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[james_smith1976]

I’ve struggled for a couple of years trying to avoid as much as possible going through all the settings in MC whenever I do an OS rebuild etc. but it’s still painfully manually intensive.

The good bit first…

I store my library on a NAS drive. So on a fresh MC build I have two options – I can go to ‘playing now’ in MC16, Add Library and specify the path to the existing library. This means
   Audio/Images/Video view settings are all retrieved.
Assuming I have completed step (4) below, I also avoid having to rebuild all my thumbnails (which is ~30000)…

Here’s the first bad bit - another way of doing the above is to backup the library and then restore it, but there doesn’t appear to be any benefit to this – firstly, even with “restore settings” enabled, it doesn’t seem to restore any additional settings to the above approach (maybe a bug in MC16?) , and secondly, for some reason it results in the previously built thumbnails being deleted.

Anyway, the more significant bad bits…. having restored the library I now have to do the following for every single user
(1) Set the auto import settings (for me this means specifying 8, each with different/very particular sub-settings)
(2) Run through at least 14 categories in the  options menu and change numerous settings (probably ~35 in total)
(3) Attach any devices to be sync’d and run through those settings (probably  10-15 settings)
(4) Change Thumbnail Base to a globally accessed folder in the registry for each user so thumbnails aren’t needlessly rebuilt for every user instance.

Now, that’s (almost) palatable once per OS rebuild, but with one PC and one laptop and two user accounts on each, I have to do this four times and it ends up taking hours.

Hopefully I’ve explained this relatively clearly – certainly willing to hear if I’m missing something that should make life easier, but regardless, what I’d really like to see is:
a) The option to store EVERY settings/option globally in one place rather than the fragmented way it works now
b) The ability to be able to restore ALL settings  for each user by simply pointing to the global settings store

[JimH]

I'm not sure where you're at, but MC will rebuild the thumbnails for you.  Tool/Options/Tree and View/Thumbnails/Build Missing ... and let it run overnight.

Settings are backed up as part of Library backups in MC15.  When you restore a backup in MC16, it will restore them.

Not all settings can be restored, since hardware may differ.

[Alex B]

You would need to restore the settings for each user separately. Just tick only the "restore settings" option when you restore an MC15 library backup file. Naturally you must use a library backup file that was created under the currently active user account if want to restore the user specific settings. To keep things simple it is better to restore the settings when the default library (Main Library) is loaded.

A custom thumbnail path must be fixed manually and separately under each Windows user account. (The restored settings include the customized MC15 thumbnail path.)

After you have restored the settings and fixed the thumbnail path you can create two new (empty) MC16 libraries that point to your preferred disk locations (separate from the MC15 library locations).

Then you can close all MC instances (on all user accouts) and simply copy the MC15 library and thumbnail files to the correct "MC16 locations" (delete the already created the MC16 library files first). On next start MC16 will use the copied files and it will not reset the thumbnails (assuming they are fully synced with the library files).

EDIT

firstly, even with “restore settings” enabled, it doesn’t seem to restore any additional settings to the above approach (maybe a bug in MC16?) , and secondly, for some reason it results in the previously built thumbnails being deleted.

I forgot to comment on this.

Most of the settings will be restored, but as I said, use a correct user specific library backup file and restore only the settings when the unused "main library" is loaded (it can contain some test files to avoid the auto-import feature kicking in).

A library restore is designed to always reset the cached thumbnails, but by following my instructions you should be able to preserve them because the libraries will not be restored by using the actual Restore function. This has worked for me on three different machines.

[james_smith1976]

Thanks for the replies.

Is there a complete list of the settings that should be restored? I'm wondering if I've hit an MC16 bug, because I don't think this is working for me.

Just taking one example to work with... are the auto import settings supposed to be included as part of a library backup/restore?

[JimH]

I suggest that you download 16.0.42, just posted today on the MC16 board, and experiment with restoring MC15 backups.  MC15 was the first version that included settings in backups.

We don't document a list of settings.

[Alex B]

... Just taking one example to work with... are the auto import settings supposed to be included as part of a library backup/restore?

The library specific Auto-Import settings are stored in the library files. In my experience the Auto-Import settings are restored just fine when a library is restored either by using the Restore Library tool or by using the method I described above.

For example, you can revert a settings change by doing the following:
1. Close MC and copy the library files to another folder.
2. Start MC and change the Auto-Import settings.
3. Close MC and restore the old library files.
4. Start MC.

[james_smith1976]

Ok, I just did another backup and restore (settings only - thanks for the suggestion Alex).

This time it did retrieve the auto import settings for a user that didn't previously have any set. I have installed version 16.0.42 since then, so maybe something has been changed/fixed...

Anyway, it looks like my best bet in future is to restore the library by adding new and pointing to the existing library on my NAS drive, then using the "restore settings" part of the libray backup/restore procedure just to restore settings (whatever they are - at least I now it should include auto import settings!).

I suggest that you download 16.0.42, just posted today on the MC16 board, and experiment with restoring MC15 backups.  MC15 was the first version that included settings in backups.

We don't document a list of settings.

Couldn't this be published on the Wiki? At least a high-level view? Someone in J River must know what's backed up and it would be useful to know what remains to be changed manually in order to finish the job.

[Alex B]

The Auto-Import settings are not stored in the Windows registry and they are not included in the settings restore process.

When you adjust the Auto-Import settings they are stored in the currently loaded library (in the actual library files). Each library has its own Auto-Import settings. After a library has been restored the library specific Auto-Import settings will be loaded from the library files. The "Restore Settings" Restore Tool option has no effect on this behavior.

You will understand this better if you try my example test:

For example, you can revert a settings change by doing the following:
1. Close MC and copy the library files to another folder.
2. Start MC and change the Auto-Import settings.
3. Close MC and restore the old library files.
4. Start MC.

- By "old library files" in #3 I mean the files you copied in #1.
- By "restore" in #3 I mean "replace the current library files with the old files (outside MC)".
- After #4 your original unchanged Auto-Import settings will be back without using the Restore tool or changing the settings again.

[james_smith1976]

That might be how it's supposed to work, I'm just reporting what happened. To be clear:

- I have a library stored on a NAS drive
- I have two user account in Windows 7
- I added the library under user account 1 using add lib and specifying the file path to the library
    this successfully resulted in the library being displayed and auto import settings being correct
- I did exactly the same for user 2
    this resulted in the library being displayed the auto import settings remained empty
- I backed up the library under user account 1
- I did a libray restore under user account 2 - settings only - and the auto import settings are now correct for user 2.

[Alex B]

That might be how it's supposed to work, I'm just reporting what happened.

Actually, it is an accurate report of my experiment. I tested the procedure before posting.

I did not test a multi-user scenario this time, but inside the user specific part of the Windows Registry some library related things are referred with unique ID codes. It may be possible that the Auto-Import settings are not read from the right place if the ID codes are not in sync.

However, the problem should not occur if you use an MC15 library backup file from the same user that is currently logged in to Windows (assuming everything was correctly set in MC15) and restore only the settings when the empty default library is loaded. Introduce the actual MC15 libraries exactly as I described only after restoring the settings. (Add first the empty new libraries and only after that replace the default library files with the MC15 library files.)

[james_smith1976]

It may be possible that the Auto-Import settings are not read from the right place if the the ID codes are not in sync.

I think that's probably what was wrong the first time a tried this.

Phew... MC isn't for the faint-harted!

[HiFiTubes]

I think that's probably what was wrong the first time a tried this.

Phew... MC isn't for the faint-harted!

Does MC16 import all my custom DirectShow settings; is this planned for final release?