Trainstore

eyore · Post by **eyore** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 9:37 pm

Loaded the latest version-worked ok. but a problem with my PC appeared to corrupt the files and I got an error message saying it couldn't find some data(table?) and crashed.

Reloaded Trainstore which appears to be ok again but it can't find any activities!

When I look at MSTS rote folders I find new activity(2) folders have been set up which appear to contain the missing activities. Except for NWE where a new route folder NWE(2) has been created. I also appear to have a new Consist(2) and Trainset(2)folder

Before I do something fatal can anyone advise what my next move should be?

salopiangrowler · Post by **salopiangrowler** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:25 pm

of its not too space invading then leave it if its ok

TFormoso · Post by **TFormoso** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:58 pm

Please can you give a bit more detail.

What did you mean by

a problem with my PC appeared to corrupt the files and I got an error message saying it couldn't find some data(table?) and crashed.

What Windows version are you using?

What did you do after the crash?

It sounds like Windows Restore (under some circumstances it seems to create new folders named as you describe)

Tony

Geoffwright · Post by **Geoffwright** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 11:00 pm

Well, this is a strange one !
At first sight, it would seem sensible to compare the respective XXXX folder contents with it's corresponding XXXX(2) folder contents.
If it seems that your incident has just renamed folders (from "XXXX" to "XXXX(2)"), then it would seem safe to put things back.
Probably the safest way would be to copy all the XXXX(2) contents back into the corresponding XXXX folder.
Before you do anything, put copies of these anomolous folders somewhere safe, so after you try fiddling about as described above & should things go horribly wrong, you would be able to delete the changes you had made and at least get back to where you are now. And then get professional help.
(If any real expert should read this and react with horror, please post a rebuttal forthwith to avoid disaster for my hapless victim !)

eyore · Post by **eyore** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:02 pm

Tony

I'm using Windows XP and I was installing new hardware (cordless keyboard) when the system crashed and I had to restore.

Following restore everything appeared ok until I tried to unstore NWE route which was when I received the error message. I regret I did not note down the error message but guessed the restore had affected Trainstore and reloaded the upgrade. Which is when i found the problems described previously.

Does this help?

baldwin · Post by **baldwin** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:05 pm

I have my MSTS on a separate partition, but used to suffer from this when using Windows restore, until I banned restore from that partition.

Windows restore will also operate automatically when recovering from a system failure.

To clear up the resulting mess in the TrainStore folders you have to go through and check each individual folder. What you do is check each folder. If it is the original, and is empty, and has a duplicate ending in (2), then delete the empty folder and rename the duplicate by removing the (2).

If the original and the duplicate folder have files in, move the files from the duplicate to the original, and delete the duplicate.

The same will apply to the consist folder. For the trainset folder things are a bit more complicated, because you now have two trainset folders in TrainStore. The simplest way to deal with this is check each folder in the duplicate for files. If any exist, move them into the corresponding folder in the original Trainset folder, and delete the complete Trainset(2) folder when empty.

Mervyn

TFormoso · Post by **TFormoso** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:39 pm

Thanks for the further information.

I think it does look like it is the MS Restore problem.

Thank you Mervyn for explaining very clearly what to do to get out of it.

Tony

dforrest · Post by **dforrest** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 1:11 am

Just one point with the updated Train Store. The progress bar at the bottom of the window seems to ofter stop recording progress and freeze. No real problem, as Train Store complete the operation OK, but a little disconcerting!

.

TFormoso · Post by **TFormoso** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 1:43 am

Please could you give some examples, of what Train Store is doing, when this happens.

Thanks

Tony

dforrest · Post by **dforrest** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 3:30 am

TFormoso wrote:Please could you give some examples, of what Train Store is doing, when this happens.

Thanks

Tony

From memory, I would say a long operation such as "Unstore All", but I will monitor this and advise you of specific instances (thanks for adding "Save As"!).

David

qzdcg8 · Post by **qzdcg8** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 7:33 am

I noticed on the commercial Karwendalbahn Route that they explicitly "do not recommend using Trainstore" - any thoughts on why this is?

TFormoso · Post by **TFormoso** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:15 am

Steve,

That manufacturer just does not recommend Train Store. I have contacted them, and asked for an explanation. They claim that it caused their helpdesk too much time in support. They also made claims about it damaging installations.

They refused to provide any evidence, and they refused any cooperation whatsoever. Instead I did receive by telephone a statement on how very big they were, how very close they were to Microsoft, and how they really are experts.

What can I say?

I can only tell you what is stated in the Train Store documentation.

Train Store does what it does by moving files.
It does not contain any code for modifying the contents of files.
It does not delete any files.
It has a self-checking 'Unstore Everything!' facility, to immediately undo the effects of its operation if you are concerned about anything.

It is not capable of the things claimed by that manufacturer to me.

I understand that every piece of software has bugs, and Train Store is no exception, but so far, I have never received any evidence of Train Store actually causing any damage.

The only issue that I am concerned about at the moment is the issue raised by this thread - 'System Restore'. i.e. System Restore seems to restore files in MSTS which are not OS or software files but 'data' files, in contradiction to the MS documentation. In addition it sometimes creates spurious additional folders.

This is not caused by the Train Store software (it can affect anyone moving files in MSTS, even with batch files) But, I have to assume that it will be seen as a 'Train Store problem' in some areas.

I am thinking about a utility to mechanise sorting out the System Restore resultant mess, because, if there are lots of files involved it can be overwhelming. Apart from the technical issues of how to do it, I am concerned that because it would not be completely automatic, and would require some conscious knowledge to use it, I may just be giving another hostage to fortune with those users who don't stop to read anything. So I am not sure whether anything concrete will come of it.

Thanks

Tony

TFormoso · Post by **TFormoso** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 11:32 am

dforrest wrote:
TFormoso wrote:Please could you give some examples, of what Train Store is doing, when this happens.

Thanks

Tony
From memory, I would say a long operation such as "Unstore All", but I will monitor this and advise you of specific instances (thanks for adding "Save As"!).

David

I am a little puzzled about this David. One of the things I managed to do just before the release was to speed up considerably the handling of certain of the lists and tree items which gave a dramatic improvement in performance. So, there really isn't anywhere I can see on my test system where there are any obvious pauses.

I don't want to sound silly, but is it possible it has just finished, and you don't expect it to be complete, so you wait a bit. (I know I did that after I made the changes and was testing it). If you set the option 'Tools/Options/Confirm Completion' you will get a Confirmation dialogue box when things like Go! or Prepare are complete. That would help you check that possibility out.

Thanks

Tony

asalmon · Post by **asalmon** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:01 pm

I think that system restore is far more likely to do damage to MSTS if installed under program files (ie the default location). I do remember having grief once there - but since having it installed in D:\MSTS I have not had problems with SR since.

choccy · Post by **choccy** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:14 pm

I also recollect having problems with spurious folders after using system restore but haven't experienced any recently. My installation is not in the default location but then it never has been! I'm on XP though formerly ran MSTS under ME but sadly can't confirm whether the problem was OS related either. I feel quite sure it's not Train Store related since my initial problem with System Restore pre-dated Train Store.

Mark