RootsChat.Com
General => Technical Help => Topic started by: Annad on Friday 03 April 20 11:11 BST (UK)
-
Hello,
Could anyone please tell me if it's normal for a Family Tree Maker to take up 839 gbs on a PC. I only have 7 thousand and odd people on it and a lot of documents but I just can't imagine that this is normal. My PC has 1 TB of space and now I'm getting warnings that my hard drive is almost full.
I really don't know much about computers and so I'm at a loss as to know what to do and some advice would be very welcome.
Thank you
Anna
-
It could be all the sources used for the 7000 people plus the odd people?
How many sources have you for each of the 7000+ ?
-
Is it a pc with the 2 disc drives. Where it’s meant to have the programs on C and data stored on the D drive? The D drive being considerably bigger than the C.
I’ve had a similar problem if it is.
-
I've just looked at my PC:
The Family Tree Maker Program folder is reporting at 832Mb
The Data file folder is 399Mb
With the individual file (xxx.ftm) 42Mb
The individual file contains 16,000 individuals
So if you add the whole lot together it's around 1.2Gb
I assume you did a standard installation with a separate data folder. Which folder/file are you reporting on, are you sure the file is reported in Gb?
-
Hi Harry,
Yes I'm absolutely positive it's gbs that's why I'm getting the warnings about my hard drive being almost full. I very much doubt that I would have ever looked at the size of the files otherwise. I kept thinking that it must be MBs as well - it's all really odd. It was just a standard installation a couple of years ago when I updated my FTM.
-
How very strange - have you got a backup of the file that you can check the size of? If you have and it's in the Megabyte range, I'd feel inclined to copy it (do not use the original backup for safety) and then open the copy in FTM. Then when you save that (it will automatically save as an ftm) check to see the resultant size.
If it is of "normal" size, I would try and make sure that any recent activity is included. If it is, then delete the monster file and use the one that you created with the back up.
-
Hi Harry,
What a good idea! Yes I do have a back up file so I will check that and take your advice as what to do next.
Thank you very much for your help
Anna
-
The only thing that I would say is . . . . .
Do not delete anything until you are extremely happy with that you have re-generated.
Then get someone to check what is actually in the f T M folders.
Something important may have been accidentally moved into one of those folders.Example? Where are your Downloads going to? Where are your saved Documents? ( FTM AND others )
Ray
-
It's hard to imagine what could be using that much space, even with 7,000+ people. I'm using RootsMagic (but it can't be vastly different in storage requirements) and my tree has only half that number, admittedly, but my whole data folder is only around 45MB and the media folder around 6GB including some 7,000 files in 250 sub-folders. Most of these hold downloaded image files of source docs and photos.
Might be worth running a full virus scan just in case there is something else filling up the drive :-\
Mike.
-
First thing I would do is run antimalware software to ensure you haven't been hacked.
-
Annad:
My Family Tree Maker is 839 gygabytes
Which version of FTM are you using?
Without having specific information the correct diagnosis is not going to be found.
You say the file size is a whopping 839 Gb. which I'm lead to believe is connected
to the underlying database structure.
Testing for virus trojan's and malware may not reveal the true problem
Jim
-
just a thought ... one sure fire way to eat up memory is to Save As every time you change some details in a file.. A former work colleague of mine had to be taught every Monday morning the difference between Save and Save As. For instance, if you have a Picture file which you alter or crop or enhance you probably want to keep the Original file so you Save As the new file.. so the Original is still on your pc at, say, 3.8 mb ( megabytes) your altered one Saved AS ( a different filename) will be more or less 3.8mb unless you make it a compressed file, such as a JPG or JPEG, which loses image data as it reduces the file size. There are FREE apps on the internet which will search your whole computer and list all the duplicate files, or just present them in a list ranked from the largest to the smallest, allowing you to delete the unnecessary ones.
https://www.ccleaner.com/
-
I think Ian is onto something. Check to see how many backup copies of your data files are on your PC. I would think you only need 3 or 4 copies to be safe and you can delete the rest.
:)
-
Thanks everyone, you've all been very helpful and have given me a lot to think about.
I've checked my tree size on the external hard drive and strangely that is under 4gbs, which to my mind is about right. I'm wondering if I uninstall my whole tree (gulp), put the software back on and then put the tree back on from the external hard drive it might solve the problem.
Can I ask you Ian - I'm not very good with computers so I'm not sure if I totally understand what you mean about the 'save as' function. I do use this an awful lot to save documents on to my PC and then on to my tree and I do add to them and change them. I take it from what you said that this is not a good idea and could add to my storage problems?
Thanks to everyone for all your help, I really do appreciate it
Anna
-
Files. Almost everything on your computer is a File. ( not including apps or programs) They are stored in Folders. You can store a Folder in another Folder, and even that one can be stored in another Folder. Think of Storage as a 3 Drawer metal filing cabinet. Say all your genealogy is in the Middle Drawer, 4th, 5th and 6th Pink Carded Dividers. Inside each Divider are some Poly-pocket Sleeves, each containing material that has some connection, such as 'Distant Cousins' yet another 'Brick Walls'.
At first you only have ONE COPY of everything. You Navigate to My Documents/ Genealogy/ 4th Pink Divider/ Poly-Pocket Distant Cousins You have found extra information about a cousin and you Enter it in a Record Field about that person. You NEED to SAVE your work.
The CORRECT procedure is to File / Save No other changes are required. That file is updated and is still in the same location.
HOWEVER, Say you had discovered a NEW Distant Cousin and you entered their details on a Record Card ... you NEED to add New Information but leave the originals undisturbed, so you select FILE/ SAVE As and in the box which opens you will be able to Name the Record and choose its location ... the default will be in the same location as the others because you haven't changed anything.
2nd HOWEVER, If as an example you discovered a Doppelganger, much the same details as your mother's cousin Fred, but many of the KEY details are Different, then you enter the different details BUT this time you SAVE AS but USE the same Filename as the Original but ADD the number 2 after the Filename, such as 'Mother's Cousin Fred 2'
If you File/ Save As when you only needed to Save the changes then you will create another File the same size as the original, if you do this unknowingly you will soon run out of memory. CCleaner's Duplicate File finder searches your computer and lists all the duplicates.
-
I also use Search Everything, a Freebie app that is better than Windows Search, this is a result of me uploading a photo by Blutooth and immediately cropping it, Contrasting it, Colouring it whatever else, and using File/ Save AS in case I needed to go back to one of the previous pictures. I then didn't bother to DELETE the unwanted ones ... Memory was getting cheaper every month,
-
I've recently started getting this message too.
My D drive reportedly has less than 500 Mb free.
No I have not used 'save as' recently, in fact I've hardly saved anything. I had a rather full waste bin, which I've emptied, I've also deleted several old FTM trees & back-up files but the notice still pops up now and again.
I suspect malware in which case I'm scrapping Windows and going to Linux.
-
I've recently started getting this message too.
My D drive reportedly has less than 500 Mb free.
No I have not used 'save as' recently, in fact I've hardly saved anything. I had a rather full waste bin, which I've emptied, I've also deleted several old FTM trees & back-up files but the notice still pops up now and again.
I suspect malware in which case I'm scrapping Windows and going to Linux.
I recently installed SLAX Linux on a Memory Stick, did the same with Puppy Linux and have another lurking in another partition of the hard disk which I can start from the BIOS. While you still can you should configure and save a Windows RESCUE DISK to a USB Memory Stick in case you need to recover files in the virus-filled future.
Linux is a BIG learning curve. If you still have Windows XP or Win7 on an older pc NOT connected to the Internet or WiFi you should transfer copies of your files ... but have them scanned as you do so for malware etc!
-
I'm also looking at FreeBSD operating system ... also Open-Source and FREE, easier for Windows diehards
-
Having never used FTM I will leave the details to someone who knows about it, but I think it is really important to find out what is using all that disk space before doing anything else.
It's difficult to analyse a problem with limited information but I have assumed you are saying that the FTM folder is using 839GB. If you open that folder and there are multiple similar files, that would support Ian's "Save As" theory. If the 893GB is the whole of the drive there could be something else filling it up.
I found this web site which should help in locating the FTM files on your computer if you're not sure:
https://support.mackiev.com/332961-Finding-Family-Tree-Maker-Files-in-Windows
Mike.
-
What's a FreeBSD operating system?
-
Hello,
Could anyone please tell me if it's normal for a Family Tree Maker to take up 839 gbs on a PC. I only have 7 thousand and odd people on it and a lot of documents but I just can't imagine that this is normal. My PC has 1 TB of space and now I'm getting warnings that my hard drive is almost full.
I really don't know much about computers and so I'm at a loss as to know what to do and some advice would be very welcome.
Thank you
Anna
Old versions of Family Tree Maker were well known for the amount of storage space they used but that was supposed to be changed a few years ago and certainly before it was sold to Mackiev.
I suggest checking to see you are running the latest version and deleting any temp files.
Cheers
Guy
-
What's a FreeBSD operating system?
It's an alternative Operating System for computers, tablets etc instead of Windows, Apples's or Linux ( there are several hundred versions of Linux based operating systems - beware, that's a lot of learning.)
Do you remember DOS ( Disk Operating System ) which Microsoft based Windows on ... MsDos first.
Unix was the early computer op system used by Universities and Governments. Linus Torvald and others developed Linux and from there spawned variations.
FreeBSD is based on Linux but said to resemble the procedures you find in Windows, but you still need to learn how to use it.
It's Open-source which means it's free to download and use and develop.
see Wikipedia or visit their home web site ..
https://www.freebsd.org/
-
Ok - no I don't remember DOS but I'll check out your link - thanks
-
I've recently started getting this message too.
My D drive reportedly has less than 500 Mb free.
No I have not used 'save as' recently, in fact I've hardly saved anything. I had a rather full waste bin, which I've emptied, I've also deleted several old FTM trees & back-up files but the notice still pops up now and again.
I suspect malware in which case I'm scrapping Windows and going to Linux.
That's a bit of a dramatic step.
What is your setup? Which version of Windows are you running? Do you have a C: drive?
What is your D: drive - is it a stand-alone drive or is a partition of another drive? How big is it that partition? How big is that drive? What do you have installed on it? Do you backup your documents, pictures, music and videos to that drive? How quickly is the space diminishing from that drive?
How much space do you expect to have?
Have you run any software to see if you do have malware?
If you do want to switch to Linux, will all your software still run? Do you have backups of everything important?