Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

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ksharkey9414
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Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by ksharkey9414 »

My computer died, so I cannot get files from it. I installed Flare 2017 on my new computer using the key I had been sent. Installation went great but there are no projects in Flare now, and I don't know how to load the files (which I was able to get from backup) to the new installation of Flare, or even to load the projects themselves.
Nita Beck
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by Nita Beck »

ksharkey9414 wrote: there are no projects in Flare now, and I don't know how to load the files (which I was able to get from backup) to the new installation of Flare, or even to load the projects themselves.
I'm trying to understand what you mean by "there are no projects in Flare now." I suspect that you mean that no recent and pinned projects are shown on the Start Page, that the list of projects is empty. That is to be expected because this new instance of Flare has not yet started "collecting" the names and paths of the projects.

It sounds like you do have backup projects? If you created them originally with Flare's Project > Zip Project command (and so they'll have the extension .flprjzip), then you can either use Flare's File > Open command* to open the backup file or, outside of Flare, double-click the .flprjzip file. Flare will unpack the backup file back into a Flare project. And, that project will now be listed on the Start Page.

If you didn't use Flare to back up projects and perhaps they're in standard .zip files, extract each one to the desired location and then have Flare open it. Again, the name and path of each one you open will get added to the Start Page.

Finally, if by chance any of the projects were in source control, you can use Flare's File > New Project > Import Project from Source Control command in order to get them on your new computer. Again, the project's name and path will be added to the Start Page.

I hope I have not misunderstood your problem.

*I think that'll be the command to use. I'm going on memory. Perhaps it's File > Unzip Project or Project > Unzip Project. I don't recall.
Nita
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RamonS
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by RamonS »

What about the old computer died? If the drive is still working you can remove it and copy the project files off the drive. Then open the project files using the new computer. That will add them as projects to the Flare startpage.
ksharkey9414
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by ksharkey9414 »

Nita--thanks for your reply! You understand me correctly--there are no project listed under Recent Projects. My backup files were created by Norton, for my whole machine, not just Flare. So the html files are backed up and on my new computer, but for some reason the .flprj files were not backed up. So I have all my html files but no project files. Do you think that if I move all the html files into Flare, I will be able to get the project files back?
NorthEast
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by NorthEast »

ksharkey9414 wrote:Nita--thanks for your reply! You understand me correctly--there are no project listed under Recent Projects. My backup files were created by Norton, for my whole machine, not just Flare. So the html files are backed up and on my new computer, but for some reason the .flprj files were not backed up. So I have all my html files but no project files. Do you think that if I move all the html files into Flare, I will be able to get the project files back?
What have you actually got backed up?

A project folder typically contains:

Project.flprj
- Analyzer
- Content
- Output
- Project

The flprj file itself actually contains very little.
The Content and Project folders contain all of your source for the project. If you have these, then you're ok - you can create a new project (to create a new flprj file), then just manually copy these folders into your new project.

If you don't have these folders, and just have a copy of the built output, then you've got pretty serious problems.
ksharkey9414
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by ksharkey9414 »

I guess I'm in good shape, then. I've got all the html source files, so I just need to load them into Frame and create the projects. Thanks so much!
Nita Beck
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by Nita Beck »

ksharkey9414 wrote:I guess I'm in good shape, then. I've got all the html source files, so I just need to load them into Frame and create the projects.
I assume you mean Flare, and I doubt you're in good shape if all you have are .html source files.

If you do not have the .flprj file, not to mention all the other Flare files such as condition tag sets, file tag sets, variables, TOCs, and target, you have a very serious problem.

Follow up on Ramon's advice. If it was not the hard drive that died on your old computer, then it will be worth the time to try to get your project files off of it.

In future, as soon as you've managed to set your ship aright, you need to rethink your backup strategy. It is simply not sufficient to back up only the .html source files within your Flare projects. Minimally, use Flare's Project > Zip Project command to make project backups and put them on a network drive or an external hard drive. My advice is that you use source control, for which backups are just one advantage.
Nita
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ksharkey9414
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by ksharkey9414 »

Nita - This is the first time I've had to retrieve from backup files. I had no idea that it didn't back up all the files :( . I'm using an external hard drive from now on. I will be able to get some files from the original hard drive, so all is not lost. I didn't realize that Flare had its own backup system. Live and learn, I guess. This job is ending sometime this year, I think--the company is down to only three employees, including me, and we're all getting pretty old. :roll: So unless someone buys the company, it's not going to last much longer, and I'm retiring. So this is kind of my last hurrah!

Thanks for your help. You've helped me many times in the past, and I really appreciate it. :)
Nita Beck
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Re: Computer died--how to get projects to new installation?

Post by Nita Beck »

Glad to be helpful, now and in the past. ;)

Re Flare having a "backup system", not quite. It won't do anything for a user automatically. Rather, one can use its Zip Project comment to create a specialized zip file that takes only the stuff Flare needs to reconstitute a project. It'll include the .flprj file, the Contents folder, the Project folder (although without the Users subfolder), and nothing more.

Even with having all of my projects in source control, I pretty regularly make a zipped backup of a project, edit the name to include a date stamp, and upload it to a cloud drive (e.g., OneDrive, Dropbox), just for good measure. The old saying is still true today: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Best of luck with getting your ship aright again!
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
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