Calibre Portable and Cloud Storage

[library.ian]

I've been using Calibre Portable loaded onto a USB drive with the libraries in my Skydrive without too many problems for the last year or so, but recently I tried installing Calibre on the Skydrive itself. My problem is two-fold:

1. Every time I opened Calibre on a different computer, I had to manually change the file path for each library. Is there a work around for this, or is it something I should just live with?

2. When I loaded Calibre into Skydrive, I could open it just fine on my laptop, but when I try it on the desktop, the Task Manager shows the process has started to run and then it just disappears. Is it possible to use cloud storage with Calibre in this manner? I only switched because I kept forgetting my USB drive at home/work.

Thanks guys!

BTW, I run Windows 7 Ultimate on all machines.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by library.ian

I've been using Calibre Portable loaded onto a USB drive with the libraries in my Skydrive without too many problems for the last year or so, but recently I tried installing Calibre on the Skydrive itself. My problem is two-fold:

1. Every time I opened Calibre on a different computer, I had to manually change the file path for each library. Is there a work around for this, or is it something I should just live with?

2. When I loaded Calibre into Skydrive, I could open it just fine on my laptop, but when I try it on the desktop, the Task Manager shows the process has started to run and then it just disappears. Is it possible to use cloud storage with Calibre in this manner? I only switched because I kept forgetting my USB drive at home/work.

Thanks guys!

BTW, I run Windows 7 Ultimate on all machines.

I use calibre portable and dropbox the same way you are describing. But I have dropbox folder on both my computer at C: drive. If you can do something similar with skydrive that should solve your problem.

[count0]

I'm doing something similar, using Box.com for cloud storage. I didn't want to use Dropbox because it will sync my whole library on every computer that I have connected to it. I don't want my library on my work computer, for instance, so I use a mapped drive to the Box WebDAV url for my account. That makes Calibre move very slow, though. A compromise I started is to use a sync program to a local directory on the one or two computers I don't mind having my library on. I sync a local directory to my cloud library, work in Calibre locally for performance's sake, then sync again. The other good thing about that approach is that I control when the sync happens. With Dropbox automatically syncing it would be running in the background like crazy. That may not be a lot of load on the system, but it is necessary load.

If I need to, I can access the library directly on my tablet, for instance, through Box.com - so I don't need to depend on Calibre to move content to my reader. If I really want to, I can use Calibre directly against the mapped drive. That works very slow, and is not suitable for bulk edits, but small changes to individual titles works all right.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by library.ian

I've been using Calibre Portable loaded onto a USB drive with the libraries in my Skydrive without too many problems for the last year or so, but recently I tried installing Calibre on the Skydrive itself. My problem is two-fold:

1. Every time I opened Calibre on a different computer, I had to manually change the file path for each library. Is there a work around for this, or is it something I should just live with?

I use Dropbox in this exact manner with my dropbox being in different path locations on both of my Windows 7 machines and I never have to adjust the path. I simply start calibre portable from the shortcut I placed on the bar.



@count0 Sounds like box.com works well for you. I just thought I would clarify some points for other users.

Originally Posted by count0

I'm doing something similar, using Box.com for cloud storage. I didn't want to use Dropbox because it will sync my whole library on every computer that I have connected to it. I don't want my library on my work computer

Dropbox allows you to choose which directories sync to a computer, so if you don't want your library on your work computer just go to Dropbox Preferences - Advanced - Selective Sync and only check the directories you want sync'd on that computer.

Originally Posted by count0

A compromise I started is to use a sync program to a local directory on the one or two computers I don't mind having my library on. I sync a local directory to my cloud library, work in Calibre locally for performance's sake, then sync again.

An excellent way to work.

Originally Posted by count0

The other good thing about that approach is that I control when the sync happens. With Dropbox automatically syncing it would be running in the background like crazy. That may not be a lot of load on the system, but it is necessary load.

Like crazy is going a little overboard, but you are correct it is always syncing. This is a plus in that it saves multiple versions of the same file and if needed you can always revert back to a file from an hour back. You can also pause the sync process as you see fit then resume the sync at any time.

Originally Posted by count0

If I need to, I can access the library directly on my tablet, for instance, through Box.com

This is a plus that holds true for Dropbox and most other cloud services.

Box.com with a separate sync set up sounds like a nice alternative Thanks for sharing your experience with us.