Genealogy Chat

I do, Jean, I do ... :-) (Is that Bryan's favourite song ? ) Oh, bring back the Amstrad word processor, I say. At least I had something to type on then, instead of staring at a non-doing anything monitor when the computer was unhappy! Joy

Errol Thanks so much for your reply. Going away again to play with the programme and see if I can get it to work. Joy.... thanks for your explanation.... I think. Seems like we would be in the dunces class for IT. Like me you seem to go along on a wing and a prayer lol Jean x.

Maid Marion - if you open a file from CD and then select Save As from the File menu you can choose to save it back to your hard drive and it will be fine then. For a complete folder, just drag it across to wherever you want it on your hard drive. I'll be back in a bit - will take me a while to type out Outlook Express instructions.

Oh good, don't need to worry about the iso thingy then ... :-) So ... if the hard drive disc thing should go awol again, and I need to import back the my documents, is it straightforward to just uncheck the read only and do that ? * just beginning to get sad about all those emails lost forever :-( * Joy

Maid Marion - you do not need to save the ISO. The CD will be read only because once you have 'finalised' the disk no more data can be written to it. In order to alter a file you need to copy it back across to your hard drive. If you give me a wee bit I will write out the Outlook Express Instructions.

Please would you put the step by step guide to backing up Outlook Express including addresses on here, because I am sure it would be useful to others, too, and in a PM then I can print it, thanks. Excuse going off topic - how is the baby doing, Shaz ? Jean - I *somehow* manage to burn the my documents just by keeping on clicking on next. Though at the end it says what would you like to do next? and I feel like typing something like well, a cup of tea would be nice ... :-) However, then it says at the end something about do I want to save an iso or something. Well, I've no idea what that is, so I say no. - if in doubt leave it out, as the saying goes! Then I put the CD in, hoping the my documents is there, and I check that a most recently done thing is there. Something I don't understand is that what is on CD is 'read only'. Not to worry though, there's lots of things I don't understand with computers, such as 'stick'. ... :-) Joy

The first thing Jean is to understand the two different types of disk. CD-R is a recordable disk which means it cannot be used over and over again. CD-RW is a rewritable disk which means it can be re-recorded ad infinitum (well in theory although they do have a limited lifespan in reality) Think of it like this - CD-R is an LP record (showing my age) so once it is recorded that is that. CD-RW is a cassette tape so can be used over and over. If you are using CD-R it makes sense to amass enough data/files to fill a whole disk. Although I am not familiar with Sonic, most burning programmes work in a similar way. You need to tell it you are creating a data disk and then there should be step by step instructions - in the majority of cases you can probably accept the default settings.

I also burn my family history to CD on a regular basis and make several copies. One goes to a neighbour and others to interested cousins around the world. That way, I've a fairly recent back up if the worst happens and the house burns down or someone breaks in, steals the computer and vandalises my office, etc. Sue

Oh gawd.... I am way out of touch. I have no idea what this stick thingy is but I will certainly be investing in one. I have some of my data backed up on floppy discs. I have now had a CD RW installed on my computer and would like to back up using this. Trouble is I haven't a clue how to burn a disc. My grandson has installed something called Sonic and then ran off saying you're alright now Nan... it's easy.. EASY, EASY I have read this thread and then sat for over 2 hours trying to burn a disc.... hopeless...can't get past the first page of instructions. Can anyone explain to an idiot the Idiots Guide to Burning a CD. Thanks in advance. Jean x.

hi errol i regularly disc clean and i defragged two weeks ago. i have even unistalled some programs that i dont even use. The only thing i have never done (which I know is stupid and you are all going to shout at me) is when a program backs up a file automatically eg FTM, i never download on to a disc. So you can imagine how backup files i still have on my computer. I also have a lot of images of my artwork on files, which take up alot of space so i could put them on a disc. I will start tonight when i get home from work. I'll let you know how i get on. thanks for your kind offer. cheers Sylviax

Sylvia - now may be a good time to perform a disk cleanup and a defrag - let me know if you need help with these tasks

errol cheers for that...I wasn't sure as it has only just started to slow a bit..it must be the amount of files i have collected over the years and all the back files i haven't downloaded on to disc. I'll think i'll have to do a brutal clean up..... thanks sylviax

Shaz if you have any questions or need a step by step idiot's guide (and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am NOT calling you an idiot lol) give me a shout or PM me

Ok... this started out to be a good idea and then I realised it wasnt good it was basically a Must Do... Then just when I felt brave enough to start it all got confusing and scary and everyone is talking in another language... lol Ok I am going to print this out and read it and let it sink in then take it from there... Phew!! My pregnancy brain is still with me and I cant take anything in x

Sylvia - the speed of your PC will have nothing to do with the health of the PSU - basically it is either working or it isn't! Maid Marion - I can send you a step by step guide to backing up Outlook Express including addresses if you need it (or post it here if people would find it useful).

Thanks, Brian. I have Outlook Express. I'll read this and try to understand it when am at home later. Joy

I'll try posting it here first so it's generally available: All of the bits in Outlook (emails, calendar, contacts etc.) are stored in a single PST file, usually called outlook.pst. To be able to see it you will need to make sure that hidden files and folders are visible. To do this, go to My Computer, and the tools menu; select Folder Options, and on the View tab, there will be an option to show hidden files and folders. Once this is on, you need to browse through several folders. The PST file is normally located in C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\ where <Username> is the name of the person who is logged on to Windows. There may be several files, but normally only one or two PST files, Outlook and possibly Archive. You can only copy PST files when Outlook is closed. If you would like a way to automate this, there is an add on available from Microsoft. It works on any version of Outlook, from 2000 onwards. http://www.microsoft(.)com/downloads/details(.)aspx?FamilyID=8b081f3a-b7d0-4b16-b8af-5a6322f4fd01&DisplayLang=en REMOVE THE TWO SETS OF BRACKETS This will give you a Backup option on the File menu in Outlook, and you can set it to remind you to back up the PST, and when you close Outlook it will do so. By default it makes a copy of the PST in the same folder as the original, which is not very useful. It is probably better to copy it to somewhere else on the hard drive, or better still somewhere off the hard drive completely. Outlook Express is even more convoluted I am afraid. The files for all the emails are held in C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{E90E1E32-9595-4BA8-9707-BDC5BAEBF5F9}\Microsoft\Outlook Express\, where again <Username> is the name of whoever is logged on, and {E90E1E32-9595-4BA8-9707-BDC5BAEBF5F9} is any hexadecimal string. The files are .dbx, and you should have one for each folder in Outlook Express. This will not include the address book, which it is best to export manually, from the folder. It is important that no PST or DBX file should become bigger than 2GB – if you get close to that size, make a new one, because it will cause a lot of problems.

So may I send you a PM, please, Brian, so you can tell me more about it?... like, how do I save the emails to my documents? Thanks. Joy

Maid Marian: You can tell it where to back the e-mail files up to. Simplest is to back them up to My Documents then backup My Documents, which will then contain all your data, to whatever medium (CD, memory stick, second computer, or whtever) that you choose.

Phewwwww, All this technical talk has given me a headache. I am still on pointy stick and a piece of wax!!!!!! No, being serious, I keep NOTHING on my computer,a dynasaur I may be, but I just use the computer like I would use a car, to get from A to B.