The following advice applies specifically to licensing and download issues. For other problems see the Family Historian Installation Problems article.
Version 7 licence problems
This article on installation and the linked article on activation covers all the problems you are likely to encounter with licencing for version 7.
Mislaid Licence Details or Software Download
Have you mislaid your Licence Name &/or Registration Key or your Software Download?
Software Download Purchase
If you purchased a Software Download, then raise a ticket with Calico Pie’s Support team and ask them to resend your Licence Name & Registration Key, or Software Download. Include as many details as possible, especially your e-mail address"The address structure should be formed as it would appear on a mailing label…", according to GEDCOM; however, this is capable of a number of interpretations, and Address and Place are best considered together. at the time of purchase if it has changed. Since ƒh V5 you only need a few details:
- Latest purchased Software Download installation file
- Its associated Licence Name & Registration Key
- If it was a Version Upgrade then the previous version Licence Name & Registration Key
If you purchased the latest Full Licence download and have mislaid the Software Download, then download and install the Family Historian Version 6 Free Trial and enter your Licence Name & Registration Key when requested.
If you have a Full License download for any earlier version, you can use its Free Trial version to re-install on your computer.
Older trials can be found at FH Download Archive. This advice does NOT apply to any Version Upgrade nor any Installation CD.
Remember that since ƒh V5 the Version Upgrade products have eliminated the need to install earlier versions.
Installation CD Purchase
If you bought an Installation CD, the Registration Key will be printed on a paper slip or label that came with the boxed set. Sometimes it is on the front of the Quick Start Guide booklet. Usually there is no Licence Name, so the Installation CD must be used, as the Free Trial downloads demand both Licence Name and Registration Key.
If you have the same version of ƒh installed and working on another computer, then raise a ticket with Calico Pie’s Support team and ask them to retrieve the Registration Key by remote access to your computer. This will only work if it is a Full Licence and NOT a Version Upgrade that needs two keys. They also offer a paid service to convert a Version Upgrade to a Full Licence with a new Registration Key.
Create Installation Archive
Having retrieved your precious installation mediaWhen you add a picture, video, sound recording, document file etc into a Family Historian project, a Media record is created to represent that media item within the project; the Media record includes a link to the actual Media file. and licence, follow the advice to create an Installation Archive.
Licence Details Not Valid
What might cause ƒh to say your Licence Name and Registration Key are not valid?
The most common reason is you have tried to install a Trial Version and not the Software Download listed in your Licence E-mail.
If this is the case you must start the whole installation from scratch, and use the Software Download from the link on your Licence E-mail (or your archive backup of this file).
Repeated Licence Details Request
If ƒh requests the Licence Details to be re-entered every time it is run, then try running as Administrator.
Right-click on the ƒh icon and choose Run as administrator from the dropdown menu that appears (the exact details may vary with different versions of Windows). You may have to enter an Administrator password. You will need to re-enter your Licence Name and Registration Key, but should find that thereafter, the details have ‘stuck’.