Update on how to use a flash drive

Flash drives are wonderful devices for temporary storage of
documents and photos. They are lightweight and easy to use,
and they are great for transferring info from one computer to
another. They come in a variety of sizes and styles.

You can buy them at computer shops in Nottingham (such as
Compuplus Direct at 13 Mansfield Rd., roughly opposite House
of Fraser), or from stores like Curry’s.

If you have a computer with an old version of Windows on it,
a flash drive may not work (so you should check the
specification with the retailer). The latest flash drives
wouldn’t work with my old Windows 98 machine.

For Windows XP & Vista users ...

Put the flash drive into a USB port on your computer.

A small window/menu should then pop up onto your screen.


(click on the photo to see a larger image)

Select "Open folder to view files", to see the contents.

If nothing happens when you've inserted your flash drive …
click on Start to get up the Start menu,
select My Computer / Computer (in Vista),
and then select Removable Disk (or similar) to access your
flash drive.
If you’re using a SanDisk flash drive, you will have to
click on the folder "CruzerLock2" to open it up.


Yet another way of starting up a flash drive is ...
Right click on Start > Explore ... wait 15-30 seconds for
Windows to fully explore your hard drive. Scroll down the
list to find your flash drive (and then click on the link).

To transfer data onto your Desktop ...
1. Copy & paste (Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V)
2. Drag & drop ... which is quicker.

To transfer stuff from your computer onto your flash drive,
use either (1) or (2).

With “drag and drop”, you’re just transferring a copy onto your
flash drive, (or a copy from the flash drive onto your computer).

To close the session ...
Look at the right hand corner of the taskbar (at the bottom of
the screen).



Find the little green icon for "Safely Remove Hardware".

You will see that on my computer, this is next to the square AVG
icon (the flag with 4 colours on it). The green icon might not
be visible, in which case click on the white arrow to reveal the
hidden icons.

Click on the green icon and then click on the subsequent pop-up
(saying it's now safe to remove the hardware). You can now remove
your flash drive. One of our members told us that he lost some info
on his flash drive when he didn't go through this procedure.

Researching your ancestors on the internet.

This coming Thursday I will show you 40+ websites, which
will hopefully help you get going with your family history.

I'm going to list them all here, so you can browse through
them at your leisure, and in case you're unable to attend
our Computer Club session (starting at 11.30am in Room 2).

I hope to see you there.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


(JH updated this list in November 2010)

Free BMD http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
You can access a cut-down version of this at our County libraries, eg at Arnold.
Notts Archives
.... http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/leisure/archives.htm

Getting help
Notts Family History Society http://www.nottsfhs.org.uk/
Federation of Family History Societies
site map http://www.ffhs.org.uk/sitemap.php
research tips http://www.ffhs.org.uk/tips/first.php

Rootsweb http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Cyndi’s List http://www.cyndislist.com/
BBC Family History http://www.bbc.co.uk/familyhistory/
Family Records http://familyrecords.gov.uk/ (you will now be directed to other sites)
Society of Genealogists http://www.sog.org.uk/index.shtml

National U3A courses http://tinyurl.com/4aqmvo


Software packages to build your own family tree ..

Personal Ancestry File ~ LDS http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
(Click on link to this on the right hand side)
Roots Magic Platinum Ed. http://tinyurl.com/3yvrnm2
Family Historian http://www.family-historian.co.uk/
(said to be the only package with 100% Gedcom compatibility).
Family Tree Maker 2011 Deluxe Edition (Amazon) http://tinyurl.com/3yp8n89 (Amazon sells other versions also)
Legacy http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/
Heredis (for Mac users) http://www.myheredis.com/


Build/upload your family tree online …
Genes Reunited http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/default.aspx?ixc=u
Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
... on Ancestry, click on "Family Trees" at the top.
GenCircles http://www.gencircles.com/my/

Specialist binders / albums http://genealogysupplies.com/

Finding BMD info …
Free BMD http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
FamilySearch IGI site http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

Immigrant/Emigrant history?
Moving Here http://www.movinghere.org.uk/
Every Generation http://www.everygeneration.co.uk/
India family history (British Library) http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI

Ordering copies of certificates...
The General Register Office http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

Copies of Wills (& to whom Probate was granted)
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1226.htm
..and The National Archives http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/
... on National Archives, do a word search for Wills.

Pre 1837 research
Latter Day Saints http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp (LDS has the wonderful IGI)
FreeReg at Rootsweb http://freereg.rootsweb.com/
Pay-for-view family history http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp
You can access a good part of this free of charge at our City libraries.
Medieval guidance http://medievalgenealogy.org.uk/

Scotland & Ireland
Scotland’s People http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
Scotland’s Family http://www.scotlandsfamily.com/
Genuki for UK & Ireland http://www.genuki.org.uk/
The Irish General Register http://www.groireland.ie/about_us.htm
N. Ireland General Register http://www.groni.gov.uk/

Other sites of interest
Lists of UK Surnames http://www.uk-surnames.com/ (JH added this, November 2010)
British Origins http://britishorigins.com/
Scots Origins http://scotsorigins.com/
Commonwealth War Graves http://www.cwgc.org/
Service Pals http://www.servicepals.com/
Timesonline archives http://tinyurl.com/4udbp2
(Try searching for historical events free of charge on Wikipedia
... eg the Irish Potato Famine)
Old Bailey proceedings http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

Searching for places & people who lived there
Curious Fox http://www.curiousfox.org.uk/uk/front2.lasso

Try googling the place name + history/photo/forum

Try googling your name / name of ancestor
… put name in inverted comas and add a location

http://www.google.co.uk/ ...

John Hollins (in pages from the UK) ... 28,000 entries

“John Hollins” ... 18,500 entries

Hollins family trees:

Vicki Backhouse’s GenCircles site ..
http://www.gencircles.com/users/vickib65/1/data/8384
This is my great uncle Fred's ancestry, that Vicki has been
working on. Vicki is a professional genealogist and is a
distant cousin of mine.

Jenny Hollins’ site …
http://bobhewitt.co.uk/Genealogy/JennyHollinsAncestors/a1.htm
Jenny has traced the Hollins family line back 10 generations.

The Drawing Canvas in Word

Here's something for those of you who are more advanced computer
users. If you attempt to put an autoshape/text box/photo onto a
Word document, then the drawing canvas might appear on your screen...


(to see a larger version of a photo, just click on it)

One of the advantages of using this feature, is that it stabilises
your autoshapes when it comes to printing out your Word document,
similar to using a text box.

Often I've found it to be a nuisance and have wondered how to
disable it. I've just read about how to do this in an old issue of
PC Answers magazine.

Click on Tools (on the top toolbar) > Options > General, and then
untick the box alongside "Automatically create drawing canvas when
inserting Autoshapes".



I know this is small print stuff, but I hope it will help a few of
you who have had similar problems,