Zotero standalone startup error

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

Hi I am running the most up to date Zotero standalone on a school computer with a Windows 8 64-bit operating system. Zotero was working fine but for some reason it keeps giving me an error message that says: Alert There was an error starting zotero. I tried restarting my computer but I still have the same error. Also, I tried the steps written out in https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#reporting_startup_errors but I am stuck at step #4 (The complete path to the "zotero.exe" file will be displayed in the text box. Add " -jsconsole" to the end of the path (note the space before -jsconsole). Nothing happens for me when I click on "zotero.exe" and click open, except for getting the same error message again.

Please help!

dstillman · February 3, 2017

When you add -jsconsole to the path in Run, a separate window should pop up that shows errors.

dstillman · February 3, 2017

To be clear, these instructions are for the Windows XP–style Run dialog, not just opening zotero.exe through the filesystem. I'm not sure what the equivalent is in Windows 7 or 10. (At least in the former, I think you can restore it to the Start menu.)

adamsmith · February 3, 2017

If you just type "Run" into Cortana on Windows 10 you get the run dialog as an option.

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

Hi, thanks for your input. I put -jconsole to the path in Run and a separate window did pop up. But I that error window is not viewable because it pops up with the Alert error again. And when clicking okay on the error the window disappears. I'm attaching a screenshot of what I have though!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bslxw0vj963sjdg/zotero error.PNG?dl=0

dstillman · February 3, 2017

Yeah, so that's the Error Console there on the left. Are you able to scroll down on that (mouse scroll wheel or Alt-Tab to it) and take screenshots of successive pages of it so we can see what's further down?

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

No the problem is the alert error won't let me scroll down..The only thing I can do is close the error box but that itself will close the error console too.

dstillman · February 3, 2017

Right — did you try the things I suggested?

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

dstillman · February 3, 2017

OK, nothing instructive there. If you haven't yet, you should uninstall Zotero and reinstall it — we don't generally recommend that, but this isn't a normal error.

If that doesn't help, try moving the existing Zotero profile directory out of the way and let it create a new one. You'll then need to either sync down your data or move the 'zotero' directory from the backup (assuming you weren't using a custom Zotero data directory location) back to there.

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

Let me see if I understood this correctly.

1. Move the Zotero profile directory somewhere else.
2. Move the contents of the Zotero profile directory back into the newly created Zotero profile directory

Is this right? Sorry but how do I let Zotero create a new profile directory? Should I just remove the Zotero profile directory folder somewhere else and start Zotero again?

Thanks for your support.

dstillman · February 3, 2017

No, profile directory and data directory are different — explained on the linked pages. The first step is just to move the profile directory out of the way and restart Zotero.

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

Hi I moved the profile directory to some place else and restarted Zotero but it just gives me another error saying: Your Zotero profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your patience.

dstillman · February 3, 2017

Sorry, remove the entire Profiles directory (with the profiles.ini file), not just the folder with the random name.

kinoko05 · February 3, 2017

Okay I did that and now I opened Zotero. What next? Do I just login and sync from my web collection?

Thanks!

dstillman · February 3, 2017

I explained above:

You'll then need to either sync down your data or move the 'zotero' directory from the backup (assuming you weren't using a custom Zotero data directory location) back to there.

kinoko05 · February 5, 2017

@dstillman Thank you for your patience and support! I wanted to let you know that my Zotero is up and running again after syncing back my data.