How to Backup a Family Tree Maker
Family Tree Maker is a genealogy computer program designed to work seamlessly with Ancestry.com and store any family history you have discovered online or offline. It doesn't matter if you've just spent a few minutes or if you've spent several hours tracing your family history, at the end of every session you should back up the files in case of a hard drive crash or other calamity. You can store your backup on a second hard drive, a flash drive or burn it to CD or DVD for safekeeping.
Instructions
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Attach a flash drive to your USB port or load a disk into the appropriate drive.
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Click on "File" from the text menu at the top of the screen.
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Click the "Backup" option from the file menu.
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Choose where you want to backup your files to from the Backup screen options. You are given the choice of Floppy drives, writable CD (or DVD), or directories on your computer. If you want to use a flash drive, click the "Change" button and use the drop-down box to select the flash drive.
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Click "OK" when you have made your backup location selection. The program will automatically backup your files to the designated setting.
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Tips & Warnings
It never hurts to make redundant, or multiple copies, of your backups. By doing this, if a file becomes corrupted on the storage device, you have a second file that can be used instead.
If you have an Ancestry.com membership, you can create a homepage on the website and upload your family tree to their servers. This is a simple way to have your information accessible and safe at all times.
If you do not have an Ancestry.com membership, export your file information as a GED file and upload to a website such as Rootsweb.com. Select "Export" from the file menu and select "GEDCOM" from the file type drop-down box.
