Best way to rebuild library after computer died

reyoungberg
Hi, my laptop (2011 MacBook air) completely died on me this spring, and I have been unable to retrieve my Zotero library files properly. I have my full library with titles in Zotero, but when I click on an article, it is no longer linked to an item on my desktop.

I backed up my new computer from iCloud, and I have found some of the articles via search and linked them that way. However, I have not done that for all the articles in my Zotero library. I regret using the Zotero Chrome downloader plugin and not storing all the articles in a specific folder corresponding to my research. Does anyone have suggestions on finding and syncing files with my Zotero library quickly? I suspect I will either have to find them on my hard drive or redownload them manually, but I have been hoping to avoid that.
  • dstillman
    It's not really clear what you mean here. Do you have a backup of your previous computer files? If you do, see Restoring Your Zotero Data From a Backup.

    But it looks like you've been using syncing, so you should also be able to just sync to pull down your library from the online library, and you'll see the same library you see on this site.
  • reyoungberg
    I backed up my computer from iCloud however, and I backed up Zotero from sync. However the articles listed in my Zotero are no longer associated any files on my harddrive. So I am able to see what is (was) in my library however I am unable to open any files as they are not linked to any files on my harddrive.
  • dstillman
    edited January 23, 2023
    Were you using stored files or linked files? And can you access the files in the online library? You have >600 MB of stored files online.

    What's an example of the exact message you're seeing? (You can 'x' out your username.)
  • reyoungberg
    I believe I was using stored files. I primarily downloaded files using the Zotero Chrome plugin or by downloading and then dropping the file into the preferred folder.

    Here is the error I receive, https://www.linkpicture.com/q/Screen-Shot-2023-03-20-at-3.53.07-PM_1.png

    When I attempt to access the file via the online Zotero library I get sent to the journal article webpage, such as https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02508060.2019.1643525.
  • dstillman
    That's an imported file, but it was never uploaded to the online library, so it would only be on the computer where it was added.

    It looks like there were a few spans of time in 2021 where no files you added were uploaded, likely because you hadn't yet added a storage subscription (which you did later in 2021). Zotero would've shown a warning on every sync about that. But if you added those files on a given computer and then switched to a different computer, those files just wouldn't have ever been uploaded. If you still have that computer with those files, you can just sync now to upload the remaining files.

    If that was the computer that died, I'm afraid you'll need to re-download the PDF from the web. If you use the Locate button and select a downloaded file (e.g., in your Downloads folder), Zotero will automatically copy it to the correct location, after which it will be synced safely to your online library. You can then delete the downloaded file.

    All the files you added after you added a subscription have been uploaded.
Sign In or Register to comment.