installing v7 on Win7 64-bit

[Karla Huebner 0]

Hi everyone--I'm still alive and using TMG, just without much time to work on genealogy. Anyhow, I bought TMG 7 about a year and a half ago but never got around to installing it. I've now bought a new laptop as the old one (XP) will probably not last that much longer, although it does still run. The new laptop is Windows 7, 64-bit.

 

TMG was one of the programs that would not install under Windows Home Premium, so I've upgraded to Windows Pro and installed XP mode. However, as I'm finding Windows 7 a bit tricky to learn, and don't want to install anything badly, could someone give a step-by-step guide on the best way to install TMG 7 there? For instance, should I copy my entire TMG directory over to (which directory?) and then install? Or???

 

I'm generally competent with computers, but that makes me hesitant to plunge ahead installing something problematic on an operating system I don't feel comfortable with yet.

 

TIA,

 

Karla

[Terry Reigel 0]

Karla,

 

Good to see you back,

 

TMG7 should install without problem on any version of Windows 7. What issue did you have trying to do that?

 

It is true that you cannot create reports to word processor with TMG7 on a 64-bit version of Windows, but otherwise it works fine. Since XP Mode is actually a 32-bit version of Windows XP, you can create reports to Word if you install TMG 7 under XP Mode.

 

There are a couple of issues doing that however. First, it takes a while for XP Mode and then TMG to open, since you are actually booting up another copy of Windows. You must install anti-virus also on EP Mode (most AV firms seem to let you use the same license) and keep the updates current.

 

You can leave your data files on one of the Windows 7 disks and have TMG access them from XP Mode. However, there is a bug in Windows Virtual PC (unless it's been fixed very recently) that causes a very long delay every time you do that. This occurs not only when you open TMG, but every time your read a file, as when you create a report and TMG has to read the report definition file.

 

You can solve that by placing the your TMG files on the virtual hard drive created for XP Mode. But you cannot backup the files on the virtual hard drive when XP Mode is closed, so you have to remember to do that when it's open.

 

My recommendation is to install TMG 7 in Windows 7. If you are having difficulty with that post your issue here and see if we can help.

 

If you need to send reports to word processor, my first recommendation is to keep a copy of TMG7 on a computer with a 32-bit version of Windows and run the reports on that computer, if you can. If not, install another copy of TMG 7 on XP Mode and use it only to run reports. There are a few tricks to how to deal with our data files if you do that, especially if you are including exhibits in the reports, so ask for details if you want to do that.

 

The best way to transfer your data is to make a complete backup, except for "Preferences > Program Options," then restore that on your new computer. If you have exhibits and they are not all in the same folder, do not include them in the backup, but copy them separately to the new system. Then use the option in Verify File Integrity to correct the paths to them if different on the new machine.