Use of the Island Register's Archived Query Files

To conserve room on the Server for new family files and documents, only the latest query page, and the two immediately preceding it are viewable directly from the main page of the Register.

However, I am aware that all queries are of use to all, so it has always been my policy to provide all of the preceding queries back to Jan 29, 1997 in a downloadable zipped "archives" zip file. This file is zipped with WinZip, and before being read, must be unzipped with WinZip, PkUnzip, or another unzipping utility. I have used many similar utilities, but I highly recommend WinZip, and it should be part of any computer user's toolkit.

For those who do not understand what a zip file is, it is a means of making files take up far less space. For example, as of the date this note is being written, the archives.zip file unzipped is over 1.4 megabyes in size. Zipped, it is a little over 400K, less than 1/3 the unzipped size. To read it, it is necessary to unzip it, which brings it back to full size. This process might be compared to freeze drying orange juice, then later reconstituting it with water to bring it back to its original condition. The advantages, besides the space saving on the server, is it allows you to download the multiple files contained within the zip with one download.

Now, here is a hint for those who are using WinZip to unzip this file. Using WinZip, it is not necessary to completely unzip this file. All that is necessary, is to go into WinZip, then go to open, locate the archives file, then open it. All the pages located in it will be listed on the screen. If you then double click on any file within the zip, the associated program will be launched - if an html file, your browser will be launched; if a text file, your text viewer will be launced, if an rtf file, your word processor will be launched, and the selected file displayed without actually unzipping it to your disk. If searching for any particular family, you may use your viewer or browser's "Find" function to locate references within each file displayed to locate the desired name.

Note: As these files go back two years of more, some email addresses will have changed, and you will not be able to contact some people who's query's you will see within the archives. This cannot be avoided, as people often change their addresses, but in such a case, often a message left in the current Queries book will often bring a response from them.