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I often find myself reinstalling Lotus Notes while attempting to fix bugs. It doesn't make users very happy when they lose all their settings and local address book. Does anyone know what files I should keep? And which are safe to keep? (ie won't make the bug persist, assuming the bug has nothing to do with the UI configuration)

Currently using 8.5.1 if it makes a difference.

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The main files to keep.

  1. desktop.*
  2. bookmarks.nsf
  3. names.nsf
  4. notes.ini
  5. ID file.

Also if the user has any local replicas or personal databases they created they should keep.

Btw, reinstalling Notes to fix issues is overkill.

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    "Btw, reinstalling Notes to fix issues is overkill." Totally agree with this. Also back-up user.dic and \workspace\UDM\UserDictionary.xml people get crazy about their custom dictionaries. Also look for any journal.nsf files or any other customize .nsf file they may have. I usually don't re-use the notes.ini just because corrupt .ini files seem to cause a lot of problems on their own. I usually redo the ini file well before I consider reinstalling.
    – Zach
    Commented Aug 1, 2012 at 15:13
  • Nice tip about the user dictionary + .ini file. A lot of installs I run across are still pointing to the old server, or exhibiting strange interactions with it. I don't really handle any of the configuration with Notes, but I can start an uninstall/reinstall and then AFK until it's done. It appeases the more knowledgeable minds when I say "Hey I think it's broken."
    – rtf
    Commented Aug 1, 2012 at 17:31
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Keep everything except the Notes.ini. (and keep a backup of that somewhere, in case there turn out to be important settings in it that you want to add back in once you've solved the problem you're trying to solve.) By recreating Notes.ini (getting rid of everything below the KitType line) you're effectively reinstalling Notes, without carelessly throwing away all the user's important data.

There are other files to try throwing out (Cache.dsk, etc.) if recreating Notes.ini doesn't solve the problem, but since there are many other places to find Notes troubleshooting lists I won't get sidetracked by that now. For the most part, a new Notes.ini is like a new installation, without the data loss.

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