I think you asked is there a reason to prefer CD-RW over a floppy for back-ups: The answer is Floppies hold 1.44 MB, CD's hold 700 MB. Also Floppies are magnetic so a magnet can erase them, CDs are optical it would take a laser to erase them. I save my files like JONES2005-01-01 and then JONES2005-01-02, etc. They sort nicely and I can tell by the title what and when it was. > From: "LaVerne T. Boehmke" <ltboehmke@sbcglobal.net> > Date: 2005/03/09 Wed PM 02:42:03 EST > To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [PAF-5] CD and/or floppy > > I have been reading PAF5-USERS archives regarding backups, but I still have questions. > > When I backup to a CD-RW how often can that disk be used? My impression is that my 3347 name data base is rewritten on a new section of the disk. > > I learned from this list that before using a floppy, either brand new or used, I should do a scan to see if it is OK. Can a CD-RW be scanned? > > Does there seem to be a good reason to prefer one over the other for backups? > > I should add that I send my whole database to my son's computer ever so often, but not after each addition. Also from time to time I store a floppy with my daughters who live in other towns. > > > LaVerne, > > Researching BACHMANN, BOEHMKE, HEMMANN, HEINEMANN, LANDL, LINHARDT, OTTO, PIETSCHMANN, ROEHL, SEHLER, TELLE, ZACHARIAE, ZEITLER > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > Having trouble with the software? Check PAF 5.x Information > http://www.ausbdm.org/p5uinfo.php > >

At 02:09 PM 3/9/2005, alanjones10@cox.net wrote: >I think you asked is there a reason to prefer CD-RW over a floppy for >back-ups: > >The answer is Floppies hold 1.44 MB, CD's hold 700 MB. >Also Floppies are magnetic so a magnet can erase them, CDs are optical it >would take a laser to erase them. > >I save my files like JONES2005-01-01 and then JONES2005-01-02, etc. They >sort nicely and I can tell by the title what and when it was. > > This is an excellent naming convention. I would even insert an underscore between the file name and the date: Jones_2005-01-02 Regarding floppies vs CD's, there is a concern that I have already encountered. CD devices have become the target of virus creators. There is a known virus out there now that causes a CD device to lock up, and there are other viruses that cause CD devices to force your system to reboot every time you try to eject some kinds of CDs. Also, it seems wasteful to backup a 10Mb PAF file on a CD, so there is a tendency to backup many versions on the same CD. That can be a disaster if the CD becomes unreadable because you can lose a whole lot of backups all at once. Since a CD does not come in a permanent protective case as does a floppy, it is very easy to scratch one and render it unreadable. Furthermore, there are several different CD read/write formats. And you have the issue of leaving the CD open for adding more files to it or closing it off to further additions. All these issues make CD's something that can and will cause confusion. So what's the best way to backup? It really depends on how you work, how big your file is, and what kind of system or systems you use. I recommend using a mixture of several different methods to cover your bases. The little USB thumb drives (flash drives) are coming down in price so much that I strongly recommend using them. Unfortunately they are hard to label since they are so tiny, but a 64Mb device can be purchased for under $20 in quantity. The major advantage is that there are NO moving parts and they are fast and reusable. I am considering buying them in bulk and making them available to members of the Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group at cost. Richard Rands

Hi LaVerne. The topic of backups is not trivial and there have been long discussions of the ins and outs of this vital topic. If I read between the lines in your message, it sounds like you backup your file each time with a different file name so that it is written on a new section of the disk. The most effective system is to append the current date to the data base name each time you backup so that you have a chronological progression of your changes. If you do not change the name, then each time you backup, the file (for all practical purposes) overwrites the previous copy. In many cases it doesn't actually overwrite the physical space on the disk. It marks the space used by the old copy as "available for use" in the directory, and creates a new entry in the directory that points to the space where the new copy is physically located. This file space management methodology is common for any type of re-writable storage whether it is your hard drive, a floppy diskette, or a CD-RW. Imagine a CD-RW disk that contains a copy of your 3347 name data base called LaVerne. The physical space that your file occupies may or may not be surrounded by other files. Suppose you add 20 more names with appropriate sources and notes which makes the file somewhat larger. If you backup the new data base with the same name of LaVerne, it will no longer fit in the space it has allocated on the CD. So your computer's file management system goes through a complicated routine to determine how to squeeze the new file into the available unused space on the disk. In some cases it may find an open slot big enough for the new file, in which case it will use that and flag the old space as available space for some other file. If it cannot find a contiguous amount of space for the whole file, it will break it up into pieces and spread it out over several slots and link them all together in the directory. These disparate pieces of a file are called "extents." If a file is broken into pieces, it takes longer for the computer to read it (because it has to chase all over the place to find what it is looking for), and it is more vulnerable to corruption (if one extent is clobbered, the whole file is lost). This whole problem is what has led to the need for "defragmentation" of hard drives in order to improve your computer's performance. In any case, you should always assign a new name (by adding the date) to your backups so that your system is not "over writing" the old version. I hope this helps. Richard Rands At 11:42 AM 3/9/2005 -0800, LaVerne T. Boehmke wrote: >I have been reading PAF5-USERS archives regarding backups, but I still >have questions. > >When I backup to a CD-RW how often can that disk be used? My impression is >that my 3347 name data base is rewritten on a new section of the disk. > >I learned from this list that before using a floppy, either brand new or >used, I should do a scan to see if it is OK. Can a CD-RW be scanned? > >Does there seem to be a good reason to prefer one over the other for backups? > >I should add that I send my whole database to my son's computer ever so >often, but not after each addition. Also from time to time I store a >floppy with my daughters who live in other towns. > > >LaVerne, > >Researching BACHMANN, BOEHMKE, HEMMANN, HEINEMANN, LANDL, LINHARDT, OTTO, >PIETSCHMANN, ROEHL, SEHLER, TELLE, ZACHARIAE, ZEITLER > > >==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== >Having trouble with the software? Check PAF 5.x Information >http://www.ausbdm.org/p5uinfo.php

I have been reading PAF5-USERS archives regarding backups, but I still have questions. When I backup to a CD-RW how often can that disk be used? My impression is that my 3347 name data base is rewritten on a new section of the disk. I learned from this list that before using a floppy, either brand new or used, I should do a scan to see if it is OK. Can a CD-RW be scanned? Does there seem to be a good reason to prefer one over the other for backups? I should add that I send my whole database to my son's computer ever so often, but not after each addition. Also from time to time I store a floppy with my daughters who live in other towns. LaVerne, Researching BACHMANN, BOEHMKE, HEMMANN, HEINEMANN, LANDL, LINHARDT, OTTO, PIETSCHMANN, ROEHL, SEHLER, TELLE, ZACHARIAE, ZEITLER

Could it be ERIE, Erie County, Pennsylvania? Here is the place I go to find out what county a city/town is in: http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/townco.cgi (If you type in the Town Name without the State Abbreviation, it will return results of every occurrence of that city throughout the USA. ====== :-) Jeannie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lorin Lund" <wbs@infowest.com> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 8:26 PM Subject: Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me | I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up | old location names that are not currently used. | | I'm looking for Era, PA. | | We have that as the birth place of | Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 | | His mother died while crossing the plains. His father | handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. | | The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but | we want to find the birth mother too. | | ______________________________

That's a good site if the town exists, but it won't bring up Leahy (sometimes spelled Leahey) Nebraska, where my mother was born. Lila ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeannie" <westfieldfleck-jhf@comcast.net> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, 09 March 2005 7:58 AM Subject: [PAF-5] Re: Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me > > Could it be ERIE, Erie County, Pennsylvania? > Here is the place I go to find out what county a city/town is in: > http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/townco.cgi > (If you type in the Town Name without the State Abbreviation, > it will return results of every occurrence of that city throughout > the USA. > ====== > :-) Jeannie > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lorin Lund" <wbs@infowest.com> > To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 8:26 PM > Subject: Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me > > | I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up > | old location names that are not currently used. > | > | I'm looking for Era, PA. > | > | We have that as the birth place of > | Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 > | > | His mother died while crossing the plains. His father > | handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. > | > | The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but > | we want to find the birth mother too. > | > | ______________________________ > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service > http://www.familysearch.org/ > >

Could it be Erie PA??? juanita > One such website is > http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form > But it does not seem to find ERA PA either. > Where did you get that name? Could it be mispelled? > Or something other than a legal community? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lorin Lund [mailto:wbs@infowest.com] > Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 5:26 PM > To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [PAF-5] Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me > > > I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up > old location names that are not currently used. > > I'm looking for Era, PA. > > We have that as the birth place of > Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 > > His mother died while crossing the plains. His father > handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. > > The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but > we want to find the birth mother too.

>I'm looking for Era, PA. I checked AniMap Plus which includes names of places no longer in existence, and I see no Era. I also checked "Pennsylvania Line, a Research Guide to Pennsylvania Genealogy and Local History," Fourth ed., compiled by Southwest Pennsylvania Genealogical Services, 1990. It has 50 pages in very small print of "Cities, Boroughs and Villages of Pennsylvania in 1900," and it has no Era. It has an Erb. I wonder of "Era" was actually "Erie." If your source was a handwritten document, and the "ie" of Erie was written close together and closed at the top rather than stretched out, those two letters could look like an "a." Do you know the route they took? Did they pass through or near Erie? Joan Lowrey

I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up old location names that are not currently used. I'm looking for Era, PA. We have that as the birth place of Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 His mother died while crossing the plains. His father handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but we want to find the birth mother too.

Here is the link to Pennsylvania Ghost towns http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/pa/pa.html Alan Jones alanjones10@cox.net Mission Viejo, California, USA -----Original Message----- From: Lorin Lund [mailto:wbs@infowest.com] Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 5:26 PM To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PAF-5] Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up old location names that are not currently used. I'm looking for Era, PA. We have that as the birth place of Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 His mother died while crossing the plains. His father handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but we want to find the birth mother too. ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service http://www.familysearch.org/

One such website is http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form But it does not seem to find ERA PA either. Where did you get that name? Could it be mispelled? Or something other than a legal community? Alan Jones alanjones10@cox.net Mission Viejo, California, USA -----Original Message----- From: Lorin Lund [mailto:wbs@infowest.com] Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 5:26 PM To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PAF-5] Not a PAF issue but ... maybe someone can help me I recall hearing or reading about a web site for looking up old location names that are not currently used. I'm looking for Era, PA. We have that as the birth place of Meredith /Fisk/ 26 Jan 1845 His mother died while crossing the plains. His father handed the baby over to someone else and turned back. The adoptive parents were Ira Ames and Catherine Slayson but we want to find the birth mother too. ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service http://www.familysearch.org/

But you can compress the list to show only the selections. Walt ----- Original Message ----- From: <Nhelbert@aol.com> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 4:18 PM Subject: [PAF-5] Searching First Names > After proceeding through the steps suggested by rrands at cfmc.com, you > will have arrows by each name in the original name list that has the first > name > you want. There will not be a separate, new list. > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > PAF-5-USERS Mailing List > http://www.ausbdm.org/p5uindex.php > >

After proceeding through the steps suggested by rrands at cfmc.com, you will have arrows by each name in the original name list that has the first name you want. There will not be a separate, new list.

Did you click the "next" button under filtered lists to move on to the next name if you didn't put a check mark to "Show results only"? Or did you put a check mark in "Show results only" under the filtered lists? If you put a check mark there you should see all your "Sandra" names. Sandra McDonald >X-Message: #2 >Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2005 13:28:39 -0700 >From: Charlotte Geier <chargerfree@mindspring.com> >To: PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com >Message-ID: <422621F7.9080709@mindspring.com> >Subject: Can one Search on first names >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed; x-Spamnix=checked >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >Richard Rands and Kathy Campbell both offered the Advanced Focus Filter >for given names containing the first name as a method to search for >someone whose given name one knows, but whose surname escapes memory. > >I have been back into PAF and tried this filter several times, and it does >not turn up the given name though I know it is in the database. I know >because I remembered the husband's name, and found my "missing person", >but the focus filter did not find her. I had it set to Advanced Focus >Filter->Relationship Filter = All, ->Define -> Field Filtering Name-> >Given Names Only -> matches ->Sandra. Out of a database of nearly 5400 >names, I got only ONE RETURN, and it was not the one I was looking for and >found in my alternate route through recalling her husband's name. But >what if I had not recalled her husband's name? > >Can someone explain to me why my search did not return ALL women with the >given name of Sandra? > >Thanks, > >Charlotte Geier

By using the restriction of "matches" you will exclude all Sandras that also have middle names entered. For example, I did the same search looking for my first name. If I put in matches Gary I got zero returns. If I enteredGary Robert I received one - me. My guess is that you need to use "contains" rather than "matches". Gary Templeman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charlotte Geier" <chargerfree@mindspring.com> To: <PAF-5-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 12:28 PM Subject: [PAF-5] Can one Search on first names > Richard Rands and Kathy Campbell both offered the Advanced Focus Filter > for given names containing the first name as a method to search for > someone whose given name one knows, but whose surname escapes memory. > > I have been back into PAF and tried this filter several times, and it > does not turn up the given name though I know it is in the database. I > know because I remembered the husband's name, and found my "missing > person", but the focus filter did not find her. I had it set to > Advanced Focus Filter->Relationship Filter = All, ->Define -> Field > Filtering Name-> Given Names Only -> matches ->Sandra. Out of a > database of nearly 5400 names, I got only ONE RETURN, and it was not the > one I was looking for and found in my alternate route through recalling > her husband's name. But what if I had not recalled her husband's name? > > Can someone explain to me why my search did not return ALL women with > the given name of Sandra? > > Thanks, > > Charlotte Geier > > Richard Rands wrote: > > > Yes there is. > > Search>Advanced Focus/Filter>Field Filter Define>Name>Given Names > > Only> Contains> "the first name" > > > > Richard Rands > > > > > > At 08:59 AM 3/1/2005 -0700, Charlotte Geier wrote: > > > >> Does anyone know of a way to search in PAF for an individual by the > >> first names? I'm particularly interested in being able to locate a > >> female within the database; but say for instance, I have forgotten > >> her married name and her maiden name, yet easily recall her given name. > >> (This could be true for a man as well, but compounded with married > >> females.) Is there a simple method to search on the first name only? > > > > > > > ==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== > PAF-5-USERS Mailing List Search > http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=PAF-5-USERS >

You can also: 'Ctrl' 'f' ['f' for 'find' -- easy to remember] click the 'define' button highlight 'name' (first item on the list) press the '>' select 'given names only' change 'matches' to 'contains' and type in the name or names you wish to locate This accomplishes the same thing as the previously mentioned methods. I guess the one to use depends on what buttons you are used to pressing! Ellen

Richard Rands and Kathy Campbell both offered the Advanced Focus Filter for given names containing the first name as a method to search for someone whose given name one knows, but whose surname escapes memory. I have been back into PAF and tried this filter several times, and it does not turn up the given name though I know it is in the database. I know because I remembered the husband's name, and found my "missing person", but the focus filter did not find her. I had it set to Advanced Focus Filter->Relationship Filter = All, ->Define -> Field Filtering Name-> Given Names Only -> matches ->Sandra. Out of a database of nearly 5400 names, I got only ONE RETURN, and it was not the one I was looking for and found in my alternate route through recalling her husband's name. But what if I had not recalled her husband's name? Can someone explain to me why my search did not return ALL women with the given name of Sandra? Thanks, Charlotte Geier Richard Rands wrote: > Yes there is. > Search>Advanced Focus/Filter>Field Filter Define>Name>Given Names > Only> Contains> "the first name" > > Richard Rands > > > At 08:59 AM 3/1/2005 -0700, Charlotte Geier wrote: > >> Does anyone know of a way to search in PAF for an individual by the >> first names? I'm particularly interested in being able to locate a >> female within the database; but say for instance, I have forgotten >> her married name and her maiden name, yet easily recall her given name. >> (This could be true for a man as well, but compounded with married >> females.) Is there a simple method to search on the first name only? > >

Does anyone know of a way to search in PAF for an individual by the first names? I'm particularly interested in being able to locate a female within the database; but say for instance, I have forgotten her married name and her maiden name, yet easily recall her given name. (This could be true for a man as well, but compounded with married females.) Is there a simple method to search on the first name only? Yes, you can do it by using the advanced search feature. 1 - Click on search on your tool bar across the top of main screen 2 - Click on Advanced Focus/Filter 3 - Click on define 4 - Click on Name It will bring up the option of searching for surname, given names, or surname only OR given names only. On the drop down menu, you can click on different options - you may want either matches, or if you want someone and you remember only their middle name, say, you can click on contains, and then you just type in the search criteria. I hope I haven't confused you. Kathy

Does anyone know of a way to search in PAF for an individual by the first names? I'm particularly interested in being able to locate a female within the database; but say for instance, I have forgotten her married name and her maiden name, yet easily recall her given name. (This could be true for a man as well, but compounded with married females.) Is there a simple method to search on the first name only?

Yes there is. Search>Advanced Focus/Filter>Field Filter Define>Name>Given Names Only> Contains> "the first name" Richard Rands At 08:59 AM 3/1/2005 -0700, Charlotte Geier wrote: >Does anyone know of a way to search in PAF for an individual by the first >names? I'm particularly interested in being able to locate a female >within the database; but say for instance, I have forgotten her married >name and her maiden name, yet easily recall her given name. >(This could be true for a man as well, but compounded with married >females.) Is there a simple method to search on the first name only? > > >==== PAF-5-USERS Mailing List ==== >RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: >Connecting the World One GEDCOM at a Time >http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/