When in Scrivener for Windows 3 (Beta 19) I’m able to Download Beta 20, then the [Install] button is shown. This tells me I can just install Beta 20 over top of Beta 19. Is this correct?
I am questioning this because the link for more info about Beta 20 says: “Please be sure to uninstall previous betas before installing Beta 20. If you wish, your program preferences can be saved first via the “Manage…” button in File > Options, then reloaded after the fresh installation.”
Question: What is the proper, best way, to upgrade to Beta 20 on my Windows 10, 64 bit PC?
You can install it over, but it’s not the recommended way. Also, you will often end up with two or more entries for Scrivener in the installed programs list if you do this (up to one for each beta installed).
I think the beta gives you the option because that’s the way the final version will work, but it’s recommended to uninstall any previous beta first, then install the new one.
This might also prevent some issues to pop up that would not with a “clean” install.
The program does not install over the top of the previous program, per say. It goes through a series of steps. One of the steps is to uninstall the previous program is to halt all previous use.
That’s why it has you close all usage of the program itself, hence you cannot be using the program at the same time while upgrading. The upgrade screen is not the program itself but a separate program to perform the upgrade. This is not a complete uninstall unlike when you tell Windows to do so from the Add/Remove option. It does not remove certain components while leaving the directory intact which contains your personalized settings that are kept there.
Afterwards it then unpacks/unzips the program from where you downloaded it into the same folder finding your personalized settings/locations so when you start the program after the upgrade your prior settings are there to be used.
This is a simplified view of what happens. This is why when people completely uninstall the program through the Add/Remove feature all their settings are gone as the folder was completely unregistered and their previous settings are no longer there.
I have two laptops using the Beta. On one, I installed B20 on top of B19. It works quite nicely. It’s not recommended, though. It’s a beta, after all. Once in a blue moon on this laptop when a new beta comes out, I’ll uninstall the beta and download the newer version, but not all that often. I’ve done it probably three or four times since Beta7.
On the other, I uninstalled and then ran the Beta20 download. Of course, all of my toolbar settings were lost, but I keep a list of the order in which I want them, with spacing &c. No biggie, but it is annoying. (If that’s all I have to complain about, I’d say the betas have been pretty reliable since 7 or 8, when I started using them full-time.)
Both my Win64 betas are installed in Program Files/Scrivener3.
When an update comes out before the beta expires, you get a prompt asking if you want to upgrade, right? If that’s how you’re getting newer betas, I’d suggest that you use that functionality to help test the update process–after all, that’s part of what’s going into the final release, and it has to work right too.
Using that feature is not the same as downloading the new version from the link on the beta forums and running the installer; if you do that, then you do want to un-install first.
I should have stated earlier I have been testing/using the update feature since Beta 15/16. Not sure which, but as someone stated “That’s what we as beta testers are expected to do.” You can’t test a feature if you don’t use it.
Previously that feature had been disabled. Now its not so it should be one used as that’s how you’ll update the final release, I’m sure.
What should not be done is using the same directories/folders to house both version 1.9 and any Beta’s as the two programs could corrupt one another an the users writing.