Can't move database!

[moab90245 0]

Somehow I either installed Evernote onto an external hard drive or it's files got stored to an external hard drive or both. So I uninstalled Evernote. And installed to C: drive. But when I open Evernote it stills says it's on E: drive. My external drive. There is an Evernote folder both on my C: and E: drives.

It's very buggy. And won't open a note for maybe 1 to 2 minutes. You also can't change between notes without a similar delay.

How can I fix this and get evernote back on my local disk C: drive? Going into options and changing it does nothing. It just keeps saying it's on E:\EVERNOTE.

[gazumped 11,637]

Hi.  Evernote > Tools > Options > General will show you where the database is.  There's an option there to move it...

[mark996 1]

I'm encountering the same issue - unable to move the Evernote database. It's currently on D:/ which is a spinning drive and very slow so I want to move it to C:/ which is SSD. But, when I try to move the local files by changing the location in Evernote > Tools > Options > General it appears at first that files are being moved (progress bar etc), but at the end of this process nothing changes - files are still located on the D:/ drive.

I'm on Evernote version 6.19.2.8555 (308555) Public.

[jefito 5,589]

Just a couple of questions:\ guesses...

Is your C drive removable, as in USB? I don't think that Evernote likes storing its database files on these types of drive.

Anything in the log? Help / Activity log

[moab90245 0]

That's my problem. Even if I go into options and change the location of my database. It never changes from my usb external drive on E:. Whenever I try to change it to C drive which is my main internal drive. It won't move. In the meantime I have very slow load times for individual notes. Especially after I just open evernote. It could take 2 minutes for a note to open.

I've also uninstalled and reinstalled evernote three times to try to correct the problem. Even with a reboot in between. And nothing fixes it. I just want my database on the preferable internal drive. But there's no budging it.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,933]

I wonder if there could be a registry entry for Evernote that's gotten stuck somehow. I'm not a registry maven, but that might be something to check. Perhaps  CCleaner would wipe out any lingering traces of the errant installation.

[gazumped 11,637]

Hmmn.  On a Windows setup,  Revo Uninstaller should remove ALL Evernote files with extreme prejudice (you might want to backup your preferred database folder somewhere safe first).  You might also check that nothing labelled 'Evernote' still exists in your folder structure.

A subsequent new 'clean' install should then abide by the standard defaults.  Evernote (a Windows developer told us) doesn't play well with network drives for file locking reasons,  so the failure to move an orphaned database may be something to do with Evernote being unable to tell that it either 1) still exists or 2) has finished moving itself elsewhere.

[CalS 5,277]

@moab90245

If you have any Local notebooks back them up.  Move your DB to the desktop as a backup.  After everything has been removed per the above before you sign in go to the Options tab and set the DB location there.  This will download and create a new DB in the location you specified.  Then import any local notebooks.  When comfortable delete the backup. This is from memory of how it once worked.  Not sure if anything has changed.

[moab90245 0]

I've tried everything mentioned. I even used an uninstaller to uninstall Evernote. And Eraser to get rid of the Evernote file on my E: drive. As you can see from the attached image. You can't change the database location to anything but E:. You can't even delete it. 

I don't know what to do. I've uninstalled it and uninstalled it with an uninstaller. Erased the file on my E: drive. Reinstalled. And I still can't change it from my E: drive.

[PinkElephant 8,045]

Can you tell your update status, on Windows and Evernote (version numbers) ?

Is there anything special about the windows you are using ?

I assume with all the un-/reinstalling that you are an admin on your computer.

[CalS 5,277]

10 hours ago, moab90245 said:

I've tried everything mentioned. I even used an uninstaller to uninstall Evernote. And Eraser to get rid of the Evernote file on my E: drive. As you can see from the attached image. You can't change the database location to anything but E:. You can't even delete it. 

I don't know what to do. I've uninstalled it and uninstalled it with an uninstaller. Erased the file on my E: drive. Reinstalled. And I still can't change it from my E: drive.

Sign all the way out of EN, File - Sign out yourusername.  Then start EN and select Evernote - Options in the upper left corner.  Change the data base location to what you want there.  Once signed in EN will build the data base at that location from the server, so give it time depending upon how many notes you have.  Again, if you have any local notebooks, export them so they can be imported after the download is complete.

[moab90245 0]

11 hours ago, CalS said:

Sign all the way out of EN, File - Sign out yourusername.  Then start EN and select Evernote - Options in the upper left corner.  Change the data base location to what you want there.  Once signed in EN will build the data base at that location from the server, so give it time depending upon how many notes you have.  Again, if you have any local notebooks, export them so they can be imported after the download is complete.

I've done this like 4 times. Like I said. Even to the extent of deleting all the evernote files on my computer. They were showing up on my E drive and my C drive. After deleting them. I used an uninstaller and uninstalled evernote. Or actually I did that first. Then deleted all files. Then reinstalled EN.

Then before signing in I've tried to change the database location to anything other than E: drive - which it opened up with even after uninstalling everything. You can't delete the name of the drive location. And you can not change it. It just stays "E:\EVERNOTE". 

It's a windows 10 computer. My own. I am the admin.

[CalS 5,277]

25 minutes ago, moab90245 said:

I've done this like 4 times. Like I said. Even to the extent of deleting all the evernote files on my computer. They were showing up on my E drive and my C drive. After deleting them. I used an uninstaller and uninstalled evernote. Or actually I did that first. Then deleted all files. Then reinstalled EN.

Then before signing in I've tried to change the database location to anything other than E: drive - which it opened up with even after uninstalling everything. You can't delete the name of the drive location. And you can not change it. It just stays "E:\EVERNOTE". 

It's a windows 10 computer. My own. I am the admin.

Got me at this point.  Those are all the things I know to try. 

[moab90245 0]

This sucks. I use Evernote exclusively on my PC and phone. For everything. I can't think of anything else to try to make it work either. Does Evernote have phone support? I mean if I buy the paid version?

[DTLow 5,736]

No phone support but there is enhanced support via email for paid accounts.

You can subscribe for a single month.

[moab90245 0]

What if I uninstall EN. Unplug my external E: drive. And then reinstall without the E: drive even being there? Will it then allow the database to be located on the C drive?

[CalS 5,277]

36 minutes ago, moab90245 said:

What if I uninstall EN. Unplug my external E: drive. And then reinstall without the E: drive even being there? Will it then allow the database to be located on the C drive?

Worth a shot, I don't get why it won't let you change the drive in the first place.  Could EN be thinking E: is your system drive?

[moab90245 0]

On 7/24/2019 at 11:30 AM, CalS said:

Worth a shot, I don't get why it won't let you change the drive in the first place.  Could EN be thinking E: is your system drive?

Possibly so. I don't know EN that well.

[CalS 5,277]

Did the unplugging work?

[dcon 166]

When Evernote is not running (completely not running, make sure no hidden tasks got stuck by using Task Manager), use regedit and manually change HKCU/Software/Evernote/Evernote/EvernotePath (REG_SZ) to point the path you want. It sounds like somehow that value isn't being flushed to the registry.

(If that value is not set, the default is your <user profile>\Evernote\Evernote.)

[moab90245 0]

14 hours ago, dcon said:

When Evernote is not running (completely not running, make sure no hidden tasks got stuck by using Task Manager), use regedit and manually change HKCU/Software/Evernote/Evernote/EvernotePath (REG_SZ) to point the path you want. It sounds like somehow that value isn't being flushed to the registry.

(If that value is not set, the default is your <user profile>\Evernote\Evernote.)

OK. Pretend I'm an idiot. Now explain that again.  I think I know how to get into regedit. But what do I change that entry too?

[gazumped 11,637]

Hi.  I think that @dcon is suggesting you paste the path to your preferred database destination in that field.

This post has some more detailed instructions about getting into the Registry. (But don't mess with the hardware acceleration on your computer!) 

 

[moab90245 0]

On 7/24/2019 at 11:30 AM, CalS said:

Worth a shot, I don't get why it won't let you change the drive in the first place.  Could EN be thinking E: is your system drive?

This is what my registry looks like. Can't figure out what to change.

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, moab90245 said:

This is what my registry looks like. Can't figure out what to change.

You're in the correct registry folder, now you need to locate the "EvernotePath" value on the right side of the display, and change  it to point to the file system folder you want it to be.

[moab90245 0]

I uninstalled EN, unplugged my E drive (where it was previously residing), reinstalled EN, and was able to change the database location to the C drive in My Programs. Where it should have been. So now when I go into options it's shows the correct path - C:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote.

But now it won't sync. I have no notes on my desktop version of EN. When I click sync nothing happens. I still see all my notes on my phone in the same account.

I also checked that IE is working and not offline. Although I could not find the work offline or online setting. Go figure. It does open up and I can surf the web. So I assume it's not in offline mode. I know EN uses IE to sync.

[CalS 5,277]

1 hour ago, moab90245 said:

I uninstalled EN, unplugged my E drive (where it was previously residing), reinstalled EN, and was able to change the database location to the C drive in My Programs. Where it should have been. So now when I go into options it's shows the correct path - C:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote.

But now it won't sync. I have no notes on my desktop version of EN. When I click sync nothing happens. I still see all my notes on my phone in the same account.

I also checked that IE is working and not offline. Although I could not find the work offline or online setting. Go figure. It does open up and I can surf the web. So I assume it's not in offline mode. I know EN uses IE to sync.

Did you completely sign out of EN, File - Sign out username?  Any errors in the log file?  Be sure you are using the exact username and password.

[moab90245 0]

Yes. I was completely logged out on my desktop when I reinstalled and reset the password and resigned in. But my phone was not logged out if that makes a difference. 

 

Where is log file?

[CalS 5,277]

Reset the password?

[moab90245 0]

I logged out of all accounts phone and computer and browser. Then relogged in on phone. Worked fine. But when I relogged in on windows it gave me the following error.

[moab90245 0]

I checked that file path and there is no databases folder in the evernote folder. What do I do create one? And where do I get the database file moab762.exb?

[CalS 5,277]

User name is used for EXB files.  So moab762 .exb is an EN data base for user moab762.  Are you signing in with that user name, did you before?  When you sign in to the web what usere name do you use.  Check Tools - Options to see what/where your EN data base is.  I store my DB in a non-default location.

[dcon 166]

19 hours ago, moab90245 said:

So now when I go into options it's shows the correct path - C:\Program Files (x86)\Evernote\Evernote.

You can't put it there. That's a protected directory in Windows - any attempted writes will be redirected (only full-admins can write in ProgramFiles). The default location for EN files is %USERPROFILE%\Evernote (the database itself is in the Database subdirectory)

[USERPROFILE is usually C:\Users\<your user name>\]

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,933]

1 hour ago, dcon said:

You can't put it there. That's a protected directory in Windows - any attempted writes will be redirected (only full-admins can write in ProgramFiles). The default location for EN files is %USERPROFILE%\Evernote (the database itself is in the Database subdirectory)

[USERPROFILE is usually C:\Users\<your user name>\]

So for me my Evernote database is (with personal information obscured):

C:\Users\{My_User_Name}\Evernote\Databases\davidr********r.exb

[moab90245 0]

I give up. I'm just going to use the website within Chrome.

[CalS 5,277]

12 hours ago, moab90245 said:

I give up. I'm just going to use the website within Chrome.

Too much to read above.  Did you try using Revo Uninstaller to remove all traces of EN from your machine?  If not backup any local notebooks to ENEX, use Revo, reboot, download the current EN version from their web site, install with the defaults and sign in.  That should work.