Lost all Files

[HolmesRussell]

I have messed up big time, today I open my family file (Holmes_Russell Family) and went to a couple of pages, than did something and I don't recall what it was, but I received a notice that my file had been converted, and asked what
I wanted to do?
I clicked on "Let me thing about it" and have tried to find my files.
I do not have any backup files, and it appears that Reunion 10 program is gone.
Can anyone provide some assistance, it is about 10 years worth of data on the files and I don't know how I am going to recover from it.
Any help would be appreciated, it it my stupid mistake and nothing to do with the program.

Fred Holmes
Lompoc, California

[martha]

Re: Lost all Files

I have messed up big time, today I open my family file (Holmes_Russell Family) and went to a couple of pages, than did something and I don't recall what it was, but I received a notice that my file had been converted, and asked what
I wanted to do?
I clicked on "Let me thing about it" and have tried to find my files.
I do not have any backup files, and it appears that Reunion 10 program is gone.
Can anyone provide some assistance, it is about 10 years worth of data on the files and I don't know how I am going to recover from it.
Any help would be appreciated, it it my stupid mistake and nothing to do with the program.

Fred Holmes
Lompoc, California

I am definitely not a database expert like some of our regular posters on this list, but logic [and the fact that no one has yet replied] makes me wonder first of all, if the fact that you chose "Let me think about it" is holding your database in abeyance, which might make it appear to have disappeared? Since you seem to have no idea about what you are supposed to be thinking, if you were to choose "cancel" in its stead, would not the entire process quit and bring you back to where you were? Have you tried that?

I sure hope you can find your way back, Fred! Any lost data is wrenching, but an entire database is beyond thinking about! At least one thing should be clear to all of us: back up now!!!

Good luck, Fred!

Martha

[John Hill]

Re: Lost all Files

I do not have any backup files, and it appears that Reunion 10 program is gone.

Were you by any chance using Time Machine? If so, you can go back to before the incident.

[Bob White]

Re: Lost all Files

Cutting to the chase.... Have you looked in your Reunion Files folder to see if the file is still there?

Were you opening a family file in a newer version of Reunion for the first time?

Or had you just imported a GEDCOM file?

While I'm not totally 100% aware of all the situations that would generate such a conversion message, in all the years and versions and who knows how many imported files, any time I have had that type of message was related to a version difference or an import. The Leister programmers may have other scenarios that bring up such messages but I'm not familiar.

[ByronSpoon]

Re: Lost all Files

Open the Finder window. Then select File-->Find. In the Search window select "This Mac" and "File Name" at the top of the Search window and also select "Kind" is "Other" and type in "family" without quotes.
Does you file show up in the resulting list?

[Frank]

Re: Lost all Files

... I clicked on "Let me think about it"...

This button "Let me think about it" is one of four buttons that appear immediately after you create a new, empty family file. That's the only way you'd ever see that button.

So perhaps you accidentally pressed Command-N and, after naming the new family file, were presented with the window asking what to do next (with the new, empty family file). One of the options is, basically, do nothing -- "let me think about it."

[HolmesRussell]

Re: Lost all Files

I am trying to use all of the information that all of you have provided.
After getting my thoughts togeather, here is what I can remember:

Here is the back ground.

I worked on my family tree (Holmes_Russell Family) for about 3 hours
on Friday August 16, shut the computer down at about 6 PM.

On Saturday, August 17, morning, was working on another problem, and in my haste to
get out of the house to work in the yard, I moved the "Alias" from the dock
by accident, and got the little white cloud and the "Alias" went away for ever.

Went to the applications folder to reestablish the "Holmes_Russell Family" alias.
Then everything went wrong and I can not recall what all took place, but within the
hour I lost the entire Holmes_Russell Family file and have not been able to locate it
anyplace on the computer.

I opened Carbonite to restore the file and after a length run, it reported that the
file was restored. However, the file that was restored was from August 2012 not
August 2013. I had made quite a few entries on August 16 and they are not there
plus I have made numerous entries since August 2012 and I can not seem to find any
of them.

I can not locate the latest file and don't know how to reestablish the information.
I see that most of the photos are available.

I know there must be away to find the August 16 files but, I don't have the knowledge to do it. But, I did have the ability to delete them some way.

I am going to try to use McKeeper program to restore but, it takes about 6-7 hours to download the documents.

I will keep trying all of your suggestions, one at a time.

[Bob White]

Re: Lost all Files

...........Went to the applications folder to reestablish the "Holmes_Russell Family" alias..........

I opened Carbonite to restore the file.....

I know there must be away to find the August 16 files but, I don't have the knowledge to do it.

I am going to try to use McKeeper program to restore but..........

The family file is not in Applications. It is located in Documents>>Reunion Files by default. It would only be elsewhere if you moved it.

You should research Carbonite. They have had trouble with the ASA relative to misleading advertising. Here is what I just read: "due to bandwidth restrictions for uploading data, which limit upload to 2 Mbit/s for the first 200 GB but then to only 100 kbit/s once 200 GB had been exceeded, the backup was not unlimited." (Source is the Wikipedia article about Carbonite.) This would be the reason for the lengthy download.

At this point, I wouldn't recommend MacKeeper as your next move. Perhaps you should get someone to actually sit at your Mac and help you out. We can render suggestions all day long based on what you tell us -- which may or may not help --- while it may be something that can be solved in short order by actually being there. Of course, that's your call.

[feelsrgreen]

Re: Lost all Files

Couldn't resist the call for help.
Whew I would be kinda panicking but take a good breath and don't turn the Mac off.
If it was me I would immediately save that earlier file to a memory stick and protect it with my life.
Next I would back up everything to a trusted hard drive off your Mac, on its own if possible.

That would give you a couple of fall-back saves, which may be rescued later, if neccessary.
Then I would seek help in removing any anti-virus application like MacKeeper.
Check with Apple support pages. MacKeeper is Totally disastrous. 👎👎👎.
Even this removal may be troublesome and a danger to your precious Reunion files.
But you have a lot to lose and I do hope it goes well.
Then - afterwards do the best backup system you can find.
Even make a couple of CDS or DVDs. Safety is paramount.
I feel for you.
Regards
Noel

[furbies]

Re: Lost all Files

Not a solution I know but after I make major changes, I make a zipped copy of the Reunion data file and copy it in my DropBox account, just in case…

I stick to this rule at all times. I'd rather be 5 minutes late, than lose years of data...

[John Bayle]

Re: Lost all Files

The family file is not in Applications. It is located in Documents>>Reunion Files by default. It would only be elsewhere if you moved it.

....

At this point, I wouldn't recommend MacKeeper as your next move. Perhaps you should get someone to actually sit at your Mac and help you out. We can render suggestions all day long based on what you tell us -- which may or may not help --- while it may be something that can be solved in short order by actually being there. Of course, that's your call.

Yes, I agree with Bob. I think sitting down with someone at your computer is a great idea, preferably a friend who knows a lot about macs. Perhaps if there is an Apple Store near you, you can take your mac into the store and see if one of apple's "wizards" can find/restore your file. Could also try to get Carbonite to find you a more recent backup. I thought they were supposed to do things more often than once a year! One other thing to try if you've not done so already is use the mac's "Spotlight" search utility to try to find the file. It's pretty good at finding obscure files on an imac. If you need help with spotlight reply to this and I'll try to help. You can also get help on using spotlight on the web and/or via imac help of course.

Good Luck! Hope you can get your lost file back!

jr bayle

[HolmesRussell]

Re: Lost all Files

I have spoken to the MAC users that I know, and I thought they knew everything; however, there is no help there.

I am making an appointment with the MAC store in San Luis Obispo for Thursday, and see if they can get the
files back.

I have tried Spotlight and it found the 2012 file. I am afraid of doing much more, for fear of losing more.

But, one thing I found out is that all of these "so call" programs that can recover data is not what they are cut out to be.

I will post after I visit the MAC store.

I do appreciate all of the input from all of you.