Backup Restore Issues - "File is not a Database"

MJLocher

Hello all.Non-researcher, non-scientist, and non-DB user in general here.188BET靠谱吗My wife is a researcher who uses Zotero professionally, but she's not computer savvy.I'm not a programmer or coder, but I have decent computing skills so I'm attempting to troubleshoot an issue for her.

188BET靠谱吗Several weeks ago, my wife's laptop (and the site of her Zotero install and local files) went into retirement.188BET靠谱吗She wasn't familiar with Zotero's backup or syncing capabilities, so I referred to the information here ( 188BET靠谱吗//www.brodersterzo.com/support/zotero_data) to manually backup her data.All seemed to go well.

188BET靠谱吗This morning, new laptop in hand and fresh Zotero install complete, I attempted to perform a restore (again, following the simple instructions via the link above).188BET靠谱吗On launch, Zotero announced, "The Zotero database "Zotero.sqlite" appears to have been corrupted, and an attempt to restore from the last automatic backup has failed."

188BET靠谱吗From there, I uploaded our "Zotero.sqlite" file to the Zotero Database Repair Tool ( 188BET靠谱吗//www.brodersterzo.com/utils/dbfix/?upload=1), at which point the utility announced, "Uploaded file does NOT appear to be an SQLite database."

188BET靠谱吗Lastly, I tried to view our "Zotero.sqlite" file in a few different third-party SQLite viewers (and as a first step to attempting a manual repair), and each time, got the same message in return: "file is not a database."

Thoughts?Suggestions?Thanks so much, in advance.

188BET靠谱吗Backup Zotero folder contents:
188BET靠谱吗https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14834454/opg4h2ds3zlveebvw4pn.jpg

Restoration attempt error result:
188BET靠谱吗https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14834454/3zqovnwmh6e4uxhud7rl.jpg

Database Repair Utility error result:
188BET靠谱吗https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14834454/81b54873d18y3zy0vpwy.jpg

dstillman

How exactly did you back up the file?The file you uploaded looks like it's encrypted — there's an XML header referring to the Microsoft Cryptographic API and possibly PGP.Did you make some sort of encrypted backup but then not do a decryption process when restoring?

MJLocher

Dstillman - honestly?I manually copied and pasted the folders from my wife's hard drive onto an external backup!nothing more.

Encryption is something I suspected as well, only because of how the file(s) behave now, but I have no idea why that would be.

Suggestions?

dstillman

I mean, ransomware would be an option, I guess?Otherwise, some sort of encryption software from the hard drive manufacturer running on the old computer?And you're missing the equivalent software on the new machine?

188BET靠谱吗One way or another, this isn't really about Zotero at all.You can check if other files in the backup — e.g., PDF files within 'storage' — were similarly affected.

MJLocher

I'll investigate more tomorrow.I'm not an expert in these areas, but I will say my wife works in public health for a university with fairly strict HIPAA and security policies.The retired machine had a pretty extensive suite of protections.

MJLocher

Thanks, BTW.

MJLocher

Update: yes, it seems the other files (PDFs, etc) in the backup are similarly inaccessible.

I'm not a security guy!this is above my paygrade.Next steps?I assume the IT department at her university might have insights re: what encryption processes might be at work, and how to get around them?

dstillman

That's not something we can help with, sorry.188BET靠谱吗Again, this wouldn't be related to Zotero at all.

MJLocher

Thanks for the insight.