FTM 2009 - "stopped working"

[Sarndra]

I have been using this programme for a very long time.  I had been happy with using version 16 and my partner gave me FTM 2009 for my birthday.  I have had NO END of problems since installing that version.

The latest problem - It won't start up at all...comes straight up with "stopped working" ... gee thanx you poxy piece of software!  Along with the "Problem event name: CLR20r3".  I am using Vista platform.

My partner is an IT consultant and it's even got him perplexed.  He thinks it appears to be a dot net problem.

Has anyone else had this problem with this software at all.  I'm about to tear my hair out with it!

The full description with the problem is:

Description:
  Stopped working

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:   ftm.exe
  Problem Signature 02:   18.0.0.307
  Problem Signature 03:   49da4b93
  Problem Signature 04:   System.Configuration
  Problem Signature 05:   2.0.0.0
  Problem Signature 06:   49cc5ec1
  Problem Signature 07:   1a8
  Problem Signature 08:   4d
  Problem Signature 09:   IOIBMURHYNRXKW0ZXKYRVFN0BOYYUFOW
  OS Version:   6.0.6002.2.2.0.256.6
  Locale ID:   5129


Much appreciated

Sarndra
www.sarndra.com

[les_looking]

if you havn't already try these

http://www.familytreemaker.com/Support/Patch_2009.aspx

[downside]

If your Family Tree Maker 2009 version number is lower than 18.0.0.307

Sarndra's version is 18.0.0.307 so in theory it won't make any difference.

Have you tried updating Microsoft's .NET Framework?

Although having said that, It seems some people have around this problem by using an earlier version.  Another problem is that certain .DLL files are missing from the original install.  I'm not sure how many files there should be but may be worth doing a complete uninstall and then a complete re-install in case that fixes the problem.  Make sure you reboot your computer after the unistall.  Also do a registry cleanup using something CCleaner before reinstalling.

Did you unistall your previous version of FTM before installing FTM 2009?  I'm not sure if that makes any difference but if it is still on disk then it might be worth removing that as well.

[les_looking]

it might say thats the version but problem with vista and LOTS of people have had the same problem is it is not loaded properly, no need to uninstall any old versions of ftm as they all work,
in fact if that is your only tree? could be a disaster as you will lose it,
also read the bit about right mouse click and run as admin' it may or may not help,
some using vista have not had any luck and had to go straight to 2010, as i say unless you have a working tree elsewhere best to keep v16 until you get it or another working

[Sarndra]

Les:  Thanks for the input.  The right mouse click has also been looked in to by my partner - nothing changed the outcome i still have.

Downside:  Yes my partner who works for a large multinational company has given the.NET Framework a thrashing so to speak :-) ... all to no avail and also saved all the files, uninstalled and reinstalled also, again to no avail.

Registry cleaner has not been recommended as these can quite often have adverse effects.

My partner is of the opinion that it is FTM/Ancestry's disaster and should be offering all those who have copies of 2009 the free 2010 up grade.  I'm in agreeance.  I hate this version with a passion and i'm not prepared to fork out any money for such a disgusting piece of software.  They've lost my custom [and many others going by the ancestry.com messageboard]

Appreciate all your ideas people.   Thanks!

[Sarndra]

Pleased to report that my partner has managed to fix the problem but it took many hours and ancestry.com are lucky they aren't paying him!  This appears to be a fundamentally simple programming error, i feel Ancestry.com should be morally obliged to issue an unbroken version of the software.

I tried to post the information below in to their message boards, but it kept coming up with unauthorized and that my information had been logged.  I'm assuming it is possibly because of the directory path being posted in it.

Information to Ancestry:
Nothing had been changed on the laptop at the time FTM refused to start.  A google search by my IT consultant partner unearthed a reference to this error being a symptom of a full log file - nothing was hitting the event log to indicate such a problem but it was worth considering.  There was no obvious sign of a log file pertaining to FTM so a fairly broad approach seemed called for.  Deleting everything in Users\<username>\Appdata\Local\Temp allowed FTM to start and perform normally (elevated privileges not required).
May I suggest you get your development team to look into this behaviour (a corrupt or full log file should not cause as app to fail) so it can be resolved in future releases. [end]

Hope this information may help others who have this very frustrating problem!

Cheers
Sarndra
www.sarndra.com

[Sarndra]

I find it interesting that a post i did to Ancestry.com regarding this problem and telling them i was elaborating on rootschat.com incase it helped anyone because their site seemed to think what i had to say was 'unauthorized'....went on fine....and now when i check...it appears to have ..disappeared....

I smell some culling of posts that aren't particularly complimentary of their product is happening. That's definitely confirmed for me that i shan't be purchasing anything to do with their products in the future nor subscribing to anything of theirs.

S

[MarkyP]

Hello Sandra,

Try leaving your feedback here:

http://ftm.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ftm.cfg/php/enduser/form.php?ftype=ftmfeedback

Have to say that I used 2009 without any problems at all, although that was on XP.

[Sarndra]

Hello Sandra,

Try leaving your feedback here:

http://ftm.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ftm.cfg/php/enduser/form.php?ftype=ftmfeedback

Have to say that I used 2009 without any problems at all, although that was on XP.

Thanks for that suggestion Mark :-)  Somehow i still think i'd be ignored but i'll give it a go.

Cheers