Dealing with DB "Bloat"

[TahoeLocal 0]

Hi, maybe someone can help me deal with an issue or two.  I'm a premium user and I've been an Evernote user for several years and I've become increasingly frustrated with it.  The first problem goes back to not long after I started using it, this is now the 3rd computer that I've used it on, so I'm pretty sure that it's not my system.  Especially since I get the same results on a new computer with a fresh install.  The problem has been persistent, nearly anything that I do results in a "not responding" message.  It's gotten so bad that I just leave it and check back in on it after about 5 minutes.  Over the years, I've tried all the various sync settings to try and resolve this, but it hasn't made any noticeable changes at all, so I've just accepted it as it being the product.  At this point, though, I realize that a large part of that problem is my own fault, because I've allowed the DB to get bloated with some 46,000 records,   That's crazy for an individual as me, but I could understand a business having a DB that size, so I think that the product should be able to still function, regardless, but I need to cut this back to something more reasonable. 

So this is my primary question:  What I would like to do is to move this bloated file over to another computer and use it without an internet connection, just a stand alone all by itself, is that even possible?  I find that too many products insist on having an internet connection to operate, but also, it might conflict with Evernote's licensing model, because if that is possible, then I would like to start fresh with a new DB on a box with the internet connection.  That would mean that I have two installs, one live with an empty db, and the other bloated on a stand alone,  is this even feasible?

If that isn't doable, though, I've also tried using the purge feature, but it doesn't seem to be operative.  I'm a little leary of a full on test because I don't want to loose my data, My question is whether this will handle my bloat problem and still make my data available?  Any other possible solutions?  I'm not a happy camper.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, TahoeLocal said:

What I would like to do is to move this bloated file over to another computer and use it without an internet connection, just a stand alone all by itself, is that even possible? 

Why the "without an internet connection" requirement?

You can have two accounts, but Evernote requires an internet connection for login; even if only local notebooks

>>still make my data available

You can easily export your notes in html format and store on the other computer.  Use a portable drive or stick to transfer the data

[TahoeLocal 0]

4 hours ago, DTLow said:

Why the "without an internet connection" requirement?

You can have two accounts, but Evernote requires an internet connection for login; even if only local notebooks

>>still make my data available

You can easily export your notes in html format and store on the other computer.  Use a portable drive or stick to transfer the data

How would you navigate an html export?  Not quite an equal result if you have to give up the ability to navigate it..It's historical data that I want to have available if needed, so I was going to keep it on an old laptop that I don't update anymore.  Just seemed to be a useful way to use a resource, I only need to start it when I need something.  This would then allow me to cut this active  account to a more operable size.  It seems to do a fair amount of choking on 42 GB.  I just realized that a more direct route would be to clean up a network drive and leave there, but then they are not likely to support that, are they? I just want to lighten the load on my current software so that it doesn't lock up as much as it does.  They must have a solution other than telling their customers to delete their data, really?

[DTLow 5,736]

12 minutes ago, TahoeLocal said:

I just want to lighten the load on my current software so that it doesn't lock up as much as it does. 

Ok, open a second account and move your data.  You might need Premium for a month because of the limits.  

[TahoeLocal 0]

54 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Ok, open a second account and move your data.  You might need Premium for a month because of the limits.  

Oh, that's brilliant, if the whole community is as thoughtful as this, it's a real good reason to abandon the product altogether.  Didn't get down to the second sentence on the first post, did you?  One thing that I could never get use to is a company unloading their customer support onto their product users.  If anyone needs an example of why that is a bad idea, just piece the last comment into the whole narrative.  Maybe it's a plant from Evernote's competitors, something to consider...

[DTLow 5,736]

43 minutes ago, TahoeLocal said:

Didn't get down to the second sentence on the first post, did you?

I got down to
"That would mean that I have two installs, one live with an empty db, and the other bloated on a stand alone,  is this even feasible?"
and "I just want to lighten the load on my current software so that it doesn't lock up as much as it does. "

My suggestions are working towards the "two installs"

[PinkElephant 8,071]

When I read through this, I wonder whether this is looking for a solution, or venting some frustration about SW performance and EN company politics. I think we can work on the first, and have no possible contribution to the second.

[dcon 166]

10 hours ago, DTLow said:

Ok, open a second account and move your data.  You might need Premium for a month because of the limits.  

To add to that - after creating the 2nd account, create a folder there and share it to your primary account (or share a folder from the primary to the 2nd acct). You can then just drag/drop the notes to move them. The only "gotcha" is it will leave them in the primary computer's database. You could move them out of the folder on the 2nd account to a different folder (either synced or local) and just use that shared notebook as a transfer folder.

Advantage: Don't have to export/import.

Disadvantage: Sharing. (It can be a little weird sometimes. It works. But it can be weird. I say that as one of the people who use to work on that feature!)

[CalS 5,280]

19 hours ago, TahoeLocal said:

The problem has been persistent, nearly anything that I do results in a "not responding" message.

Often times this kind of performance issue can be addressed with hardware, that is, more memory and and SSD drive.  Not always, but most of the time.  Worked for me anyways.  How much memory and what kind of disk on your machine?

There are also some optimize options when you hold Ctrl and press Help in the menu bar.  IAC, I am at 43,500 notes without any performance issues.  Pretty much instantaneous response time on a 7 year old docked laptop.  FWIW.