Calibre portable - is it portable?

[apcrcom]

I got fed up with losing calibre settings and libraries after a couple of computer meltdowns, so thought I might set up a portable install within Google Driver monitored folder, so I could do two things:

1. keep all the settings & etc in case of catastrophic event on computer

2. access from any machine via cloud

-

To test, I set up a copy of calibre portable on local machine, installed some plugins, made some tweaks, etc

I then closed calibre, waited for all files to sync, went to other machine, waited for sync (ok).

Opened Calibre using shared exe and got default settings and intro wizard.

-

Assumed that this must have been a sync issue (files were not copied over), so then copied all files from tweaked copy to a shared folder on server

Opened on first machine using exe on shared drive. All settings present.

Opened on second machine using exe on shared drive - settings not present. Vanilla copy again.

--

So then I figured maybe if there are residual settings on the second machine, maybe it reads these first.

Uninstalled Calibre (installer version) on problem machine.

Then rebooted and used Everything search, located everything called Calibre, and changed to Calibre.old.

--

Opened on first machine using exe on shared drive. All settings present.

Opened on second machine using exe on shared drive - settings not present. Vanilla copy again.

Checked C:~userdata, and a new calibre folder was there, along with a calibre folder in My Documents.

---

Grrr...

So then I am wondering if I had accidentally used a 'local' installer executable instead of a 'portable' installer - as that would explain the problem outright.

Downloaded a new portable installer. Installed to a fresh folder. Ran the exe - and it loaded with the settings I had put in previously. (I had expected a vanilla copy as it was a totally fresh install of the portable version).

So Im a bit confused now.

Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldnt a portable version be fully self-contained?

Any ideas why I am getting these issues trying to set up portability?

Thanks

[kovidgoyal]

calibre portable is only portable if you run it with calibre-portable.exe in its folder and from nowhere else.

And dont put it in google drive. https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...rked-drive-nas

You wan to backup all your calibre books and settings and plugins, you simply need to backup a couple of folders. Setup a proper backup solution to do that rather than trying to hack it by putting calibre into a networked drive.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by apcrcom

Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldnt a portable version be fully self-contained?

Calibre portable is fully self-contained. I have been running from my Dropbox folder since before Kovid came out with the official portable version. With the exception of sync issues it has always run fine.

I don't recommend anyone run calibre from any cloud folder it is best to use a separate sync or backup program and schedule backups/syncs accordingly when calibre is not in use.

Originally Posted by apcrcom

Any ideas why I am getting these issues trying to set up portability?

Kovid already answered this question,

"calibre portable is only portable if you run it with calibre-portable.exe in its folder and from nowhere else."

You need to run calibre portable using calibre-portable.exe not calibre.exe.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

Calibre portable is fully self-contained. I have been running from my Dropbox folder since before Kovid came out with the official portable version. With the exception of sync issues it has always run fine.

I don't recommend anyone run calibre from any cloud folder it is best to use a separate sync or backup program and schedule backups/syncs accordingly when calibre is not in use.



Kovid already answered this question,

"calibre portable is only portable if you run it with calibre-portable.exe in its folder and from nowhere else."

You need to run calibre portable using calibre-portable.exe not calibre.exe.

And you should not use it with google drive as irc google drive and calibre drive naming conventions are not compatible.