Backup & Restore - how to restore media files (all versions)

Restoring Media Backup Files

Legacy makes two kinds of backup files, data (family file) and media (pictures, video, and other attached files). You must use the Windows Extractor or a program like WinZip to restore media backups. (Only the data backup can be restored by using Legacy Family Tree. If you try to restore a media backup in Legacy you will get a message that the it does not contain a family file.)

The Windows Extractor is included in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. Legacy should be closed for the media backup restoration steps. This is strictly a Windows operation.

1. To open the Windows Extractor, simply right-click on a backup file (has a .ZIP extension) and select on Extract All on the pop-up menu.
2. The Extraction window will open. Please visit http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compress-uncompress-files-zip-files#1TC=windows-7 for a free video demonstration (this video applies to Windows Vista and higher).
3. Next:

• For Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista: Type the drive you want the media to be extracted in (in the example below we are saving it to the C-Drive) then click Extract. Follow the prompts. 
• For Windows XP: Click the Next button and in the next screen type the drive you want the media to be extracted in (in the example below we are saving it to the C-Drive) then click the Next button. Follow the prompts.

Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista	Windows XP

When restoring your multimedia files, extract them only to drive they were on before.  This ensures that picture and sound and paths will be preserved so that Legacy can find your files. If you extract to another location, Legacy won't be able to find the files because the extraction location is relative to the folder you select as the starting location.

If they do not show up in Legacy after extracting them and all the media items are located in a single folder go to options>customize>6.2 and change the default location of media files to the folder where they are located by clicking the change button and browsing to the folder they are located in.  Once this is done any media located in that folder will appear.

If you have extracted your media files and they are in more than one folder structure or the above step did not re-link them you can use the media re-linker to have Legacy search for all media items on your computer.  To view a guide on how to do this please Click Here.

If you are not able to follow these directions after reviewing them and watching the video demonstration, please Click Here.