New computer and cannot find books

[Fredreeca]

I know this has probably been discussed a thousand times. But, I cannot find the answer. I had caliber on my old desktop. I now have a new desktop and I cant find my books at Calibre. Did I do something wrong or what should I do to retrieve all the books I have saved. Sorry if this is a dumb question. I am trying to figure all this out.

thanks so much

[eschwartz]

There should be a folder on your old desktop called "C:\\Users\<username>\Calibre Library". This is the default location unless you changed it/created new libraries. Just copy the WHOLE FOLDER over to your new computer, and point calibre at the new library, see here: http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....ter-to-another

[Hampshire Nanny]

Piggy-backing on this question ... Is there any difference when moving from standard Calibre to the Portable version?

[eschwartz]

No, as long as you do it right. All books and per-library settings, for instance custom columns, saved searches, virtual libraries, etc. are saved in the database and will be there on any computer/calibre installation that you open that library in.

All general calibre-level settings, for example conversion defaults, device configuration, custom plugins, known libraries, fill-in (search, choose library dialogs) history, and other stuff are stored in the configuration folder. See Preferences ==> Advanced ==> Miscellaneous, "Open calibre configuration directory" to find it, or go to "%APPDATA%\calibre" in the File Explorer. This will need to be copied over to the settings folder in calibrePortable. It will work fine there.

[DrChiper]

The only difference I have noticed in using calibre portable and "normal" calibre is that calibre portable insists to have a "Calibre Library" folder in its install folder. Even when you delete it, because you have your library in another place, calibre portable will it just recreate it and will use it on startup as its default library. I never did understand why.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

The only difference I have noticed in using calibre portable and "normal" calibre is that calibre portable insists to have a "Calibre Library" folder in its install folder. Even when you delete it, because you have your library in another place, calibre portable will it just recreate it and will use it on startup as its default library. I never did understand why.

The PortableApps.com version does not do this.

EDIT: Realized upon reading the later posts you meant a library outside of the Portable installation, not a renamed library within calibrePortable. Just clarifying that I didn't mean to imply Kovid's version isn't as good. (I have made that mistake before and was happy to be corrected with new information.)

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

The only difference I have noticed in using calibre portable and "normal" calibre is that calibre portable insists to have a "Calibre Library" folder in its install folder. Even when you delete it, because you have your library in another place, calibre portable will it just recreate it and will use it on startup as its default library. I never did understand why.

Ensuring the main library being used is inside of the Calibre Portable folder is part of the quality control that makes this a portable version.

[fidvo]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

The only difference I have noticed in using calibre portable and "normal" calibre is that calibre portable insists to have a "Calibre Library" folder in its install folder. Even when you delete it, because you have your library in another place, calibre portable will it just recreate it and will use it on startup as its default library. I never did understand why.

Not entirely correct. I renamed my "Calibre Library" to "Library - Main" and added a couple of other libraries in my Calibre Portable folder. As long as you're pointed to a library inside the Calibre Portable folder when you exit Calibre, no matter what the name of that library is, it will start with that library the next time you run Calibre Portable.

I know, I know. Splitting hairs. But the point is, you can actually have multiple libraries, as long as they're in the Calibre Portable folder.

As for why, my guess is it's because of relative paths. The assumption is that Calibre Portable is meant to be installed on an external hard drive or flash drive. In that environment, any library that you have to access with an absolute path will likely be in a different place if you move it to a different computer. For instance, if you plug in your external hard drive on one computer and your library is in G:\Library, then if you take that same hard drive to a different computer, your library might be in H:\Library.

It's different if you put your library inside your Calibre Portable folder. The program doesn't care whether your library is on the G drive or the H drive, because it knows to look for it in the Calibre Portable folder.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The PortableApps.com version does not do this.

EDIT: Realized upon reading the later posts you meant a library outside of the Portable installation, not a renamed library within calibrePortable. Just clarifying that I didn't mean to imply Kovid's version isn't as good. (I have made that mistake before and was happy to be corrected with new information.)

Still, the PortableApps.com version doesn't care where you put the libraries, since it uses the PortableApps.com method of finding the Drive letter and editing known configuration paths. Instead of Kovid's version, which uses relative paths from the portable install root. So in this case, PortableApps.com calibre may be a better match than Kovid's portable calibre.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Thanks. Hmmmm... I didn't see Calibre in the PortableApps.com catalog. So I downloaded Portable Calibre from the regular calibre-ebook.com location and just put it inside the PortableApps directory so that it shows up in the PortableApps menu. I do this with a couple of programs which I carry around on my big ol' thumb drive.

[eschwartz]

It's a development version, because to be fully listed would require a stable release or one that gets updated there.

Since it is only a launcher that requires dropping Kovid's calibre-portable-installer-*.**.exe into the calibrePortable folder, both the first time and every time you want to update, that is difficult.

If you want to use the PortableApps version, google it, or search "calibre" on the PortableApps website.

Actually, I did it for you, so here you go: http://portableapps.com/node/20518



Kovid's version should do just fine, but it won't have the same polish as a PortableApps.com package, like being autoplaced in a category, having a pretty popup when you select it in the PortableMenu, and of course it uses IMHO a superior way of dealing with remembering library locations.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Thanks, @eschwartz. Since what I have is working well for me right now (or will work nicely when I move my library), I may just stick with it for a while. Although I have a decent IT background, I find some aspects of Calibre quite challenging and tend to only use it on "autopilot".

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Thanks, @eschwartz. Since what I have is working well for me right now (or will work nicely when I move my library), I may just stick with it for a while. Although I have a decent IT background, I find some aspects of Calibre quite challenging and tend to only use it on "autopilot".

That's fine. If I hadn't seen the PortableApps version first, I might be using Kovid's version myself.

[DoctorOhh]

For some reason talking about the portablapps.com version in calibre threads rubs me the wrong way when there is a perfectly good calibre portable version supported by Kovid.

But I have a solution, @eschwartz how about creating an information post in the Related Tools forum and we'll sticky it. Then whenever the topic comes up you can refer them to a post outlining all of the pluses with appropriate info and links.