Upgrade Storagedesperate masters student needs help finding library
my entire masters research library disappeared. I have already wasted hours trying to figure this out from the forums. went to local computer store and they could not help. are there zotero consultants who can help me for a fee.
FWIW, though, the most common cause of mysteriously disappearing libraries is
https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/restore_after_firefox_reset
On your old computer, you still have that computer and you didn't remove any data or software there since switching to the new one, correct?
Look at:
https://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data
and see if you can identify such a folder on your _old_ computer.
I'm not sure what you think "support" would be doing that couldn't happen here on the forums. This is the only support channel for Zotero and it's pretty effective.
1. On your Desktop, are you absolutely sure there is no folder called "Old Firefox Profile" or something similar in a different language?
2. Which operating system are you on (precisely, i.e. "Windows 7" or "OS X 10.6.8, not just Windows or OS X)
3. Have you searched for "zotero.sqlite" with hidden files and folders set to visible (assuming you're on Windows, see instructions here: https://community.intuit.com/articles/1021370-display-hidden-files-and-folders-or-search-for-files-using-windows )
2. windows 7
3 show hidden files and folders is on - the only things that show up are welcome email and zotero_1_5_cast.flv
If you have never had your library on the new computer and your resources don't appear on the Zotero website, it is likely that you never synced your Zotero library & you should only be focusing your efforts at seeing if you can retrieve files on the old computer. Can you please confirm that your responses in this thread are from checking that old computer?
On the old computer: were you using zotero in firefox or zotero standalone?
On the old computer: are you able to launch zotero standalone now? What happens?
In explorer on the old computer, go to:
C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Zotero\Zotero\Profiles\(replacing <User Name> with your actual username)You should see one or more directories that have random names. Do you see this?
If you go to the randomly named directory, you should see a "zotero" folder and in this should be your library. If so, we can offer suggestions on how to either sync the old computer or how to transfer this to your new computer manually.
On the old computer: are you able to launch zotero standalone now? What happens?
I assume that my work is lost because i cannot find a zotero folder anywhere on my old computer. I now have the same situation with my new computer - that i have added papers to the library but there is no evidence of where it is on the computer. as i recreate my work i want to be sure i don't make the same mistake i did the first time through. thanks for your patience and persistence
The default location of data in the firefox version of zotero is slightly different:
C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\should contain one or more randomly named folders. In these randomly named folders, should be a zotero directory. Please look on both of your machines.On your old machine, you may still have a profile directory that has your old library.
On your new machine, this would likely be what you wish to backup for the future.
In addition to backing up to an external drive, I strongly recommend that you enable syncing so that you'll have a copy of your library online.