Restore Database from Copied Files or Folders

If you backed up your database by copying files or folders to a backup location, you can use your backup copy to move your database to a new computer or to overwrite an older or corrupted copy of your database.

Moving a Database to a New Computer

After installing Nota Bene on your new computer, you will need to copy your database folder to your new computer. For information on how to identify the database files and the linked note-taking files that should be copied to your new computer, see Backup Database. Locate the most recent copy of your database files and copy them to your new computer. All of the files will be in one folder. For information on where to place the database folder, see www.notabene.com/setup, especially the Ibidem Databases section.

Next you need to "add" the database. This will tell Ibidem where to find the database files and it will add it to the list of available databases. See Add Database.

Restoring an Existing Database from Backup

Often people need to use their database at home, on the road (a laptop) and at work among other places. You can do this by maintaining your database in one place (e.g. Dropbox) and accessing it from different computers. Or you can maintain separate copies of your database on more than one computer and update it on each computer whenever changes are made. The logic of updating your database is the same as updating a document you are working on. If you make changes to your document on one computer, you need to copy it to your second computer before making changes on the second computer. Similarly, if you make changes to your Ibidem database on one computer, you need to copy your database files to the second computer before making further changes on the second computer.

Restoring a database from a backup (or from a more recent version on a different computer) will overwrite the contents of your existing Ibidem database. Please be certain that you want to overwrite the existing database before proceeding.

To update an older version of your database with a newer version, you simply copy the database files from the up-to-date version of your database, replacing the database files on the computer that has the older version. Close Ibidem before copying files. If you are also restoring linked note-taking files (and if those files have been changed), copy the new versions of those files to the replace the older versions. To identify the files that need to be copied, see Backup Database. If you are maintaining the same database on two computers, you do not need to copy all the files every time. Sort the files by date and copy only those that have changed since you last transferred files.

The first time you open the database after copying the files, you will be prompted to reindex the database. You can do this by clicking the Rebuild Indexes button at the bottom of the Control Nexus. If you are told that the database is locked, follow prompts to unlock it and then click the Rebuild Indexes button at the bottom of the Control Nexus again.

If you regularly move back and forth between two or more computers, you may find it much easier to keep your databases synchronized (along with your files) by using data synchronization software designed specifically for this purpose. We don't recommend any particular program. But you can easily find various alternatives by doing a web search for "data synchronization programs." For information about setting up Nota Bene for cloud storage, see Cloud Storage.