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BS2 suddenly asked for activation code again....and erased all recipes

taskerm

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Hey everyone. It had been a couple of months since I started up Beersmith, and when I fired her up a couple of days ago, it said that my trial period had ended (I wasn't on a trial period...I purchased the software) and that it needed an activation code. I had the activation code handy, entered it, and the program started up. The only problem is that suddenly it was as if I never signed on before. All of my recipes were gone, settings, equipment, everything gone.

Does anyone know what happened and whether or not I can recover all of my information? I have a Mac, and none of the old files are in the Documents>BeerSmith 2 folder. I have had no computer issues of any sort, it had just been a while since I opened Beersmith, and when I did all hell had broken loose.

Thanks!

Mike
 
I have the same problem but cannot find my activation code!! Is there anywhere that I can request my activation code?
 
BC_Brews: In BeerSmith go to the Help Tab. Click on Recover Key

taskerm said:
The only problem is that suddenly it was as if I never signed on before. All of my recipes were gone, settings, equipment, everything gone.

Does anyone know what happened and whether or not I can recover all of my information? I have a Mac, and none of the old files are in the Documents>BeerSmith 2 folder.

Mike: I see this has gone for a few days without an answer.

Brad has given some advice on this, previously. Here it is:

[quote author=BeerSmith]
Not sure what might cause this - but here's the worst case reset process if one of your files is corrupted.

The "worst case" recovery process for a corrupt file in BeerSmith 2 is as follows:
  - Rename your "Documents/BeerSmith2" directory to something else like "OldBeerSmith" which saves your data
  - Make sure you have the latest version of BeerSmith 2 installed from the main download page
  - Restart BeerSmith2 - which will create a new BeerSmith 2 directory with the sample recipes in it
  - You will likely have to enter your registration key again
  - Once you have BeerSmith running again, use the Open command to open your old Recipe.bsmx file
    that is now in your "OldBeerSmith" directory  and then copy/paste any recipes you need into
    your new "My Recipes" folder
  - You can do the same with Equipment.bsmx, Hops.bsmx, etc... if you have added items beyond
    those that came with BeerSmith 2
  - If you can't open one of the files (Recipe.bsmx for example), you can also try opening the numbered
    backups (Recipe1.bsmx, Recipe2.bsmx, etc...) - these contain older copies of the original.
  - Let me know if you have any problems - and please keep your "OldBeerSmith" directory around
    (the one you renamed earlier) as it will have all of your data in it!
[/quote]
 
Same issue here (there are a few threads popping up around this issue ATM)

Brads advice is of no help if you did not expect beer smith to over-write the beer smith folder, which is the case on my machine.  If only i had known before it asked me to re-enter my activation code, i could perhaps have saved a year worth of recipes and profiles. :(

Is there any way to recover or un-do what the program has done in erasing and overwriting all my files with a blank template file?
 
This happened to me as well.  I'm just getting into brewing and had the trial version installed.  Tinkered with it setting up my profile etc.  I purchased the activation code on the 30th and added some more recipes and the ingredients that I have on hand.  I logged in today and it asked for my activation code again.  Everything is wiped from the program.  I'd love to figure out a solution to this.  It's a bit disappointing after just purchasing it.
 
Trust me, it's worse when you have a years brewing experience erased.

Still no answers, no solutions?
 
Hey,

I stumbled on this thread while I was searching for the same problem.

Beersmith asked me my activation code AND once I recovered my activation key also erased all my profile.

Profile is the keyword here. I was logged in my girlfriend account on the computer...

Once I logged on my usual account. Everything was fine.

Hope it is the same problem for you guys. :)

I think we can register 3 machines with 1 purchase? I just hope that entering my activation code a second time did not lead to losing an activation.
 
The recovery steps above do work if you are using the same account (data is stored in your local Documents directory so it is tied to your user account).

Also you can go to View->Recipe Archive where a copy of every edit ever made is stored - the data is there too!

Brad
 
Apparently this is still a problem.  Went to open Beersmith and it said my trial period had expired.  I have been using Beersmith for over 6 years.  And this last copy for a couple of years.

I have tried everything listed to find my data.  I can't find all of it anywhere.  At least not that I recognize. 

I went to recipe - archive and it has some recipes that I had there for examination but mine are nowhere to be found.
 
Unfortunately many have experienced the same issue.  I know Brad says the data is there.... however for most, it's not.

In my case, I had copied the entire BS2 folder to my google drive about a month earlier so I only lost a couple brews.

What caused it in my case (IMO), setting BS2 up to be auto synced to my google drive.  Never happened before that, hasn't happened since I disabled it.

Good luck
Rick
 
Ken Hawk said:
Apparently this is still a problem.  Went to open Beersmith and it said my trial period had expired.  I have been using Beersmith for over 6 years.  And this last copy for a couple of years.

I have tried everything listed to find my data.  I can't find all of it anywhere.  At least not that I recognize. 

I went to recipe - archive and it has some recipes that I had there for examination but mine are nowhere to be found.

This is a bit cumbersome, but it is the most direct way to find your recipes and profiles.

First, create a backup copy of .../Documents/BeerSmith2.

Add the key to BeerSmith if it isn't already in there. Close BeerSmith.

In the BeerSmith2 folder, there are files labeled 1 to 5 for each element of your profiles and ingredients. Each lower number is a backup of the previous version, plus your modifications. So, 1 is the youngest, 5 is the oldest.

With BeerSmith open, choose File > Open File > Documents/BeerSmith2/Recipe5.

You'll get a new tab and if you've opened BeerSmith less than 5 times since this issue, you should see your recipe directory.

You can repeat that process with Recipe4 and lower until you find the youngest version of your recipe files. Each extension with the same number will be what you want to keep.

You can then past a copy of that tab into the My Recipes tab. Save and close. You can do the same with your equipment and mash profiles.
 
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