I have a "large" tree (71,000 people) that has crashed so thoroughly that I can't open it. This tree has been nurtured through all versions of FTM going back to v. 3.3. It started failing two years ago, but I somehow got it up and running again. The last time I had to restore from my most recent back-up (your suggestion #2 below) which hopefully solved the problem. Now, because I can't open it, I can't perform any other tasks. Tech support at Ancestry asked me to send the tree to them so they could give it a go. After waiting a MONTH I got back to them only to find out they couldn't find the problem so gave up and called it "irreparable". I just couldn't accept that (they call themselves "experts"??) so I convinced them to look again. I'm still waiting. Here's my dilemma. Option #1: Go back to my Back-up (which I still have). Two problems with this. First, it seems apparent that the corruption was already present in the back-up. Second, I have added over 1,000 names and 50+ media since then. Reconstruction would be tortuous. Option #2: Since the tree was synced, download my Ancestry tree and work with that one (see below). My first concern is, could the corruption infect the Ancestry tree?? Secondly, as we know, the Ancestry Tree does not import everything from the FTM tree, in particular all the Fact Notes - and I have a LOT of them. Not to mention what has also been noted, how the AFT handles sources. For someone with a tree of, say, 7,000 people, the necessary clean-up would be somewhat manageable. Try 70,000 people!! At the moment, at the suggestion of the Associate at Ancestry, I HAVE downloaded my Ancestry tree and I'm working with it, but mostly as a Read-Only. Going back to my first concern, this tree still appears to be unstable. When I try to compact it, the first try ALWAYS causes FTM to crash "FTM has stopped working and needs to close". I frequently get "not responding" when I do try to enter data. I realize it usually means "I'm working at it, give me time" but that "time" is becoming more like 2 minutes! Yes, I do still keep the tree compacted to "0". Ancestry support has told me the tree is too big, and needs to be split. The problem is, it has already been split! This line is strictly from my grandfather (my mother's father). I have other trees for my other lines. Obviously, everyone in this line is related to each other. Also, because of the nature of things in Ontario, I have inter-marriages spread over all areas of the line. Where would I split? Then there is the question of relationships". If I split, the Relationship Chart would be useless. I frequently have relatives asking how THEY are related to another person in the tree, never mind how I am related. So, splitting this tree is not an option. Through following this Discussion List over the years, I know there are others who have "large" trees (70,000+ people w. 7,000+ media). I'm pleading for any help you can give me on what I can do. This is my life's work! :( Lorraine Sherren On Behalf Of BJ via Sent: 14 May 2015 18:25 What you describe is highly unusual and I'm not sure exactly why it is happening or what is causing it. Normally, you receive the message because the file was closed abruptly. In most cases the file is OK but on occasion there may be something wrong. Compacting the file normally corrects the condition but it doesn't seem to be doing any good in your case. First, it really doesn't matter whether you use the X in the upper right corner or using the File Exit. Both trigger the same activity which is to close the file and terminate FTM. Are you experiencing this problem with any other files? If you don't have another file, create a new small file and try opening and closing FTM with that file. Hopefully this will tell us whether the problem lies only with the file or whether there is something happening with FTM. I'm pretty sure it is simply the file but we need to eliminate any other potential sources of the problem. Assuming the problem lies with the file, Compacting the file normally corrects the problem but in your case it doesn't seem to do that. So the next step is to perform a "deep compacting of the file". You can do this by: 1. Opening FTM 2. Close the file currently open by clicking File, Close. This closes the file but leaves FTM running. FTM displays the screen for creating a new file. 3. Now you can run the "deep compact". To do this Press and hold Shift+Ctrl+Alt and click C (shift+ctrl+alt+c). FTM will open a dialog window which you will need to locate your file folder and select the file name. 4. Select the file name and click Open. 5. A dialog box opens, Click Compact. 6. Compacting will complete. 7. The New file window will display but in the lower left corner there should be a window listing files. Click your file and it should open, hopefully without any problems. 8. Exit FTM and reopen FTM. Again hopefully the file will open without any problems. If you still get the error message, 1. I would make a backup of the file. 2. I would then use File Restore to restore the backup with a new name. 3. If you have your file synched to an AMT, ensure you elect to synch the new restored file to the AMT. (note, this will break the sync between the old file and the AMT but that is OK.) 4. The restored file will be open. 5. Exit FTM and restart. It should open the restored file without any problems. 6. Check out the file. 7. You can then delete the old file. 8. If you want the new restored file to have the same name as the original file, you can use FTM to Rename the file. This will update all of the links to the media files using the proper folder and file name. If after all this, you are still experiencing the same problem with the file, the only other thing I can suggest is to: 1. Use FTM to create a New file. 2. When creating the new file, input only one individual using a name which is not in your original file. 3. With the newly created file open, Click File Merge. 4. Select your old file and complete the merge. This causes FTM to bring all individuals and information from the old file into the new file. 5. The newly merged file will be open. At this point you can select the "fictitious name" and delete it from the file. 6. Exit FTM and Restart FTM. 7. Using FTM, you can delete the old file and Rename the newly merged file using the original file name. 8. Unfortunately, using this technique will require you to upload the file to a new AMT file. Before uploading the new AMT, I would go online and delete the old AMT. You don't want an old tree sitting around and never being updated. Let us know the results. BJ

Have you done the deep compacting described by BJ below? You don't have to have your file open to perform this function.Open Family Tree Maker with no data file open. Perform the keystrokes given by BJ, then browse for the file that's giving you the problem. FTM will perform the deep compact on the file even though it isn't open. Once it has completed its task, then try opening your file, and let us know the results. Judy in Ocala On May 19, 2015, at 10:55 AM, Derk & Lorraine Sherren via <ftm-tech@rootsweb.com> wrote: I have a "large" tree (71,000 people) that has crashed so thoroughly that I can't open it. This tree has been nurtured through all versions of FTM going back to v. 3.3. It started failing two years ago, but I somehow got it up and running again. The last time I had to restore from my most recent back-up (your suggestion #2 below) which hopefully solved the problem. Now, because I can't open it, I can't perform any other tasks. Tech support at Ancestry asked me to send the tree to them so they could give it a go. After waiting a MONTH I got back to them only to find out they couldn't find the problem so gave up and called it "irreparable". I just couldn't accept that (they call themselves "experts"??) so I convinced them to look again. I'm still waiting. Here's my dilemma. Option #1: Go back to my Back-up (which I still have). Two problems with this. First, it seems apparent that the corruption was already present in the back-up. Second, I have added over 1,000 names and 50+ media since then. Reconstruction would be tortuous. Option #2: Since the tree was synced, download my Ancestry tree and work with that one (see below). My first concern is, could the corruption infect the Ancestry tree?? Secondly, as we know, the Ancestry Tree does not import everything from the FTM tree, in particular all the Fact Notes - and I have a LOT of them. Not to mention what has also been noted, how the AFT handles sources. For someone with a tree of, say, 7,000 people, the necessary clean-up would be somewhat manageable. Try 70,000 people!! At the moment, at the suggestion of the Associate at Ancestry, I HAVE downloaded my Ancestry tree and I'm working with it, but mostly as a Read-Only. Going back to my first concern, this tree still appears to be unstable. When I try to compact it, the first try ALWAYS causes FTM to crash "FTM has stopped working and needs to close". I frequently get "not responding" when I do try to enter data. I realize it usually means "I'm working at it, give me time" but that "time" is becoming more like 2 minutes! Yes, I do still keep the tree compacted to "0". Ancestry support has told me the tree is too big, and needs to be split. The problem is, it has already been split! This line is strictly from my grandfather (my mother's father). I have other trees for my other lines. Obviously, everyone in this line is related to each other. Also, because of the nature of things in Ontario, I have inter-marriages spread over all areas of the line. Where would I split? Then there is the question of relationships". If I split, the Relationship Chart would be useless. I frequently have relatives asking how THEY are related to another person in the tree, never mind how I am related. So, splitting this tree is not an option. Through following this Discussion List over the years, I know there are others who have "large" trees (70,000+ people w. 7,000+ media). I'm pleading for any help you can give me on what I can do. This is my life's work! :( Lorraine Sherren On Behalf Of BJ via Sent: 14 May 2015 18:25 What you describe is highly unusual and I'm not sure exactly why it is happening or what is causing it. Normally, you receive the message because the file was closed abruptly. In most cases the file is OK but on occasion there may be something wrong. Compacting the file normally corrects the condition but it doesn't seem to be doing any good in your case. First, it really doesn't matter whether you use the X in the upper right corner or using the File Exit. Both trigger the same activity which is to close the file and terminate FTM. Are you experiencing this problem with any other files? If you don't have another file, create a new small file and try opening and closing FTM with that file. Hopefully this will tell us whether the problem lies only with the file or whether there is something happening with FTM. I'm pretty sure it is simply the file but we need to eliminate any other potential sources of the problem. Assuming the problem lies with the file, Compacting the file normally corrects the problem but in your case it doesn't seem to do that. So the next step is to perform a "deep compacting of the file". You can do this by: 1. Opening FTM 2. Close the file currently open by clicking File, Close. This closes the file but leaves FTM running. FTM displays the screen for creating a new file. 3. Now you can run the "deep compact". To do this Press and hold Shift+Ctrl+Alt and click C (shift+ctrl+alt+c). FTM will open a dialog window which you will need to locate your file folder and select the file name. 4. Select the file name and click Open. 5. A dialog box opens, Click Compact. 6. Compacting will complete. 7. The New file window will display but in the lower left corner there should be a window listing files. Click your file and it should open, hopefully without any problems. 8. Exit FTM and reopen FTM. Again hopefully the file will open without any problems. If you still get the error message, 1. I would make a backup of the file. 2. I would then use File Restore to restore the backup with a new name. 3. If you have your file synched to an AMT, ensure you elect to synch the new restored file to the AMT. (note, this will break the sync between the old file and the AMT but that is OK.) 4. The restored file will be open. 5. Exit FTM and restart. It should open the restored file without any problems. 6. Check out the file. 7. You can then delete the old file. 8. If you want the new restored file to have the same name as the original file, you can use FTM to Rename the file. This will update all of the links to the media files using the proper folder and file name. If after all this, you are still experiencing the same problem with the file, the only other thing I can suggest is to: 1. Use FTM to create a New file. 2. When creating the new file, input only one individual using a name which is not in your original file. 3. With the newly created file open, Click File Merge. 4. Select your old file and complete the merge. This causes FTM to bring all individuals and information from the old file into the new file. 5. The newly merged file will be open. At this point you can select the "fictitious name" and delete it from the file. 6. Exit FTM and Restart FTM. 7. Using FTM, you can delete the old file and Rename the newly merged file using the original file name. 8. Unfortunately, using this technique will require you to upload the file to a new AMT file. Before uploading the new AMT, I would go online and delete the old AMT. You don't want an old tree sitting around and never being updated. Let us know the results. BJ ********************************** List information page http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Software/FTM-TECH.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FTM-TECH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message