Windows 7 64-bit Upgrading from 0.6.16 to 0.6.37 problems

[ciscoswitch]

Hi,

I have calibre running on my windows system, and I have my library I created and all works fine. When I upgrade to 0.6.37 I get errors when I start it saying that an invalid library already exists. If I set the library to just my desktop, then it starts up just fine, however I do not have my library.

I've tried by uninstalling 0.6.16, and installing the new version. I've also tried deleting the users/<name>/app data/roaming/calibre folder, but I still get this error.

Is there changes to the metadata.db from 0.16 to 0.37? is there any way to convert it over? or is there just something else I need to do to my machine to get it to work?

Thanks,

[HorridRedDog]

I'm running 64bit Win 7 Professional. I upgraded from the last version to 0.6.07 with no problem.

The problem may be with some software on your system.

Try using the free version of Revo Uninstaller to uninstall Calibre. Do the "moderate" unimstall.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_..._download.html

This has removed troublesome software for me in the past (software using SQL).

If that doesn't help then it just may be something on your computer. Or it may lie with some 0.6.16 to 0.6.37 problem.

Next step is to see if you can "go back" to the older version if it worked for you

[ciscoswitch]

I've reverted back to 0.6.16 and it works fine. Not sure what could be causing the newer version to not work.

not sure I want to try the revo uninstaller. It's got to be something simple.

Anyone know the manual way to uninstall? I thought there was another file located somewhere to delete or rename, but I can't figure out where or what..

[snlu178]

I wanted to weigh in here.

I have Win 7 64 bit. I am running Calibre 0.6.37.

Ever since I upgraded I have had nothing but problems. Calibre half creates files then crashes leaving me with a locked file I cannot delete. Calibre creates a new metadata-journal that makes Calibre crash when searching for the database. Calibre has also started to simply not recognize my folder location as the database location anymore.

Another item is that if I leave Calibre running overnight, it will have a I/O crash when trying to fetch news on the scheduled time.

None of these issues existed in the previous builds. It is enough for me to want to find another program because at this point, Calibre only runs on my old XP machine.

[itimpi]

Your symptoms make me wonder if you have remnants of the 6.16 release left around when you are trying to run the 6.37 release? Others seem to be running the later releases without any of the issues you are experiencing.

Around the 6.17 release the WIndows build package changed signifcantly and it was important at the time that you properly uninstalled the previous release and did not attempt to simply upgrade.

[ciscoswitch]

So again, then, I ask, how to you do a proper uninstall? need to know all the locations of the files to delete.

Thanks,

[edbro]

Originally Posted by ciscoswitch

So again, then, I ask, how to you do a proper uninstall? need to know all the locations of the files to delete.

Thanks,

So again, we tell you. Use Revo Uninstaller

[HorridRedDog]

Originally Posted by ciscoswitch

So again, then, I ask, how to you do a proper uninstall? need to know all the locations of the files to delete.

Thanks,

You can NOT just uninstall or delete a few files. Related files and setting will be all over your computer.

I install a security access control system for a living. To do a complete uninstall requires removing over 4,000 settings in the Windows registry (it uses SQL, Crystal Reports, .NET, etc.).

Give it up and use almost anything better than Windows Uninstaller.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by ciscoswitch

So again, then, I ask, how to you do a proper uninstall? need to know all the locations of the files to delete.

Have you read "the FAQ"? There's some uninstall info there.

[snlu178]

OK, Revo Uninstaller and Re-installed.

Win 7 64-bit, 0.6.37 installed

The issue of strange metadata file behavior seems to be solved.

However, I am having a problem of fetching news. It sits at unavailable the entire time, for 15+ minutes and does not start a download.

The situation where I experienced this is: I put the PC to sleep at night (with the hopes that it would run the fetch at scheduled time, it did not). I woke the PC up and opened Calibre. I ran fetch news, stuck on unavailable. I closed Calibre, checked my internet connection (was fine) and reopened Calibre. Tried again to fetch news but was unavailable.

My money is this is because of the sleep mode. So my wish list would be that I keep Calibre running as I put the PC to sleep and it fetches the news on the scheduled time overnight, so I can attach my Sony first thing in the AM and read my feeds with coffee.

Other than that, the Revo uninstall and re-install seems to have solved the other issues at the moment.

[ciscoswitch]

Recommending to use an uninstaller program is absurd, sure it probably would work, but why should I have to? The author of the program, so put as much time into removing his software, as he does into creating it. It boils down to just flat out sloppy programming, and then people blame the OS as the problem, when you can look clearly and see that most the problems are because software manufacturers are not completely uninstalling their software, some do it intentionally, others it's just sloppy programming. I actually believe that there should be a law for this, because of the impact it has on millions of users. Of course by having crummy programmed applications, creates a market for people to make uninstallers.

If you install things on someone's computer, your uninstaller should remove those same things. Now I understand that the OS will create some files or settings itself, and this can't be held responsible to the software writer. However, clearly calibre is NOT removing all the stuff it installs. If it was, then after I uninstalled it, and then reinstalled it, it should not have my library settings from the previous install. Comprende? and that's just one example.

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by ciscoswitch

However, clearly calibre is NOT removing all the stuff it installs. If it was, then after I uninstalled it, and then reinstalled it, it should not have my library settings from the previous install. Comprende? and that's just one example.

An uninstaller should remove files it installs, yes, but it shouldn't be whacking any of your settings or documents during the uninstall process.

That said, with 0.6.17 the author replaced the installer/uninstaller; in my experience, the new one works a hell of a lot better than the old one did.

[ciscoswitch]

I know that some people may want something to be done one way and to someone else they'd want it completely different. As in such, some people may want to leave settings for an app they are removing on their computer in case they decide to install that program again. However, I feel that when someone removes a program, it's plain and simple that they do not want that program on their computer, and so everything should be removed. Now I know that some programs have problems, and people uninstall them, then reinstall them, this behavior could be avoided by just running a reinstall (the program should detect that it's already installed and ask if they want to reinstall the program). Though that's not typically what happens these days, since the said program doesn't remove everything during an uninstall, when they reinstall it still has potential to not work, thus comes the point that people reccomend uninstallers or to manually go in and delete all traces of said program.

Perhaps the best way to handle situations in creating a program is "OPTIONS" this is what gives you the power to satisfy everyone that has different opinions on how things should work. If someone wants something one way and someone else want's something different, well then just create an option to set it one way or the other. The same could be done with an uninstall routine to a program, it could ask if you want to remove everything, or save your settings and such, in case you want to reinstall later.

I admit most programs do not do this, and for the most part, I stay away from programs like this, but sometimes you need something and there isn't a whole lot of options.

"The biggest cause of windows performance and degradation is programs leaving entries in the registry when they are uninstalled". And many times you can even go to the directory that a program was installed and the folder and several files for that program are still there, not to mention common settings files and such are left all over the place. These essentially could and should be removed on an uninstall, but most often they are not.

And furthermore, programs that people pay money for (and sometimes quite a bit), are very messy, these companies should be liable to problems with people's computers, especially the ones that are intentionally leaving things on the system when the users wish is to have it removed. I've also witnessed software installing more than the user wanted to install (such as spyware and various other things that alter the behavior of the computer".

Now, on the other hand, programs that are offered for free, well that's a bonus, and you can't expect to get something that's perfect for free, however more often than not, I've found stuff that's free (or open sources) is generally better than something you'd buy commercially, mainly because of the fact that the open source community is huge and people voice their opinions and the people making the software react to accommodate that persons opinion.

So I'm grateful to have a program like calibre, but back to the open source comment, I'd like for someone to listen, and maybe address the concern, I feel that it's just as important as implementing some new feature. I too am a programmer, and I'm not perfect either, when I write something I test it over and over and over myself, and fix any issues I can see, when I deploy it, I listen to all comments and try to accommodate everyone that has an opinion on how it should work. Not that I have offered alot of the stuff I have written to the public, as alot of it are tools I use for personal stuff, and not necessarily something that the public would be interested in. However I always make sure to clear everything possible that the program would install, that's been my normal practice, ever since I've used Microsoft products. Previously I used Commodore Amiga's, the OS is quite different in the way it handles things, but typically you wouldn't have various files spread out over the whole drive, usually a program had everything it needed in the same folder as the program, with few exceptions, so it was easier to deal with.

[kovidgoyal]

Umm the way microsoft designed their installer technology (which is what calibre uses), means that the uninstaller will always only remove files/registry entries the *installer* creates. The uninstaller knows nothing about data created by the *program*. If you want the uninstaller to remove other data, you have to jump through umpteen hoops. Since they designed things that way, I'm guessing they want people to create uninstallers that work that way.

You say you are a programmer and you still think that leaving files on the filesystem affects performance of the OS???!! Even if that were true (which it isn't) it would indicate a poorly designed OS.

And frankly, creating an uninstaller that removes data created by the program is just plain wrong. The potential that creates for mistakes where the user nukes all their data is just too high.

[ciscoswitch]

First off I've used MS Visual Studio, and while the default behavior of the uninstaller will only remove things that the installer knows about, you can add additional files to check for and remove, as well as writing your own scripts to include in the installer to remove junk.

Second off, I never said specifically that files on a system cause OS degradation, I said that registry entries did. Which is true.

Why do you think it's wrong for a program to remove all aspects of itself when the user requests this? if a user uninstalls a program by accident and looses all their settings, then this is their own problem, not yours.

I'm disgusted that you actually responded and took defense, rather than taking note of my suggestions and maybe implementing something, or at least creating a calibre cleaner that will totally remove all aspects of calibre from the users computer. Other companies that have poorly written software have done so.

So you think that people having problem upgrading between versions, and having to tell them to use a 3rd party uninstaller and try again, or telling them how to delete certain files manually and reinstalling, because the calibre uninstaller isn't sophisticated enough to do so when someone decided to uninstall it is good practice?

And look at the linux version of calibre!! is anyone successfully running calibre on linux, being that it won't run on a standard install of CentOS. And look at the list of dependencies and the installer doesn't help with any of it, much less the dependencies are very specific to specific versions.. I've never seen any programs on linux be this frustrating to install or that specific for dependencies, and I've installed, setup and configured many many things on linux, and not just typical normal applications. I mean if it takes that much to get it to work, maybe you should consider using a different programming language other than python.

It's poorly written programs like this that drive people like me to write my own and show how it's done!