Lost my media and need to re-export from Ancestry = nightmare

RootsMagic
, ,
21

Hi again! Some answers and I hope I’m interpreting your questions correctly. Please feel free to ask for clarification if anything I am saying doesn’t make sense.

Unfortunately I learned that lesson the hard way too, although with a much smaller tree than what you are dealing with. You should be able to keep your existing folder structure (by surname), because RootsMagic will link the media files using the filename.

Unfortunately, the way Ancestry names files when you download them is pretty terrible.

I assume you mean to create a new database by importing a GEDCom file? If it has the old names for the media files, you might first try running the “Fix Broken Links” command in RootsMagic after you create the new database. RM will search for and re-link the files based on the file name. If that works for even a percentage of your files, it could save you a lot of work.

And yes, there are features that allow you to compare databases and copy things from one database to another. I’m haven’t used those much, though, so hopefully others can fill you in on the details.

I usually use the Share => Download command to get the image of the record, then save it in the proper folder using my naming convention. I usually prefer to download JPGs rather than PDFs if they are available. That said, if I’m feeling lazy, I will occasionally just download them using TreeShare. That’s not necessarily easier in the long run, though, since it means that I end up with a file folder full of media that has illegible file names and have to be moved to the correct folder, then I have to clean those files up later.

I will have to check out your Print PDF trick.

I do use it, but it means an extra workflow to rename the media files, move them to the correct folders, and then update them in RootsMagic’s Media file. It’s funny that you find the feature confusing though, because I’m the opposite. TreeShare feels more intuitive to me and the FamilySearch sync confuses the heck out of me. :slight_smile: Neither are super-simple, but they do give you a lot of control over the data that you’re moving back and forth, which is good.

Hope this helps!

22

for OneDrive the paid ver is only about $60 per year per 1tb. FYI
I have OnePaid and One"Free" (alumni) 1tb
(2 tb total)

23

Yes, your answers made sense! Thank you!

For the Treeshare, I noticed for FamilySearch, you can just copy over the citation and not the media itself. I assumed that’s how Ancestry was as well. Or is there a way to copy/download the actual media itself from the treeshare feature?

24

Kevin - Since I have a Mac, I’m thinking iCloud Drive might make more sense. I have a paid plan for iCloudDrive and to Dropbox but I use them slightly differently. But would backing things up to iCloudDrive serve the same purpose?

25
26

TreeShare will show if there are new media files to bring over from Ancestry to RootsMagic or vice versa (at the person level). It will also bring over media attached to a source, such as images of records. I had a little trouble finding a good example, but this at least shows you where to look:

image
image863×584 26.3 KB

The image files are deposited in a Media folder inside the folder where the database resides. For example, my database is named “Master File 3” and it is stored in a folder named “RootsMagic Database Files.” The media folder is named “Master File 3_media” and is inside the same folder (RootsMagic Database Files).

The interface works both ways, so I can download images from Ancestry and I can also upload images to Ancestry. Unfortunately, files downloaded from Ancestry will have nonsensical file names, which are either all numbers or a combination of letters and numbers. In my workflow, I then have to match the files to the Media listing in RootsMagic, rename them, move them to the correct folder in my surname structure, then update the Media item in RootsMagic so it points to the new filename and location.

So, it’s a lot of work to get this to function the way that I want it to, but I do still use it, because it allows me to compare what I have on Ancestry with what’s in RootsMagic. It also allows me to quickly add facts/sources/etc. from Hints or searches on Ancestry so at least they are captured in my tree there, then I can pull them into RootsMagic when I have time.

As an aside, I also created my own custom Source templates, which don’t match which come from Ancestry, so that’s a separate task, to later clean up all the sources so they match my preferred structure.

While writing this, I might be convincing myself that using TreeShare is more work than it’s worth. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
27

I do not attempt to maintain things in “in sync”. Mostly I upload a new ver of my Tree about 3 or so times per year. I do this mostly to get hints on the new people in my tree that have been added since as well as the new pathways for DNA etc.

This is my personal view - -there are plenty of users who feel it is worth to them to maintain.
I would listen to those who do maintain this and gain insight that might help you.

Kevin

28

I would guess that is the case but as I am a windows user I can not speak to that – I was noting the cost seem quite high in comparison and speaking from a cost/value POV

1 Like
29

Jerry - you may be grumpy, but your advice is stellar.

2 Likes
30

my view he is direct and can be opinionated but for good reasons at same time he points out he is often a sample of ONE

2 Likes
31

When I tried to upload my RootsMagic updated tree to Ancestry, it imported my citations as facts and added all this weird HTML. It also reset everything so I had no facts accepted and all my hints were new. Do you know what I might have done wrong?

32

People with years of experience in my opinion deserve to be opinionated!

1 Like
33

I for whatever reason can’t get into my treeshare on Ancestry. I’ve attempted going to to Resetting Treeshare under settings and even disconnecting/reconnecting to my tree but then when I go to upload my new tree to Ancestry, it adds all this random HTML to my citations and they appear as facts in my tree. I"m doing it now so I can show an example in a minute.

image
image1920×993 110 KB

34

Actually, nothing is happening at all when I try to upload. It’s just sitting at 0.

image
image1920×985 70.2 KB

35

I think it best to open a support ticket and share a backup and the Ancestry tree with them. They can test reproducing this.

https://support.rootsmagic.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

2 Likes
36

No one mentioned this - I’ve been seeing ads for a product that will (supposedly) allow you to attach a hard drive that apparently no longer functions and copy the data to a new hard drive. I have no idea if it will work for you, or at all. I tried to find the ad, and couldn’t BUT I did a google search ‘my hard drive is bad, is there a product to recover it?’ and got a number of hits - ‘myrecoverer.com’ came up first. Might be worthwhile checking it out - what have you got to lose? Amazon.com has some products that might help (I did a search on bad hard drive reader). Good luck.

UPDATED - I found the ad. The web site is zilkee.com for the Zilkee Lost File Recovery Pro. I have not looked at and reviews to know if this product works, or will do what you want. But, what have you got to lose?

37

Grumpy–NO! Great advice and understanding --Yes.

People have very weird ideas about backup yet it is a simple concept and process at least on mac. Multiple copies in multiple places (time machine external drives,..lash drives..an offsite copy..cloud backup). Also do not confuse a sharing service (dropbox/onedrive) with a cloud backup service (idrive).

1 Like