Activate
When the program first runs it will take you through the activation process.
Create Account
When you purchase FH 7 an account will be created and the id and password sent to you by email. If you do not already have an account click the link shown above when the program starts to create one.
Login
Login using the Account and Password as detailed above.
Lost Password
If you have lost your password, click on the lost password link in the Login dialog. You will be emailed a link to reset your password.
Licence Activation
All users of Family Historian must have a Family Historian account. You will be prompted to login to your account, or create a new account, the first time you run Family Historian on any computer. If you bought a licence for Family Historian on the Family Historian website, you should already have an account, but if you didn’t, or if you have lost your account details, you will be given the option to create a new one.
Also, the first time you run Family Historian on any computer, you will need an activation code to activate a licence for Family Historian within your account. You only need do this once – indeed you only can do this once. Once an activation code has been used to activate a licence within an account, that activation code cannot be used again. Consequently it is very important that you keep a careful note of your account details. Family Historian will remember your account details on each computer that you install it on. You don’t need to login to your account every time your run the program. But if you need to reinstall Family Historian, on the same computer or on another computer, you will need your account details then. So don’t lose them. We also recommend that you keep a copy of your activation code. If you need to contact Family Historian support, it could be useful.
Installing the Trial
If you have a trial activation code (that is, an activation code for a 30-day trial), you must still login to a Family Historian account before you can use it to start your trial (again, you will be able to create a new account if you don’t already have one). After logging in, you can use your trial activation code to activate the trial within your account. This will allow you to use the software for 30 days . You can buy a full licence to use the software at any point. You don’t have to wait until the end of the trial. When you buy a licence, you will be issued an activation code for the licence (called a licence activation code). Every time you start Family Historian in trial mode, you will always see startup window with a button labelled “Enter Licence Activation Code”. If you have bought a licence, click this button and enter your licence activation code to fully unlock the software.
Installing on Multiple Devices
Every Family Historian licence specifies a maximum number of simultaneous installations. In most cases, this number is 2. Check your End User Licence Agreement for other conditions relating to this. If, after activating the software on one computer, you then wish to install it on another computer, you must login using the same account that you used when you first activated your licence.
Managing Licence Activations
If you want to install the software on more devices than your licence allows, you can buy another licence. You can activate that licence within the same account that you are already using if you wish. If you do so, this effectively increases the maximum number of devices that you can install the software on, using that account.
If you try to install the software on more devices than your licence permits, you will be presented with a window titled “Licence Activations” (see below).
At the top of this window is a field labelled ‘Licence’ which holds a dropdown list of all the licences attached to your account. For each licence, it will show a list of devices associated with that licence, as well as their status ‘Active’ or ‘Inactive’. Select each licence in turn (if more than one) to view all the associated devices. This same window may also be displayed, even if you have not exceeded the maximum number of allowed devices, if you have more than one licence with spare capacity for installations. In that case, the ‘Licence Activations’ window is displayed so that you can choose which licence you wish to use to activate the current device.
To activate your device, select the required licence from the dropdown list of licences at the top of the window, and click the ‘Activate This Device’ at the bottom, if that button is enabled. It will be disabled (grey) if the maximum number of allowed devices for that licence, has already been used. In that case, you will either have to choose another licence (if there is one), buy another activation code (click on the link ‘Enter another activation code’ to enter this code, if you have already bought one); or you will have to deactivate one of the devices you previously installed the software on. To deactivate a device, select it in the list of devices, and click the ‘Deactivate Device’ button. Once a device has been deactivated, you will not be able to activate it again, so be careful to make sure you are deactivating the right one. The name of the device in the list should match the device name as recorded on the device itself. Once you have reduced the number of active devices associated with a given licence, below the permitted maximum, the ‘Activate This Device’ button will become enabled, and you can use it to activate the current device.
Support
If you have any problems installing or activating Family Historian, please contact support (at support@family-historian.co.uk).