Digital downloads from LRFHS - a moan

[Annie65115]

I've bought digital downloads of some of the CDs from LRFHS and am being driven nuts.

They arrived as RAR files. What's that, I wondered. Turns out I have to download the WINRAR app (not a problem) but that is only free to use for 40-something days, after which it costs about £30. That IS a problem.

Having managed to open the downloads, I see that the files are EXCEL, pdf or word . Fine, no problems; except that they are password protected. The password has to be applied for by another email, a different email for each CD.

Passwords arrive (in no particular order). Now I can open them, hurray! But it turns out that the password has to be used for EVERY SINGLE FILE individually, and has to be inputted EVERY SINGLE TIME you open the file; which means diving back into the email (and make sure you choose the right email for the right file coz it's not immediately obvious) for every single time you want to look at a file. You can c+p it from the email but of course, if you then use the c+p function for anything else before opening the next file, then back to the email you have to go. 

And, of course, you can only use the winrar app for a limited time before having to pay for it.

What Brain of Britain dreamt this up?

The only way I can see to simplify this for myself is to open every file (a laborious task going backwards and forwards to email for the password every time), and C+P the contents into a standard excel file which I can then open on my laptop without the need for a password or any app other than the standard windows office one, which I have (and pay for) anyhow.

I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but I am rapidly losing the will to live. And I'm reasonably savvy with spreadsheets - if someone had less experience I think they would be really stuck. Has anyone else had this experience with the stuff from LRFSH? How did you get round it?

[arthurk]

They arrived as RAR files. What's that, I wondered. Turns out I have to download the WINRAR app (not a problem) but that is only free to use for 40-something days, after which it costs about £30. That IS a problem.....

And, of course, you can only use the winrar app for a limited time before having to pay for it.

I can't comment on the password issues etc, but instead of WINRAR I suggest you try 7-Zip. This can unpack many different types of file, including .rar, and it's free. Details at

https://www.7-zip.org/

(I've used it for years, and quite often see it recommended.)

[Annie65115]

Which version would you recommend,ArthurK? 32bit, 64bit or 64bitARM?

[Zakerias]

Which version would you recommend,ArthurK? 32bit, 64bit or 64bitARM?

You'll want the 64bit version - it's the most common by far.

[arthurk]

For quite a few years now, new Windows PCs have been 64bit, so I agree that's probably the one to go for.

To double check this (in Windows 10), go to Settings > System, then at the bottom of the left hand menu click About. The top part (Device Specifications) will tell you if it's 64bit or 32bit.

[Annie65115]

I'm sure you'll be right. it's a relatively new laptop. Thanks for the tip.

[arthurk]

Another tip, for this part:

Passwords arrive (in no particular order). Now I can open them, hurray! But it turns out that the password has to be used for EVERY SINGLE FILE individually, and has to be inputted EVERY SINGLE TIME you open the file; which means diving back into the email (and make sure you choose the right email for the right file coz it's not immediately obvious) for every single time you want to look at a file. You can c+p it from the email but of course, if you then use the c+p function for anything else before opening the next file, then back to the email you have to go.

Go to Settings > System (as before), then Clipboard. The top item is Clipboard History, and if it's enabled the clipboard keeps a list of everything you've copied so you don't need to go and copy it again each time.

This is how to turn it on in Windows 10; I assume Windows 11 has something similar, but I don't know if you access it in exactly the same way.

What the clipboard can't do, though, is tell you which password is which, so it might work best for you if you used it alongside a document with all the file names and passwords in one place.

[Annie65115]

Mmm, it's still very, very clunky, isn't it. When I use spreadsheets I'm often moving from one to another to cross-correlate stuff (eg, Mr X is buried in plot no. 123. So I'll move to a different file to see who else is buried in plot 123. If there are different surnames I may move to another file to look at potential family groups. Etc)

And every time I open another file, or try to go back to previous one, I have to reinput the password, whether that's stored in an email or on the clipboard.

As I said, what Brain of Britain thought this would get the customers flocking?

[arthurk]

It doesn't sound wonderful - is there anywhere you can give feedback?