Oops - help needed, copying books back

transmitthis · 01-22-2012, 02:14 PM

Ok, I made a little mistake, and before I mess up compleatly was wondering if you could help me get back my library.

I was just making another copy of my library in windows, so had a new folder open and did a select all inside the original library

And dropped it into the new folder....oh wait I should have right-clicked and "Copied" here instead

So I cancel the "Move" before its barley started

I then select those files that had moved across to new folder and copy and past them back into the original.

All is well again, or so I thought, wasn't until much later that I realise that about 1000 or so books have no format inside calibre

I think something has gone terribly wrong so I check database, then do a restore of it, still missing...then while holding tight to whats left of my sanity I browse around in windows in the library.....It's then that I realise what a total balls up I made and what I did with those thousand books.

When pasteing them back in the library, I accidently pasted them INTO an authors folder Old A. J. Jacobs now has a big chunk of my books

I'm thinking it would be all right to just copy the books back to the root of the library in windows, while calibre is closed.

Q - Is this the best way of doing this?
Sorry for the long post

It's ok to laugh, but only a little.

theducks · 01-22-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transmitthis

Ok, I made a little mistake, and before I mess up compleatly was wondering if you could help me get back my library.

I was just making another copy of my library in windows, so had a new folder open and did a select all inside the original library

And dropped it into the new folder....oh wait I should have right-clicked and "Copied" here instead

So I cancel the "Move" before its barley started

I then select those files that had moved across to new folder and copy and past them back into the original.

All is well again, or so I thought, wasn't until much later that I realise that about 1000 or so books have no format inside calibre

I think something has gone terribly wrong so I check database, then do a restore of it, still missing...then while holding tight to whats left of my sanity I browse around in windows in the library.....It's then that I realise what a total balls up I made and what I did with those thousand books.

When pasteing them back in the library, I accidently pasted them INTO an authors folder Old A. J. Jacobs now has a big chunk of my books

I'm thinking it would be all right to just copy the books back to the root of the library in windows, while calibre is closed.

Q - Is this the best way of doing this?
Sorry for the long post

It's ok to laugh, but only a little.

Create/Switch Libraries (on the Library Icon)
Select All (books

)
Right-click on a selected book: Copy to Library (your choice on sub-menu pick)
Select your old Library

transmitthis · 01-22-2012, 02:51 PM

err, hrm,
sorry, didn't quite get that

at present I just have the one library, just than 20% of the books are inside one of the authors folders....

Am I best doing this inside or outside of calibre, do you think

My mind is a bit fuddled today

Edit - Oh wait, you mean create a new library, and copy all over to it (that'll put all books into their own paths etc)
Then switch to this new library
Delete the old one
then rename this one to old name - if needed.

I don't think I can select all books, because 1000 entries have no format... just an entry and opf file, but some others have opf and cover - oh my head is hurting

CWatkinsNash · 01-22-2012, 03:18 PM

So it's just the ebook files themselves that are in the wrong place?

What I'd do:
Back up everything first!

This is what I would do. I am not responsible for what you may do.

Move those (and only those) book files that are in the wrong place to another folder somewhere easy to get to (not in the library folder). In calibre, create a new library and import that folder of books. Now select them and copy them to the old library as theducks described. Merge duplicates as needed.

Once you're back together, back it up again so you have a nice clean current backup of your library.

transmitthis · 01-22-2012, 03:47 PM

Yes its a bit weird.
All entries for the books are there, but some have missing books, and others have missing covers, and some point to where the orginal files would be and some point to where they are now. And to top it off restoring the DB from a week ago has reset some things like columns and the like.

I'm in the middle of reinstalling windows and have another laptop in bits that I'm working on for other people - hence the mind in a mess, doing too many things at once, have network boots going and driver files flying around the wifi to different machines 2 Virtual machines running one with a sandbox
(lol just realised how funny it is that a simple copy/paste is what floored me)

I think I'll just leave Calibre until Tomorrow
Thanks for your helps

transmitthis · 01-24-2012, 09:15 AM

OK, sorted - thanks for help.

Backed up (made a copy of library folder)
In Windows working on copy...
I copied the books our of the wrong folder they were in
Put them back in main library folder - where they should have been.
Then I saw there was a pre restore metadata - COOL because I accidently did a restore when I was unsure of the issue.
So removed metadata file and renamed metadata backup one.
Opened Calibre, created a new library and pointed it at this copy - so far it looks great
everything back to Pre messup.

This is only here for reference in case someone else drops thousands of books into wrong place :=)

Thanks to the person who thought a metadata_pre_restore file was a good idea, it was.

01-22-2012, 02:14 PM	#1
transmitthis Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1003542 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Google Nexus 7 16GB	Oops - help needed, copying books back Ok, I made a little mistake, and before I mess up compleatly was wondering if you could help me get back my library. I was just making another copy of my library in windows, so had a new folder open and did a select all inside the original library And dropped it into the new folder....oh wait I should have right-clicked and "Copied" here instead So I cancel the "Move" before its barley started I then select those files that had moved across to new folder and copy and past them back into the original. All is well again, or so I thought, wasn't until much later that I realise that about 1000 or so books have no format inside calibre I think something has gone terribly wrong so I check database, then do a restore of it, still missing...then while holding tight to whats left of my sanity I browse around in windows in the library.....It's then that I realise what a total balls up I made and what I did with those thousand books. When pasteing them back in the library, I accidently pasted them INTO an authors folder Old A. J. Jacobs now has a big chunk of my books I'm thinking it would be all right to just copy the books back to the root of the library in windows, while calibre is closed. Q - Is this the best way of doing this? Sorry for the long post It's ok to laugh, but only a little.

01-22-2012, 02:51 PM	#3
transmitthis Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1003542 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Google Nexus 7 16GB	err, hrm, sorry, didn't quite get that at present I just have the one library, just than 20% of the books are inside one of the authors folders.... Am I best doing this inside or outside of calibre, do you think My mind is a bit fuddled today Edit - Oh wait, you mean create a new library, and copy all over to it (that'll put all books into their own paths etc) Then switch to this new library Delete the old one then rename this one to old name - if needed. I don't think I can select all books, because 1000 entries have no format... just an entry and opf file, but some others have opf and cover - oh my head is hurting Last edited by transmitthis; 01-22-2012 at 03:01 PM.

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01-22-2012, 03:18 PM	#4
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	So it's just the ebook files themselves that are in the wrong place? What I'd do: Back up everything first! This is what I would do. I am not responsible for what you may do. Move those (and only those) book files that are in the wrong place to another folder somewhere easy to get to (not in the library folder). In calibre, create a new library and import that folder of books. Now select them and copy them to the old library as theducks described. Merge duplicates as needed. Once you're back together, back it up again so you have a nice clean current backup of your library.

01-22-2012, 03:47 PM	#5
transmitthis Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1003542 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Google Nexus 7 16GB	Yes its a bit weird. All entries for the books are there, but some have missing books, and others have missing covers, and some point to where the orginal files would be and some point to where they are now. And to top it off restoring the DB from a week ago has reset some things like columns and the like. I'm in the middle of reinstalling windows and have another laptop in bits that I'm working on for other people - hence the mind in a mess, doing too many things at once, have network boots going and driver files flying around the wifi to different machines 2 Virtual machines running one with a sandbox (lol just realised how funny it is that a simple copy/paste is what floored me) I think I'll just leave Calibre until Tomorrow Thanks for your helps

01-24-2012, 09:15 AM	#6
transmitthis Addict Posts: 288 Karma: 1003542 Join Date: May 2011 Device: Google Nexus 7 16GB	OK, sorted - thanks for help. Backed up (made a copy of library folder) In Windows working on copy... I copied the books our of the wrong folder they were in Put them back in main library folder - where they should have been. Then I saw there was a pre restore metadata - COOL because I accidently did a restore when I was unsure of the issue. So removed metadata file and renamed metadata backup one. Opened Calibre, created a new library and pointed it at this copy - so far it looks great everything back to Pre messup. This is only here for reference in case someone else drops thousands of books into wrong place :=) Thanks to the person who thought a metadata_pre_restore file was a good idea, it was.

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