Hi Julie, Family Tree Maker is one of the programs that opens gedcoms; it turns them into .FTW files. Usually throws up a few errors in my experience but the data seems to import well. I imagine other geneology files can pull the same trick. Windows notepad or any other ASCII text editor will also open them but all you get is the flat file listing with one line per record field which takes hours of puzzling to work out. Example for a search on John DOE dying in the States around 1960 is 0 HEAD 1 SOUR SSDI 2 VERS 2.2 2 NAME U.S. Social Security Death Index 2 CORP The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 3 ADDR 50 East North Temple Street 4 CONT Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 2 DATA U.S. Social Security Death Index 3 DATE 30 Sep 2000 3 COPR The information in this file is from the United States government 4 CONT records and is in the public domain. 4 CONT No claim to copyright is expressed or implied. 1 DEST PAF 1 DATE 8 FEB 2003 2 TIME 17:43:52 1 FILE FILENAME.ged 1 GEDC 2 VERS 5.5 2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED 1 CHAR ANSEL 1 SUBM @SUB01@ 1 SUBN @N01@ 0 @SUB01@ SUBM 1 NAME Created by FamilySearch (TM) Internet Genealogy Service 1 ADDR 50 East North Temple Street 2 CONT Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 0 @S01@ SOUR 1 AUTH The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1 TITL U.S. Social Security Death Index 1 PUBL This data is only accurate as of 30 Sep 2000 1 REPO @R01@ 0 @R01@ REPO 1 NAME Family History Library 1 ADDR 35 N West Temple Street 2 CONT Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA 0 @N01@ SUBN 1 DESC 1 1 ORDI N 0 @I1@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 01 APR 1920 2 PLAC California 1 DEAT 2 DATE SEP 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 549-01-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 @I2@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 12 FEB 1920 2 PLAC Texas 1 DEAT 2 DATE AUG 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 464-10-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 @I3@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 23 JAN 1920 2 PLAC Kentucky 1 DEAT 2 DATE SEP 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 400-26-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 @I4@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 18 JAN 1920 2 PLAC Tennessee 1 DEAT 2 DATE NOV 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 409-24-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 @I5@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 01 MAY 1910 2 PLAC Oklahoma 1 DEAT 2 DATE JUL 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 444-09-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 @I6@ INDI 1 NAME John /DOE/ 2 GIVN John 2 SURN DOE 1 BIRT 2 DATE 13 NOV 1910 2 PLAC Virginia 1 DEAT 2 DATE OCT 1960 1 NOTE Social Security Number: 227-12-XXXX 1 NOTE The state listed in the birth locality field 2 CONT is where the Social Security Number was issued. 1 SOUR @S01@ 0 TRLR HTH John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Martin" <julie@housemartin.f9.co.uk> To: <PENFOLD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 7:05 PM Subject: [Penfold] Gedcom files > Hi All > > Can anyone tell me how I open GedCOM files? I have had a number sent to > me now with interesting sounding information in them but I cannot open > them. Do I need any special software? > > Hope someone can help. > > Julie Martin > > > ==== PENFOLD Mailing List ==== > Researching: Penfold, Pennifold, Penford and other variants > Email addresses subscribed to list: 145 > Penfold Resource Website: http://member.telpacific.com.au/kylee/penfold_genealogy/ > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >