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[RedJ]

When troubleshooting MC, one of the standard things JRiver directs users to do is to uninstall and reinstall MC.  The problem is, all settings are not backed up in the Library Backup and so there's invariably a bunch of work to redo each time this has to be done (assuming you can even remember everything that had been changed).  

Things that need to be restorable:
1) Favorite folders
2) Toolbar customizations
3) Media Server settings and Access Key (this is the worst to have to re-enter on each client that's used to access MC)
4) File Locations (seems like some carried over, but not everything)
5) There seem to be lots of other, less impactful, settings that don't carry over, but it's frankly hard to tell what is persistent and what I forgot was changed.

If philosophically JR feels these types items are universal and not appropriately associated with a library, then there needs to be an alternate way to back them up.  I think it would be fine to allow them to be optionally piggy-backed onto library backups and selectively restored.  It's really frustrating for this to be the default troubleshooting step, and yet not be able to easily put things back the way they were when a fresh install and new library don't resolve an issue (which is 99% of the time for me).

[JimH]

When troubleshooting MC, one of the standard things JRiver directs users to do is to uninstall and reinstall MC.  The problem is, all settings are not backed up in the Library Backup and so there's invariably a bunch of work to redo each time this has to be done (assuming you can even remember everything that had been changed). 

We don't normally recommend an uninstall.

[flac.rules]

I would also like to add that the library should be periodically backed up by the program also when you are using a remote server. The local library is never backed up, and all the settings are there.

[RedJ]

We don't normally recommend an uninstall.

Jim, I don't know what you would call "normal", but over the years this has been repeatedly recommended either directly to me or through related forum posts for problems that can't be resolved. 

Also, would you care to address the suggestion, which is that more settings be backed up, which is I think a valid suggestion regardless of what "normal" troubleshooting protocol is?

[Matt]

2) Toolbar customizations

Toolbar customization lives fine through a library restore.  I just customized a button, backed up, removed the button, and restored and the button came back.

[RedJ]

Toolbar customization lives fine through a library restore.  I just customized a button, backed up, removed the button, and restored and the button came back.

That has literally never happened for me.  I wonder if it is skin-dependent?  If so, the selected skin would be another thing to add to the list.

[glynor]

I restore Toolbar Buttons using the backups all the time.

By the way, it does also make automatic backups.

[RedJ]

I think the backup that MC automatically makes before an uninstall does not include this, but manual installs do? I just restored an older, manual backup and indeed the toolbar buttons came back.

[RedJ]

OK, I'm going to have to retract my suggestion for the time being.  Sorry, I always reinstall from the latest backup and in the case of uninstalling that's always the one that MC makes automatically.  The automatic uninstall backup does not contain extra settings that the manual ones can.  This might be communicated in a dialog, but otherwise I don't know that anything for a fact doesn't get backed up with manual backups.

[glynor]

All backups should be equivalent. Can you explain further?

[RedJ]

When uninstalling MC, it appears that MC automatically creates a library backup.  When I restore this backup after a reinstall, none of the custom settings like toolbars, favorites, media server settings, etc. are included.  

Also, there looks to be a substantial (~1MB) data size difference between this automatically created backup and the manual backup I created minutes prior.  Looking in my backups folder, it also appears that MC makes an automatic backup just prior to restoring.  I had already re-created most of my custom settings before restoring to my manual backup and the pre-restore automated backup is more similar in file size to the manual backup than the pre-uninstall automated backup.

[glynor]

When uninstalling MC, it appears that MC automatically creates a library backup.

This is not correct. I wasn't 100% sure so I just tested. Media Center's Uninstaller does not make an automatic Library Backup before uninstalling.

It does, however, make the automatic Library Backups it makes at launch. I suspect even at first launch (after all, it is "late" because it has never made one before), so what is happening to you is that:

1. You're uninstalling for whatever reason.
2. Reinstalling.
3. Launching MC.
4. As it launches, before you restore it or anything, it makes a Library Backup just as part of the normal automatic Library Backup system.
5. You're picking this Library Backup, which would be pretty much a clean slate (unless you have an older install of MC on that system, in which case it would be the automatic upgrade of MC20's settings, or whatever).

In any case, it does not make an automatic Library Backup when you uninstall. So, I'm not sure where the "different" one is coming from, but I don't think it is coming from where you think it is. The backups MC makes are all the same, and should capture the current settings, and all of them, including toolbar buttons.

If you can find a repeatable instance where this isn't the case, exact step-by-steps would be good.

[RedJ]

I don't know for sure under what conditions the automatic backup is being made, but I don't think the one I'm using is created at first launch for this reason:
1) It's older than the "before restore" automatic backup
2) My restores from these backups are not clean slates, they contain my tracks and playlists, otherwise I would never have gone down the road thinking MC made partial backups.  The automatic backups are labeled even: "MC Library Backup (Main Library - February)" and "MC Library Backup (Main Library - Before Restore)" and sometimes it will create an autobackup with the same naming pattern as the manual backup default "MC Library Backup (Main Library - YYYY-MM-DD)"

I will say the behavior pattern I've observed doesn't seem completely consistent so I haven't figured out exactly which named automatic backup occurs under which conditions.  I've now seen the autobackup using the month name created before uninstall AND before a library restore.  I've seen the autobackup with the date created immediately after a restore.  The "Before Restore" does seem consistently generated as it's name infers.

I think it's entirely possible the intended behavior is for all backups to contain all settings, it's just not what I've experienced repeatedly for some time now.  Whatever is going on, I now know to only restore from manually generated backups from now on, but it would be nice to have all the backup logic laid out explicitly.