My new computer arrives some time next week – the old one still works fine, but I’m being forced into a new one due to the demise of updates for Win XP.
Am I correct in assuming that when it does, I should just DL the latest version of Scrivener, and input my registration number (yes! I can actually still find it four years after I got it!), and then copy my .scrv folders to the proper places?
Generally, yes.
Activation requires the registration information (Serial Number and Serial Number Name from the purchase) and an Internet connection. If for some reason the Internet connection is not available/permitted for the new computer, there’s a fallback procedure that requires using some other computer that has an Internet connection. That’s covered in
scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb … tion-error
Copying the .scriv folder (i.e. it and all its contents) will work.
An alternate is to do a Back Up > Back Up To and back the whole thing up in a single compressed .zip file (be sure to set the compress/zip option on in that dialog), copy or move the zip file to the new machine, uncompress/unzip it (or drag the .scriv folder out of it) to appropriate location on the new computer.
Do remember, the version on your new computer won’t have your preferences, layouts, personal compile settings etc., so you should use the various ‘manage’ options in the appropriate dialogs to save a copy of them that you can then import on your new computer.
Mr X
Well, there is no problem with an internet connection.
I do have, as I mentioned, both the registration name and the number from my original email.
How many “Manages” ARE there, for goodness sake?
Why is backing everything to a compressed format and then having to unzip it better than just dragging .scriv into place?
You don’t have to put your preferences on the new computer if you don’t want to. That’s just an optional thing. Some people spend a lot of time customising their copy of Scrivener, so it would save time to just copy over those changes. If you feel you can just get started on a fresh system so long as your data is copied over, then do so.
It’s faster, and a little safer. It depends a lot on how you do the transfer. If you’re going to use a hard disk, then just drag them straight over to the external drive, and then onto the new computer from there. If you’re going to be sending over WiFi however, or Dropbox, zipping will greatly speed up the transfer because you’re only sending big singular files, with all of the space compressed down, rather than whole bunches of uncompressed files.
That’s just my experience anyway. I’ve tried copying whole projects over WiFi without compression and usually I just give up, zip it, and transfer the zip in a 1/10th of the time. If you’ve moving lots of projects, that adds up!
Thanks. Things got a little squirreled up and I did not get to do any of the back-up thingies.
So, I have a fresh copy of Scrivener, properly registered.
I know where my files are. I just have to figure out how to point Scrivener to that folder. (Files are in the same location as before, Dachs/Darkside/Revolution/Purges/04Shades, with
folders labeled Files, Settings, Snapshots in the 04Shades folder, along with the project.scrivx file.
(The squirreling included a close encounter of the shredded kind between my left index finger and a dropped stick blender. Next time, I’ll let the bleeping thing drop and break. Any idea how interesting it is to try to do ANYTHING on a computer without a working left index finger?)
That will just happen naturally over time. It isn’t so much a matter of pointing Scrivener to that folder, but pointing it to those projects, one by one as you need them. It’s more like how Word’s recent files stack works. You aren’t telling Word “my files are here”, you’re just opening them as you need them and it keeps track of what you have worked on recently.
So just double-click on that .scrivx file to open the project.
Hope the finger heals soon so you can double-click it. 
It’s been two weeks on the finger. Regrettably, it looks as though part of it will be permanently numb. At least I am right-handed…
Duh! I had forgotten about clicking on the .scrivx file. I have been working on another project which had to be done exclusively in Word, and, to my annoyance, hadn’t opened the Scrivener file in WAY too long.
I had a vague memory of setting the default directory in Word, and had forgotten that one didn’t do that in Scrivener.
Well, at least I now have Scrivener properly set up on my new machine, ready to go… once I get all the rest of the programs reinstalled. Thanks for the assist.
You have my complete sympathy. Having got my left hand slashed a few months back, severing the tendons to the little finger, I know how difficult that made things … and as the tip of my index finger and middle finger on my right hand suffered deep cuts that had to be stitched, for a few weeks I was reduced at the computer to pecking with the fourth finger of my fright hand. Even now I cannot flex the tip joint of my left little finger, but that doesn’t cause too many problems.
Glad you’ve got your new computer up and running.
Mark/Mr X
Your description made me flinch. I was lucky not to sever the tendons, but stupid in that I didn’t go at once to the emergency room, so things couldn’t be stitched.
It’s getting there… and getting used to Win 7 Pro after 12 years on Win XP is taking some adjustment time. Plus getting back into the stride of using Scrivener.
I just wish it was easier to exchange files with my co-author. I like Scrivener; she finds it confusing.
How lucky I am: my collaborator on projects took happily to using Scrivener.
How unlucky I am: my collaborator on projects uses Windows and I’m on a Mac and the projects involve Chinese … the one issue (unless the other CJK languages or RTL languages exhibit similar problems) that makes cross-platform collaboration unworkable … so I also have an installation of Windows Scrivener running under Crossover (Wine front end) on my Mac, though I find it very frustrating.
Mr X,
I was thinking about this…
What do you lose by syncing to an external folder? both of you share a dropbox folder, but you coordinate writes to ensure you don’t step on toes. I’m sure there is something obvious that doesn’t work, but I can’t see it.
The answer is we didn’t try it, also, I’m not sure that Windows 1.6.1 — her version — supported external folder sync. A further problem is that she is, or certainly was, a Scrivener neophyte, and I didn’t want to overwhelm her with too many technical matters — she is far from being a geek and the translation was the most important thing. Using 1.6.1 under Crossover did the job, until she had finished the base translation, and put any technical issues such as they were on the shoulders that could bear it …, mine! Once she had finished the base translation, I could open the project in Mac 2.5, as after that, I could export my editorial work and comments to RTF, and we could co-operate through Word/Nisus Writer Pro.
The frustrations came, to a certain extent, from UI differences — remembering to use Ctrl-whatever, rather than Cmd-whatever and things being on different menus, having to remember to use the menu at the top of the Scrivener-Windows window, rather than the Mac menu — and particularly not being able to call up my Chinese–English dictionary directly, rather having to highlight a character or word, Ctrl-C, open Dictionary.app and then Cmd-V, and always screwing up on Ctrl vs Cmd.
But it could have been worse,
Mr X
There is also the slight problem that an external sync folder is for sharing material with non-Scrivener users (or yourself, when using cell phones and wrist watches to write a novel), not for two Scrivener users to sync two projects together (it won’t even let you try, it’s so risky to try that). It’s usually just best to either hot potato the .scriv or share it via something like Dropbox.
True, O King Live for Ever! 
I have not paid attention to folder sync; I cannot write anything on my iPhone beyond text messages and WeChat messages … I don’t even use it for email, unless it is to email a photo I’ve taken to someone, and I don’t take many photos.
And I have no reason to have an iPad or tablet — I do have a (non-backlit Kobo) — until Scrivener for iOS comes out, then I will have the excuse to get one, that you will need someone to check for problems with languages like Chinese! 
Mr X
Eeps! 