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John Tippet

TMG9 Crashes at Random

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I recently bought a new Windows 10 computer.  When logged into user profile “John Tippet” after installing TMG9 and selecting the Sample Project I get the following error message:

 

Exhibit folder “C:\Users\John\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Exhibits was not found.  Do you want to use default Exhibit folder?  When I select yes, after loading and retrieving messages the program crashes.

 

In C:\Users\John\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\ there are two subfolders: Backups and Configuration_files

 

In C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents there is no The Master Genealogist v9 subfolder.

 

I had previously installed TMG9 on my new computer with the same issue above except that I could navigate a few steps through the program Sample Project before it crashed, seemingly at random.  I even managed to restore the TMG project file from my old computer but had the same random crashes.

 

Any idea how I can fix this?

 

John Tippet

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You restored the app.ini file from the old system and it's full of incorrect paths. Edit the app.ini file on the new system and correct all of the paths.

You should _never_ copy the app.ini file between machines.

"C:\Users\John Tippet\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9\app.ini"

 

> In C:\Users\John\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\ there are two subfolders: Backups and Configuration_files

> In C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents there is no The Master Genealogist v9 subfolder.

Doing a clean install of TMG9 should have created the 'The Master Genealogist v9' folder in Documents unless you have the Documents folder located elsewhere. This didn't happen? Don't tell me that you didn't do a clean install of TMG9 on the new machine. <g>

If you run TMG and the user folder is missing, it should automatically be created.

 

Copy the Backups and Configuration_files folders to the correct TMG folder (if they have content). You can then delete the John user account folder. The John user account shouldn't exist on the new machine but if you restore a TMG backup with incorrect paths, sometimes some of the project-specific folders might be created (backups in particular).

 

Open TMG and open Preferences and make sure that the folders path is: C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects (again, unless you have located things in a non-standard location)

File / Preferences / General \ Default Project Path

 

You need to open each project on the new machine and review and correct the project-specific paths.

File / Preferences / Advances / the 8 project-specific paths

 

What am I missing?

 

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Jim:

Thank you very much for responding to my plea for help.  I am a long-time user of TMG and the thought of not getting it to run on my new computer has been devastating.

I did not copy the app.ini file between machines.  All I did was to install TMG9 on the new machine when logged into the John Tippet profile.

Here is my current situation:

In C:\Users\John Tippet\AppData\Roaming\ there is no \The Master Genealogist v9\ sub folder.

In  C:\Users\johnt\AppData\Roaming\ there is a \The Master Genealogist v9\ sub folder that includes app,ini.

When I open TMG9 I find that the File / Preferences / General \ Default Project Path is C:\Users\johnt\OneDrive\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects\

I am at a loss of what to do next.  Please hand-hold me through this process.  What is my next step?

John

 

 

 

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John,

I'm assuming that you are logged into the John Tippet account, and that you were logged into that account when you installed TMG?

Is the johnt account intentional (and the account exists)?

I'm assuming that the answer to the first question is Yes and the answer to the second question is No.

Move the ...\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9 folder to the John Tippit account Roaming folder.

You should never store and use TMG projects in a folder that is being synced unless you want your projects destroyed.

Move your projects folder to  C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9 and fix the Preferences folder path to point to:

C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects

Again, the app.ini will need to be edited to make sure that all paths point to the default user folder.

Waiting for your response.

Jim

 

 

 

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Jim:

I moved the The Master Genealogist v9 folder that contains the app.ini file (among others) to: C:\Users\John Tippet\App Data\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9

I moved the The Master Genealogist v9 folder that contains My Project and the Sample Project to C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9

I then ran TMG9 and had problems with it crashing but eventually got it to work long enough to be able to change the default file location under Preferences\General\Default Project Path to C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\Projects

The program is still crashing.

I notice in the Preferences\Current Project Options\Advanced all of the paths there are incorrect.  I assume I should correct these?  This will take some time as I don't get many keystrokes in before the program crashes.

What do you suggest I do next?

John

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John,

Edit the .PJC file for each project using Notepad and correct the paths manually. That way, you can correct the paths without needing to run TMG.

I really don't understand the entire mess. Have you checked the operating system settings to make sure that you don't have both user accounts? It's as though you did some sort of system restore on the new machine that really mucked it up.

Jim

 

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OK.  I edited the .pjc file for My Project and also the Sample Project to put in the correct paths.  TMG still crashes.

When I select Switch User from the Windows Start Menu, there are two options: John Tippet and John

In C:\Users there are the following: John, John Tippet and johnt

The John folder is empty

I just noticed that there is a The Master Genealogist v9 folder at C:\Users\johnt\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9 in addition to the one in C:\Users\John Tippet\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9

Is this the source of the problem?  Should I just delete this folder?

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When I select Switch User from the Windows Start Menu, there are two options: John Tippet and John

Why? Are both accounts intentional?

> I just noticed that there is a The Master Genealogist v9 folder at C:\Users\johnt\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9 in addition to the one in C:\Users\John Tippet\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9

> Is this the source of the problem?  Should I just delete this folder?

Sure, if it shouldn't exist.

Did you fix the paths in the app.ini in the John Tippet account?

Jim

 

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Jim:

I decided to start anew with a clean sheet of paper.

I am logged into user account John Tippet

I deleted The Master Genealogist v9 folders in C:\Users\John Tippet\Documents\ and in C:\Users\johnt\One Drive\Documents\

I reinstalled TMG9 as administrator and unlocked the program.

After the above operation, I find The Master Genealogist v9 folder in C:\Users\johnt\One Drive\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9 (the project data files).

I also find The Master Genealogist v9 folder in C:\Users\johnt\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9 (the program files)

I open TMG9 and select the Sample Project.  The program crashes.

I tried to open TMG9 again and this time the program didn't crash immediately.

I checked the File\Preferences\Program Options\General and File\Preferences\Current Project Options\Advanced tabs and all show the file locations as C:\Users\johnt\One Drive\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\...

TMG9 then crashes.

I am at a loss as to what to do next.

John

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Jim:

For comparison, on my old Windows 7 computer on which TMG9 is working, there is only one user: John

The TMG9 files are in:

C:\Users\John\Documents\The Master Genealogist v9\

C:\Users\John\AppData\Roaming\The Master Genealogist v9\

In TMG9 under File\Preferences\Program Options\General\ and File\Preferences\Current Project Options\Advanced\ all paths are the same as above.

Note that on my new Windows 10 computer, the folder C:\Users\johnt\One Drive\Documents\ is the main "Documents" folder that contains all my documents, not just the TMG9 project files, reports, etc.

John

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Your projects should never be located in the OneDrive folder or any folder (DropBox, etc.) that is being synced or backed up real-time.

Syncing works fine for single files but a TMG project is a collection of files. If any single project file gets out of sync with the set, the project is effectively destroyed.

This does not have to do with TMG working correctly but has to do with project integrity.

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Jim:

OK.  I Uninstalled TMG9 and deleted all TMG9 folders on my computer.  Then I reinstalled TMG9 in Administrator mode and unlocked it.  The installer puts the TMG files in the One Drive folder and does not give me an option to put them somewhere else.  I then moved the two folders, one in johnt\AppData\Roaming and one in johnt\One Drive\Documents to the equivalent location under user John Tippet.  I then edited the File\Preferences\Program Options\General\ and File\Preferences\Current Project Options\Advanced\ settings in TMG9 to the new location under user John Tippet.  When I open the Sample Project TMG9 still crashes.  Plus the TMG9 folders reappear in johnt\AppData\Roaming and johnt\One Drive\Documents whenever I run TMG9, even after I have deleted them.

I am desperate to fix this problem.  Please help.

John

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This is some sort of system-level issue, not a TMG issue. Your system user folders have been redirected to One Drive.

If you can't figure out how to undo this, my only suggestion is to disable One Drive.

You still haven't responded as to whether the johnt user account is intentional or not. Win10, by default, takes your user name and reduces it to 5 characters by some sort of algorithm. The 'johnt' account would be a typical result.

 

 

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John,

I completely agree with Jim.  I believe random crashes have always been found to be other programs working in the background randomly accessing some of the many files used by TMG while TMG is running.  As Jim noted, this is not a TMG issue, it is bad design of the program "messing" with TMG's files.  There have been repeated reports of allowing OneDrive to have anything to do with TMG files causing problems.

Some people like to have OneDrive back up their files onto Microsoft's cloud.  In that case, first configure OneDrive to have nothing to do with all of TMG's files and folders.  Then manually do a TMG backup and copy/move that TMG SQZ file to a folder monitored by OneDrive so it now will copy that file to Microsoft's cloud.  Others, like myself, have completely removed OneDrive from our computers so none of our files reside on Microsoft's cloud, and do our own separate backups.

For suggestions on various options to disable or remove OneDrive you might start with this Microsoft support page:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0

Hope this gives you ideas,

Michael

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I haven't removed One Drive. I just turned it off.

From the Start Menu, run One Drive. Do not sign in. Close the window with the [X] button.

In the task tray, click One Drive. Click More... and select Settings. On the Settings tab, clear the check boxes. Then click [OK].

In the task tray, right-click One Drive and click [Close One Drive]. Confirm this in the prompt.

It should now be disabled.

After some Windows Updates, the One Drive icon might reappear in the task tray. Just right-click on it and close it.

%%%%%%%%%%

btw... One Drive is in Programs and Features so it could be uninstalled. I would also think that it will be added back when Win10 is updated. Disabling it as I described does the job.

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On 7/19/2019 at 1:56 PM, John Tippet said:

The link you supplied talks about Unlinking OneDrive or Hiding or Unistalling OneDrive.  Which options should I select?

It depends upon your version of Windows.  On some versions Microsoft prevents you from installing it.  You could try to uninstall and if that is not allowed with your version follow the Microsoft page's instructions on hiding, which is what Jim instructed.

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John,

I've never uninstalled One Drive. I use the One Drive settings to disable any syncing and to make sure One Drive isn't run at the os startup. (all check boxes on the One Drive Settings tab cleared)

Jim

 

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OK.  Here is the latest on this saga.  I believe I have "deactivated" onedrive.  At least it doesn't show up in the task bar in the lower right corner.  Nor does it show up in the task manager when I hit control-alt-delete.  I then uninstalled TMG9 and removed the remaining vestiges of the program in C:\Users\johnt\AppData\Roaming and in C:\Users\johnt\OneDrive\Documents\  I then rebooted the system and reinistalled TMG9 in administrator mode.  The program still crashes at random.  Am I the only one to experience this nightmare?

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P.S.  I just noticed that the Onedrive icon has reappeared in the lower right hand corner of the task bar but with a line through it indicating I am not signed in.  As hard as I try I can't seem to get rid of this #%*&+ application.

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That will happen periodically. Just make sure that it's set to not run on system start, And exit from it when it appears in the task tray.

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I guess I am relegated to using two computers, one with Windows 7 for running TMG, and one with Windows 10 for everything else.  This is the pits, but I see no alternative, unless someone on this forum can offer a solution to my problem.

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