Upgrade StorageAccidentally lost access to my Library (because I accidentally lost old MLZ Zotero)
Hello, I am a PhD student in my last 60 days of work and I accidentally lost my old Zotero version (MZL) and consequentially access to my Zotero library. Let me explain.
I was using MZL Zotero for Firefox for Mac, probably not the last version…I lost track of it, but I would say it was probably 1 or 2 years old. But it was working perfectly. Then I decided to “refresh Firefox” in order to eliminate the default Yahoo searcher that somehow got into my Firefox. I was enjoying my coffee so I didn’t stop to think about the consequences for Zotero. The elimination of Yahoo worked, but it also eliminated MLZ Zotero! So I downloaded Zotero for Firefox—again, I was not thinking very much—and of course, once I opened the new Zotero for Firefox, my Library is gone.
But I have an online storage in zotero.org, that should work, right? I clicked on “sync”, However, I checked the online library and realized that it was outdated, about 1 year old. Zotero synced, but the Library did not include all the items that I had added during the last year—and there are many of them, and they are really important for finishing my PhD. :( So now I have a quite old Library. Bad news
(The storage is outdated for one of two reasons: 1. perhaps I failed to press “synch” 2. about a year ago the storage (2GB) became full (my library has about 3 GB of data, many pdfs). Just in case, this morning I updated the storage to 6GB. Of course, this does not fix the problem, but it may help if I am able to access to my old data.)
Therefore, in order to update my Zotero Library, I needed to use the data that is in my computer. I read this discussion: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/30274/accidentally-lost-all-library/ Which helped me to find the data in my computer. Following its advice, I
copied my old “zotero.sqlite” into the old “zotero” folder (of the Zotero I installed this morning).
When I opened Zotero for Firefox, it did not open. I got this message: “This version of Zotero is older than the version last used with your database. Please upgrade to the latest version from zotero.org.”
Some research took me here: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/newer_db_version The problems seems to be that I am using an old “zotero.sqlite” in a new Zotero. The discussion says that “By far the most common cause of this error is having used Multilingual Zotero (MLZ).” OK, so the problem is related with MLZ. The discussion says “The best solution is generally to reinstall the latest version of Zotero” which I already did, so I don’t know how that could help here. (The discussion has a link to a discussion on moving back from MLZ to Zotero: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/50443/multilinguale-version-von-zotero-mlz/?Focus=228336#Comment_228336 But, of course, I cannot do that now because I don’t have MLZ anymore installed as add-on.) In addition, the discussion says that I should eliminate the new “zotero.sqlite”, and add the “the zotero.sqlite.*.bak file with the highest number” of my old zotero. I did that (and I tried many different configurations). Now the Zotero add-on opens, but my old Library is still not there.
So here I am. I have in my computer my old zotero folder, with my old “zotero.sqlite” file, and a “storage” folder with all my pdfs, but no way of accessing to them via a Zotero. And I badly need those references. ☹
Could you please help me?
I was using MZL Zotero for Firefox for Mac, probably not the last version…I lost track of it, but I would say it was probably 1 or 2 years old. But it was working perfectly. Then I decided to “refresh Firefox” in order to eliminate the default Yahoo searcher that somehow got into my Firefox. I was enjoying my coffee so I didn’t stop to think about the consequences for Zotero. The elimination of Yahoo worked, but it also eliminated MLZ Zotero! So I downloaded Zotero for Firefox—again, I was not thinking very much—and of course, once I opened the new Zotero for Firefox, my Library is gone.
But I have an online storage in zotero.org, that should work, right? I clicked on “sync”, However, I checked the online library and realized that it was outdated, about 1 year old. Zotero synced, but the Library did not include all the items that I had added during the last year—and there are many of them, and they are really important for finishing my PhD. :( So now I have a quite old Library. Bad news
(The storage is outdated for one of two reasons: 1. perhaps I failed to press “synch” 2. about a year ago the storage (2GB) became full (my library has about 3 GB of data, many pdfs). Just in case, this morning I updated the storage to 6GB. Of course, this does not fix the problem, but it may help if I am able to access to my old data.)
Therefore, in order to update my Zotero Library, I needed to use the data that is in my computer. I read this discussion: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/30274/accidentally-lost-all-library/ Which helped me to find the data in my computer. Following its advice, I
copied my old “zotero.sqlite” into the old “zotero” folder (of the Zotero I installed this morning).
When I opened Zotero for Firefox, it did not open. I got this message: “This version of Zotero is older than the version last used with your database. Please upgrade to the latest version from zotero.org.”
Some research took me here: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/newer_db_version The problems seems to be that I am using an old “zotero.sqlite” in a new Zotero. The discussion says that “By far the most common cause of this error is having used Multilingual Zotero (MLZ).” OK, so the problem is related with MLZ. The discussion says “The best solution is generally to reinstall the latest version of Zotero” which I already did, so I don’t know how that could help here. (The discussion has a link to a discussion on moving back from MLZ to Zotero: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/50443/multilinguale-version-von-zotero-mlz/?Focus=228336#Comment_228336 But, of course, I cannot do that now because I don’t have MLZ anymore installed as add-on.) In addition, the discussion says that I should eliminate the new “zotero.sqlite”, and add the “the zotero.sqlite.*.bak file with the highest number” of my old zotero. I did that (and I tried many different configurations). Now the Zotero add-on opens, but my old Library is still not there.
So here I am. I have in my computer my old zotero folder, with my old “zotero.sqlite” file, and a “storage” folder with all my pdfs, but no way of accessing to them via a Zotero. And I badly need those references. ☹
Could you please help me?
https://juris-m.github.io/
Thank you adamsmith!