FAQ: Your database and images

How do I transfer the data and software to another computer?

Here's how to transfer the program and all data to another computer * :

Installing the program on the new computer

• The best way to get the program running on the new computer is to do a "fresh" install, using the original installer. If you do not have that installer anymore, you can download it from the download page on this site.
• Run the download installer on the new computer to install the program. Close down the program on the computer you intend to copy the data from.

Copying the data and images to the new computer

• Now you only have to transfer your data. Make sure at this point our software is not running on the computer you are about to transfer the data from. Your database file is located in the following folder (default):-
  • My Documents - Movie Collector (of course an example for Movie Collector)
  • for Vista this folder is called Documents - Movie Collector
  • on the Mac the folder is ~/Library/Application Support/Movie Collector.

  Its default name is "mycollection", but you have probably named your collection differently. The type of files to look for are listed below with the file extension for the different Collectorz.com programs.

  Now copy this file to the new computer and place it in the same folder, so e.g. "My Documents - Movie Collector".

• Next you will have to move the cover image files. The default folder for cover image files is in the same location as your collection (see example above). Copy the contents of this folder to the new computer too, preferably in the same location.

• If you are using Windows, you can also transfer the user (setting) files. You will find them (default) in the same folder as the database. There are 10 XML files and 2 TXT files you can copy.

• If you have made or customized templates in the subfolder called "templates" copy this folder as well.

• Now start the program on the new computer and use File | Open database to open your database file, that is, the database file that you just copied. After that, you should see your own data again.

• If the location of the cover images on the new computer is different, you may have to use the Update Image Links screen to let the program update the cover image links automatically. Use Tools | Maintenance | Update Image Links.

• On the Tools | Options screen, check the tabs to make sure the paths are correct.

Collectorz.com file extensions:
Music Collector: search for *.muc files
Movie Collector: search for *.mvc files
Book Collector: search for *.bkc files
Comic Collector: search for *.cmc files
Game Collector: search for *.gmc files
MP3 Collector: search for *.mpc files
Photo Collector: search for *.phc files

* The instruction above are meant for Windows to Windows, or Mac to Mac transfer. For Windows to Mac transfer see this FAQ.

Note : If your new computer will be running Windows Vista or Windows 7, please also see this FAQ.
Please make sure to close the program before starting to copy database and image files from the initial computer.

Note 2 :You can run into this error message: "Failed to open database. Your license key is already in use".
This is because you're using your license on 2 PCs at the same time. It is very easy to solve, just visit this support page for assistance.

I do not see my data any more. Can you help?

First, do not panic. It is highly unlikely that your data is gone.

Upgrading to a newer version never causes you to loose any data. When you start the new version for the first time, your database will be opened as well.

If we have worked on database changes (such as new fields) the new version will also convert your database to the new database format. All of this is seamless, you don't have to do anything.

Now, let's try to find out what happened on your end and how we can solve this.

• First, take a look at the screenshot on the right. The left side of the bar at the bottom of the program's main screen indicates the total number of items that are in the current database E.g. "Total: 30 Movies", or "Total: 531 Books".
  
  Does this number match the number of items that you had in your database? If so, your data is all there. It is probably just a "view setting" that prevents your items from showing up in the main screen.
  
  To fix this, try the following:
  1. Maybe you have an "In Collection Status" filter active? Choose the menu Search | In Collection Status from the menu and make sure it is set to "All".
  2. You may have a search Filter active. To check, take a look at the bar at the bottom again, somewhere along the bar it should say "Filter: [None]". It it says something else after "Filter:" then you have a filter active. Switch OFF the Filter by choosing Search | Filter On/Off from the menu.
  3. If after both of the above suggestions you still don't see your data, try the Tools | Maintenance | Reset to Defaults command from the menu. This command resets all View settings to the initial settings the program has when it is first installed.
     
     
• In case the "Total:" listing at the bottom indicates there are zero items in the database (or a number that is much lower than it should be), then it sounds like you have inadvertently opened a different database (using File | Open Database) or maybe created a new empty one (using File | New Database). Do not worry, this should not be problem. Let's try to find and open your "normal" database:
  1. Choose File | Open Database.
  2. This opens the Open collection screen, showing the files in the "Data" folder. You should see one or more files having the circular Collectorz.com icon.
  3. Your database file is probably called "mycollection", unless you named it otherwise. If you see your database file, select it and click the Open button. You should now see your entered data in the main screen again.
  4. If you do not see any files with a circular Collectorz.com icon, use the "Look in:" drop down to find your database folder. By default, it is located in a folder like "My Documents\Movie Collector\", but you may have decided to save your database elsewhere. On the Mac the database files will by default be stored in the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Movie Collector
  5. Not found your file yet? Then you may want to look in your Backup folder, that is where the program automatically saves a backup copy of your database each time it successfully opens it. Important: if you find a working database file in your Backup folder, we recommend that you use File | Save database As to save your file into the Data folder, where it belongs. Preferably using a descriptive name and taking care not to overwrite existing database files that may be there already.
  6. Finally, if the above suggestions didn't help finding your file, we recommend that you close the program and then use your Windows Explorer to search your computer for Collectorz.com database files (see below for the correct extensions). Make sure that in Windows explorer the option to search system and hidden folders is enabled when performing the search. If you find it, just double click it and your Collectorz.com program will start and will automatically open the database.

Collectorz.com file extensions:
Music Collector: search for *.muc files
Movie Collector: search for *.mvc files
Book Collector: search for *.bkc files
Comic Collector: search for *.cmc files
Game Collector: search for *.gmc files
MP3 Collector: search for *.mpc files
Photo Collector: search for *.phc files

I do not see my images any more. Can you help?

First, check the Covers tab page of the Edit screen.

In (for example) Music Collector use the menu Edit | Edit Album.

Click the covers tab, and check if the image still shows there. If it does, then it looks like you only lost the small Thumbnail versions of the images. In that case, you can fix the problem easily.

Use the menu Tools | Maintenance | Repair Thumbnails.
(Windows only, the Mac does not create thumbnails and as such does not need this option)

If the image does not show up in the Edit screen, the problem is that your cover image links do not point to the correct location anymore. This can happen if you move your cover images or if you have recently moved all your data to a new computer.

This can be fixed as well.

Use the menu Tools | Maintenance | Update image / file Links
(Mac : update image links).

In this screen, you need to take a few steps:

• Click the Browse (Mac : choose) button
• Browse to the folder where the images are located
• Next click the Search button. You should see the "New Folder" column fill up with the new location and filename
• Now click the Update button. This will update your database with the new images file links. Click OK to leave the screen

No images found?
If the image files are not found by this, maybe you accidentally deleted them. Then we recommend using the Update feature.

The update feature will let you download the images again from the internet:

• Use the menu Edit | Update Automatically

You can do this for multiple items in one go, just select multiple items in the list and then choose Update Automatically.

I had to reinstall my computer, how can I get started again?

First the good news: You will not have to re purchase the software.
Just download the version you own a license for here.

If you do not remember your license key, you can ask to have it sent to you by using our license key request form

About your collection and images:

• If you have backed up all the files related to the collection, you can see at this FAQ how you can get the collection working again. In that FAQ you will also find which files have to be backed up before re-installing Windows.
• In case you only backed up the collection file itself (ie you did not backup the images) the easiest way to get those back would be to open the collection that has been backed up (after of course putting it back to the c-drive / previous location) and using the menu Edit | Select All to get all items selected, and use the menu Edit | Update [Books / Movies ..] Automatically menu to get all items in the search queue. This allows you to batch-update all items to include the images again, without too much trouble.
• If you reinstalled Windows without backing up anything, the only possibility of getting files back involves using recovery software, such as Ontrack (there are many, just google on "recover files"). Unfortunately we cannot guide you through this, since it falls outside the scope of Collectorz.com support.

In case nothing has been backed up and the drive is physically damaged, there is no way to get any files back, at least not any affordable way (there are labs that will recover drives that are damaged, but the pricing range hardly makes this an interesting option with regard to getting your collection back).

Is there a limit to the number of entries in the database?

There is no limit to the number of items you can enter.

5.000 to 10.000 items should be no problem at all. After that, you may experience slightly decreased performance when sorting, searching, etc... But this will of course depend on your computer configuration and your View settings (any Folder view is faster than No Folder mode, List View is faster than Image View, etc..).

Tip

If you have a huge collection of books, CDs, DVDs or video games you can speed up the process by using a wireless laser scanner. Scan your items on the shelves instead of bringing them to your machine!

We sell two types of barcode scanners.
These are the
Opticon OPN 2001 laser scanner as well as the simpler
Cuecat swiping scanner.
The CueCat is not wireless and you can only swipe one barcode at a time.

How can I share my collection with a friend?

You can share your collection in a number of ways.

• The easiest method is to use the File | Export to | Text feature which creates a text file (requires a Pro Version).

  You can attach this to an email and send it to a friend. Such a text file can be imported into Excel or Word and looked at and printed in an organized way.

• Another option is to setup your own website. You can then send your friends the link to your website and they can see the collection online.

  For more information on how to do this, see the FAQ on setting up a web site. (requires Pro version)

• You can also send your friend your database file along with the Images. Use a product like Winzip to create an archive of the Data folder.

  This can be a challenge to do though because the file can be quite large. Most email transfers don't support sending large files of data. You may need to send them a CD with the information. Your friend can then download the trial to browse your database, or if he is licensed as well work on that database.

• A final option would be to install what is called a PDF writer.

  Such a writer will behave as a printer, selectable from the print dialog screen, but will write to a PDF instead of actually printing. You can then send your friends a preformatted printable list

I moved my images, and now the program can not find them anymore.

You can let the program update its image file links automatically using the Update Image Links command in Tools | Maintenance.

In this screen, first browse to the new folder where the images are in now.

Then click Search to let the program search this new folder to try and find the missing cover images. The results will be show in the Missing Files list.

Finally click Update to update your database with the new images file links. This will automatically regenerate your thumbnails.

Can I play movies and audio files from your software?

Yes you can.

The feature is found at the edit screens in our software. Use the menu Edit | Edit Movie (for example).

On the links tab you can set up a link to an audio file, a movie, an image or whatever you prefer: .avi, divx, xvid, .mpg, .mkv, .iso, .vob, but also .jpg, .bmp and even .txt, .pdf and all other sorts your computer recognizes.

Just drag and drop (Windows only) your files or website links directly onto this links tab. Website links are dropped onto the top half, files on your computer onto the bottom half. You can also use the add icon on the links tab to add links.

See the screenshot which shows a combined Mac / Windows example of such a link. On the Mac, first click the plus icon, clear the URL and drag/drop the required file (MP3, MPG etc.)

This link will appear in the details view of the main screen and can be clicked. It will make your audio or video player start directly from the Collectorz.com program.

Where can I find a list of all the field meanings?

On the edit screen in each of our programs, you will find many data fields.

Some are personal such as the location, but most have a certain fixed meaning. The full list of all data fields can be found in the program's manual.

How do I create a backup of my data?

The Collectorz.com software automatically creates a copy of your database file when you first open the software. The file is stored in the Backup folder (see menu Tools | Options).

You can lose your data though if your hard drive fails or your PC just stops working. To be completely safe, make a copy of your data and settings on a regular basis.

By default your data, images and settings will be stored in (example for Book Collector)

• Windows XP : My Documents - Book Collector
• Windows Vista / Windows 7 : Documents - Book Collector

We recommend to write this entire folder to a USB stick, CD, DVD or external disc regularly to avoid loosing your database.

Can I use Book Collector to also record reading levels such as Lexile?

Yes, Book Collector can keep track of the reading level information for your books.

Reading level information is not available from the online sources, so you will have to enter the levels in manually.

Use the menu Edit | Edit Book, and on the "personal" tab enter the reading level in for example the field "tags".

After entering the reading level, you can use the menu View | Folders | Tags to group the books on reading level.

Can I see the total value of my collection?

Yes, the Pro version of our software has a built in statistics screen.

Use the menu Tools | Statistics to open the screen.

The yellow folder icon will let you choose how you want to break down your collection. On the right of the chart you will see summary statistics like the total and average purchase price.

If upgrade to a newer version, will I have to re-enter all my data?

No you won't :-)
All your existing data will be preserved and immediately available in the new version.

I have duplicate entries in my database. Why, and how do I correct it?

This can happen if you accidently use the "file - import from - other collection" menu into your already opened collection.

If you still have the initial backup file, you can just use the menu:
file > open database
and point to the original file. If that is no longer possible, the easiest way to get rid of the duplicate entries involves a few steps.

Step 1 Make the items "internal ID" and "index" appear in the list view, by using the menu view > columns and add these two items to the list of selected fields. (picture note #1)

Step 2 Back in the main screen you will note, that these two columns are now visible in the list pane. Clicking on the header of the "internal ID" column will sort the titles on that ID. (picture note #2)

Step 3 The internal ID is a unique field, which increases in value for every item that is added to your collection. The original items in the collection can thus be seperated from the duplicates added at a later stage by scrolling down the list and looking for the point where the Index re-starts its sequence (picture note #3)

Step 4 This point #3 indicates where the duplication has started. Before selecting all items below the border I suggest to also scroll down once to the bottom of the list, and up completely to compare the beginning and endings of the subsets to make sure you are not deleting too many items. Selecting the duplicates can be done by selecting the first item that can be identified as duplicate and holding the shift while using the page down, or arrow down until the end is reached. After that, only a delete is needed.