Others (including some in this thread) say they've had a similar catastrophe, so there seems to be some basis for our request to maintain maximum data at the individual file level.
>> An MC library backup can save you in the case of a catastrophic failure.
I make MC backups regularly, but I imagine they can only help in certain situations. Though I've had to rebuild my MC library several times, it's never been a problem that the MC backup helped me fix. I actually don't know in what situation I'd restore an MC library backup -- perhaps someone can present a common scenario that I'm overlooking.
The problems that have happened were external to MC, so the only apparent solution was to start with an empty MC library and rebuild it entirely from files and their tags.
I hope MC can move towards a structure that is self-contained within MC's files, doesn't rely on a particular physical location, and doesn't reply on an OS-specific system such as the Windows Registry.
For instance:
Media files individually packaged as much as possible -- each file uses internal tags to the max, paired with external .xml data, so each song or video or whatever is a set of files: the media file itself, its tags/info in an .xml, and perhaps cover art in a .jpg.
Library files as self-contained as possible, with nothing important in the Registry. Store config and view design and playlists and everything in the library file/backup, and/or in one external config or .ini file.
MC as self-contained as possible, with nothing in the Registry (other than file type associations). Store everything that might be applicable to multiple libraries either in each library file, or in one external config or .ini file.
Firefox is one approach to this architecture. DVArchive that I mentioned earlier is another example. IBM Lotus Notes is another -- a very sophisticated database, collaboration and messaging program -- but I can move a complex Lotus Notes installation with hundreds of files to any arbitrary location, on Windows, MacOS or Linux, by just tweaking a couple of lines in one text .ini file. In the latest version, IBM even allows Notes to run from a USB stick.