Error: attached file could not be found (back up)

Kalinatek
Hello everybody,

looking for help regarding the following error. I checked the directions regarding backups, data directories and used the search function; still no luck. I don't use the snych function with an account. Here it is:

In the past I ran Zotero on my (now old Windows 10) notebook (call it X) and copied my Zotero-library (the folders name is Zotero; I call it ABC from now) (data directory) as a backup onto an external hard drive regularly (call it Z). At some point in the past, I copied this ABC from Z to X and could use Zotero normally. All the PDFs opened in tabs within Zotero.

I bought a new notebook (Windows 11, call it Y) recently. As mentioned here, I installed Zotero on Y new (Version 7.0.24 (64-bit)) and renamed the data directory, which is placed there automatically during installation of the new Zotero (“Zotero_new_and_empty”). Then I copied from Z my full library, ABC. ABC was recently placed on Y from X as a backup. This folder has the following path on Y:

C:\Benutzer\Admin\Zotero

Within the Zotero this path is selected as data directory, still I get the following error (in german):

Die angehängte Datei konnte im folgenden Pfad nicht gefunden werden:
C:\Users\ Kalinatek\Zotero\Maijanen et al. - 2021 - in the media business.pdf
Sie wurde möglicherweise außerhalb von Zotero verschoben oder gelöscht, oder ein Basisverzeichnis für verlinkte Anhänge wurde auf einem Ihrer Computer falsch eingestellt.

In English:

The attached file could not be found in the following path:
C:\Users\ Kalinatek\Zotero\Maijanen et al. - 2021 - in the media business.pdf
It may have been moved or deleted outside of Zotero, or a base directory for linked attachments may have been set incorrectly on one of your computers.


Possible reasons I can think of:

- The paths don’t match. The ABC-backup from X via Z has old path from X. On Y the path has changed partly (from Users to Benutzer and from Kalinatek to Admin). Windows was installed and came up with these new names. This might be because I use a local user account for Y, with no connection to my Microsoft-Account.

- Corrupted data, somehow.

My workaround was to say, “Use custom location” and just pick ABC. But I cannot select ABC as a folder; instead, when I click on it, I see all the other data stored there, e.g. logs, storage, styles, etc.

Does anybody have a suggestion for what to do? Locating each single PDF manually will take forever. So I really hope somebody has an idea for a solution. I very much appreciate it. Base directory has no selection; this option is empty.

Thank you very much;
Kind regards.
Kalinatek
  • dstillman
    Linked files should never be placed within the data directory, so if you did that, you're well outside of any recommended usage. We also specifically do not provide support for problems with linked-file setups. But you should move all the linked files out of the data directory and then point to the new folder as the linked attachment base directory, and Zotero may be able to relink your files automatically.
  • Kalinatek
    Thank you very much for your quick response and for clarifying the usage of linked files. I thought I understood the overall concept, but I now watch myself learn.
    This is my data directory as I moved it from my external hard drive Z on the new notebook Y. :

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u18035410/8ycwcay13mi42plgfn02.jpg
    (...)

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u18035410/sdhbaph8435od8fxeuz9.jpg

    I realized that the folders BWL and Meine Bibliothek do not belong in the data directory. I assume that Meine Bibliothek was created as I tried to export my library. Later I realized that this is not recommended. There are also some loose files (in total 83) that do not belong there. The path I shared in the first post was one of them.

    The folder BWL and the loose files in the data directory you declare as linked files — a LABD, correct? The folder BWL has a folder structure similar to the library structure within my Zotero interface. I cannot recall, why this folder and the loose files were placed in the data directory. I get the idea that happens if you add a PDF individually to an item within the Zotero interface, correct?

    Here is what I did:
    1. Deleted the folder Meine Bibliothek from the data directory
    2. Moved the BWL folder into another folder on my local hard drive of the new notebook Y.
    3. Moved the loose files to this very folder where the BWL folder is already placed.
    4. Pointed Zotero to this folder as a LABD.

    How can Zotero link every item in the interface to this LABD automatically, as you said? I can do it with each item manually with the Locate Button in the error notification. Is there a better way to save time?

    I respect your support rule regarding linked-file-setups. But if you can tell me how to convert the files and folders, which are now a LABD to the data directory without losing the notes, that would be super helpful. I hope this just touches the support rule a little. My main goal was and is to do backups with external hard drives and I plan to work only on one notebook in the near future.

    Thanks a lot for your help! I very much appriciate it. This seems basic, but to me it is very enlightening.

    Best
  • adamsmith
    Could you give a couple of examples of trying to open files that don't open, providing both the file that Zotero displays ("Die angehängte Datei konnte im folgenden Pfad nicht gefunden werden:") and where the file actually can be found?

    It sounds like you've mostly done this right already, but might be somewhere wrong in the hierarchy.
  • Kalinatek
    Okay:

    Example 1

    In Zotero (mentioned in the error notifications):

    C:\Users\Kalinatek\Zotero\BWL\System Dynamics\Akkermans und Van Oorschot - 2005 - Relevance assumed a case study of balanced scorecard development using system dynamics.pdf

    Hard drive on notebook Y (selecting this file and copy its path):

    C:\Users\Admin\Documents\PROMOT~1\LITERA~1\LITERA~2\BSC\THEORI~1\AKKERM~1.PDF


    Example 2

    In Zotero

    C:\Users\Kalinatek\Zotero\BWL\Medienmanagement\BSC allgemein\Hoque - 2014 - 20 years of studies on the balanced scorecard Trends, accomplishments, gaps and opportunities for f.pdf

    Hard drive on notebook Y:

    C:\Users\Admin\Documents\Promotion Promotion Promotion\Literatur\Literatur Medienmanagement\Linked Files aus dem data directory raus \BWL\Medienmanagement\BSC allgemein\HOQUE-~1.PDF


    Example 3

    In Zotero:

    C:\Users\Kalinatek\Zotero\The Limits of Shareholder Value Koslowski.pdf

    Hard drive on notebook Y:

    C:\Users\Admin\Documents\Promotion Promotion Promotion\Literatur\Literatur Medienmanagement\BSC\Theorieverknüpfung Shareholder Value\The Limits of Shareholder Value Koslowski.pdf
  • tim820
    edited today at 2:17am
    That's quite a mess you've got there. You have files that have not only changed their path since Zotero stored that path (when they were added), but also some file names appear to have changed (although that could be due to how you copy/pasted the file in your message ?).

    The Linked Attachment Base Directory only helps with a *single* parent path change that can be applied to all linked files. So a LABD setting should fix a situation where a large number of files have moved from one/same parent to a new/same parent. But it doesn't help with file name changes. (Once a LABD setting has been added, each linked file's parent path in the database is replaced with an "attachments:" prefix, which tells Zotero to insert the LABD there when trying to open the file).
    https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/advanced#files_and_folders

    You can use the storage scanner plugin to tag items that have broken attachment file links (although if they are *all* broken you probably already know which they are).
    https://github.com/SciImage/zotero-attachment-scanner

    You could (re-)add each *individual* PDF to its parent item from its new location via drag and drop into Zotero from your OS, with the modifier key to add it as a linked file (and then delete the old dead links).
    https://www.zotero.org/support/attaching_files#adding_files_via_the_browser

    Using the locate option in the error message is the most straightforward way to fix a single file's incorrect path stored in your Zotero database, albeit tedious for a lot of files.

    The Zutilo plugin also has limited functions for modifying attachment paths.

    Annotations added via the Zotero reader are stored in the Zotero database not the PDF. So they are still there in your database. Of course Zotero has to be able to *find* the PDF in order to open it and then show you its annotations.
  • Kalinatek
    Thanks a lot for your advice! Indeed, it is a mess.

    I can tell which links are broken; the PDF symbols in the middle pane of the said items are grey.

    I tried to drag and drop one PDF document from the local hard drive onto its item in Zotero by using the modifier key. Then it appears as a second child item next to the dead linked PDF.

    But the dead linked PDFs annotations are still displayed in the preview window of Zotero. The new PDF, the second child, changed its name, and there are no annotations in the preview window. It appears that if I delete this dead linked PDF, the annotations will disappear as well.

    Will link the items single handedly by using the locate option in the error message. Then I will store them (Tools → Manage Attachments menu)

    I hope I did not miss anything. Thanks a lot for your support. I very much appreciate it.
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