Genealogy Chat

Hi Mandy, I bought mine in my local PCWorld - straight off the shelf! Bonus is their prices are about £10 cheaper than the online shops!! The Deluxe version rrp is £39 - PCWorld is £29.99 I bought the Collectors Edition rrp £60+ but only £49.99 in PCWorld. They had plenty of stock too! Debbie

I ordered mine initially from S&N but they had greatly miscalculated buying their stock - as a result, they kept putting me off because supplies kept running out. I was getting very worried that it wouldn't be here in time for Christmas, so I cancelled and ordered mine from TWR Computing (which is a genealogical supplies company). It arrived within the week. I'm sure I've seen in the brochure that you can get an upgrade disc rather than buy the whole thing. Trying to be a very good girl so that Santa will let me have it .... Mandy :))

Linda, I bought my program from S&G Geneaology Supplies. Tel. 01722 716121. I've dealt with this company previously and always found them very helpful. Good luck. Dave

thanks Dave! Maz. XX

Dave - Can I ask where you purchased your copy please?

Maz, The new version and the updated version are one of the same thing. I asked this question when phoned in my order. It's a sales ploy to add a few ponds for a new disk. I bought the "delux version" and this comes with a manual plus data disks. I had no problems with the loading over the old version. The new version saves in "My Documents" folder as FTM2005 but still leaves the old records in FTW. I have to say the new version is much improved on version 11 and is well woth upgrading, or buying new. Dave

Thanks Heather. Hi Siobhan, long time no speak! Hope you are well. Maz. XX

Brian you should of saved a backup file of your family tree to a personal folder, that way you would not of lost everything. regards, Siobhan

I understand you can upgrade. Apparently they do have discs to help you use the advanced facilities, but I am definitely not a techi and I have managed without any extra help. You can play about with the buttons and bells to learn and there is a help facility anyway. I did take the precaution of backing mine up with a rewritable cd just in case of a virus or crash, so I everytime I add notes or people I just put the cd back in and click on backup. I have also taken advantage of the facility to produce a home page of my family tree so at least I also have details in cyber space should the computer crash and the cd disappear!

Some questions from me please! Can you buy just an upgrade version (I have got V 10) or do you have to start afresh? Does it come with any instructions? I have seen advertised a book about FTM2005, but it was very expensive and I hoped it wasn't necessary. When you put the new one on, does it just take over the old files, or do you have to do gedcom transfers or whatever? Would be grateful if someone can clear this up so I can tell hubby what to get me for Xmas!! Thanks. Maz. XX

Hi Brian, I have just bought FTM2005 to replace my very outdated v6!! Like you, I did copy mine to cd (just in case) but everything seems to be intact. Am very pleased with it - love the automatic search facility for Ancestry. Linda, If you select 'Backup' from the FILE menu, this opens another small window, giving you the options for backing up, such as floppy disc, working directory, etc. One of the options will say Writable CD drive, if cd backup is an option. Version 6 was so old, there was no cd back up option!! This was one of my main reasons for upgrading. Debbie

Thank you for that Brian. I was waiting to hear comments about this new software before I made a purchase. Your comments have helped. I have V8 - would I be able to back this up to CD. Would appreciate your comments.

The instructions in FTM 2005 say you can install it over the top of existing versions without loosing any data BEWARE i installed it and have lost a whole family all my scrapbook pictures and all baptism records. Luckily i had backed up to cd before installing but i will have to scan all my pictures in again and all baptism records. So before you install FTM beware and make sure you BACK UP TO CD. You have been warned! Brian