Recover calibre installation from disk in broken laptop

[Findingaway]

My old laptop with my highly customized Calibre library died. I can access the hard drive but not run Calibre on it. Any suggestions for re-creating my library on a new device?

Normally I would use export, etc. So far I've copied my old file folder that contains multiple libraries onto the new device. (BTW I know using one library can be better practice but this is where I'm at right now).

Suggestions appreciated! TIA.

[chaley]

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Moved to separate thread

[kovidgoyal]

Read the note at: https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...ter-to-another

[Findingaway]

Thanks, I did read that before posting but if there's a way to apply it in this situation, I missed it.

[chaley]

Also copy the configuration folder to the new machine. If you are running Windows then that folder should be in /Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/calibre

[Findingaway]

Thank you @chaley. I did not know where the configuration folder was and that made all the difference!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Findingaway

Thank you @chaley. I did not know where the configuration folder was and that made all the difference!

You can discover where it is by clicking the Preferences->Miscellaneous->Open calibre configuration folder button.

Also see ==>> Environment variables

BR

[JSWolf]

I too lost my previous laptop. But the hard drive was perfectly in tact. So I bought a USB-C to SATA adapter and I'm able to access the drive. I backup my config to OneDrive every month. That way I have it accessible from any other computer should I want it. I also backup my libraries on a 512GB microSD card. These are ways I can have my backsup and be able o access them from another computer if needed.

[theducks]

I always remove the drives from dead computers. If they drive was a hard fail (nasty noises), most of simple SECURITY destruction has been done.

I have a USB 'cloning' kit (adapts drive connection to USB and supplies more power)

'The kid' (now over 40), found a Laptop on the road (Never put your Laptop or phone on your cars roof). While it was password protected, popping the drive and using the clone kit with Linux (just in case...), there were sensitive documents in the clear that suggested who the foolish one was.

My point is a Clone kit is a handy item for recovery and it is not form factor limited (this one did SATA, PATA and the smaller laptop PATA and had a power brick that could power a 5.25 size drive). My Laptop started life with 80G. I cloned it to 512G, Then I cloned it to a 1T SSD (CloneZilla even does dual boot)

This makes a Library recovery (move), a piece of cake.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by theducks

I always remove the drives from dead computers. If they drive was a hard fail (nasty noises), most of simple SECURITY destruction has been done.

I have a USB 'cloning' kit (adapts drive connection to USB and supplies more power)

'The kid' (now over 40), found a Laptop on the road (Never put your Laptop or phone on your cars roof). While it was password protected, popping the drive and using the clone kit with Linux (just in case...), there were sensitive documents in the clear that suggested who the foolish one was.

My point is a Clone kit is a handy item for recovery and it is not form factor limited (this one did SATA, PATA and the smaller laptop PATA and had a power brick that could power a 5.25 size drive). My Laptop started life with 80G. I cloned it to 512G, Then I cloned it to a 1T SSD (CloneZilla even does dual boot)

This makes a Library recovery (move), a piece of cake.

I remember a TV program where the hosts bought some used laptops and were able to recover sensitive information. There is a problem (I forget the name) that will write to a drive up to 7 times so nothing can be retrieved. I believe 7 is the magic number.

Does Clonezilla allow you to clone to a smaller drive if the used space will fit?

[theducks]

There are quite a few 'drive wipe' utilities. (Peter) Norton Utilities (DOS) had one.

I used to use my older, small drive for Swap. The problem is I now have more RAM that those drives

So my 'home' drive destruction method is a 1/4 drill bit in the drill press, thru the drive body in a couple of places.

This was not a heavy duty (professional recovery) proof destruction. The nearby data center had a drive destroyer. A machine the literally punched the drive motor-spindle THRU the case, shattering the platters. Others have Drive shredders (think: Paper Shredder on Steroids'). Silicon valley High Tech takes data (trade secrets) security seriously

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by theducks

There are quite a few 'drive wipe' utilities. (Peter) Norton Utilities (DOS) had one.

I used to use my older, small drive for Swap. The problem is I now have more RAM that those drives

So my 'home' drive destruction method is a 1/4 drill bit in the drill press, thru the drive body in a couple of places.

This was not a heavy duty (professional recovery) proof destruction. The nearby data center had a drive destroyer. A machine the literally punched the drive motor-spindle THRU the case, shattering the platters. Others have Drive shredders (think: Paper Shredder on Steroids'). Silicon valley High Tech takes data (trade secrets) security seriously

The reason to wipe the drive was if you planned on getting rid of the laptop and computer but still wanted the drive in tact.

Another way to destroy the drive is to open it, remove the platter(s) and magnetize.

I've never tried to destroy an SSD drive.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by theducks

I always remove the drives from dead computers. If they drive was a hard fail (nasty noises), most of simple SECURITY destruction has been done.

Unless I intend to give a working drive away, my solution is to drive a chisel through the drive in two places. Seriously. Smacking a chisel is a lot faster than overwriting, and it recycles just as well with the holes.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I remember a TV program where the hosts bought some used laptops and were able to recover sensitive information. There is a problem (I forget the name) that will write to a drive up to 7 times so nothing can be retrieved. I believe 7 is the magic number.

This reddit thread discusses the "7 pass" question. The conclusion: it is now longer needed. The reason for multi-pass is to avoid leaving traces of the data to the "side" of the track on the disk. However, the drive itself won't read these side traces. Reading the traces requires removing the platters out of the drive and using some other tool to read next to the tracks, and even that probably won't work.

[Sirtel]

Eh. I've sold 3 different laptops after just factory resetting them. No issues with anyone hacking my data that I've seen. But then I don't have any particularly sensitive information others might be interested in. Just ebooks, saved webpages, photos of my cats, wallpaper collections and so on. No nude pictures of real people, not even porn. My financial situation has been pretty poor all my life, because I'm lazy and my needs are modest. Nothing interesting there either.

As for my library and configuration backups, I keep them in Dropbox and on a few external drives.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by theducks

There are quite a few 'drive wipe' utilities. (Peter) Norton Utilities (DOS) had one.

I used to use my older, small drive for Swap. The problem is I now have more RAM that those drives

So my 'home' drive destruction method is a 1/4 drill bit in the drill press, thru the drive body in a couple of places.

This was not a heavy duty (professional recovery) proof destruction. The nearby data center had a drive destroyer. A machine the literally punched the drive motor-spindle THRU the case, shattering the platters. Others have Drive shredders (think: Paper Shredder on Steroids'). Silicon valley High Tech takes data (trade secrets) security seriously

I am reminded of this article from the early 00s.

At this small rural hospital, when IT staffers decommission old PCs, they’re careful to destroy all the data on the hard drives, says an IT pilot fish there.

“Having no access to a regular disk-wipe system, we would always take the hard drive out of the PC and into the room with the magnetic resonance imaging machine,” fish says.

“An MRI machine is primarily a huge electromagnet, so simply walking into the room with the drive would scramble the bits.”

But one day, a relatively new PC tech can’t get the case off an old PC to remove the hard drive. “He thought that if taking the hard drive near the MRI would clean it, then surely taking the entire computer in there would serve the same purpose,” says fish.

So the tech loads the PC onto a cart and heads for Radiology, where he enlists the help of the MRI tech in rolling the cart into the room.

“Bad idea,” fish says. “The PC was just sitting on top of the cart, and when they got to within 10 feet of the MRI machine’s aperture, the PC started to slide.

“It picked up speed, then literally flew off the cart, crashing into the opening where a patient would lie during an exam.”

There are gouges in the MRI machine. The legs of the cart have been smashed. The PC’s case looks like a crumpled fender. And the stunned PC and MRI techs are just glad they weren’t in the way when PC and cart took off.

“We tried to get the PC out of the magnet without turning off the MRI, because turning it off and back on and recalibrating it would take three days and cost a bundle,” fish says.

“We wrapped it with duct tape, tied three thick ropes to it, then enlisted 12 large men from maintenance to try to pull it out.”

No luck. When they pull, the PC floats in the opening, but they can’t drag it out.

“Yes, we had to turn the MRI off,” says fish. “It took three days and support folks from the vendor had to be flown in to restart it. Luckily we were insured for loss of business.

“And we bought a disk-wipe system.”