FTM 2012 has stopped responding. No idea what to do. Distraught!

[Muppet]

FTM 12 has been working fine. Today I did some research and some new web searches. I then started up a new tree.

I then shut everything down.

Went back to it later and powered up again.

FTM was not responding and seemed to be trying to open up multiple tabs, none of them successfully.

Decided probably something corrupted.

Tried putting disc back in to reinstall/repair the program. Did not do anything.

Not computer literate and distraught now.

I do have back up of my data up to 2 weeks ago but not at all sure how I should proceed now.

Do I totally uninstall FTM 2012 (how would I do this to ensure ALL relevant files gone - could I just simply uninstall programme???)

Do I then just reinsert disc and hope it will autorun? Did not last time and I had no idea what to do.

Any help would be much appreciated kind people :-(

[Elaine ..Spain]

First of all, don't panic!
Check to make sure your data files are still there. They will be (or should be) stored in a folder in My Documents. The folder is called Family Tree Maker - open it and see if your files are there which relate to the trees you are working on.
You will probably see more than one as there should be the working file and the back up file. There will probably also be a media folder.
I'll take a look online to see if there are some help guides and get back to you.

[Muppet]

Thank you very much. Will keep looking :-)

[Muppet]

The files are still there. Phew!

May be coincidence, and I know FTM is stand alone software on my PC, but Ancestry.co.uk does not seem to be working.

Could my problem be linked? Thinking about it, before I shut things down I was doing a web search and it was not working, seemed to freeze.

[Muppet]

Just looked on the FB page for Ancestry.co.uk. That is down as is the .au and.com ones. Other people are saying they are having FTM issues. Oh please let it be this simple

[Elaine ..Spain]

It's a possibility that using Ancestry at the time it went down may have caused FTM to "hang" but I would be surprised if it had corrupted the FTM program. I've also seen reports of people having FTM problems at the moment, so maybe it's linked in someway. Wait until Ancestry is up and running again and then try to open FTM.

When you open FTM by clicking the icon on your desktop (presuming that's how you do it), only double click it once and then wait - sometimes if there has been a problem like this it takes FTM a while to sort itself out and open up, and if you keep double clicking then it seems to compound the problem. So double click to open and then wait. If after a minute you don't see the little wheely thing going round or FTM showing signs of opening, then try again.

Let us know how it goes - if you still have a problem then I can probably suggest something else!

[Muppet]

It's a possibility that using Ancestry at the time it went down may have caused FTM to "hang" but I would be surprised if it had corrupted the FTM program. I've also seen reports of people having FTM problems at the moment, so maybe it's linked in someway. Wait until Ancestry is up and running again and then try to open FTM.

When you open FTM by clicking the icon on your desktop (presuming that's how you do it), only double click it once and then wait - sometimes if there has been a problem like this it takes FTM a while to sort itself out and open up, and if you keep double clicking then it seems to compound the problem. So double click to open and then wait. If after a minute you don't see the little wheely thing going round or FTM showing signs of opening, then try again.

Let us know how it goes - if you still have a problem then I can probably suggest something else!

Thank you Elaine

Tried FTM again this morning. It did open up fully but it took 16 minutes to do it. Suspect Ancestry still down as cannot access it yet. Do hope the glitch has not affected my FTM software long term. But at least, as you assured me, my files are still there.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Glad it opened. 16 minutes is a LONG time!
Ancestry does seem to be on the mend - I can open it this morning although slowly, but I know some people are still having problems getting in.
Doubt that the software is affected long term - I suspect that as well as trying to open FTM, the software was also trying to open its automatic link up to Ancestry, and with the website being down or slow to open it caused the glitch.

[Stephen_C]

The slowing of the FTM software is definitely linked to the DDOS attack the site has been under the last couple of days. Ancestry suggest turning off automatic syncing of trees but my experience is that this makes no difference. I've blocked FTM 2012 in my firewall for the time being and it immediately ran perfectly again (but with no sync of course). Hopefully it'll all be sorted in a day or two.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Probably the best thing to do is to stop FTM from automatically connecting to Ancestry.

FTM 2014 (FTM 2012 probably same or similar)
Tools > Options > General ... untick box "search online automatically when connected to the internet"

[Stephen_C]

Probably the best thing to do is to stop FTM from automatically connecting to Ancestry. FTM 2014 (FTM 2012 probably same or similar) Tools > Options > General ... untick box "search online automatically when connected to the internet"

There's the same option in FTM 2012 but it has no effect, at least as far as this problem is concerned. I wasn't looking for an answer (I'm quite happy to wait until normal service resumes) but I thought that the OP would appreciate knowing that there's no problem whatever with either their software or PC.

[Caroline]

From Twitter:

Ancestry.com @ancestry 3m
Tip: If you are using Family Tree Maker (FTM), we recommend switching to manual sync until the service is fully restored.

[Muppet]

Thank you Elaine, Stephen and Caroline for reassurances.
I just always assume my own laptop/software are to blame and PANIC!!
Will just have to be patient. Nuisance though as Ancestry subs due to expire 7th July and I was doing a last mad burst before it does as I am not intending to immediately renew.

[Stephen_C]

All back to normal now, I'm pleased to say.

[Stephen_C]

It looks like they've restored their online trees from backup copies. You'll probably need to sync your trees before you work on them.

[Stephen_C]

I spoke too soon. The site still has problems, and syncing your tree may cause recent entries and images to double up. I'm going to give it another 24 hours, then delete my online tree and reupload to sort the tangle out. So you may still want to wait awhile.