Backup Before Reinstall

[AnnieBody]

My Minimserver has stopped working after a java update.
It doesn't run at all ans the taskbar icon has disappeared, windows now listing the taskbar icon as as 'javaw.exe MinimServer [PC] is running' with no associated icon.
Before I go ahead and attempt a reinstall I want to know how to retain all my settings rather than have to spend an inordinate amount of time reinstalling everything.
So how do I backup first bearing in mind Minimserver doesn't have a backup option?

[simoncn]

From your description of the problem, it sounds like MinimServer is running but the icon is not showing in the taskbar. A Java update can cause this by moving the icon to the overflow area of the taskbar. You can view the overflow icons by clicking the upward-pointing arrow icon in the taskbar. For information about how to configure the taskbar so that the MinimServer icon is visible, see this page. Reinstalling MinimServer will not fix this problem.

To answer your question about backing up your MinimServer settings to preserve them after a reinstall, this isn't necessary because these settings are not removed or changed when you uninstall and/or reinstall MinimServer.

To make a backup of your settings to ensure you can restore them if your Windows installation suffers a catastrophic failure such as a disk failure, you can make a copy of the complete contents and all subfolders of the folder C:\Users\your-user-name\AppData\Roaming\MinimServer. The AppData folder is not visible in Windows Explorer by default but you can see this folder by typing its full path into the Windows Explorer address bar.

[AnnieBody]

Problem solved.
After an uninstall of Java and a full manual registry clean up, a new Java install solved the problem.

A backup option to another drive location would be beneficial.

Many thanks

[stefano_mbp]

You can export your profile/s where you prefer (… every time you modify it/them) and you can import it/them back from the folder where you saved it

[simbun]

(24-05-2023 09:30)stefano_mbp Wrote:  You can export your profile/s where you prefer (… every time you modify it/them) and you can import it/them back from the folder where you saved it

You may also want to backup your recently added/played folder.

[AnnieBody]

I don't want to get into an argument regarding semantics but manually opening each profile in turn then saving elsewhere as an export is not the same as a backup utility.
For instance, I have hundreds of word documents, to do as you suggest would take ages, whereas auto backup does it instantly on the fly!

Now I know I have to do as you suggest, I will. As all software will crash and losing hours in setting up MinimServer is not something I want to repeat.

Thanks anyway.

[simoncn]

I have considered providing a backup and restore facility within MinimServer for important configuration files. There are some problems with this, as described below.

1) Restoring configuration files from backup is most likely to be needed after a catastrophic failure such a disk crash. Backing up configuration files to another location on the same disk that is being used for running MinimServer would not provide protection against this.

2) MinimServer runs on a wide variety of platforms and devices. In most cases, there will not be a backup location on another physical disk directly accessible to MinimServer where a safe backup can be stored.

3) MinimServer could not restore previously backed up configuration files from a backup location because some of these files are in use while MinimServer is running and overwriting them would cause problems. The user would need to stop MinimServer and restore these files manually, which requires detailed knowledge of where MinimServer stores its configuration files.

The alternatives for the user are:

a) include the MinimServer configuration folder in the normal backup strategy that every user should have

b) stop MinimServer and copy the complete contents of the MinimServer configuration folder and its subfolders to a safe location

c) As suggested by stefano_mbp and simbun, export all profiles and copy the contents of the "recent" folder. An alternative to exporting all profiles is to copy all files in the MinimServer configuration folder that have a .profile extension.