Trouble restoring library backup after reinstalling windows...

[crackshot91]

When I point calibre to my existing library, all the books appear in the library, but their covers are missing and when I click on a book, I get a message saying "[Title] has no available formats".

I've discovered that calibre is making new folders for every book, this time with numbers in parenthesis appended. for example, if I 'right-click>open containing folder' on a book, it opens an empty folder with the same name as the original, but with a number appended. The book, its metadata, and its cover are still in the original folder, but calibre is looking in the new empty, numbered folder. How do I get calibre to recognize the folders that I copied as part of the library?

[itimpi]

Calibre folders should always have numbers appended - if the source does not then something is wrong. You have not tried by any chance to put your calibre library into Google Drive? It is known to mess up a Calibre library by removing the parts of the name in brackets.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by crackshot91

When I point calibre to my existing library, all the books appear in the library, but their covers are missing and when I click on a book, I get a message saying "[Title] has no available formats".

I've discovered that calibre is making new folders for every book, this time with numbers in parenthesis appended. for example, if I 'right-click>open containing folder' on a book, it opens an empty folder with the same name as the original, but with a number appended. The book, its metadata, and its cover are still in the original folder, but calibre is looking in the new empty, numbered folder. How do I get calibre to recognize the folders that I copied as part of the library?

1. What version of Windows did you restore?
2. To what sort of disk did you re-install Windows, and is it the same as it was before, eg was it on an SSD but now its on a spinning drive ?
3. How did you restore Windows - from a repair disk, from an image backup, from an install disk...?
4. What was in the library folder after you restored Windows - ie what did Windows Explorer show was in there?
5. Can you restore the Calibre Library from somewhere without reinstalling Windows?

Its sounds as if you have the metadata.db file (that's Calibre's database) but not the author and book folders or for some reason the folders are empty. As itimpi wrote the bracketed numbers at the end of the book folder names is 'Calibre normal'.

BR