* What do I lose if I have a disk crash between full backups?

[gosforthian]

Not sure the subject quite describes my hopefully simple question. I understand the Family Historian Copy and Migration Guide. I am preparing for a move to Windows 11 some time in the next few months, and worrying about a disk failure on my Windows 10 PC, as we had one on a laptop not too long ago.

I take regular offline copies of all my PC files, including the full family historian project folder.
I only have 2 trivial customisations, and one change to report fonts, which I know how to recreate should I wish to, and no user queries, customised reports, or special fact sets etc. I prefer to live with what FH provides, spending my time researching and recording rather than customising FH.
My FH folders are in the default recommended places.
I keep all the media files inside FH (I also have copies elswhere).
I don't use AS. and I don't use Internet data matches.

In the event of a disk replacement or a new PC, can I just install the latest version of FH on a new disk, copy the backed up family historian projects folder back to its usual place and start opening my projects and get back to work? Do I lose anything that I haven't mentioned?

Thanks
Ian

[tatewise]

Is one of your trivial customisations as decribed in Probate fact sentences?

Do you arrange window positions for such as the floating yellow Sources For and Citation Windows?

To be safe, run a Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings plugin to preserve all such customisations just in case you need them. It does no harm even if they are not strictly needed.

[gosforthian]

Hi Mike

Thanks. I didn't mean to insult your excellent probate solution! Nor the even more complex one you provided. In the end I only used them for one of my projects which is now finished.

If I ran the plugin now, would it still be effective and able to be used in a few months time, as long as I hadn't changed any settings etc in the meantime?

By way of explanation, my background in software design (although 20+ years ago) makes me get really irritated when software I use has complex features I have to learn and remember to use, by hand as it were, like this plugin. So I resist learning and using them if at all possible. And FH mostly facilitates this with its brilliant standard list of features.

Thanks again.

Regards

Ian

[tatewise]

The Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings via Windows plugin has fewer options and easier to use than my plugin. It is perfectly adequate for your purposes. Yes, if you don't change any customisations then its backup will be valid indefinitely.

I wasn't insulted but just wonderd if it was a customisation you had overlooked.

[gosforthian]

And a postscript question if I may. I now have to learn something about plugins!.

I see a version 1.3 of the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings in my plugins list in FH. I went to the plugin store via the link and found the latest version 3.6. The instructions say I can download it. I clicked on download. And it appeared in my downloaded files. Now what do I do please to have it installed in my copy of FH?

I am sorry if I am being dumb, but you can possibly see my point about having to learn stuff a user shouldn't have to.

Regards

Ian

[gosforthian]

I found what to do after downloading it in the FH internal help on plugins. It might help if the simple instruction to run it was also included in the plugins store pages.

Thanks

Ian

[tatewise]

It depends on how your browser is configured. When FH is installed it becomes the default App for all its file types such as Queries and Plugins. Often the browser will automatically run FH when a Plugin file is downloaded.
However, your browser defaults to downloading the Plugin file which must be Run to invoke FH.
It is not possible for the Plugin Store to know which of those two scenarios might prevail.

Anyway, I advised using the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings via Windows plugin which is V1.2.1 and simpler to use that the one you downloaded.

That Tools > Plugins... lists at least one plugin suggests you have used a form of customisation.

[gosforthian]

Thanks again Mike. I downloaded the one you recommended and have run it and it created some files in my backup directory (which is backed up regularly with everything else). I do think it would be helpful if the plugin store screens could say at least what the FH help screen says. It would just save a bit of irritation for folks like me.
Regards
Ian