PAF to be discontinued

[Mary from Italy]

PAF is being discontinued as from 15th July 2013:

https://familysearch.org/blog/en/personal-ancestral-file-paf-discontinuedconsultants/?cid=USEnews_0613_PAF&j=45086875&e=mcassidy@email.it&l=30197683_HTML&u=290696633&mid=10421749&jb=0

Could the mods perhaps include the above link on the following page?

http://www.familytreeforum.com/content.php/756-Personal-Ancestral-File-(PAF)

[Elaine ..Spain]

Thanks Mary. I've already got it on my "to do" list! There are a few pages in the reference library that we will need to update.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Reference library now updated, unless anyone else can see any references to PAF which I have missed!

[Margaret N]

Since I purchased my windows 7 laptop I have searched in vain for PAF so have now found the answer. Friends kept telling me that I had it all wrong and to try again etc.
It now looks as if I will have to start all over again. I really feel lost all my files in PAF are just coming up blank and I can see no way to convert them.
I appreciate that the reference library has been updated but I have been in such a flap over this it was the last place that I thought to look on this occasion.
I am now looking for a very, very easy and 'simple' Family Tree Program - Idea's please.

[Mary from Italy]

If you like, you can send me a PAF file and I'll export a gedcom from it, which you can then import into another family tree program.

I like Family Tree Maker, which you can buy quite cheaply and isn't all that different from PAF, but there lots of others on the market. You should be able to find a copy of FTM that includes a free 3- or 6-month subscription to Ancestry. The cheapest places to buy it are usually Amazon and e-bay.

[Margaret N]

Mary,

Thank you so much for your kind offer when I sort myself out I may take your kind offer up. I think Amazon have the best deal FTM with 6months to Ancestry.

[Vivian]

Margaret

I have also been using PAF for over 25 years. I'm still happy using it, but if it ever fails I have looked at Legacy Family Tree and discovered that it will open PAF data files directly. I've tried it & it works.

You can download the FREE version of Legacy Family Tree here http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/

hope this helps

Vivian

[Yvonne from Oz]

Hi Vivian - thank you for that information. I was really upset when I read about PAF going as I use it exclusively. I followed the various links and it seems that Legacy Family Tree is one of their preferred options.

Do you or anyone know if it is worth getting the Legacy Delux edition as opposed to the Free Standard edition?. It is not very expensive but I was wondering if it was worth it?

[Elizabeth Herts]

I switched from PAF to Family Historian over a year ago and wish I'd done so sooner. I love the factI can make wonderful charts and all the numerous other features. It didn't take me long to get used to it.

[Vivian]

Hi Vonny

Having only tried the free version of Legacy, I haven't looked into what the deluxe version includes.

Vivian

[Yvonne from Oz]

Now I am really confused! Just looked at the dates on Mary's original post and see that I am months and months behind with this news BUT - I have been happily using PAF all this time with no trouble. I like it especially because of it's Book function which prints out all the information (notes, everything) in a very readable book-like format.

Does anyone know if any of the other tree programs have this function?

[Mary from Italy]

I think most of them do, but they all work a bit differently.

You can still use PAF as long as you want, but the LDS aren't supporting it, so they won't be doing any upgrades or fixing security holes, etc. If you plan to keep using it, copy the program to a CD or flash drive so that you'll still have it if you ever need get a new computer.

I mostly use FTM, but I still use PAF for some things, especially the list function, which is really useful for preparing lists of events in a particular parish to check when I order a film or go to the archives.

[Yvonne from Oz]

Thanks Mary, it is on a separate hard drive but I must copy it somewhere else too. So thanks for that reminder.

[jtaubman]

The Family Historian User group have been working on a "plugin" to help convert the long PAF notes into Gedcom Facts, anyone looking to move from PAF to Family Historian might like to check out link:Importing from PAF

[Margaret N]

Mary,
I have just noticed that you made contact with me about PAF earlier in the year. Thank you for your offer of help but I have decided to scrap all the info on PAF. A lot of it was not proved and I only want to record proved information which I have been compiling and sorting out. So now I have to find some new software. I have an old FTM 2005 but have no idea if it will work on Windows 7.
Will take a look through the magazines to view the latest programs.
My family is so small that I am sure that a Free Version will do all that I need. I just want to record all these pieces of paper that have built up over the years and clear my desk a little.

[DoctorGeoff]

If you really want PAF, you can still get it here:

http://parowansoftware.com/

and a few other places as well.

I have it on my main PC for its GEDCOM handling.
My preferred working software has been GenoPro. I like the graphical style (a bit like Org Chart) as it suits me - but import a GEDCOM into Genopro and you might as well forget it (it will be the widest tree you ever saw.
Genopro is now sale rather than free, but V1.70 is good enough for me.
The big problem with the graphical interface is that you can run out of space (screen space or tree space) very quickly - so you end up with a lot of trees. I keep planning to link all mine together (into a totally unusable tree) and import a GEDCOM into PAF (ready to turn it into an internet ready file) but getting old means that you have less time to do anything - because it all takes three times a long.

Geoff