, downloading before.
I'm thinking that there might be something in the registry that flagged to say the backup has failed.

[johnmorrisoniom]

This sounds to me like a permissions issue. FH does not have permission to write to the area where the backup is to be saved.
Try re-installing FH (Neo need to delete first) by right clicking on the installation file and choosing "Run as administrator".

Regards
John

[tatewise]

There are a lot of points discussed below, so please study them all and reply to all the questions.

John, I already suggested that seadog uses that installation method. I presume he did.

seadog, you could try uninstalling FH (do NOT just delete it) and reinstall FH but I doubt if that will help.

seadog, did you try the PC Restart suggestion which bypasses the Quick Start feature and rebuilds your Windows profile?

You have not given any explanation of what caused your PC to close down nor what you did to repair it.

It helps us if you give explicit descriptions of the exact commands you used.
e.g.
You said you "loaded the sample project" but did you use the Project Window button More Tasks... then Samples > Reset Sample Project, if not then try that which rebuilds the FH Sample Project.

What analysis of your Projects have you tried?
e.g. File > Validate... command to check GEDCOM and Tools > External File Links... to check Media links.

In Windows File Explorer can you right-click a file and choose Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder?
That uses the same feature as the FH Backup commands, so if it fails then you have a Windows corruption.

Does the Backup error message occur immediately or after the count of files has got some way?
I asked that before but got no feedback from you.
If still unresolved then report the problem to CP via the https://support.calico-pie.com/open.php Support Centre and give full details of the error message. They may be able to explain what causes it.

[seadog]

I have uninstalled Family Historian completely then reinstalled it.
I then tested the backup/restore on the sample project, which worked ok.
I then restored my project backup and then backed it up all ok now .
Thank you for the help.

[tatewise]

That is good news. As you suspected, the original PC failure must have upset the FH Windows Registry settings so badly that it needed the uninstall and reinstall to fix them. I have no recollection of that being necessary before. Usually, the FH reinstall is enough.