Cleaning up my Legacy files - question.
Somehow I have managed to gather together all sorts of Legacy files all over my computer. What I am wanting to do is back up my current two working files onto my external hard drive, then come back and delete all the files in this mess. Want to be able to just have my two working files so that I don't keep opening the wrong file, working in it and later opening another and working on it only to discover I have partial files everywhere! I apparently never learned how to open and close files properly. Help! I'm afraid to do anything for fear I will inadvertently delete the very files I want to keep. Thanks for your help!
Some of these seem to read as backups. I open my files list from File, Open File. Then I choose "select the file using the Windows dialog box."
ReplyDeleteI get my list. Since I rarely work on any file except my main one, I rarely even look at the list.
I do not close the file at the end of a work session, I just close Legacy and back it up.
Be careful, think twice, then, twice more, before you start deleting stuff. My hubby always tells me I am better just leaving it there, as long as it is not clogging up the computer or making trouble. ;-)
There are a couple things that you can try. One is put a “play” person in each of the 2 files that you want to keep. That way when you save it, you will have a current date and know those are the correct ones. Give the person a name like “Delete Me” so you know it is not a legitimate person.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am deleting stuff I am not sure about, I empty my recycle bin prior to starting. As soon as I delete what I wanted to, I check my file to make sure that I did not accidentally delete something I needed. Since the recycle bin is empty, it is to find and put back.
Before I switched to Legacy, I was using Family Tree Maker. It crashed several times and I had to download my tree again from Ancestry. I would re-download stuff and put another number at the end of the file. I knew I had a lot of duplicates. Someone in another group suggested a program called “Duplicate Cleaner.” It went thru and found all the duplicates, even files that had different names. I manually deleted the ones that I didn’t want. Some were legitimate duplicates if I had 2 different families on the same census page and wanted them in two different family folders.
There is an option in the settings that automatically opens the last used file when you open Legacy. This helps me stay on track with the most up to date file opening up.
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions - what I did was make a copy of each file and put it on an external drive. Then I trashed the ones I thought were ones I did not want to keep. Set your file opening in customization for the file you normally work with and see if you have (a) that file you work with and (b) the other files you want,. Good to go - empty your trash and know that you have a copy on an external drive for as long as you need to keep it. This is different that your backup of working files. Now is that clear as mud? What do others do?
ReplyDeleteI have a genealogy folder in SkyDrive (I have unlimited storage) that is saved both to the cloud and on my computer. This folder holds all of my media, miscellaneous genealogy files and backed up Legacy settings. Then in dropbox (which is in the cloud and on my computer) is a folder named Legacy Backups which is where all of my media files and database files get backed up every time I close Legacy. Also, in dropbox I have a file name working database and this is where my current database that I am working with is saved (it is saved as Thomas -- Seigfreid -- current March 2015). I also have a folder called Genealogy in Google Drive (in the cloud and on my computer) that has spreadsheets and other google documents saved in it. All of these folders are continuously backed up with Crash Plan. I use an Evernote Reminder to review my backup files once a month to make sure everything is as it should be.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! This group is so helpful with great suggestions. I'm always learning something new and now feeling confident to tackle my mess.
ReplyDeleteGreat Claudia Sweeney - we all from each other
ReplyDelete