Don't forget to download the latest patch from our upgrade and patches page, as this may solve any problems you are having.

Yes. RootsMagic is able to import a file, as long as it is in one of the following formats:

• RootsMagic 1-4
• Family Origins (v4 and later)
• Family Tree Maker (2006 and earlier)
• Legacy
• PAF (Personal Ancestral File)
• GEDCOM (Note: most family history programs are able to export your information in GEDCOM format, usually by going to File > Export)

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Download and install the place name database: http://www.rootsmagic.com/downloads/PlaceDBSetup.exe

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The 'cyclic redundancy' error usually means that there is an error somewhere on your hard drive, rather than a problem with the RootsMagic program. You should run a check on your hard drive, to check for any errors.

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This is usually due to a permissions problem - you will need to tell RootsMagic to save your files somewhere other than the "ProgramData" folder.

1- Go to Tools > Program Options.
2- Choose 'Folders', then change the default folders to somewhere different than the ProgramData folder, usually 'My Documents'. (You could create a new folder in 'My Documents' called RootsMagic to save all the information, and then choose this folder as the default folder in RootsMagic.)

You can also try running the program as an administrator:
1- Click on Start - All Programs - Roots Magic 4.
2- Right-click on the program icon for Roots Magic 4 and choose "Run as Administrator".

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1. Install RootsMagic onto your new computer (either by using your installation CD or by transferring the setup file you originally downloaded onto your new computer and running it)

2. Transfer your database across to your new computer by copying a backup to a USB memory stick. Then plug the memory stick into your new computer and copy the file from the memory stick onto the new computer.

3. Restore the RootsMagic back-up file by opening RootsMagic 4/5, click File -> Restore, and follow the on-screen prompts to restore your database and all the information.

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If you have media items such as pictures to transfer across to the new computer, we suggest using the Shareable CD method. This will transfer a copy of your database as well as all your media items.

1. On your old computer, create a shareable CD by going to Tools -> Create a Shareable CD

2. Follow the on-screen prompts to create the shareable CD (you don't need to worry about entering information such as address and information about the database, as this is only for your own use). After compiling the records, you will be asked whether you want to burn the shareable CD now or later. If you want to burn the information to a CD now, click 'Burn Shareable CD now' and move onto step 4, or if you want to just copy the information across to a memory stick, click 'I will burn it later' and go to step 3.

3. If copying the contents to a memory stick, you need to find the data for the shareable CD on your computer. Open a window for 'My Documents', and in the address bar, enter '%appdata%'. This will take you to the Application Data folder on your computer - open the folder titled 'RootsMagic'. Copy the folder 'ShareableCD' (right-click > Copy) to your memory stick (right-click > Paste). If you want to check that the pictures are in there, you can open the folder 'ShareableCD', and look in the 'Pictures' folder.

4. On your new computer, either put the CD into your CD drive or plug in your memory stick. You now need to copy your RootsMagic database onto your new computer - open the CD/memory stick, and you will see a number of files. There will be one that has the name of your database followed by '.rmgc', e.g. SmithFamilyTree.rmgc. You will also see a folder called 'Pictures'. You can copy both the database and the Pictures folder onto your new computer (right-click > Copy, and right-click > Paste into the location you want to save them, e.g. a new folder in Documents called RootsMagic). Once copied, you can remove the CD/memory stick from your computer.

5. Open the database in RootsMagic by going to File -> Open, and following the on-screen prompts.

6. You will now need to fix the links for the media items. Click on Tools > Media Gallery, then choose Tools > Fix Broken Media Links. Follow the on-screen prompts to fix all links for the media items.

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As the spouse is blank, they will appear as 'Unknown Spouse' in the Pedigree View and Family View. Therefore you would need to unlink the individual from this 'Unknown Spouse'.

1- First, make a back-up of your database.
2- Select the individual from the index on the left-hand side, and choose the 'Family' tab to go to the Family View. (Do not double-click to bring up the Edit Person window, as you cannot unlink spouses from this screen).
3- Make sure the individual is still selected, and click on the small button to the right of their name (this should either be a pink circle with an image of a woman, or a blue circle with an image of a man). Select 'Unknown Spouse'.
4- Right click on the individual, choose Unlink -> From Spouse. This should then unlink your individual from their 'Unknown Spouse', and the blank line in the Edit Person window should then disappear.

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RootsMagic 4/5 has a feature that automatically attempts to locate broken links to images.

1 - Click "Lists" - "Media gallery"
2 - Click "Tools" - "Fix broken media links"

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1. Open RootsMagic 3

2. If your database is not already open, you need to open it:
- Go to File > Open
- Browse to where your database is saved in the new 'Open' window that appears
- Click on a database to select it, the name of the file will appear in the 'file name box
- Then click 'Open'

3. Once opened, you can create a backup of your database:
- Go to File > Backup
- Select the option for "Floppy disk, hard drive, USB drive, etc."
- A new window will appear, title "Name of backup file". Choose to save the file on your Desktop, by selecting 'Desktop' in the drop-down menu at the top of the window. The file name should be filled in automatically for you.
- Once you've selected Desktop, click the 'Save' button. You database will be saved to your Desktop.

4. You can now close RootsMagic, by going to File > Exit. You may be prompted to make a backup of your database - you can do another backup if you wish, or choose to skip the backup.

5. Now you need to copy the backup that you saved on your desktop to a USB memory stick, to transfer across to your new computer.
- Plug your USB memory stick into your computer
- Open your memory stick by going to My Computer, then double-clicking on the icon for your memory stick (this might be called F: or G:, but as each computer is different it may be under another name/letter).
- Right-click on your backup that you saved on your Desktop, and choose 'Copy'.
- Go back to the window you opened that shows the content of your memory stick. Right-click in a white space in the window, and choose 'Paste'.
- Once the backup has been copied to your memory stick, you can safely remove the memory stick from your computer.

6. On your new computer, you first need to extract the information from your RootsMagic 3 backup file.
- Plug your USB memory stick into your computer
- Open your memory stick by going to My Computer, then double-clicking on the icon for your memory stick (this might be called F: or G:, but as each computer is different it may be under another name/letter).
- Right-click on your backup on the memory stick, and choose 'Copy'.
- Go back to the Desktop of your computer. Right-click in an empty space and choose 'Paste'. Your backup should now be on your Desktop. You can safely remove the memory stick from your system now, as you no longer need this.
- Right-click on the backup on your Desktop, and choose 'Extract All'.
- Extract the files by folowing the extraction wizard on screen. It should save the files in another folder of the same name on your Desktop, except you will see that it doesn't have a grey zip on the image of the folder.

7. You can now import your database into RootsMagic 4/5.
- Open RootsMagic 4/5.
- Go to File > Import, or choose 'Import a file from a different program' from the 'Welcome to RootsMagic' window.
- A new window will appear, which says 'Import File from Another Program'.
- Make sure 'RootsMagic (version 1-3)' is selected, then click 'I know where the file is'.
- The 'Open' window will appear. Browse to your Desktop in this window (either from the drop-down menu at the top, or if you are using Windows Vista/7, from the list on the left-hand side)
- Double-click on the folder to see the files from your RootsMagic 3 backup
- Select the file that ends in .rmg, and click Open
- You will then get a window up, asking you to create a new RootsMagic file. (You need to set up a new RootsMagic version 4/5 database, so your information from version 3 can be imported into version 4/5).
- Choose a file name, and any other options you want for your database, then click 'OK'.
- Your information will now be imported into the program.

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1 - Run RootsMagic 3
2 - Open the database you wish to transfer
3 - Click "File" - "Copy database"
4 - Select a destination for the copy. If you are using Vista this must be outside of the "Program files" folder. I suggest creating a new folder on your desktop or in your documents folder
5 - Enter a file name and click "Save"
6 - Close RM3
7 - Open RM4
8 - Click "File" - "Import"
9 - Make sure that "RootsMagic (version 1-3) is selected and then click "I know where the file is"
10 - Navigate to the location of the file you created in step 4
11 - Select the file and click "Open"
12 - In the "Create a new file" window choose a name for the database and click "OK"

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Copying RootsMagic and your data to your memory stick:

1 - Insert memory stick
2 - Run "RootsMagic To-Go"
3 - Click "Install RootsMagic to Removable Disk (:)"
4 - Click "Install"
5 - Click "Transfer Data to Removable Disk (:)"
6 - Select your file/files to transfer and click "Transfer files"
7 - Remove Memory stick
8 - Click "Close"

Using RootsMagic and your data on a different PC:

1 - Insert memory stick in to new PC
2 - When the autorun menu appears click "Run RootsMagic 5 using the program provided on the device". If the autorun menu does not appear navigate to "My computer" ("Computer" on Vista/7), double-click on your memory stick, open the 'RootsMagic-4' folder, and double-click on RootsMagic.exe (it should be listed as an 'Application', with the RootsMagic Logo)
3 - On the Welcome screen click "Unlock the Full Versions"
4 - Enter your name and RootsMagic installation code
5 - Click "Unlock"
6 - Choose your registration option and click "Continue"
7 - Click "File" - "Open"
8 - Click "Open a file"
9 - Navigate to the "RootsMagic 5" - "Data" folder on the memory stick
10 - Select your file and click "Open"

You only need to perform steps 3-6 the first time you use RM from the memory stick.

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You can view the "RootsMagic To-Go: Running RootsMagic on a Flash Drive" webinar at RootsMagic.com

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Press CTRL+Shift+U (at the same time) then click "Reset Registration Information" then restart RootsMagic.

Alternatively:

1 - Close RootsMagic
2 - Click on the windows "Start" button and select "Search"
3 - Select "Files or folders"
4 - Type the following in the search box: RootsMagicApp.xml
5 - Click on "More advanced options"
6 - Tick the boxes next to "Search system folders", "Search hidden files and folders" and "Search subfolders"
7 - Click "Search"
8 - When you see a result for RootsMagicApp.xml delete it
9 - Now start RootsMagic
10 - At the Welcome screen click "Unlock the full version"
11 - Enter your name in the top box and your installation code in the bottom box

Please note that these instructions are based on windows XP and may vary slightly depending on your version of Windows and your settings.

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Once you have opened your database in version 5, you cannot open it in version 4, as it will have been converted to a later version of RootsMagic.

When opening a database in version 5, you will be advised to create a back-up of your file first, and will be notified that the file will be converted for you. Therefore, you can restore the most recent back-up of your database (a back-up you created from Version 4) to restore your database in RootsMagic version 4.

To do this, open RootsMagic 4 and go to File -> Restore, then follow the on-screen prompts to get your database back.

If you do not have a recent back-up of your database, you can export a GEDCOM file from version 5 (File -> Export), and then import the GEDCOM file back itno version 4 (File -> Import).

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The registration key is also know as an "Install Code".Your registration key should be on a white slip of paper that should say "Your RootsMagic Install Code is:" followed by a number. This should be a mix of numbers and letters, for example AA1A-22BB-3CC3.

Still can't find your registration key?
If you purchased the software as a download from either RootsMagic.co.uk or GenealogySupplies.com, then we should be able to find your registration key in our database.

If you purchased the software on CD, then unfortunately we do not keep a record of these codes. However, if you registered the program when you first installed it, you can contact RootsMagic.com, who should be able to find a copy of your registration code. Their e-mail address is support@rootsmagic.com

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If the disc will not run automatically when put into your CD/DVD drive, you can run the setup manually from the disc.

1 - Put the disc into your CD drive
2 - Go to 'My Computer' or 'Computer'
3 - Right-click on your CD drive and choose 'Open'
4 - Double-click the 'fsCommand' folder
5 - Double-click 'RMUK.exe' to run the setup. Follow the instructions to install RootsMagic 4.

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To get it back, delete the RMToolbar.ini file, which is located in:

XP: C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME HERE\Application Data\RootsMagic\Version 4/5
Windows Vista/7: C:\users\YOUR USER NAME HERE\AppData\Roaming\RootsMagic\Version 4/5

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As default, RootsMagic exports GEDCOM files in UTF-8 format. To change this to ANSI do the following:

1 - Right-click on the GEDCOM file and select "Open with" - "Notepad" (or "Wordpad")
2 - Change the line "2 VERS 5.5.1" to "2 VERS 5.5"
3 - Click "Save as" and change the "Encoding" option to "ANSI"
4 - Click "Save"

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This is usually because your version 3 files are stored in the "Program Files" folder, and in Windows Vista & Windows 7, this is not allowed. So you would need to copy your database to somewhere outside the "Program Files" folder:

1. In RootsMagic 3, open your database
2. Click "File" > "Copy"
3. Choose a folder outside the Program Files folder (e.g. Documents)

You can now run RootsMagic 4 and import the copied version 3 database you have just saved.

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1. Close RootsMagic
2. Right-click on the program shortcut and select "Properties"
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab
4. Tick the box that says "Run this program as an administrator"
5. Click "Apply"
6. Click "OK"

If you still get problems then you can also try:

1. Navigate to C:/Program Files/RootsMagic 4
2. Right-click on "RMchart" (application) and select "Properties"
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab
4. Tick the box that says "Run this program as an administrator"
5. Click "Apply"
6. Click "OK"

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RootsMagic integrates with the NEW Family Search site. Old logins from Family Search will not work so you will need to register with New Family Search. However, although the New Family Search website lets you register, currently only users who are LDS members can access the website, so if you are not an LDS member, you won't be able to log in.

To use the old Family Search site click the "WebSearch" tab and select "Family Search" from the drop-down menu.

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This may be due to the setup of your PC. Try creating the shareable CD and then using your CD burning software to copy it to CD.

The files for your shareable CD are located at:
XP: C:\Documents and settings\YOUR USER NAME HERE\application data\RootsaMagic\shareableCD\
Windows Vista/7: C:\users\YOUR USER NAME HERE\AppData\Roaming\RootsMagic\ShareableCD

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