FTM problems

[f/f george]

I have a friend that sent me an FTM file, somename.ftw(this is NOT the
REAL name, but is the right extension), and it will NOT open on my
computer. It says that the file is damaged and I must restore from a
backup. I do not have that option and the friend now has the same
problem on their computer. The problems come in because they don't
HAVE a backup! I KNOW, I KNOW, woulda coulda shoulda!!! The problems
still remain, I HAVE opened the file with notepad and the data SEEMS
to be in there, there must just be something wrong somewhere. Anyone
have any ideas. I have sent a message to Ancestry but they said it
could take a couple of day, IF they answer!
A little over 11,000 people is WAAAAY to many people to be
re-entering!!! I am using a newer version of the FTM program, I have
both ver. 11 and 2005, so that should not be an issue, as I said they
can no longer open it either. I did try importing the file into TMG,
which I use, but it says the file is in use elsewhere, but it is not!
They did say that they have had problems for awhile now, but a restart
always solved the problems in the past. I KNOW, I KNOW, woulda coulda
shoulda!!!

[Lesley Robertson]

"f/f george" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I have a friend that sent me an FTM file, somename.ftw(this is NOT the
REAL name, but is the right extension), and it will NOT open on my
computer. It says that the file is damaged and I must restore from a
backup. I do not have that option and the friend now has the same
problem on their computer. The problems come in because they don't
HAVE a backup! I KNOW, I KNOW, woulda coulda shoulda!!!

But FTM automatically makes a backup every time it saves - it has the
extension [same filename].fbk. You friend should find it in the same folder
as the .ftw file.
Lesley Robertson

[f/f george]

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:28:47 +0200, "Lesley Robertson"
<[email protected]> wrote:

"f/f george" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
I have a friend that sent me an FTM file, somename.ftw(this is NOT the
REAL name, but is the right extension), and it will NOT open on my
computer. It says that the file is damaged and I must restore from a
backup. I do not have that option and the friend now has the same
problem on their computer. The problems come in because they don't
HAVE a backup! I KNOW, I KNOW, woulda coulda shoulda!!!

But FTM automatically makes a backup every time it saves - it has the
extension [same filename].fbk. You friend should find it in the same folder
as the .ftw file.
Lesley Robertson

OOOOHHHHH, THAT would be REALLY cool!

Thanks, the message has already been sent!!!

[Charlie]

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:28:47 +0200, "Lesley Robertson"
<[email protected]> wrote:

"f/f george" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
I have a friend that sent me an FTM file, somename.ftw(this is NOT the
REAL name, but is the right extension), and it will NOT open on my
computer. It says that the file is damaged and I must restore from a
backup. I do not have that option and the friend now has the same
problem on their computer. The problems come in because they don't
HAVE a backup! I KNOW, I KNOW, woulda coulda shoulda!!!

But FTM automatically makes a backup every time it saves - it has the
extension [same filename].fbk. You friend should find it in the same folder
as the .ftw file.
Lesley Robertson

I hope that works for the OP. My experience (a few years ago, I'll
admit) is that when FTM corrupts a file, it continues to run the file
for a while. In fact, didn't the OP mention say "They did say that
they have had problems for awhile now, but a restart always solved the
problems in the past. "? This sounds very similar to the problem I
had, and simply means that FTM has managed to corrupt the backup file
as well. The *fbk file is nothing more than an FTW file with a
different file suffix, whereas an FBC backup is at least a compressed
backup. I think his "best" hope is that the people at G.c can salvage
his data. It may take a couple of weeks, but I really think that is
the best bet.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/