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Need help to convert backup file to Gedcom

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I've not been a very active genealogist for the last few years, and have not upgraded to the latest versions of TMG. After a disc crash, I've not even been able to reinstall my current version (7.04). Now I'm looking for help to restore my database, which is stored in a TMG 7.04 backup file, and guess I have to have it converted to Gedcom before importing it to a new program (probably Legacy). I would be very grateful if someone could help me out on this. In return, I'll gladly help you with tracing Norwegian ancestors.

 

Ketil F. Hanssen

Sandvika, Norway

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Ketil,

If you would like to keep using TMG, you can still purchase a license for TMG v9.05. You can contact Harry Goegebeur, a TMG dealer in Belgium. He's the only person still selling licenses, and only until he runs out. His email address is Harry.Goegebeur@telenet.be.

If you want to transfer your data to another program, you should proceed carefully. If you import a GEDCOM file into Legacy, you may not be happy with the results, and make a lot of work for yourself cleaning up after the transfer. In most cases, even a "good" transfer from one program to another will leave you with some cleanup work to do.

 

Two programs have "direct import" from a TMG project: RootsMagic and Family Historian. Neither one captures all the data, but the direct imports do a better job than any GEDCOM transfer will do. One rub is that both programs will only do a direct import from a TMG v9.05 project. So, if you aren't interested in continuing to use TMG, you might want someone with TMG v9.05 to convert your v7.04 data to a v9.05 project and then use the direct import feature of either RootsMagic or Family Historian.

 

I'm busy with other matters right now, so I can't do the conversion for you. Let me know what you decide, however, and I will try to hook you up with someone who will.

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John wrote:

 

 

One rub is that both programs will only do a direct import from a TMG v9.05 project.

 

That's not correct.

 

RootsMagic will import TMG v7.04 and TMG v8.05 and later projects.

 

Family Historian says that it will import any TMG version. I'd take that with a grain of salt but it will import versions other than v9.05.

 

In both cases, the import is from a project rather than from a TMG backup. You need to open the backup (it's a ZIP file) and copy the files to a folder before doing the import.

 

The next version of Legacy will have a direct TMG import. The TMG v9.05 GEDCOM export has a feature that aids the Legacy import. A number of TMG users have moved to Legacy by way of GEDCOM.

 

If you want me to make a v9.05 GEDCOM for you, write me using the mail link below.

Jim Byram

Edited by Jim Byram

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Thanks a lot for your quick and helpful reply. I will probably wait for the Legacy update, and hopefully be able to restore most of my dataset of approximately 10000 persons.

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Jim,

 

I stand corrected. However, I recall someone had trouble with a direct import of a TMG v8-something project into RM. The response was that the import was designed for TMG v9, and RM was treating the TMG v8 data as if it was TMG v9. I looked for that message, but couldn't find it, so maybe I am not remembering correctly.

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There aren't any structural changes after v8.05 so the RootsMagic import should work with v8.05 or later. TMG 8.00 to 8.04 projects aren't supported.

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