[rosalind dna (OP)]

One of my main Word Family Tree files goes in to a hyperlink underline red font but I have it set as

Times New Roman - Black - Regular and size 12 unless it's a saved appropriate site.

I don't want to spend the rest of my researching life correcting this problem. I'll try to show you what it is.

Otherwise I'll have to re-type all of the 90 pages, I'd get bored and possibly give up the lot. I don't want too of course.

This is what it looks like: Untidy
Example; "5th Generation - 2 daughters"
with a line right through every new piece of my typing/writing.


What can I do to correct this as I've been doing it for about 12 months now

[BenV]

There will definitely be ways to avoid typing everything out again, so don't panic, but I'm not quite sure how to fix the problem.  Do you have a small file you could email to me so I could have a look?  Obviously, I will not expose the secrets of your ancestry to the forum...

[rosalind dna (OP)]

There will definitely be ways to avoid typing everything out again, so don't panic, but I'm not quite sure how to fix the problem.  Do you have a small file you could email to me so I could have a look?  Obviously, I will not expose the secrets of your ancestry to the forum...

Ben yes I would gladly email the file to you but it's all of 90 pages so I doubt that that much would go easily. I could copy and paste an example though.

I know that you won't reveal the "secrets" of my ancestry.

(Ben I don't have your email address. I'll PM you mine? )

[LeeE]

Copy the text (all of it) and paste it in to WordPad.  I think this should save the basic text for you, without the formatting.  If the strike-through still shows up in WordPad, try selecting all of the text and then re-formatting it to remove the strike-through.  Once you've got the text in WordPad without the strike-through you can then copy it all again and paste it back in to a new Word Doc.  You may then have to re-apply bullets and indents etc, but at least you won't have to re-type the entire text.

[rosalind dna (OP)]

LeeE What is WordPad, I don't think that it's in my XP PC, which
I've had since June 07.

There is a lot of basic text in the said file.

I have tried to remove some of the strike-through in the text but
it shows up although it does not always work.

[RD]

If you have accidentally ticked this box (green circle ) in the font menu this will cause all the text to have strikethrough ...

 [ Invalid Attachment ]


This is reversible by selecting the text with strikethrough then unchecking the box.

[LeeE]

LeeE What is WordPad, I don't think that it's in my XP PC, which
I've had since June 07.

There is a lot of basic text in the said file.

I have tried to remove some of the strike-through in the text but
it shows up although it does not always work.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but anyway, WordPad should be installed by default in XP.  It's like NotePad but can handle larger files and can handle some formatting.  You could try pasting the text straight in to NotePad but it'll probably say that the document is too large for NotePad and prompt you to use WordPad instead.

Perhaps another approach to try is to type some text in to a new Word document, in the font and style that you want, copy it with the format painter and then apply it to your original doc.

Something you should certainly do is to make a copy of your doc before you start messing about with it.  I don't suppose that you have any backups of this document hanging around?  Even if it's an earlier version and doesn't include stuff you've added to it since backing it up it would still give you another starting point for copying the text out and adding it to the backup copy.

Yet another approach might be to download and install OpenOffice.org, load the messed up doc in OOo writer and see if you can clear the strike-through there before saving it and reading it back in to Word.

I am, of course, assuming that you've already checked that you haven't got strike-through selected in the font format as RD pointed out.  I mean, you wouldn't be asking here if you hadn't already checked all the obvious reasons, would you?

[rosalind dna (OP)]

If you have accidentally ticked this box (green circle ) in the font menu this will cause all the text to have strikethrough ...

 [ Invalid Attachment ]


This is reversible by selecting the text with strikethrough then unchecking the box.

RD, I have checked and re-checked for Strikethrough but the format tool>Font>Strikethrough is unticked. As I set it.

But it was fine up to Tuesday and I only really noticed it yesterday (Thursday).

I have gone through the file to uncheck the format/strikethrough and hyperlink thing. no help so far thanks

[rosalind dna (OP)]

LeeE What is WordPad, I don't think that it's in my XP PC, which
I've had since June 07.

There is a lot of basic text in the said file.

I have tried to remove some of the strike-through in the text but
it shows up although it does not always work.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but anyway, WordPad should be installed by default in XP.  It's like NotePad but can handle larger files and can handle some formatting.  You could try pasting the text straight in to NotePad but it'll probably say that the document is too large for NotePad and prompt you to use WordPad instead.

My file was fine on Tuesday and I only really noticed it yesterday then panicked this morning.
I thought that Notepad was just like a diary thing.
But if I start to change the files into WordPad or Notepad then my work so far will confuse me with the differences. I've got Word, PDFs and the odd old photo (scanned)

Perhaps another approach to try is to type some text in to a new Word document, in the font and style that you want, copy it with the format painter and then apply it to your original doc.

If I start to re type all of the text from 90 pages it'll take possibly ages although I do type quickly. I might try with the "format painter" to copy it over. Good idea.

Something you should certainly do is to make a copy of your doc before you start messing about with it.  I don't suppose that you have any backups of this document hanging around?  Even if it's an earlier version and doesn't include stuff you've added to it since backing it up it would still give you another starting point for copying the text out and adding it to the backup copy.

No I have not made a single backup copy.

Yet another approach might be to download and install OpenOffice.org, load the messed up doc in OOo writer and see if you can clear the strike-through there before saving it and reading it back in to Word.

I am, of course, assuming that you've already checked that you haven't got strike-through selected in the font format as RD pointed out.  I mean, you wouldn't be asking here if you hadn't already checked all the obvious reasons, would you?

LeeE that's right I've checked and re-checked everything that I could think of before asking you, because I'd run out of ideas. thanks

[RD]

Possibly the problem could be due to writing the text in one version of Word but now viewing the file in a different (older/newer) version of Word.


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[rosalind dna (OP)]

Possibly the problem could be due to writing the text in one version of Word but now viewing the file in a different (older/newer) version of Word.


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Thanks for your help, RD & Lee but I think that I may have solved the problem with your
advice, it was a "Strikethrough" problem from something that I may have accidently
copied/pasted over without carefully checking.

That's what I do when I get involved in my researches. Forget the obvious checks. Ooops

[LeeE]

Oh well, at least it's a happy ending []

[rosalind dna (OP)]

Oh well, at least it's a happy ending []

Lee yes I totally agree with you.

[rosalind dna (OP)]

Can I back-up my family tree PDF files with the memory stick that I bought last summer
but have never used one ever before in my life?

I don't want to lose any of the information that I've researched over the past 11 to 12 months

The USB FlaskDisk EasyDisk - USB 2.0 is 8 MB
Supports USB 1 1/2.0 >  No driver required for Windows 2000/Me/XP (I have a XP PC)
Transfer speeds up to 480MB sec.

Also  I will keep it in a "safe" place like my desk perhaps.

Thanks, Rosalind

[LeeE]

I suspect that's an 8Gb, not Mb, memory stick, but yes, as long as you don't want to use it for anything else it should be fine for quite a few years.  Is there any problem with burning your stuff to a couple of DVDs?  I say a couple because just making one backup is almost as bad as making none.

Data is either worthless or priceless, and you should take proportionate steps to ensure it's safekeeping.

[rosalind dna (OP)]

I suspect that's an 8Gb, not Mb, memory stick, but yes, as long as you don't want to use it for anything else it should be fine for quite a few years.  Is there any problem with burning your stuff to a couple of DVDs?  I say a couple because just making one backup is almost as bad as making none.

Data is either worthless or priceless, and you should take proportionate steps to ensure it's safekeeping.

Lee you are right and I did make a slight mistake as my memory stick
has 8GBs on it. I don't have the ability to write DVDs in my
PC as it's only got the single drive for this.

Thanks

[RD]

You should have multiple copies of important data, e.g. copies on PCs,  & CDs, & USB memory sticks, also online.

I came across this online data storage site which offers 10Gb free storage ... ...sorry, you cannot view external links. To see them, please REGISTER or LOGIN

If your PC, CDs and memory sticks were stolen or destroyed (e.g. house fire) you could still have an online copy of your data.
(e.g. I store copies of my house & contents insurance contract in several online sites, so if the worst occurs I will always have a copy of the contract even if my home was completely burned or ransacked).

This one online site should not be your only back up, (internet companies often go belly-up), but it does provide an extra (free) level of security. NB: like free email accounts, Humyo will delete free accounts which have been inactive for 90 consecutive days.

BTW Rosalind you may not know that an mp3 music player could be used to store your data: it's the same as a memory stick.
A document of 90 A4 pages (text only, no pictures) is going to occupy about 5Mb = two pop music tunes in mp3 format.