Backing up and restoring is an excellent way of moving your family file to a second PC or laptop.  Just backup on the first PC and restore on the second.  It makes a perfect copy -- nothing lost. Please visit our Web page with tips on how to Backup and Restore for more information. If you are installing Legacy for the first time on a new computer from the installation CD, you must also update your program from our Web site. If this is not done, the new Legacy installation may not be able to open the family file because the file was created in a newer version or "build" of the program. Please visit our Web page about updating Legacy for additional information.

Tips and Tricks:  

• You can view a video demonstration of backing up and restoring family files on our training CD 'Your 12-Step Checklist to Using Legacy Family Tree' for sale through our Online Store (please Click Here). 

Keeping your Legacy family file in sync when you are transferring it back and forth between two computers -- like your desktop computer and a traveling laptop -- can be tricky. If you enter new information into both machines, you can end up loosing information by overwriting your family file when you copy it from one PC to another. So what do you do?

Use Legacy's IntelliShare feature. Normally IntelliShare is used when sharing/coordinating family files among two or more researchers. It allows each of the researchers to make changes to the family file and then send their copy of the file to the person designated as the coordinator. He/she will merge all of the new information into a new master version of the file.

The IntelliShare session goes very quickly because it automatically merges every record where the IntelliShare ID value has not changed--meaning there has been no change in the record. IntelliShare ID values are changed only if a record has been edited. Then during the IntelliShare merge session only modified records are considered. (IntelliShare ID values are invisible to the user -- but not to the program -- so don't go looking for them!)

While IntelliShare was designed to help coordinate research on a common family file used by two or more researchers, it also works extremely well for a person who has an active Legacy family file on more than one PC (for example a home PC, a "traveling" laptop and/or an office PC). IntelliShare is truly the best way to synchronize Legacy family files when a user works in Legacy on more than one computer. When moving a Legacy family file containing IntelliShare values, please remember that you must transfer the actual family file or a backup copy between computers. GEDCOM files do not contain IntelliShare values.

To learn more about IntelliShare, please point your web browser to:
www.legacyfamilytree.com/tipsIntShare.asp 

Specific help is available in Legacy by clicking on the Merge tool button and selecting IntelliShare from the pull-down menu. Click the Help button in the IntelliShare screen for detailed guidance.