Hi Sandra,

The first to do is be patient. Updating OneDrive is not like updating a disk drive. It takes a long time over the Internet.

Remember that synchronisation can only happen while you are signed in to OneDrive on your PC, and may take several hours.

Do not use FH until syncing has finished. The Project folders are full of large media image files that take longer to sync than text files.

It might not have been a good idea to delete files from the laptop.

Remember, whatever you do in the OneDrive folder is echoed online and in the other PC.

There is one setting to check in OneDrive to ensure a copy of all your files stay on your PC drive.

Click the OneDrive grey cloud icon lower right and click … More ~ Settings then Settings tab and untick Files On-Demand at the bottom.

Regards, Mike Tate

Yes, with a lot of catching up to do it will take some time. It all depends on the size of the files, and media images are large.

Also, the upload speed from PC to the Internet is typically about one-tenth of the download speed.

Remember just leaving the PC switched on is not enough.

You must be signed-in to your Windows account and signed-in to the OneDrive app too.

Once OneDrive is synchronised, only one file at a time gets changed and synchronised quickly.

But as Victor advised, only run Family Historian on one PC at a time to avoid synch hazards.

Overnight, after a couple of hours, your PC will probably switch itself off as nobody is using it.

(I know it is possible to change the Power Plan to keep it on all night, but that is a bit fiddly.)

So it might be better during the day when you can go back and just move the mouse to keep it awake.

Hover the cursor over the OneDrive cloud icon and it should popup saying how it is progressing.

Don’t forget the Files On-Demand setting I mentioned.

Once syncing has completed you should follow all the FHUG Migration Guide step by step.

You must check the Tools > External File Links as described and use the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings Plugin.

However, instead of copying the Family Historian Projects folder from PC to laptop, you can just connect the laptop to OneDrive.

But all the other steps are important and don’t forget Ancestral Sources if you use that program

Regards, Mike Tate

Sorry Sandra but I am not sure I understand the full picture.

I had assumed that the FH File > Project Window has its Location pointing inside the OneDrive folder at the Family Historian Projects folder.

Please tell me that Location path value. Maybe it is still referring to the default My Documents\Family Historian Projects ?

Also, your description of folders is ambiguous.

Sandra's Tree_2017.fh_data should be inside Sandra's Tree_2017 and not alongside.

Folder names ending -DESKTOP-1AOM4SR (which I guess is the Device Name of your Desktop PC) indicate sync problems.

It would be better if you could post screenshots of File Explorer with folders expanded as much as possible.

Have you asked OneDrive to Backup your Documents folder?

i.e. Click OneDrive cloud icon, More ~ Settings then Backup tab and Manage back up.

Are Desktop or Documents or Pictures showing Files backed up ?

There is a lot there, so take your time.

Regards, Mike Tate

Thank you, Sandra, that makes much more sense.

OneDrive is now backing up your Windows default Documents folder.

So its path has changed from C:\Users\sandr\Documents to C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive\Documents.

The Documents folder shown in This PC is the same as the Documents folder in OneDrive.

If you right-click Documents in This PC and choose Properties you will see its Location is C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive.

So all your screenshots are showing the same C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive\Documents\Family Historian Projects\Sandra’s Tree_2017 Project.

That has folders and files dated 24/05/2020 that shows they were updated by FH very recently.

They all look perfectly OK, and the old files ending -DESKTOP-1AOM4SR dated 11/02/2020 can be safely deleted.

The one folder you have not shown is C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive\Family Historian Projects and that is the FH current Project Location.

If you have updated your Project in that Location since 24/05/2020 then tell me and ignore the instructions below.

I notice there are other Projects in that Location that hopefully have not been updated for some time.

If you have not updated any of your Projects in that Location since 24/05/2020 then that folder structure is redundant.

In FH File > Project Window click the blue path in Location and Reset Location to Installation Default i.e. My Documents\Family Historian Projects.

That now refers to C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive\Documents\Family Historian Projects and you will need to reset your Default Project.

Your Projects should be fully functional in that default Location, which works because the Windows Documents folder has been relocated into OneDrive.

Now you can delete the C:\Users\sandr\OneDrive\Family Historian Projects folder, which I presume you copied into OneDrive some time ago.

If absolutely necessary it can be recovered from the Recycle Bin.

When you eventually synchronise OneDrive with your laptop you will probably use the same Manage back up settings.

Then the Documents, Desktop & Pictures folders and all their internal folders & files will become identical on both PC.

i.e. Those folders will be fully synchronised between your laptop and desktop PC via OneDrive.

Whatever you edit, save, delete on one PC will affect the other PC and the OneDrive cloud store in exactly the same way.

Are you comfortable with that?

I hope that all makes sense to you.

Regards, Mike Tate

That is not actually a separate Project but a rogue file with that DESKTOP-1AOM4SR suffix you have overlooked when deleting such files.

It will be inside the …\Family Historian Sample Project\ folder somewhere.

The clue is the (Folder: Family Historian....) that says the file is sitting in that folder.

You need to look through all the folders in OneDrive to check for that suffix, and delete any with an old date.

Are you happy with the idea of synchronising an identical Documents folder across your desktop and laptop via OneDrive?

Regards, Mike Tate

Yes, you can populate the laptop FH directly via OneDrive. That was our original objective.

You won’t need to use a USB pen drive. Anyway, there are other steps you need before migrating to the laptop.

That is why I keep bashing on about you being happy to synchronise the Documents folder between desktop and laptop via OneDrive.

Thereafter, all the folders & files on both desktop and laptop will be identical within the OneDrive folder.

Whatever you change on one PC will happen to the other.

Please confirm before going any further.

Sandra, why do you keep avoiding answering the question about synchronising the Documents folder across desktop and laptop via OneDrive?

Until I know the answer to that, I cannot advise you what to do next.

If the answer is NO then what you do will be different from if the answer is YES.

The whole point of this long dialogue is to use OneDrive to synchronise your desktop with your laptop from now onwards.

That avoids using the USB pen drive.