Wow, that makes sense, also, Brian. Let me just say a huge thanks to all who helped me on this. Although I am not certain which of the possible ways the "stray" file got on my desktop, I have it all resolved now. Thankfully, attempting to print a chart from Charting Companion yesterday made me aware that there was even "such a thing" as more than one file. I am 99.9% (and that's good enough for me) that the only time I opened that stray file was when I input my FIL death info. Therefore, I went into Legacy and told it to open the file from C:\Legacy\Data, and everything was there EXCEPT my FIL death info. I made sure that C:\Legacy\Data is set as the default location for my family file. With that file open, I re-input the FIL info. I chose to backup to .zip, as I always do when exiting. I then deleted the .zip files from the previous three days, and I deleted that evil stray file, con mucho gusto. I am so glad I figured out what was happening before I had two files that needed to be merged. To answer my own question at the beginning of these many posts, what in the world made me think I could use a robust software program like Legacy? It's only because there are brilliant people out there (in this group) who are willing to hold the hand of someone like myself. Thank you, all.
On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 9:37 AM, Brian/Support <br...@legacyfamilytree.com> wrote: > Another possibility Jenny does not mention for what is on your desktop. > When windows added the ability to access .zip condensed files Microsoft > decided to treat all .zip files as folders. In one of the many posts > about this problem I think Barbara mentioned that the item on her > desktop was a folder with her family file name. That "folder" could be a > backup familyfile.zip file which would be one of her backups but would > not necessarily be the most recent backup. > > If she opened the family file she found inside the folder of the same > name then Windows did two things: > > 1. Windows unzipped the condensed file from the .zip "folder" to make it > a full .fdb file. > 2. This extracted family file would be stored in a Windows temp folder > and that is where Legacy would be told the file was located. > > Both of these steps would be done in the background with no warning to > the user. All the edits Barbara did on that file in the temporary > windows folder would only be recorded in that file. Windows is not smart > enough to update the content of that .zip folder on the desktop with the > revised copy of the Family file when Barbara finished the edits so now > the family file in the temp folder is the only file with her edits. If > Barbara did a new backup of her family file that would be stored in > familyfile.zip with the date of her Legacy session but unless she also > stored that on her desktop it is in an unknown folder, possibly even in > the temp folder where the unzipped file she opened is located. > > Every time Barbara opened the family file inside that backup "folder" > She would see the original data without the edits she had made in > earlier sessions. > > This is one of the common reasons why people report that Legacy has > "lost" the changes they made. > > I do have Barbara's original email and will be responding to her > directly once I have had time to analyse her somewhat confusing message. > > Brian > Customer Support > Millennia Corporation > br...@legacyfamilytree.com > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com > > On 25/01/2016 09:57, Jenny M Benson wrote: > > On 25/01/2016 14:07, Barbara Ford wrote: > >> So, asking a simplistic basic question here, as I try to figure out > >> how this happened, and before I take my nervous self to the computer > >> this morning to try to "fix" this: Does it appear that I in effect > >> have two installations of Legacy on my computer (one that I access > >> through the Legacy icon, the one I THOUGHT I always used), and the > >> other that somehow showed up as a link on my desktop that I must have > >> used to access the program at least once, like three days ago when I > >> input my FIL information). Because if it's just two ways to access > >> the same program, why wouldn't it save all the data, no matter which > >> location I accessed the program from? > > > > > > You probably don't have two installations of Legacy, just two copies of > > your Family File. If you double-click on a Family File in Windows > > Explorer or on the Desktop Legacy will open and show that file. You > > could have several copies of the same Family File stored in different > > places and double-clicking any of them would open the program with that > > particular copy of the file showing. When you are working on the file, > > the data you enter will be automatically saved to that same file, > > wherever it is saved. > > > > You have used several different terms for what is stored on your > > desktop. What you are seeing could be a Family File, could be a folder > > containing a Family File (I don't think it is), or could be a shortcut > > to a Family File which is stored somewhere else on your computer. If it > > was a shortcut the icon would include a little curved arrow. > > > > It is most likely a copy of your Family File. A likely way it ended up > > on your desktop is that you maybe had some computer trouble at some time > > and someone (you or a helper) copied your family file to the desktop so > > it would be "safe" and not get removed while work was being done to fix > > your computer. > > > > Back a few years when you were regularly using Legacy, how did you open > > the program and your Family File? I expect you either opened the Legacy > > program and your Family File was loaded automatically, or you located > > the Family File and double-clicked on it. That's fine! But if at some > > time recently you opened the program by double-clicking on a Family File > > stored on your desktop, Legacy might have "remembered" that and opened > > the same file next time. That depends on how your options are set up, > > but many people have Legacy set up to automatically load the last Family > > File they worked on. > > > > I hope this clarifies the situation for you. > > > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ > > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ > > Online technical support: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com > > Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and > on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). 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