The Automation error usually means ‘Out of memory’. Try closing Legacy and then reopen it. This may fix the problem. If so, stop here and it probably won't repeat. If not:
1. Before you begin, write down your deluxe customer number. If Legacy is installed on a computer and the deluxe features are unlocked:
LEGACY: Click on Help > File Properties to open the Family File Information screen. Your customer number is listed here.
LEGACY 7.5: Click on Help > General Information to open the Family File Information screen. Your customer number is listed here.
2. Backup your family file:
LEGACY: See the article "How to Backup a Family File and/or Media Files in Legacy" at http://support.legacyfamilytree.com/article/AA-00868.
LEGACY 7.5: See the article "Backing Up a Family File in Legacy Family Tree 7.5" at http://support.legacyfamilytree.com/article/AA-00485.
3. Delete the Legacy program on your hard drive:
LEGACY 8 and 9:
C:\Program Files\Legacy (for 64-bit WINDOWS COMPUTERS)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Legacy (for 32-bit WINDOWS COMPUTERS)
LEGACY 7.5 OR EARLIER: C:\Legacy
Delete the Legacy application (executable file). You can recognize it because it looks like the Legacy icon and if you right click on it and select Properties from the popup menu its file type will be “Application (.exe)”.
4. If you have Legacy open your Documents folder and browse into the Legacy Family Tree sub-folder and delete the _AppData folder.
5. Re-install Legacy Family Tree:
LEGACY: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp
LEGACY 8 OR EARLIER: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com/article/AA-00899 and download the final revision (build) of your version. You may also wish to read "How to Install Legacy 7.5 or earlier on a Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows Vista computer" at http://support.legacyfamilytree.com/article/AA-00897.
6. When the install is finished and you have unlocked your deluxe features, open your family file, or restore it if needed.
7. Reset Legacy’s temporary folder by clicking on Options > Customize > Locations. Next, click the Reset button for the Location of Temporary File.
8. Run File Maintenance - Check/Repair. Click on File > File Maintenance > Check/Repair and follow the prompts. If the error messages occur during the Check/Repair process, click No to continue with the repair. Do step 2 twice if errors are found. If the program runs without the Automation error, you can stop here. No further repairs are needed. If the program is still not functioning correctly, proceed with the following steps.
9 Export your records into a new Legacy family file:
- Click on File > Export > Export to a new Legacy Family File.
- Give your new family file a name and click Save and the Legacy Export screen will open.
- Click the Privacy Options button to open the Privacy Options screen.
- In the lower half of the screen, under Override Private Settings, click the Check All button and then click Save.
- In the Legacy Export screen check mark Include general To-Do items and then click Start the Export.
- If the AutoSource Reminder screen opens, click the Don't Assign a Source button.
- The export will begin. When it's complete click OK.
- When asked "Would you like to open the file you just export to?" click the Yes button.
- Use the new family file and delete the old one when you are satisfied with the results.
Other possible solutions for the Automation Error:
This error has been encountered when an application was attempting to write to the Windows event log but the event log was full. The event log was set to ‘Override events older than NN days’ (and there was no system message indicating that it was full). Changing this to ‘Overwrite Events as Needed’ removed the error. The application in question was a Visual Basic 6 application, and this does seem to be a standard cause of this problem with VB 6 applications.
1. Open Window Event Viewer
2. Navigate down to the "Application" event log, right click this and select "Properties"
3. Change "When maximum event log size is reached" to "Overwrite events as needed".
