Hello, I deleted some files in error. When I try to Restore the version from yesterday, I get a warning that iMatch version does not match the current version (see screenshot), but I did not update iMatch yesterday. Should I proceed with the restore?
Newer versions of IMatch ship updated settings, configuration files, may add, remove or move apps around.
This is why Pack & Go compares the IMatch version that created the package with the current version and displays this warning if a newer IMatch version is found.
Restoring a Pack & Go package from an older IMatch version on top of a newer version can have bad consequences and may even render IMatch unusable.
Pack & Go is NOT a backup software. It is used to transfer IMatch databases and settings between computers, e.g. between a desktop PC at home and your laptop.
IMatch only offers Pack & Go as "backup" after I've learned that many users don't do any backups at all! And with Pack & Go they have at least their database and settings when something bad happens.
I recommend you use the option to restore the package into a new folder. And then selectively copy the files you have deleted from there into the "real" folder IMatch has created during installation.
Which files did you accidentally delete?
What I do not understand why the warning of incompatible version - I updated iMatch to the latest version some days before 5/27/2025, which is the latest version I wished to restore.
I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that I have 3 separate databases (one that has .csv data files, and the other two have photos), and when I updated iMatch I was working on the data (.csv) database and likely did not open the other two databases yet. Does Pack and Go backup all 3 databases automatically or only the current database?
In any event, the files I deleted (through a stupid error) were .csv data files and the associated .xmp sidefiles containing hierarchical keywords. I saw this morning that they were in the Recycle Bin, so I restored the .csv and .xmp files. However, the deleted files had a keyword ("missing_smoothed") that I added yesterday but did not write it back to the the .xmp sidefile. So, the question is what do I do when I open the database so as to not corrupt the database. I do not care about the additional keyword.
I await your guidance, with thanks
If you want to restore a package that was created with an older Pack & Version, you get this warning.
Pack & Go compares the version of the installed IMatch version to the version used to create the package. It is NOT recommended to restore Pack & Go packages created with older IMatch versions.
If all you want is your database back, do what I said in my first reply.
Unpack the package into a new folder (not into the original folder). This avoids overwriting newer configuration files, updated apps etc. with older versions. Then open the database folder in the new folder just copy the restored database in Windows Explorer to the database folder you use, replacing the current database with the backup.
See Restore to a different folder (https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/packandgo.htm#h-9?dl=h-9) in the Pack & Go help for all details.
Quote from: henryS on May 28, 2025, 06:35:41 PMI wonder if this has something to do with the fact that I have 3 separate databases (one that has .csv data files, and the other two have photos), and when I updated iMatch I was working on the data (.csv) database and likely did not open the other two databases yet. Does Pack and Go backup all 3 databases automatically or only the current database
You decide which databases Pack and Go will backup. As it is a separate program that can only run when IMatch is not running, it does not have any awareness of which database you had last opened in IMatch. When you open it, you can see what databases you have it set to backup.
No idea if this is related to your problem, but wanted to address that question.
Michael
Good point.
The user selects if and which databases Pack & Go backs up (on the backup tab).
When Pack & Go is first run, it uses the last opened database as the default. The rest is up to the user to decide.