Import books from backup

country0129 · 01-31-2020, 04:33 PM

I lost my computer and had to get a new one. The old machine was a Windoze 7, new is Windoze 10. After prepping the new machine, I retrieved the hard drive from the old one, installed a fresh copy of Calibre 64 bit on the new one and proceded to import my books ( over 59000 of them ) from my old hard drive.

Took 3 days. Once loaded, I found over 1/2 of the books did not import with a format; thus they were unreadable. What would cause this, and how can I work around it without individually opening the folders for each book to import them separately?

country0129 · 01-31-2020, 04:42 PM

Just to clarify, I didn't "import." I utilized the "Add books" feature and pointed to the directory on the hard drive containing the books, chose the third option, "Add books, including sub directories, etc."

PeterT · 01-31-2020, 05:12 PM

If you had access to the old drive it might have been (and still could be) a lot easier just to copy the entire library folder (including the metadata.db file) to an empty folder on the new PC and then have calibre open the existing library in this new folder; no need to import anything.

(I might have some of the terms wrong here, but I know someone will correct me).

theducks · 01-31-2020, 05:12 PM

All you had to do if the old drive was mounted and readable:
Right click the library icon: Create/switch: Use Existing: <point to the old library>
Total time: ~30 seconds

country0129 · 01-31-2020, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

If you had access to the old drive it might have been (and still could be) a lot easier just to copy the entire library folder (including the metadata.db file) to an empty folder on the new PC and then have calibre open the existing library in this new folder; no need to import anything.

(I might have some of the terms wrong here, but I know someone will correct me).

I did copy the old library to the new computer. But I used the "ADD books" feature. Didn't do the "Point" thingy. Deleting all my books from the library Calibre created, and will try the point thingy.

BetterRed · 01-31-2020, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

All you had to do if the old drive was mounted and readable:
Right click the library icon: Create/switch: Use Existing: <point to the old library>
Total time: ~30 seconds

Best if you do want to have the old drive permanently mounted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

If you had access to the old drive it might have been (and still could be) a lot easier just to copy the entire library folder (including the metadata.db file) to an empty folder on the new PC and then have calibre open the existing library in this new folder; no need to import anything.

(I might have some of the terms wrong here, but I know someone will correct me).

Best if you do not want to have the old drive permanently mounted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by country0129

... I found over 1/2 of the books did not import with a format; thus they were unreadable. What would cause this

Nothing springs to mind, apart from permission errors but they should have been reported. Once you've done one of the above I suggest run the Check database tool on that library

BR

country0129 · 02-01-2020, 04:27 PM

OK, the pointy thing worked. Thanks, folks.

01-31-2020, 04:33 PM	#1
country0129 Country0129 Posts: 55 Karma: 506306 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Louisiana Device: Kindle, Kindle Fire, PC	Import books from backup I lost my computer and had to get a new one. The old machine was a Windoze 7, new is Windoze 10. After prepping the new machine, I retrieved the hard drive from the old one, installed a fresh copy of Calibre 64 bit on the new one and proceded to import my books ( over 59000 of them ) from my old hard drive. Took 3 days. Once loaded, I found over 1/2 of the books did not import with a format; thus they were unreadable. What would cause this, and how can I work around it without individually opening the folders for each book to import them separately?

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01-31-2020, 04:42 PM	#2
country0129 Country0129 Posts: 55 Karma: 506306 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Louisiana Device: Kindle, Kindle Fire, PC	Just to clarify, I didn't "import." I utilized the "Add books" feature and pointed to the directory on the hard drive containing the books, chose the third option, "Add books, including sub directories, etc."

01-31-2020, 05:12 PM	#3
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,217 Karma: 74000000 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	If you had access to the old drive it might have been (and still could be) a lot easier just to copy the entire library folder (including the metadata.db file) to an empty folder on the new PC and then have calibre open the existing library in this new folder; no need to import anything. (I might have some of the terms wrong here, but I know someone will correct me).

01-31-2020, 05:12 PM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,880 Karma: 55267620 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	All you had to do if the old drive was mounted and readable: Right click the library icon: Create/switch: Use Existing: <point to the old library> Total time: ~30 seconds

02-01-2020, 04:27 PM	#7
country0129 Country0129 Posts: 55 Karma: 506306 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Louisiana Device: Kindle, Kindle Fire, PC	OK, the pointy thing worked. Thanks, folks.