This page is part of the online help system for OrangeCD Suite, music database software for Windows. Click here to view full-graphic help index.

Installation, upgrade and backup

How to move OrangeCD Suite and my music database to a new computer?

To move OrangeCD Suite and your music database to a new computer, you need to perform three steps: install OrangeCD Suite, transfer your music database that contains all your albums, and enter your personal registration key. Below you can find brief instructions for each step.

  1. The setup program can be downloaded from the web page at http://www.firetongue.com/download.html. This page is updated every time a new version is released, so if you download from that location, you will always get the most recent version of OrangeCD Suite. Once you downloaded setup program for OrangeCD Suite, run it, then follow instructions on the screen. When setup is finished, you will have a fully functional, but time-limited version of the software which you can convert to a registered version by applying a registration key on step 3.
  2. Next step is to copy your music database from the old computer. Depending on how old was the version of the software on your old computer; the task can be achieved in a variety of ways.
    1. If the old computer had OrangeCD Suite 6.0.0 or above, you can transfer the database by burning backup CD-Recordable as described in topic How to backup music database to CD-R, then restoring database from backup on the new computer as described in topic How to restore database from CD-R backup.
    2. Alternatively, you can manually copy the music databases to the new computer's My Documents\My Music folder via network, CD-Recordable, or diskettes. The files that need to be copied all have .DAB extensions and Windows reports their types as "OrangeCD Database". The default and best location for music database files is My Documents\My Music folder. In case you cannot find your music database files on the old computer's hard drive, try using Windows search feature: click Start button, select Search - For files and folders -  All files and folders, type "*.dab" (without quotes) and press Search.

Note: If your database had "Store covers in external files" option selected in Preferences, Imaging tab, you may also need to manually copy cover storage folders in addition to your database files. There is one cover storage folder per database. The cover storage folders are located in the same folder as databases and can be distinguished by _covers suffix. For example, if your database's name is John's Music Library, corresponding cover storage folder will be John's Music Library_covers. Again, not all databases have corresponding cover storage folders. So, if you don't see the folders, don't worry, because in your case all the covers are probably stored internally in the database file.

Once you copied the music database files to the new computer's My Documents\My Music folder, you can start OrangeCD Catalog, press [Browse for a database] button, and select your music database file.

  1. Finally, if you have your registration key handy, you can enter it as well as your name in the boxes when prompted by OrangeCD Catalog. Make sure that you spell your name exactly as in the registration letter. If you lost your registration key, feel free to submit support request using online support form or send an e-mail message to support at orangecd@firetongue.com, and the key will be resent to you at no charge. Make sure to provide some basic details of your purchase, like e-mail address at the time of order, your full name, or mailing address.

How to upgrade OrangeCD Suite to a new version?

To upgrade OrangeCD Suite to a newer version, you need to download and run setup program from the web page at http://www.firetongue.com/download.html. You do not need to uninstall previous version prior to upgrading. Follow the instructions in the setup program to complete your upgrade.

Note: OrangeCD Suite version 6 uses a new licensing scheme that is different from version 5. Therefore, if you upgrade from versions 5 to version 6, your registration key must be updated as well. If you have registered OrangeCD Suite 5 on the computer, the first thing that OrangeCD Suite 6 will do is connect to the web server and upgrade your key, so in most cases you don't have to do anything. However, in some cases this automated upgrade can fail, and you will need to contact support for your free upgrade key. You can do it either by sending an e-mail to orangecd@firetongue.com, or by using online support form.

Is my upgrade really free?

Yes. Your OrangeCD Suite license includes free lifetime upgrades. If you ever lose your registration, contact support and you will be offered a replacement key at no charge.

How to backup music database to CD-R?

To backup music database to CD-Recordable (also known as CD-R, or writable CD), you must be running Microsoft Windows XP and OrangeCD Suite version 6.0.0 or above. In addition, your computer must be equipped with CD-RW or DVD-RW capable drive.

  1. Start OrangeCD Catalog if it is not running already :).
  2. Click menu Database - Backup - Burn CD.
  3. Windows CD Writing Wizard will start immediately. Follow the instructions on your screen to continue with creation of CD-Recordable.

How to restore database from CD-R backup?

  1. Create a new, empty database either by clicking menu Database - New database, or by clicking [Create a new database] button in Welcome screen. Type a new database name and press [Save] button.

Note:  restoring backup will replace your current database, so it is very important that you make the step 1 and create a new, empty database to start with. If you attempt to restore backup while having your working database current, that database will be replaced with the content of your backup, and it may be not what you want. So, make sure that you created a new database before attempting to restore old backup.

  1. Click menu Database - Restore from backup.
  2. Find and select backup file on CD drive (or any other location) and press [Open] button.
  3. Press OK in the warning message box. Your database is now successfully restored from backup.

I installed a new version and can no longer view or find my music catalog!

Unless you reformatted a hard drive or accidentally deleted essential database files, your music database is safe regardless of how many upgrades or installations you did.

  1. Start OrangeCD Catalog. If all you can see is Welcome screen with three options for Create, Browse, and Restore from backup, proceed to step 3.
  2. Otherwise, if you immediately can see some albums that are not yours, you are probably looking at the sample database installed with OrangeCD. In this case, click menu Database - Close Database to close the sample database.
  3. Click [Browse for a database] button. This should display a list of databases in default music folder. If you can see any file other than "Sample database", this must be your database. (If you can't, see below.) Select the file in the list and press [Open] button.

If you cannot see any files besides "Sample database" on step 3 and you upgraded from OrangeCD 4.x or earlier, type "C:\Program Files\OrangeCD" in File name box and press [Open] button. Now, if you can see "default" or "default.dab", it can be your database remaining from early version of OrangeCD. Select the file in the list and press [Open] button.

  1. When the database loads, make sure it indeed contains your albums, then click menu Database - Manage database - Make this default database. This will ensure your music database is loaded automatically each time OrangeCD Catalog starts.