Ctrl + Help - Explanation of repair terms?

[jbenson2 2,147]

Has Evernote offered a description of what the following Ctrl + Help repair terms do?

With my 45,100 notes created over the past 8 years, I think I should be investigating these capabilities more carefully. Is one of them a master repair that corrects all the others? Or should they be tackled one at a time?

• Optimize Database
• Fix All Notes
• Fix Notebookless Notes
• Fix Lost Resources
• Recreate Full Text Search Index
• Recreate Attributes Index
   

[gazumped 11,666]

Hmmn.  Hadn't noticed before but 'notebookless notes' seems like a new(ish) addition to the list.  I don't think there is an official description - other than the occasional comment from someone in Support that these options should only be tried if recommended to do so by one of them. 

I know I don't need to tell you,  but for the benefit of other readers,  the first rule of 'repairing' your database (with any tool) is take a backup first - so that if things go pear shaped,  you can at least get back to the mess that you're currently in,  without having created a whole new level of grief.

I've used the 'lost resources' link (I was only following orders..) - that gives you a tagged list of notes that are no longer connected to the PDFs and pictures you thought you had.  Fortunately with my 22,000 or so notes stored over several years,  that was about 8 notes.

 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

12 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

Has Evernote offered a description of what the following Ctrl + Help repair terms do?

Agreed.

Also, we need the equivalent functions for Evernote Mac.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

2 minutes ago, gazumped said:

the first rule of 'repairing' your database (with any tool) is take a backup first - so that if things go pear shaped,  you can at least get back to the mess that you're currently in,  without having created a whole new level of grief.

 

Generally good advice, but it should also be known that if all of your notes are in sync'd notebooks, you can always download a fresh copy from the Evernote Cloud.

Also, if after you have made any changes from the EN Repair menu, if you sync your notes, then even if you later restore from a backup, the EN Cloud version will OVERWRITE the local restored version.

[jbenson2 2,147]

2 minutes ago, gazumped said:

I don't think there is an official description - other than the occasional comment from someone in Support that these options should only be tried if recommended to do so by one of them. 

 

Thanks for the comment. I've gone down that road with support in the past - 1.) send them my Activity Log, 2.) do a complete uninstall and reinstall, 3.) we will pass the issue on to the programmers, etc.

It seems strange that Evernote would make these repair tools so easily accessible, but keep us in the dark on when and why they should be used. 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

3 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

It seems strange that Evernote would make these repair tools so easily accessible, but keep us in the dark on when and why they should be used. 

Exactly!

Details of when and how to use these tools should be clearly explained in the EN Win Help menu.

[jefito 5,589]

 

[CalS 5,280]

The option I have used the most is Fix Current Note.  Don't know why, but from time to time a PDF I get from an outside source or a screen clip won't get OCR'd by EN.  This option fixes that.  I accidentally clicked on Fix All Notes once and nothing bad happened, other than it taking a while....

[jbenson2 2,147]

Thanks.

I tried "Optimize Database" and let it run all night. There was no confirmation message when I got up this morning.

I am going to try "Fix All Notes" tonight.

[CalS 5,280]

2 minutes ago, jbenson2 said:

Thanks.

I tried "Optimize Database" and let it run all night. There was no confirmation message when I got up this morning.

I am going to try "Fix All Notes" tonight.

Do you things were faster today after the optimize?

[jbenson2 2,147]

1 hour ago, csihilling said:

Do you things were faster today after the optimize?

Yes, I think there has been an improvement. Creating searches, or running saved searches were always blazing fast, so that is not a problem for me. What has improved is the "Not Responding" message. It disappears more quickly now (usually in less than 30 seconds).

Of course, since there was no Evernote completion confirmation, I could also be suffering from a cleverly designed placebo effect. 

 

 

 

[CalS 5,280]

1 minute ago, jbenson2 said:

Of course, since there was no Evernote completion confirmation, I could also be suffering from a cleverly designed placebo effect. 

If you look at the activity log you may see the completion.  IAC, if you think it is faster, it must be! 

[jbenson2 2,147]

8 minutes ago, csihilling said:

If you look at the activity log you may see the completion.  IAC, if you think it is faster, it must be! 

I've been using Evernote most of today, so I don't think I'll be able to find anything helpful. The activity log goes back to November 30 and requires tons of scrolling. I gave it a look and realized that I really need to cut back on the number of times I manually click on the sync icon. The activity log makes it look like I have a nervous tick.

 

[jefito 5,589]

There's every chance that "Optimize Database", much like defragging your hard drive, can have no -- or minimal -- effect. If we don't know what the operation entails (even though we could probably guess; maybe it's performing a VACUUM command?), or the state of your database to start with, it's only guesswork.

[CalS 5,280]

15 hours ago, jbenson2 said:

I've been using Evernote most of today, so I don't think I'll be able to find anything helpful. The activity log goes back to November 30 and requires tons of scrolling. I gave it a look and realized that I really need to cut back on the number of times I manually click on the sync icon. The activity log makes it look like I have a nervous tick.

 

Enable instant sync and you can blame the OCD on EN. 

[jefito 5,589]

I almost never click on the sync button, unless I've clipped something on my phone, but want to look at it on my desktop right away.

[CalS 5,280]

13 hours ago, jefito said:

There's every chance that "Optimize Database", much like defragging your hard drive, can have no -- or minimal -- effect. If we don't know what the operation entails (even though we could probably guess; maybe it's performing a VACUUM command?), or the state of your database to start with, it's only guesswork.

Let's not let facts get in the way here. 

[jbenson2 2,147]

The VACUUM Command / defrag / Optimize Database options sound feasible for my use... because I physically move approximately 50+ MB from my Premium Evernote account to my Basic Evernote account every month.  (Evernote support suggested this move technique to me a couple years ago instead of relying on ENNoteCheck.exe.)

Of course, the reason I created this topic was a public attempt to encourage one of the Evernote employees to offer an official, up-to-date informative statement on these Evernote built-in repair options. 
 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, jbenson2 said:

Of course, the reason I created this topic was a public attempt to encourage one of the Evernote employees to offer an official, up-to-date informative statement on these Evernote built-in repair options. 

I agree that that would be nice.

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, csihilling said:

Let's not let facts get in the way here. 

Guessing is fun, and cheap!!

[jbenson2 2,147]

I completed each of the following. The program might be running better. No measurement tools, so it might be just a placebo effect.

• Optimize Database
• Fix All Notes
• Fix Notebookless Notes
• Fix Lost Resources
• Recreate Full Text Search Index
• Recreate Attributes Index