Missing Files on Exporting My Library

imtiaz habib
Someone please help! I changed computers recently. In the old one I put ALL my research and other files in Zotero standalone. Before trading in that computer I asked Zotero to export my library to that computer's desktop, from which I copied the folder to a flash drive. Then in the new computer I downloaded a fresh copy of Zotero standalone and asked it to import my library from the flash drive. At all stages of the process--from my Zotero standalone in my old computer to that computer's desk top, from that desk top file to my flash drive, and from that flash drive to my new copy of Zotero standalone--I checked to see if the number of files copied remained the same (no losses) and they did--16664 files.
Yet in the new Zotero standalone, some folders and files are not showing up even though the total number of files copied remains the same..
One such folder is the entire ms. of a book I was writing and about to finish! This is a catastrophic loss, professionally!
Is there any I can retrieve the files that are not showing up. What I copied is still on the flash drive.
  • noksagt
    Export is not part of the recommended process for transferring a library.

    If you have access to the old machine, made more complete backups, or enabled syncing, you will likely be better off starting from one of these.

    If the only data you retain is the export you made, the first thing you should probably do is use your operating system's search capabilities to look through the contents of the flash drive to see if you successfully copied some of the files you are worried about.
  • imtiaz habib
    OK, I can see the 16,364 items on my flash drive if I search that drive with Windows explorer using only this-- . __(meaning just .) in the search bar. Only some of them have titles I can recognize. Others don't. The missing files may be in those items.
    I tried looking for "data directory" or even .sqlite items but nothing showed up with those search terms.
    What do I do?
    Five years of professional scholarship gone!
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