Quoting bigdog:

Quote:
I started up DVDProfiler today as I normally do to update the profiles, etc. and noticed my entire database of 770+ movies are gone. I tried running the repair tool under options and even when that got done, it was still empty. Any ideas on how to recover from this?

Thanks

Well, if you don't have a backup, you can download from your online collection, which is still showing up. But before you do, you might want to check to see if your database is really gone. Try the file/open database menu and see if there is listed more than one database. I'm not sure what would wipe out your local, so it is possible it's still sitting on your computer. The default location is My Documents\DVD Profiler\Databases\Default. If there are other directories under the Databases (one is created for each database) then your local db might be hiding there.

Once you get up and running, get into the habit of backing up the db every time you make many (or any) changes. I backup to an external hd and keep several versions, backup01 thru backup30. No real point in keeping so many, but it doesn't hurt to keep at least 3 or 4, just in case you don't realize something is screwed up for a couple of cycles.

I actually have it located on a NAS drive so both my laptop and desktop can access it and changes are kept in one location. I looked on that drive and couldn't see any DPB files at all. I did see a bunch of other files in the database directory as well as a directory full of images. When I try to open the normal database it does open but there is no movies listed in there, so I'm not sure what happened to it.

I did see a bunch of DBK files, I'm wondering if those are backups for the database or ???

Before downloading it from the online collection I wanted to try to recover (if possible) from the local source. 

Thanks for the suggestions..

I see. The fact you still have those DBK files is a good sign. Perhaps, since you mention your collection is on a NAS drive, the issue is that DVDP has somehow "lost" the location of the collection. If in DVDP's File Menu you go to Open Database, is the path to your NAS drive correct? Also check the Tools menu, choose Options, and then choose File Folders. Are the paths listed there correct?

Could be that if these paths are wrong and you correct them, your collection will re-appear.

EDIT: goodguy is right, the DPB files are backup files from which you can restore. If all files he mentioned are still present, checking the paths in the locations he and I mentioned might very well do the trick.

If neither restoring a backup nor downloading the online collection is a suitable solution for you, you can try and rename the internal backup files created by the last version update of DVD Profiler. I haven't tried it, but theoretically it should work. Be aware though, that you will end up with the data that were present when you updated to the new DVDProfiler version.

- Create a working copy of your database folder and all subdirectories.
- Rename *.DBK files to *.DAT
- Rename *.IBK files to *.IDX
- Rename *.BBK files to *.BLB

In case of name collisions, delete the file with the target extension before the rename. For example, delete Collection.dat, then rename Collection.dbk to Collection.dat.

Finally, open that working copy via DVDProfiler's Open Database dialog.

This is beginning to sound as if downloading your online collection is your best option.

I have had my entire database of 300+ movies at the time go south, I know how frustating this is. Now I backup my database after every addition and profile update. I also keep all my backups on DVD which will allow me to restore at any point between updates. I actually had a problem this weekend where I went to do some updates and certain profiles were unable to update long story short I had to restore and then do a database repair and then a backup. After I was able to update all profiles with no problem, after which I backed them up again just to be sure.