PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

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Gjest

PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av Gjest » 05 des 2004 01:31:01

I have my genealogical data in Personal Ancestral File 2.31 format on 3.5
inch disks. When I bought a new computer recently, it came with Windows
2000 and I installed Personal Ancestral File Companion 5.15.

To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.

What can I do to get this data back and integrate it into my Windows 2000
system. My son has Windows XP -- if I were to give it to him, could he
open it and save it in a different format that would make it accessible to
Windows 2000?

Thanks,

Bob

Doug

Re: PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av Doug » 05 des 2004 05:22:07

Bob W. wrote:
I have my genealogical data in Personal Ancestral File 2.31 format on 3.5
inch disks. When I bought a new computer recently, it came with Windows
2000 and I installed Personal Ancestral File Companion 5.15.

To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.

What can I do to get this data back and integrate it into my Windows 2000
system. My son has Windows XP -- if I were to give it to him, could he
open it and save it in a different format that would make it accessible to
Windows 2000?

Thanks,

Bob


The problem is not the Windows 2000, it is the fact that PAF 5 can not

read the old PAF 2.31 data format. On re-reading your message, you said
you tried to load it into PAF Companion 5.15. Hopefully you also have
PAF 5 loaded? If you got your data converted so PAFC could read it, you
certainly couldn't use the new format in PAF 2.31.

File conversion -- three options:

1. Download PAF 4, which will read the PAF 2.31 format, from
FamilySearch.org and convert the data to PAF 4 format. Then load the PAF
4 file into PAF 5 which will convert it to PAF 5 format. A bit of a drag
if you have a dialup connection, but fine with DSL or cable.

2. ZIP the contents of the diskette(s) and send the files to me. I
already have PAF 4 and 5 loaded, and it takes only a few minutes to do
the conversions. I just did the same operation for a friend from church
a couple of weeks ago.

3. If you don't actually have PAF 5 yet and don't have a broadband I'net
connection, get someone you know who does to download both and burn them
to a CD. Then you can load both programs and do the conversion yourself.

Doug

singhals

Re: PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av singhals » 05 des 2004 15:45:42

Bob W. wrote:


To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.

Define "backed up" -- did you copy the .dat files, or did you use PAF
2.31's built-in backup system, or did you ZIP the .dat files?

The first and third are easy to fix; the middle one, which is
unfortunately the one most people used, isn't.

I see someone offered to fix it for you already; if they're
unsuccessful, lemmeno and I'll take a stab at it.

ALso, are you trying to load this into PAF or into PAFCompanion? Makes
a difference. PAFComp 5 only reads (IIRC) PAF 5 data files. PAF5 can
sometimes be conned into read PAF 2.31 files.

Cheryl

Doug

Re: PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av Doug » 05 des 2004 20:03:27

singhals wrote:
Bob W. wrote:


To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.


Define "backed up" -- did you copy the .dat files, or did you use PAF
2.31's built-in backup system, or did you ZIP the .dat files?

The first and third are easy to fix; the middle one, which is
unfortunately the one most people used, isn't.

I see someone offered to fix it for you already; if they're
unsuccessful, lemmeno and I'll take a stab at it.

ALso, are you trying to load this into PAF or into PAFCompanion? Makes
a difference. PAFComp 5 only reads (IIRC) PAF 5 data files. PAF5 can
sometimes be conned into read PAF 2.31 files.

Cheryl

Cheryl: How were you able to get PAF 5 to read PAF 2.31 files? I just
tried getting it to do so by displaying "All Files" in the "Open" window
and selecting the "INDIV2.DAT" file which is what PAF 4 uses as the key,
but it simply gave an error message saying that the file "... is a PAF
2.x file and can not be read by PAF 5.0."

Bob: I do have PAF 2.31 (as well as PAF 3.0M) available on CD but not
loaded in case "restoring" a PAF 2.31 backup file set is necessary.
(Scary, isn't it? Why do people keep all that old "stuff"? Actually, as
a Ward Family History consultant, for exactly the circumstance that you
present.)

Doug

Robert Heiling

Re: PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av Robert Heiling » 05 des 2004 20:29:37

Doug wrote:

singhals wrote:
Bob W. wrote:

To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.

Define "backed up" -- did you copy the .dat files, or did you use PAF
2.31's built-in backup system, or did you ZIP the .dat files?

The first and third are easy to fix; the middle one, which is
unfortunately the one most people used, isn't.

I see someone offered to fix it for you already; if they're
unsuccessful, lemmeno and I'll take a stab at it.

ALso, are you trying to load this into PAF or into PAFCompanion? Makes
a difference. PAFComp 5 only reads (IIRC) PAF 5 data files. PAF5 can
sometimes be conned into read PAF 2.31 files.

Cheryl

Cheryl: How were you able to get PAF 5 to read PAF 2.31 files? I just
tried getting it to do so by displaying "All Files" in the "Open" window
and selecting the "INDIV2.DAT" file which is what PAF 4 uses as the key,
but it simply gave an error message saying that the file "... is a PAF
2.x file and can not be read by PAF 5.0."

Bob: I do have PAF 2.31 (as well as PAF 3.0M) available on CD but not
loaded in case "restoring" a PAF 2.31 backup file set is necessary.
(Scary, isn't it? Why do people keep all that old "stuff"? Actually, as
a Ward Family History consultant, for exactly the circumstance that you
present.)

Doug

You folks might want to take a look at:
http://www.uvpafug.org/classes/pafhelps.htm
where it says
:
"Versions 2.0 to 2.31

If you have a file from Personal Ancestral File 2.0 to 2.31, you must convert it
before you can use
it in version 4. To convert a database, simply find the INDIV2.DAT file and open
it in Personal
Ancestral File 4.0.

If you want to convert the file to Personal Ancestral File 5, remember to
convert the files first to
either PAF 3.0 or 4.0, then convert the new file to PAF 5. This will leave your
notes and sources
intact."

The whole website has what looks to be pretty expert advice. I have installation
files for versions 3.0.1 and 4.0.x in case anyone needs a copy.

HTH
Bob

singhals

Re: PAF 2.31 data - how to recover in Windows 2000 system.

Legg inn av singhals » 06 des 2004 15:48:27

Doug wrote:

singhals wrote:

Bob W. wrote:


To my chagrin, the familial data for PAF 2.31 that I had backed up
onto a
3.5 disk was listed but could not be opened in Windows 2000. I would
attribute this to 2.31 being from the DOS era.



Define "backed up" -- did you copy the .dat files, or did you use PAF
2.31's built-in backup system, or did you ZIP the .dat files?

The first and third are easy to fix; the middle one, which is
unfortunately the one most people used, isn't.

I see someone offered to fix it for you already; if they're
unsuccessful, lemmeno and I'll take a stab at it.

ALso, are you trying to load this into PAF or into PAFCompanion?
Makes a difference. PAFComp 5 only reads (IIRC) PAF 5 data files.
PAF5 can sometimes be conned into read PAF 2.31 files.

Cheryl


Cheryl: How were you able to get PAF 5 to read PAF 2.31 files? I just
tried getting it to do so by displaying "All Files" in the "Open" window
and selecting the "INDIV2.DAT" file which is what PAF 4 uses as the key,
but it simply gave an error message saying that the file "... is a PAF
2.x file and can not be read by PAF 5.0."


Which is why I said "sometimes" (g) I don't know what's going on, but
every now and then when I do what you did it works. So far I'm not
seeing any good reason for it (i.e., not the same machine, not the file
size, not the create-date, not the same day of the week, not the same
shoes ...)

Cheryl

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