I am based in the US and mainly merging Tennessee census records to individuals. I have tried wiggling the mouse while it merges to leaving it still, it still hangs about every 5-10 times I try it. I have an HP PC with 4GB of RAM and saving media to internal non-C: drive with more than 400GB of FREE space. I didn't notice this problem until I upgraded to Windows 7 RC although I have added many more individuals since the upgrade. I have also experienced complete program exit upon Tab"bing" from born date field to died date field. Upon next program launch it suggests running File Compact because of the crash. I tried uninstalling FTM and then reinstalling it but it didn't change anything. Not sure if I added the new update back but i think I did.

I have had the same problem since the last patch or upgrade.
The help desk recommended that when I download or merge a file that has a "media" attachement, I put the cursor on the "media" icon instead of on the "note" icon before merging. (Intsead of simply merging as we used to do).
This is a bit bothersome, but it works.

WORKAROUND - This appears to be a workaround not a solution to the bug but welcome none the less. Thank you. I have tested this workaround and it appears to work. It appears to rely on the fact that the procedure below causes the media to download before the merge not after it and this does not cause FTM2009(307) to lock-up. Procedure to be followed. Once records from ancestry to be merged are located and displayed with the facts tab showing, do not click "Merge" but rather click the media tab and wait for media to download then click "Merge". I hope FTM/Ancestry are working on this bug which only appears to exist in build 307 as no action taken in a computer program interface should cause a program lockup. I do also wonder why, if the help desk know of this workaround, it is not widely publicised.

Great tip - but yes this needs to be fixed. I wonder what the red X means in the lower right corner of the media thumbnail ? Now if I could just get the green leaf to disappaear after my downloaded hint is complete :(

Yes agreed. For some records the hint does not disappear. That appears to be a long standing problem. It does for census but not BMD records (at least in UK). Another pain but I don't know if you have noticed that the ignore this hint option is not available if you have already used the hint. I have no idea what the red cross means. Another problem that I have is that if you don't have the valid subscription for the area covered you cannot ignore the hint. One day they will get this program working appropriately.

Clicking on the Red X appears to stop the downloaded media being associated with the record. I guess the media is downloaded to a temporary file and transferred over to media file if and when the merge is clicked assuming the red cross has not been clicked.

By the way Ancestry are still denying the existance of the bug and saying re-installation fixes the problem. How annoying is that.

I have not had much luck with ancestry.com feedback to bugs...and yes I also get a grey'd out merge button with BMD records.

I've had this problem with FTM 2008, updated to FTM 2009 thinking perhaps they had finally found a fix for the frustrating problem. My experience is that the program will work as it should for a week or two, and suddenly the error message appears out of nowhere, and continues. Then inexplicably, it will start working again. It is an FTM problem that makes entering new data a nightmare. I've tried their suggested fixes, but I've found nothing that works. The randomness of this problem just drives me crazy. I'd dump FTM if there was anything better.

rmulin,

What are the error messages?

What is the Product Version number?

What are you doing when you see an error message?

To make is easier, IF you see that problem again, Provide the above information, in detail, and open a New Thread of messages.

Thank you,

Russ

I am having the same issue, hangs everytime I try to merge a record with an image. I have let it sit over night and it never recovers.