RootsChat.Com

General => Technical Help => Family History Programs, Tree Organisation, Presentation => Topic started by: Ayashi on Thursday 14 December 17 22:33 GMT (UK)

Title: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Thursday 14 December 17 22:33 GMT (UK)
I've used the program for years without issue but today I opened the file and was told that it had previously been closed incorrectly (quite possibly my computer shut it down for forced Windows updates or something). This has happened before without complication. This time I opened it up and I can navigate through branches fine but if I try to open individual profiles it crashes. I've tried compacting the files as it advises but this hasn't fixed it.

The crash log says "An exception of type 'System.InvalidOperationException' occurred and was caught."

Any ideas?  :-\
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Treetotal on Thursday 14 December 17 22:42 GMT (UK)
Have you tried googling the error message as there may be an online solution.
Carol
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Thursday 14 December 17 22:46 GMT (UK)
Yeah, no joy as yet.
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Saturday 16 December 17 11:18 GMT (UK)
Went through all the advice given online and then contacted the company that now owns FTM.

Their sole advice?

"Get our 2017 edition instead! You can pay money for it at [link]!"

(Not quite in those words, but that was basically it).

Yay customer service!
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Guy Etchells on Saturday 16 December 17 11:26 GMT (UK)
Went through all the advice given online and then contacted the company that now owns FTM.

Their sole advice?

"Get our 2017 edition instead! You can pay money for it at [link]!"

(Not quite in those words, but that was basically it).

Yay customer service!

Yes but to be fair to they they have only "recently" taken over development of FTM so perhaps cannot help with a problem in an older version.
Do you know what changes they have made to the program code if any on the upgrade?

Cheers
Guy

P.S. If you have the CD/download of the original program try re-installing it.
I assume you have a back-up of any data on it.
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Saturday 16 December 17 11:43 GMT (UK)
I know nothing about the upgraded versions and I don't know where the 2014 disc is at the moment. I just found their response rather poor.
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Mart 'n' Al on Saturday 16 December 17 12:56 GMT (UK)
Try restoring the most recent saved Windows position.  Research it fully if this is not clear to you.

Martin
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Saturday 16 December 17 15:42 GMT (UK)
Well, I've really done it now lol

We finally found the FTM disc. I tried uninstalling the current one on my laptop and it failed. Now the entire FTM won't start up and even better it occurred to me after the fact that this laptop doesn't have a disc drive  ::)

New downloadable version £80  ::)

- Edit, I reloaded the back-up that I took before so I think all the files are back, but still not starting up any more. Really borked something.

Thanks Martin, although after Googling I'm afraid that still means nothing to me.
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Guy Etchells on Saturday 16 December 17 16:39 GMT (UK)
Does your laptop have a usb port?

Do any of your friends or relatives have a computer or laptop with a CD drive and a usb port?

If yes to both take your CD and a usb stick to them  and copy everything on the CD to the usb stick.
Insert the usb stick into your laptop and copy all the files into a folder on your laptop.

You should now be able to re-install FTM onto your laptop from the files you have just copied.
Cheers
Guy
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Saturday 16 December 17 17:49 GMT (UK)
Thanks Guy, I'll give it a go. :)

-Edit

It lives!! IT LIVES!!!  ;D
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Guy Etchells on Saturday 16 December 17 18:37 GMT (UK)
Phew!!  ;D ;D ;D

Cheers
Guy
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Rockford on Saturday 16 December 17 20:31 GMT (UK)
"An exception of type 'System.InvalidOperationException' occurred and was caught."

This happened to me about a month ago, but only affected one tree (with the one I have for my wife's family and another for an in-law being unaffected).  Sadly, the tree was my own family history and the one on which I had done most work.  I have written notes for most of my research and now wish I was as meticulous about electronic back ups as I am about written evidence.  The only back up that finally worked (after reimporting it) was from 2010 and I have spent an inordinate amount of time re-entering the information from the written notes that was lost in the intervening years.

Moral of the story is that I will be backing up my file more often and especially after a long session of working on the tree.  I have learned that the auto-backup isn't sufficient!

I too contacted MacKiev.  They were helpful to a point and offered to look at my tree file to see if it could be salvaged, but I declined as I wasn't comfortable sending this information to anyone I did not know.

To date there have been no further issues. Fingers crossed!

Best wishes
Rockford
Title: Re: Crashing issue with FTM 2014
Post by: Ayashi on Saturday 16 December 17 22:16 GMT (UK)
Oh dear...

I once deleted someone's entire tree by accident. I never owned up to that one but I did feel guilty about it, I'd have been gutted if that was mine...