Frequently Asked Questions

Installing on Windows? Once you click on the download link, if you are prompted to Save or Run, choose Run. If you do not see such a prompt, then save the file; if given a choice, save the file to your Windows Desktop. After it has downloaded, run the AQ16Setup.exe file to install the program. If you cannot find the file, click on the Windows Start button and choose to search for AQ16. Once you find it, double-click the file to run it. During the install process, aside from accepting the agreement, just keep clicking on the Next button. At the conclusion, click on Finish.

Installing on a Mac? Follow the steps on this page: /mac/MacInstall.html

Windows can sometimes be extra aggressive in protecting you from files that either come from another computer or are downloaded from the Internet. So, you may need to take an extra step to allow the installer file to run.

Go to the file that you had downloaded from our site (it is usually saved to your Downloads folder, and it will be named AQ16Setup.exe).

1. Locate that file and then click on it once with the right mouse button.
2. On the menu that appears, click on Properties.
   
3. Within the window that opens, down near the bottom, you will probably see that it says the "file came from another computer and might be blocked". Click the Unblock checkbox or button.
4. At the bottom of the window, click OK.
5. Now, double-click on the AQ16Setup.exe file to start the installation.

If you see the Install Wizard open up, you can continue to install the program. If nothing happens, still, contact our Technical Support staff, and we can give you further assistance to get the program installed.

If you have Windows 7, and you have some folder redirection in place (you have Windows set up to redirect the Documents, Pictures, Music and/or Video folders to a different location or disk), then the issue is most likely with that redirection. You can (1)remove the redirection, then (2)install the Ancestral Quest program, and then (3)re-apply the redirection afterwards. That should resolve the issue during installation.

If you do not have redirection in place on Windows 7, then this is most likely caused by an issue that is known to the makers of InstallShield. You may visit this page on the InstallShield website that lists some possible fixes for this error.

Visit the Uninstalling and Reinstalling Ancestral Quest page of our site and complete just the steps to uninstall the program.

Visit the Uninstalling and Reinstalling Ancestral Quest page of our site and complete the steps to manually remove the program.

When you have not entered a Registration Key, this screen will appear every time that AQ starts up. This allows you to enter the Registration Key (if you have decided to purchase one), or to use the free AQ Basics program.

You can use the free Ancestral Quest Basics program for as long as you wish--there is no time limit. All you need to do is click the button labeled Use Ancestral Quest Basics. See the AQ Versions page for an explanation of the features included in both AQ Basics and the full AQ program.

• If you have just launched the program, it should prompt you for the version to use (see the screen shot in the answer for the question, above). Click the Use Ancestral Quest button.
• If your copy of AQ is already running, you can go up to the menu bar and select Help, then Register Ancestral Quest.

Enter your Registration Key into the box on this window, then click the Register and Continue or Save and Continue button.

When typing in the registration key, use all capital letters and be sure to include the hyphens/dashes (-). For further assistance in entering the Registration Key, see the next question and answer, below.

Typically, when Ancestral Quest does not accept the key, it is because it has been entered incorrectly.

Please refer to the following suggestions for entering the Registration Key properly:

• Be sure that you have the appropriate Registration Key for the version of Ancestral Quest that is installed. Note that:
  • a Registration Key for either version 12.0 or 12.1 will work in AQ versions 11, 12 and 12.1.
  • a Registration Key for version 15 will work in AQ versions 11, 12, 12.1, 14, and 15.
  • a Registration Key for version 15 or earlier will not work in AQ version 16.
  • a Registration Key for the Mac version of AQ will not work in AQ for Windows, and vice versa: A Windows Registration Key will not work on AQ for Mac.
• Make sure that in AQ, there is nothing inside the Registration Key entry box before you go to enter the key.
• Be sure that you are entering the entire key with capital letters and the hyphens (-).
• There should be no spaces before, during, or after any of the character sequences in the key.
• The proper sequence of the number of characters to hyphens is 4-2-5-5-3 or XXXX-XX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXX (the letter X represents any character or number)
• Make certain that you are entering the proper characters and numbers. Often times, letters and/or numbers can be mixed up. These characters are not interchangeable, so be sure to enter the proper character.
  Some often confused characters include:
  • the number 1 and the letter I
  • the number 2 and the letter Z
  • the number 3 and the number 8
  • the number 4 and the number 9
  • the number 4 and the letter A
  • the number 4 and the letter H
  • the number 5 and the letter S
  • the number 6 and the letter G
  • the number 7 and the letter Z
  • the number 8 and the letter B
  • the number 8 and the letter S
  • the number 0 and the letter O (the number zero is usually more of an oval shape, and the letter O is usually more of a circle shape)
  • the letter B and the letter D
  • the letter E and the letter F
  • the letter M and the letter N
  • the letter O and the letter Q
  • the letter P and the letter R
  • two consecutive letter V characters and a single letter W (VV vs. W)
  • the letter X and the letter Y
• If you have received your Registration Key by way of an on-screen receipt or an e-mail message, and you are good with the mouse, you could just copy and paste the Registration Key.
  1. Use your mouse to select (highlight) the key (be sure to not select any spaces or punctuation before or after the key, itself)
  2. Use the Copy command (the Ctrl+c keyboard shortcut is easiest)
  3. Go into Ancestral Quest where you can enter the Registration Key. This is done in either the Ancestral Quest Registration window that appears when you start the program, or by going to the menu bar and clicking on Help > Register Ancestral Quest.
  4. Click in the box where the Registration Key needs to be entered.
  5. Use the paste command (again, the Ctrl+v keyboard shortcut is the easiest), to paste in the key.
  6. Click on the appropriate button -- Activate or Save and Continue or Activate and Continue -- to save the registration key.
• If you receive a message stating that the Registration Key is incorrect, check the key that you have been provided and try entering the key again.
• If you receive a message that you have successfully entered the Registration Key, then you are finished.

Visit the AQ2Go! page of our website.

Windows

Once Ancestral Quest is installed, you will find Beginner's Guide' to Genealogy within the Ancestral Quest Program Group of the Windows Start menu.

You can get to it using one of the following procedures.

Windows 7, Vista, XP, or 2000

1. Click on the Start button in Windows.
2. Point to Programs (or All Programs, depending on your Windows version or settings).
3. If you see Incline Software point to that item, otherwise skip this step.
4. Point to Ancestral Quest xx (where xx is the version of Ancestral Quest that you have installed).
5. Click on Beginner's Guide to Genealogy. If you are using Ancestral Quiest 15, the book is a PDF file that will open with your default PDF reader. For earlier version of Ancestral Quest, the book will open up using the WinHlp32* Help system.

Windows 8.x

1. While on the main Windows 8.x screen (the Metro Interface with all the live tiles) position your mouse pointer on the background area (not on a live tile), then click the secondary (right) mouse button once.
2. A bar appears at the bottom of the screen. Go to the right and click on All Apps.
3. Now you will see the contents of the "old" Start Menu within the Metro interface.
4. Locate the heading for Ancestral Quest xx, and, beneath that, you will see the icon for the Beginner's Guide to Genealogy.
5. Click on Beginner's Guide to Genealogy. If you are using Ancestral Quest 16 or 15, the book is a PDF file that will open with your default PDF reader. For earlier version of Ancestral Quest, if you are running Windows 8.x, Windows 7, or Windows Vista you will need to request that we send you the ebook in PDF format. See the details, below.

Mac

If you have purchased Ancestral Quest for Mac, you will need to request that we send you the ebook in PDF format. See the details, below.

Request the PDF version of the ebook from Incline Software

If you canot access the Beginner's Guide' to Genealogy for any reason, you can request to receive a PDF version of the book by sending an email message to support@ancquest.com.