FTM 2014 "lost media files"

[Gigi]

Hi All,

I have started adding photos, census pages etc to ancestors in my FTM program. I have since been looking at media files that I have added before and have opened a couple but they are no longer linked to the file on my computer. When I use the search facility, the file is not located either. I am not sure if I am attaching the files correctly. Do they all have to be in one location? I see from a tutorial that the pathway  C:\Users\[User Name] \Documents\Family Tree Maker is the default pathway. I think that I have been attaching media files directly from my own filing system. What is the best and easiest method?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Gigi

[sstain]

Hi Gigi

You don't say where you added the media files from in the first place. My personal preference is to save all of my files relating to family history in one folder on my computer. Then when I want to attach it to my FTM i look for it in that file and choose to attach it. I have not always had an Ancestry membership and so if I find something on there that I want to keep I download it first and save it into my computer file before attaching to FTM. This way i can always access those files. If you don't have a membership, you cannot view census etc that you have previously attached to your tree on Ancestry. When you back up FTM you can choose whether to back up the media files at the same time. I always lock media files that I add to FTM so that they cannot be used by Ancestry especially photos.
I have to say that i am now using FTM 2017, but I have always added media files this way. Hope this helps.
Sheila

[Gigi]

Hi Sheila,
Thanks for your reply. Initially the media files were saved using the C:\Users\[User Name] \Documents\Family Tree Maker pathway. When I added a second batch, I must have used a different pathway without realising. However, now when I try to access the initial media files they are lost and I cannot relink them. I think that I will have to start again and be more careful. Probably quicker to start again as trying to relink previous files takes ages!

I will try following the FTM tutorial.

I don't have a tree on Ancestry so I download all files to my computor.

Best regards

Gigi