I'm not altogether clear on what the problem specifically is. It isn't clearly spelled out in any post that I have. I only find peoples' efforts to answer a very vaguely defined question. Sometimes when you reinstall PAF you have to set up the options again. Make sure there isn't an option that changes how you do what you're trying to do. When you try to add a child to a single parent, the program makes you add a MARRIAGE, NOT a specific parent. Just go ahead and add the "marriage". You can put in the notes that there was no parent. If you know who the father was add him, and yes, that program and pretty much any other will force you to put that they married. Just put in the notes that they were nothing of the sort. Also put in the notes whatever you know about the father. In the case of my sister's mother in law, they only THINK they know who he was, and I've found no record of his existence so far. To add a parent, you have to right in the appropriate parent space and right click, and select, for instance, "add father". There isn't another way to do it. This could be specific to my version, which is the most recent, may or may not be what was on the CD you had lying around, and may or may not be what you previously were using. You can also click on the person, click add, and then click add father, or add mother, or whatever. Now, there are a variety of circumstances under which PAF will give the children the wrong surname, including the child took a different version of his name. Just switch it to the correct surname, spelling, whatever. That child and all his or her descendants will then have that surname. Now, the child had some name or other; if you don't know what it was, and you know the mother wasn't married, assume it took its mother's surname. Be sure to put all information you have in the notes, so that if someone in the future follows up on it they'll have a better chance of finding that child as an adult. (That child could take the name, "Sonofawanderer", for all you know. Which is my brother in law's actual surname, in Scots Gaelic.) Dora -----Original Message----- From: ovington.one Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 7:18 PM To: Lorraine ; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi lorraine I cant think what the problem might be but I can asure you that it can be done with or without a name -------- Original message -------- From: Lorraine <[email protected]> Date: 29/03/2014 00:07 (GMT+00:00) To: [email protected],[email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Seriously, it won't let me add a father!! I haven't a clue, as to what I've done! I have computers upstairs and downstairs, all containing my family tree, but this PAF won't let me add a father to this child! I thought, because it was a Mormon website, that they wouldn't allow me to add the father, but now I'm thinking it's something else!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 6:56 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with > children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

Thank you, I was able to download PAF-5 to my new computer by using this address http://www.ParowanSoftware.com/ Valerie

Lorraine you could use the term 'unknown' or any other term in the husband space. Jenny -----Original Message----- From: Lorraine Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 10:37 AM To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Nivard, I tried adding my daughter and her son to my family tree and it kept asking me for the husband's name!! There is no husband!! --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

Ken on the familysearch site there is a programme Ancestral Quest, very good, very similar to PAF, basic version is downloadable free and accepts the PAF gedcom + notes etc. It is compatible with Win 7, I had no problems upgrading from XP to 7 with this programme. You could download the free version and try it out before thinking of any upgrade as it does almost everything you need. An upgrade to version 14 (?) with all the extra bits is only a very minimal cost. Reviews are on the net under Ancestral Quest (Incline Software). A very satisfied user of this product.... Jenny -----Original Message----- From: Ken Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 9:46 AM To: Query Lanark Subject: [Lanark] PAF help I know there are a lot of knowledgeable PAF users out there and I hope one of you can help me. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

Hi Anne I hope I am not trying to teach grandma to suck eggs but the ordering of children is there under the edit menu, but I am sure you knew that, entering children out of order is often necessary as you find them out of order, PAF being a very old program it does not resort them automatically, however I do not find that a problem myself The other warnings you get I prefer to have in case I miss-key something, I seem to recall you can turn them off but have not looked at that for some years, not having had the need I can't comment on the match/merge as I don't use it but would want the warning in case I made a mistake, I find it better not to make the mistake than try and fix it after the event :-( I find the standard print routines cover most problems or potential problems, but on occasion create a custom report for certain things But at the end of the day, PAF is an old program so its not likely to be as up to date as the latest releases of FTM, Legacy etc, all of which I find to be a sledge hammer to crack a nut Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > PAF does have several really annoying features. > > One is that it doesn't like it if you enter children out of the order of > their birth. It would be good to be able to set preferences to reorder > them automatically rather than moan about it. > > Another is the dialog box that insists on popping up if you put a street > number in a place field. > > Another follows on from what is thinks is an error, for example a number > in a place field or a child born before its parents' marriage. There > should be a way of telling it that you have checked the information and > it is correct, so please don't flag it up as an error again.

Hi Lorraine It sounds like you have a corruption in the program I would back up your data I would then reinstall PAF and try again Someone posted this as a source for a PAF file http://www.ParowanSoftware.com/ Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 29/03/2014 00:28, Lorraine wrote: > I'm in a tizzy, because I can't figure out why I can't add names!! I > thought it was because I was using the Mormon PAF. and because they > didn't like having a child without the mother being married to the father! > > > Lorraine

I too am amazed at Lorraine's problem. I've been using PAF since about version 2 on a DOS machine in 1988. Now using PAF v 5.2.18.0 with Windows 7 on one machine and XP on others. I tried FTM but didn't like it, so reverted to using PAF. There are dozens of unmarried mothers in my database, some with the names of the fathers of their children and 'not married' in the marriage date field. I have also added many a new name where I previously had an unknown spouse. PAF does have several really annoying features. One is that it doesn't like it if you enter children out of the order of their birth. It would be good to be able to set preferences to reorder them automatically rather than moan about it. Another is the dialog box that insists on popping up if you put a street number in a place field.  Another follows on from what is thinks is an error, for example a number in a place field or a child born before its parents' marriage. There should be a way of telling it that you have checked the information and it is correct, so please don't flag it up as an error again. Then there is the match/merge feature. It should allow you to tell it that you have checked a particular suggested match, and that it is genuinely two different people, so that it does not present you with the same suggestion again. If anyone knows how to do any of these things, I'd love to know how, because with over 35,000 people in the database, the 'find errors' and 'match/merge' functions are effectively pretty useless. BTW I avoid using 'unknown' in the name field if I don't know who the person is, because the program uses the word 'unknown'. If forced to put in a name, I use 'nk' so that it is obvious (to me) what I have put in and what the program has put in automatically. Anne

Anne, I was about to respond to your message but read later mail and realize Nivard said almost exactly what I had intended to. Since PAF is a database, there is no "undo" function if your fingers slip. The extra checks about whether your "really" want to do the next step have more than once saved my bacon. I use the "match/merge" quite often, especially after importing gedcom files from other Listers. Except when I first put in my data back some time shortly after the Ice Age, I have not used the automatic system (and in fact I can't remember how to do that). But I use the dialogues that let me select an individual that I know is a duplicate, and then select a possible match in a variety of ways, and then merge them manually (after about 3 questions of whether I really, really want to do it). The reordering of children is then often required, but takes only a few seconds. Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nivard Ovington Sent: 29-Mar-14 3:20 AM To: Anne Burgess; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Anne I hope I am not trying to teach grandma to suck eggs but the ordering of children is there under the edit menu, but I am sure you knew that, entering children out of order is often necessary as you find them out of order, PAF being a very old program it does not resort them automatically, however I do not find that a problem myself The other warnings you get I prefer to have in case I miss-key something, I seem to recall you can turn them off but have not looked at that for some years, not having had the need I can't comment on the match/merge as I don't use it but would want the warning in case I made a mistake, I find it better not to make the mistake than try and fix it after the event :-( I find the standard print routines cover most problems or potential problems, but on occasion create a custom report for certain things But at the end of the day, PAF is an old program so its not likely to be as up to date as the latest releases of FTM, Legacy etc, all of which I find to be a sledge hammer to crack a nut Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > PAF does have several really annoying features. > > One is that it doesn't like it if you enter children out of the order of > their birth. It would be good to be able to set preferences to reorder > them automatically rather than moan about it. > > Another is the dialog box that insists on popping up if you put a street > number in a place field. > > Another follows on from what is thinks is an error, for example a number > in a place field or a child born before its parents' marriage. There > should be a way of telling it that you have checked the information and > it is correct, so please don't flag it up as an error again. ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Although it was supplied by the lds they didnt write it So if you enter a new female and then add a child it may ask who the father is but just ignore the request and continue Or give the name unknown or some other word

Hi lorraine I  cant think what the problem might be but I can asure you that it can be done with or without a name -------- Original message -------- From: Lorraine <[email protected]> Date: 29/03/2014 00:07 (GMT+00:00) To: [email protected],[email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Seriously, it won't let me add a father!!  I haven't a clue, as to what I've done!  I have computers upstairs and downstairs, all containing my family tree, but this PAF won't let me add a father to this child!  I thought, because it was a Mormon website, that they wouldn't allow me to add the father, but now I'm thinking it's something else!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 6:56 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Lorraine Leave the "husband" blank or add a note in place of a name As far as I remember it takes two to tango <g> You can add other children to the same mother using another father or the same blank as required Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 23:37, Lorraine wrote: > Nivard, > > I tried adding my daughter and her son to my family tree and it kept > asking me for the husband's name!! There is no husband!! > > Lorraine

Nivard, it's still not working!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: Lorraine <[email protected]>; lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 7:42 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine Leave the "husband" blank or add a note in place of a name As far as I remember it takes two to tango <g> You can add other children to the same mother using another father or the same blank as required Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 23:37, Lorraine wrote: > Nivard, > > I tried adding my daughter and her son to my family tree and it kept > asking me for the husband's name!! There is no husband!! > > Lorraine

Just to add to that The company who supply Ancestral Quest also supplied PAF originally to the LDS Ancestral Quest is a later updated version of PAF with more bells and whistles, it will import PAF files with no problems and would be instantly recognisable to a PAF user But PAF will work with Win7 as I said previously Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 23:22, Jennifer Myers wrote: > Ken on the familysearch site there is a programme Ancestral Quest, very > good, very similar to PAF, basic version > is downloadable free and accepts the PAF gedcom + notes etc. It is > compatible with Win 7, I had no problems > upgrading from XP to 7 with this programme. > > You could download the free version and try it out before thinking of any > upgrade as it does almost everything > you need. > > An upgrade to version 14 (?) with all the extra bits is only a very minimal > cost. > > Reviews are on the net under Ancestral Quest (Incline Software). > > A very satisfied user of this product.... > Jenny

Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine

Hi Ken You probably already have the most up to date version, however several people downloaded and keep the PAF file The following was posted just the other day ======================== I have a copy of PAF5EnglishSetup.exe posted on http://www.ParowanSoftware.com/ So anyone who wants to can download it. I plan to leave it there as long as I live. (I hope to be able to pay the monthly fees as long as I live). ======================== My latest version is 5.2.18.0 I use it on a Win 7 64 bit with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:46, Ken wrote: > I know there are a lot of knowledgeable PAF users out there and I hope one > of you can help me. > I finally gave up on my boat-anchor WinXP computer and today got a Win7. > I'm re-installing all my software (where compatible) and find that the > FamilySearch site no longer supports software downloads. > What do I do? My thoughts are: > . Re-install from my 15-yr old PAF5.2 (which is quite outdated)? > . Copy the most recent PAF exe file I downloaded a year or two ago from the > old to the new computer and then install from it? > Any other ideas - such as some site that will help someone who has been > using PAF since DOS days? > > Ken Harrison > North Vancouver, Canada

It doesn't work!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: ovington.one <[email protected]> To: Lorraine <[email protected]>; lanark <[email protected]> Cc: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 8:43 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Although it was supplied by the lds they didnt write it So if you enter a new female and then add a child it may ask who the father is but just ignore the request and continue Or give the name unknown or some other word

Thank you to all those who made suggestions for my action. I will try them all. As for Lorraine's problem, I am puzzled. One of your messages, Lorraine, said PAF would not let you add a husband, and yet your first message said there was no husband but PAF kept asking for his name. As a test, I just added a new female individual to my PAF data (I'm still on the old computer). Then I added a male child to that mother. PAF defaulted no surname and I was free to insert given and surname in the usual way. Then PAF asked for marriage data and I just saved the blank form. Next, I clicked on the blank husband's box and got the "Add new Individual" dialogue box, in which I placed the name of the father, with his name freeform. All three of them are there now. So I don't know what may be your problem. I have dozens of persons in my data called unknown. Every time I do so, PAF tells me this is not normal, but lets me proceed. Are you really using PAF? Now I have to remove the three of them!! Ken Harrison North Vancouver, Canada To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Seriously, it won't let me add a father!! I haven't a clue, as to what I've done! I have computers upstairs and downstairs, all containing my family tree, but this PAF won't let me add a father to this child! I thought, because it was a Mormon website, that they wouldn't allow me to add the father, but now I'm thinking it's something else!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 6:56 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I'm in a tizzy, because I can't figure out why I can't add names!! I thought it was because I was using the Mormon PAF. and because they didn't like having a child without the mother being married to the father! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: ovington.one <[email protected]> To: Lorraine <[email protected]>; lanark <[email protected]> Cc: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 8:19 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi lorraine I cant think what the problem might be but I can asure you that it can be done with or without a name -------- Original message -------- From: Lorraine <[email protected]> Date: 29/03/2014 00:07 (GMT+00:00) To: [email protected],[email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Seriously, it won't let me add a father!! I haven't a clue, as to what I've done! I have computers upstairs and downstairs, all containing my family tree, but this PAF won't let me add a father to this child! I thought, because it was a Mormon website, that they wouldn't allow me to add the father, but now I'm thinking it's something else!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 6:56 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Seriously, it won't let me add a father!! I haven't a clue, as to what I've done! I have computers upstairs and downstairs, all containing my family tree, but this PAF won't let me add a father to this child! I thought, because it was a Mormon website, that they wouldn't allow me to add the father, but now I'm thinking it's something else!! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington <[email protected]> To: lanark <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 6:56 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Hi Lorraine I don't know who gave you that idea but PAF handles it with no problems Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/03/2014 22:52, Lorraine wrote: > Ken, > I also found out that PAF doesn't support an unmarried mother with children. I'm not sure about what to do!! > > > Lorraine ------------------------------- WHEN REPLYING to a post please remember to snip most of the earlier message. Be sure the reply to address shows as [email protected] You may contact the List Admin at [email protected] or click on the following link to the list information page online: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

It won't let me do that! Lorraine -----Original Message----- From: Jennifer Myers <[email protected]> To: ovington.one <[email protected]>; lanark <[email protected]>; Lorraine <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 7:47 pm Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Lorraine you could use the term 'unknown' or any other term in the husband space. Jenny -----Original Message----- From: Lorraine Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 10:37 AM To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] PAF help Nivard, I tried adding my daughter and her son to my family tree and it kept asking me for the husband's name!! There is no husband!! --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com