Legacy Freezes or Hangs
1. First check to see if there are any windows opened behind the main Legacy screen that need closed or if there are minimized windows at the bottom of the Legacy screen.
2. Close your file and re-open it. Click on File > File Maintenance > Check/Repair and proceed with the repair. If any error messages occur during the check and repair process, click No in the error message box so that the repair steps can finish. Do check and repair twice if errors are found. If the program works, you can stop here. No further repairs are needed. If the program is still freezes, proceed with the following steps:
If the problem occurs more than once sometimes there are user settings that may cause Legacy to freeze or not to respond.
3. Reset your Legacy options. Please click on Options > Customize and then:
LEGACY: click on Options for Default Settings > Reset to Legacy-Defaults and click Yes to confirm the reset. Next click Save.
LEGACY 7.5 OR EARLIER: click the Reset to Defaults button at the bottom of the screen, confirm the reset and then Save.
Often this is all that you need to do. You will, however, lose some customized settings, such as screen colors and personalized font settings. These things will have to be reset.
4. If step 3 did not fix the problem:
LEGACY: Browse to Documents>legacy Family Tree>_AppData>USR on your computer and delete the entire USR folder. These files contain user settings to customized background colors, screen fonts, window sizes, startup family, report settings, as well as file locations, etc. There is no family data in any of these files, so deleting them does not delete your data. Upon start up, Legacy will recreate the files to their default settings.
LEGACY 7.5 OR EARLIER: Please close Legacy and delete the legacy 2.usr, legacy5.usr, legacy6.usr, legacy 7.usr and legacy8.usr files from C:\Legacy and then try the program again. These files contain user settings to customized background colors, screen fonts, window sizes, startup family, report settings, as well as file locations, etc. There is no family data in any of these files, so deleting them does not delete your data. Upon start up, Legacy will recreate the files to their default settings.
5. Download the most recent Legacy update.
LEGACY: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp
LEGACY 8 OR EARLIER: http://legacyfamilytree.host4kb.com/article/AA-00899 and download the final revision (build) of your version.
6. Export your records into a new Legacy family file:
(1) Click File on the menu bar and select Export To.
(2) Choose Legacy File proceed.
(3) Give the file you will export to a new name and click Save.
(4) The Export screen will open. In the export menu click Privacy Options on the right side and in the override section override all privacy options to make sure all private records are exported. Click Save when done. Please click the large Start Export button. (If you get a message about sources, click Don't Assign a Source.)
Use the new family file and delete the old one when you are satisfied with the results.
7. How large is your family file? The more people in your family file, the longer the program will take to complete tasks. Files with more than 100,000 individuals will react sluggishly. The larger a family file is, the more prone it is to errors.
8. A family file will react sluggishly if it is saved on an external/removable drive, especially if the drive "goes to sleep." The fix is to copy the family file and pictures (media) to:
LEGACY: Open your Documents folder and browse into the Legacy Family Tree\Data subfolder
LEGACY 7.5 OR EARLIER: C:\Legacy\Data
9. Large picture file sizes, as measured in MBs, will slow down Legacy as it works to display them. You can minimize this problem by turning off picture displays. Click on Options on the menu bar and select Customize. Next click the View tab and uncheck the box for ‘Show the Picture of each main person on the Family and Pedigree Views’. The other option would be to resize the pictures you have linked to in Legacy.
10. Make certain that other programs are not running and that your computer meets minimum system requirements:
• Pentium class computer.
• VGA or higher display.
• Windows 10 Pro or Home, Windows 8, Windows 7.
• A Hard Disk with 500 megabytes of available space minimum.
• A mouse.
• Internet connection recommended.
• 8 GB of RAM minimum.
The minimum 8 GB for memory (RAM) is important. One indication of low memory problems is that Legacy runs fine for a time, but after a while locks up. Often all you need to do in this situation is restart your computer. Please consider a memory upgrade for your computer.
11. How full is your hard drive and has it been defragmented recently? Routine disk cleanup and file defragmentation can noticeably improve a computer's overall performance. Click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your Desktop screen and select All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Repeat these steps for the Disk Defragmenter utility.
