How to tell most recent backup of Zotero?

Julia Thornton
Hi. I have had a disaster. I had my notebook computer stolen with the most recent version of my Zotero database on it. Fortunately I had backed it up to an external drive. Unfortunately, the restore process had some bugs which meant that two separate "restore"folders with different information in them were created. Because it is a different computer this means I cannot restore to the original locations. I now have to manually reattach the files to Zotero. This is something I know how to do except my question is how do I tell which of the two folders is most recent since they both have the same date (the restore date) and I can't get "size"to show up in the folder list?
  • dstillman
    Sorry to hear that.

    First, make sure you've read over the Zotero data page so you know exactly what you're dealing with.
    how do I tell which of the two folders is most recent since they both have the same date (the restore date) and I can't get "size"to show up in the folder list?
    Well, getting "Size" to show up would probably be a worthwhile thing to do, but you can also just set each directory in turn as the custom data directory from the Advanced pane of the Zotero prefs, and then sort the Zotero items list by Date Added to see how recent it is. Then you can replace the 'zotero' folder in the default data directory location with the appropriate backup one and switch back to that.
  • Julia Thornton
    Thanks for that. I think I am so shaken up that I cannot think of such easy solutions. However, trying it showed that the Zotero Sqlite files had not been backed up though the storage files had. In fact I have found using Norton 360 to back up generally a really miserable experience since it did not back up my thesis properly either. Fortunately I had manually copied all my files to another computer 2 months earlier, so have only lost 2 months work on both the thesis and Zotero. Am currently reevaluating my approach to backups including considering using the beta of Zotero 2. A check of this (2 month old) database integrity shows it has errors but runnng it through the database fix upload fixed them with out any obvious deletions. The website however says that the max upload is 70 MB then gave me a message after it said the upload was successful, that the max upload was 50 MB. Which is it? And can the inconsistency be corrected?
    Also I was trying to make a donation to Zotero but got an error message about not filling in my last name even though I had done so and subsequently had tried several variations. Would love to donate to keep you guys going but can't due to weird field!
    Thanks again for great software and hope to donate when the web page bug is fixed.
  • dstillman
    Am currently reevaluating my approach to backups including considering using the beta of Zotero
    Zotero syncing certainly would've helped in this situation, but I'd also really recommend something like Time Machine on OS X, which automatically backs up your entire hard drive every hour.
    The website however says that the max upload is 70 MB then gave me a message after it said the upload was successful, that the max upload was 50 MB. Which is it? And can the inconsistency be corrected?
    It's 70MB, though you may have trouble with databases approaching the limit. But you were able to successfully repair your database? Was the upload with a different database?
    Also I was trying to make a donation to Zotero but got an error message about not filling in my last name even though I had done so and subsequently had tried several variations.
    Ugh, that's not good. We'll pass this on to GMU, which handles the donations. Thanks for letting us know (and for your attempted donation).
  • Julia Thornton
    PS. Folder size not showing up is another annoying Windows Vista problem. The capacity to show folder size in Vista has been turned off. See this Windows Vista Forum
    http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/118967-folder-size.html
  • Julia Thornton
    Was able to successfully repair the database thanks. Will investigate the "Time Machine". Thanks for the helpful tip!
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