For Desktop Techs: How to retain a user's Notes 8.5x configuration data when swapping out the end user's computer.
(Assuming that you are upgrading to the same version of Notes client)
All you need to do is:
1) install Notes on the new computer
2) rename the C:\Notes\Data folder to something like C:\Notes\Factory-Data
3) rename the .ini files in the C:\Notes folder. There should be about five .ini files.
I usually rename these from:
formats.ini, formats_e.ini, kvxconfig.ini, notestat.ini, and notes.ini
to: factory-formats.ini, factory-formats_e.ini, factory-kvxconfig.ini, factory-notestat.ini, and factory-notes.ini
The first four rarely change at all, but the most important one is notes.ini
Once you have the Data folder and the five .ini files renamed( I rename them as opposed to overwriting or deleting in case you have to revert back to the factory folders) you can copy over the user's old Data folder under their old Notes folder( C:\Notes\Data). You will also want to copy over the user's old .ini files with the same name as the ones we just renamed.
Now for the most part this is all you need to do--but there are some preliminary tips you should follow before attempting to login into Notes the first time:
1) Edit the notes.ini file
You might also want to remove references to programs that are not yet installed on the new computer as not removing these references can cause Notes to hang when logging in the first time.
For example:
AddInMenus = <insert old local path to Adobe Acrobat>
so change this to just:
AddInMenus =
2) The other thing you might want to do is to make sure you only attempt to run Notes after you have logged into Windows using the users login and restoring all the user's network mapped drives as well as data folders. The reason for this is if there are any refrenced locations in the Notes.ini file that point to a mapped drive or possibly to a folder with the user's Notes archive files, etc.; you will want Notes to have access to the same locations as before running Notes the first time.
For example, these lines were taken from a Notes.ini file:
Directory=C:\Notes\Data
FileDlgDirectory=C:\Docume
MailFile=mail4\JoeUser.nsf
SPELL_DIR=C:\Notes\Data
So you can see that those are obviously on the local drive, but sometimes they might point to another drive if their location has been modified from the default.
General Notes upgrade tips:
The first time you startup Notes after copying these files mentioned above from one computer to the new computer, Notes will take longer than normal to load as it realizes that you have made changes and sometimes performs a consistancy check on the Notes replica file if a replica file exists.
If for some reason Notes 8.5x does not want to load up( Wait as long as a full 10 min if needed here) you can try renaming the subdirectory under Notes\Data called "workspace". This trick also works on existing Notes 8.5x users on computers already in use who no longer are able to get back into Notes.
Just be aware that this workspace folder also holds the integrated Sametime contacts.
Pre-computer swapping tips for Notes 8.5x:
Usually what I'll do, before swapping the user's computer, is make a backup of the Notes 8.5x emoticons and Sametime contact lists to make it easy to retrieve these later on the new computer.
To back the emoticons:
To backup the SameTime contact list:
In addition to issues regarding keeping the end user's Sametime contact lists, there are settings in the Notes preferences that effect user's settings for their Contact list:
File > Prefrences... > Sametime > Contact List
From here, you have four choices:
( ) Replace the server copy with the local copy
( ) Replace the local copy with the server copy
( ) Merge the server and local copies
( ) As me what to do
On a rare occasion, the user's Sametime Contacts appear blank after an upgrade and you may not have made a backup before hand so it may appear that all the user's Sametime contacts have vanished. If this happens, and you have not made any type of backup--try this:
Hope this info helps!
(Assuming that you are upgrading to the same version of Notes client)
All you need to do is:
1) install Notes on the new computer
2) rename the C:\Notes\Data folder to something like C:\Notes\Factory-Data
3) rename the .ini files in the C:\Notes folder. There should be about five .ini files.
I usually rename these from:
formats.ini, formats_e.ini, kvxconfig.ini, notestat.ini, and notes.ini
to: factory-formats.ini, factory-formats_e.ini, factory-kvxconfig.ini, factory-notestat.ini, and factory-notes.ini
The first four rarely change at all, but the most important one is notes.ini
Once you have the Data folder and the five .ini files renamed( I rename them as opposed to overwriting or deleting in case you have to revert back to the factory folders) you can copy over the user's old Data folder under their old Notes folder( C:\Notes\Data). You will also want to copy over the user's old .ini files with the same name as the ones we just renamed.
Now for the most part this is all you need to do--but there are some preliminary tips you should follow before attempting to login into Notes the first time:
1) Edit the notes.ini file
a) make sure that each line is a valid line. This means that this .ini text file sometimes becomes corrupt so that half of one line get duplicated as a new line. For example, some lines start out with part of a word, or part of a date, such as, "2009 11:15:47 AM" this came from my existing notes ini file from the computer I'm using right now. The line below this line is "SU_NEXT_UPDATE=11/14/2009
b) Delete any reference to any temp folders, such as:
SU_FILE_CLEANUP=C:\DOCUME~
change this line to just:
SU_FILE_CLEANUP=
SU_FILE_CLEANUP=C:\DOCUME~
change this line to just:
SU_FILE_CLEANUP=
You might also want to remove references to programs that are not yet installed on the new computer as not removing these references can cause Notes to hang when logging in the first time.
For example:
AddInMenus = <insert old local path to Adobe Acrobat>
so change this to just:
AddInMenus =
2) The other thing you might want to do is to make sure you only attempt to run Notes after you have logged into Windows using the users login and restoring all the user's network mapped drives as well as data folders. The reason for this is if there are any refrenced locations in the Notes.ini file that point to a mapped drive or possibly to a folder with the user's Notes archive files, etc.; you will want Notes to have access to the same locations as before running Notes the first time.
For example, these lines were taken from a Notes.ini file:
Directory=C:\Notes\Data
FileDlgDirectory=C:\Docume
MailFile=mail4\JoeUser.nsf
SPELL_DIR=C:\Notes\Data
So you can see that those are obviously on the local drive, but sometimes they might point to another drive if their location has been modified from the default.
General Notes upgrade tips:
The first time you startup Notes after copying these files mentioned above from one computer to the new computer, Notes will take longer than normal to load as it realizes that you have made changes and sometimes performs a consistancy check on the Notes replica file if a replica file exists.
If for some reason Notes 8.5x does not want to load up( Wait as long as a full 10 min if needed here) you can try renaming the subdirectory under Notes\Data called "workspace". This trick also works on existing Notes 8.5x users on computers already in use who no longer are able to get back into Notes.
Just be aware that this workspace folder also holds the integrated Sametime contacts.
Pre-computer swapping tips for Notes 8.5x:
Usually what I'll do, before swapping the user's computer, is make a backup of the Notes 8.5x emoticons and Sametime contact lists to make it easy to retrieve these later on the new computer.
To back the emoticons:
Just open up a chat window, the click the smilie face icon and click the "Edit" button in the bottom right corner. From the next popup box, you'll see the export button where you can save all the emoticons to the user's documents folder. You might also want to click the drop down here to make sure you get all the emoticon libraries if they have been created.
To backup the SameTime contact list:
Right click just underneath the Sametime Contacts menu title bar( if the Sametime window has been opened in new window) or right click right where it says Sametime Contacts if the Sametime window is still inside the Notes client window.
From this popup menu, just choose, "Export Sametime Contact List" then choose "To Single Server Community File". You should then be prompted for a location to store the .dat file.
From this popup menu, just choose, "Export Sametime Contact List" then choose "To Single Server Community File". You should then be prompted for a location to store the .dat file.
In addition to issues regarding keeping the end user's Sametime contact lists, there are settings in the Notes preferences that effect user's settings for their Contact list:
File > Prefrences... > Sametime > Contact List
From here, you have four choices:
( ) Replace the server copy with the local copy
( ) Replace the local copy with the server copy
( ) Merge the server and local copies
( ) As me what to do
On a rare occasion, the user's Sametime Contacts appear blank after an upgrade and you may not have made a backup before hand so it may appear that all the user's Sametime contacts have vanished. If this happens, and you have not made any type of backup--try this:
Right click just underneath the Sametime Contacts menu title bar( if the Sametime window has been opened in new window) or right click right where it says Sametime Contacts if the Sametime window is still inside the Notes client window.
From this popup menu, now choose "Import sametime Contact List" > "From server..."
From this popup menu, now choose "Import sametime Contact List" > "From server..."
Hope this info helps!