Help with a disaster and backups!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I bet that is it. if calibre was open during backup, it would have locked the metadata.db file, so windows backup would skip it. A rebuild from backups of all the individual books should work though.

then in future ,get a cheap USB stick and COPY the whole calibre library to that as a backup,. rather than use windows backup

I used to have a partial windows backup set to run on a weekly schedule( which would kick in while I was using the PC, in the background) and it would almost always complete" with errors" - saying some files were not backed up, but not tell me which ones...

I've never used it, but I would have thought that Windows Backup would use VSS, maybe you have to configure it to do that.

The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a set of COM APIs that implements a framework to allow volume backups to be performed while applications on a system continue to write to the volumes.

@SusieQ100 - as cybmole hasposted, you should be able to 'browse' the backup and find your library see ==>> How to Restore Files from a Backup in Windows 7

I prefer to backup data into the same exposed directory structure on a different device(s), commonly known as a mirror. Then if something serious goes wrong I can easily switch to the backup device. And I can readily recover a file or folder with the file manager.

I would also try to separate data from the software, at least on to different volumes, different devices if possible.

I use Macrium to image backup my system, and GoodSynch to backup my data.

BR

[SusieQ100]

Thanks everyone for the help; I've been away from the laptop all day and have just got back and read everything - I'm now going to read it all again and try what has been suggested.

I'll keep you posted!!

[SusieQ100]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I bet that is it. if calibre was open during backup, it would have locked the metadata.db file, so windows backup would skip it. A rebuild from backups of all the individual books should work though.

then in future ,get a cheap USB stick and COPY the whole calibre library to that as a backup,. rather than use windows backup

I used to have a partial windows backup set to run on a weekly schedule( which would kick in while I was using the PC, in the background) and it would almost always complete" with errors" - saying some files were not backed up, but not tell me which ones...

I never do a partial backup, and I also make sure no programs are open and running when I do my backup. Usually I set it to start just before going to bed and then it's done in the morning. And I always get an error message that it is completed except for some files - namely the other files that are on the external disc (I still haven't found the way to exclude that!). However, I'm going to look further and see what I can find. And the idea of only using a USB stick for a copy - that's a definate to do, if I ever find my books again (I had well over 1500 books).

[cybmole]

Calibre has a minimise on close option. So it may look closed but really it is still active. I do not recall if that is a default value or if you have to choose it one time.

[SusieQ100]

Originally Posted by cybmole

Calibre has a minimise on close option. So it may look closed but really it is still active. I do not recall if that is a default value or if you have to choose it one time.

No, I always close it completely when done.

[SusieQ100]

Incidentally, I've just realised that I have also lost my entire folder of knitting & crochet books, which were not included in the Calibre Library!

[theducks]

Originally Posted by SusieQ100

Incidentally, I've just realised that I have also lost my entire folder of knitting & crochet books, which were not included in the Calibre Library!

Calibre does not file by genere (or any other way except as shown below).

Every book is filed by:
Library/Author/title (###)/book_formats

### is the {id} seen in the details and corresponds to ONE record in the spreadsheet

[SusieQ100]

Originally Posted by theducks

Calibre does not file by genere (or any other way except as shown below).

Every book is filed by:
Library/Author/title (###)/book_formats

### is the {id} seen in the details and corresponds to ONE record in the spreadsheet

Yes I know, my knitting book collection have (had?) nothing to do with Calibre, they were just saved in a "normal" file - but they are all gone

Anyway, I think it's maybe time to give up and accept my losses as I'm doing the following: Thanks anyway for the help - and of course, if anyone suddenly realises what I've done wrong, I'd very much like to hear it

[PeterT]

Have you tried looking inside the backups? Does http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...ndows-7-a.html help??

[cybmole]

It sounds like your My Documents is awol. Check if your documents have maybe restored to a different user account.
Control panel, users, do you see any other "users" which may have the missing files