If you have a USB drive, Windows CE-powered cell phone, or a palm device, you can take your Legacy family file on the road.

So whether you're doing research in a library, a cemetery, or the subway, you can bring your genealogy with you. Here's how....

USB drive

Using Legacy's free add-on, GENViewer Lite, you can view your entire Legacy family file on any Windows computer that has a USB port. You'll first need to download/install GENViewer Lite, then copy your family file's GEDCOM to the USB drive. Follow these easy steps....

1. Download and install GENViewer Lite. Click here to start the download.
2. After you have installed GENViewer Lite, insert your USB drive into your computer and copy the gvlite.exe file from the c:\Program Files\MudCreek\GVLite directory to your USB drive.
3. Create a GEDCOM (File > Export to > GEDCOM) of your family file and then copy the file to your USB drive.

You can now insert your USB drive into any Windows computer's USB port and view your family file (by running the gvlite.exe file). GENViewer Lite lets you view the Individual and Family Views. The full GENViewer program (free for 15 days) lets you also see the following tabs: Pedigree, Descendants, List, Highlighted, Islands, Sources, Internet. If you already purchased GENViewer, just copy the GenviewerLegacy.exe file to your USB drive.

USB drive using MojoPac

Lots of Legacy users have had success running Legacy from a USB drive after installing MojoPac. I haven't personally experimented with it but it sounds quite promising. This has been discussed in our Legacy User Group mailing list. To learn more, you can search its archives by clicking here. Learn more about MojoPac by clicking here.

Windows Mobile based devices

I carry my cell phone with me nearly everywhere. Everywhere my cell phone goes, my Legacy family file goes too! I've installed the Legacy add-on, Pocket Genealogist, which directly imports and synchronizes my Legacy family file. In fact, Pocket Genealogist is the award winning leader in Genealogy software (PC Magazine winner 5 years in a row) for Windows Mobile based devices. This includes the PocketPC, PocketPC Phone Edition, Smartphones, Handheld PC/Pro and Handheld PC 2000.

Pocket Genealogist on your mobile device is more than just a viewing program. You can actually add the names/dates/places you find directly into the program. When you come home, it will synchronize with your Legacy family file on your computer, adding all the new information right where it's supposed to go.

For more information, or to purchase Pocket Genealogist, click here.

PalmOS handheld PDA or smartphones

GedStar Pro is the premier product for viewing your Legacy family file on your PalmOS handheld PDA or smartphone. It is optimized for the latest devices with color screens, fast processors, and increased storage space.

GedStar Pro will directly import data from your Legacy family file. In this way it can take advantage of most of your genealogy program's features to store and display virtually all of your important data. All events — primary and alternate, standard and custom — can be converted, along with their source citations, sureties, notes, and repositories. It will even include your research task to-do list.

The new GedStar Pro V3.0 has powerful a name-search feature with Soundex support, several new lists of resources, a data export function, and even an "On-This-Day" feature that shows events that occurred on a particular day of the year.

For more information, or to purchase GedStar Pro, click here.

GedStar Pro from GHCS Software is the premier solution for having your genealogy data with you at all times right in the palm of your hand! Whether you are in a library, on a research trip, or just at a family gathering, all of your most important facts are just a few taps away.

GedStar works directly with Legacy Family Tree: no GEDCOM file is needed. In addition, GedStar is fully compatible with any genealogy software that can export data in the standard GEDCOM file format. This includes all known free and commercial products that are currently on the market.

The number of people that you can have in your GedStar database is virtually unlimited, as the program works the same for a few hundred or many thousands of individuals. You can store your data in multiple independent databases, and can store databases on insertable memory cards.

GedStar gives you several different ways to view your data, notes, and sources. Both color and monochrome devices are supported.

The program's screens include:

• Main view (lists all people in the database)
• Family view (shows information about a marriage)
• Individual view (displays an individual's details)
• Ancestor view (displays three generations in an ancestor "tree")
• Descendant view (displays a descendant "outline")
• And more...

In addition, GedStar offers these features:

• Several options for detailed searches
• Multiple databases, with add-in memory card support
• Source citation details for major events
• Bookmarks for up to eight persons per database for quick access
• Relationship calculator for any two people related by blood
• Show a day's major events: what happened today in your family history?

GedStar Pro is optimized for the latest devices with color screens, fast processors, and increased storage space.

It can take advantage of most of your Legacy program's features to store and display virtually all of your important data.

All events — primary and alternate, standard and custom — can be converted, along with their source citations, sureties, notes, and repositories. It will even include your research task to-do list.

System Requirements:

• A handheld device running PalmOS™ 3.5 thru 5.x. This includes all color devices, but also many monochrome devices.
• A PC running Windows 98, ME, NT, XP, or 2000.
• Legacy or a  supported PC genealogy program that can export a GEDCOM version 5.5 file using ANSI or ANSEL encoding.

To view more about GedStar Pro or to purchase, click here.

Have a Pocket PC instead?

Click here to learn about Pocket Genealogist.

GHCS Software announces the release of GedStar Pro V3.1, an update of their premier genealogy software package for PalmOS handheld devices. Based on feedback from customers and other technical advances, this version greatly improves the support for integral photos and is a highly recommended, free update for all current users.

According to Doug Gordon, Chief Technical Officer of GHCS, the new version “has a completely new photo conversion module that is much faster, more accurate, and supports every raster graphics format that we know of. In addition, improvements on the handheld side take advantage of the full 65K-color capabilities of newer devices to greatly improve the quality of the displayed photos.”

The photo support is now fully functional with Legacy Family Tree.

In addition to a number of minor fixes and feature improvements, this is also the first version of GedStar Pro to include some basic support for the new Palm “one-handed navigation” feature that is found on the Treo smartphones and on the T5 and T|X PDAs.

The list price for GedStar Pro was recently reduced to USD $24.95, and the new version is a free update for all existing owners of earlier versions of the product. The product website can be viewed at http://legacyfamilytree.com/GedStar.asp. If you already use GedStar Pro, you can download the free update from http://www.ghcssoftware.com/prodnload.htm#Download.

GHCS Software announces the release of GedStar Pro V3.0, an update of their premier genealogy software package for PalmOS handheld devices. The major new feature in version 3 is support for the display of pictures on the handheld as an integral part of the genealogy data.

Pictures can be imported directly from Legacy Family Tree, as well as from GEDCOM files that contain links to picture files. The user has some control over which pictures are converted, and all included pictures are automatically resized and compressed for efficient storage on the PDA. With a single tap, users can view pictures associated with individuals, events, sources, and repositories. The initial release supports pictures in the popular JPEG and BMP formats, but support for more formats is expected in the near future.

“The newer PalmOS devices have more memory, faster processors, and high-resolution color screens, which allowed us to finally implement this frequently asked-for feature,” said Doug Gordon, proprietor of GHCS. “We believe that GedStar Pro is the only genealogy program on any handheld platform to support this capability.”

To learn more, or to purchase, click here.