Your ultimate guide to discover your family tree

TRACK DOWN YOUR ANCESTORS, SCAN IN OLD PHOTOS, & RECORD YOUR HISTORY - FOR FREE! KEEP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES SAFE & SECURE!

The internet has revolutionised genealogy. What used to be the dusty preserve of those willing to put in long hours (and travel long distances) is now open to anyone with a PC and internet connection. Reconnecting with your ancestors has never been easier, and the rewards of discovering where you came from and how your forebears used to live are immense.

In this comprehensive feature, we’ll put you on the road to discovering your own family history. We’ll start by equipping you with a brilliant free program called RootsMagic Essentials, plus reveal how to use it to start recording your tree using the information you already know. Then we’ll introduce you to free online resources where you can start to track down names, dates and other facts required to extend your tree back into the 19th century (and even earlier if you’re lucky), complete with tips and tricks for finding more elusive ancestors.

Next, you’ll discover how to digitise all the family memorabilia, from photos to old documents, to add to your research (and potentially share with others) before finishing with a look at ways in which you can connect with others – whether it’s sharing the research you’ve done so far or making contact with distant relatives to swap photos and information. Enough chit-chat, Great

Uncle Bulgaria is impatient for you to rediscover him…

Finally, how do you plan to protect yourself against data loss and possible disaster, once you’ve got all your important photos and family details in one place? If the answer is not at all, you need to stop what you’re doing right now and take critical steps to protect yourself from future disaster.

We’ll point you in the direction of the backup devices you need. We’ll introduce you to one free program that can cover all your backup needs – and, of course, critically we’ll show you how to set it up. You’ll learn how to back up all your important files, plus take a failsafe drive image of your entire Windows installation so future calamities are rendered little more than minor inconveniences. Speaking of which, if – or more likely when – disaster strikes, we’ll show you how to get your data back again. Enough chit-chat, it’s time to back up.