Preferences & settings frequently reset themselves

[ErikJon]

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Hello, again.

I cannot tell you how many times different elements of the layout, preferences, or Bible-view settings, have been reset without my knowledge or permission. I had thought that perhaps I had accidentally hit a keyboard shortcut to reset some of them, by mistake, but no; some of the features do not even have keyboard shortcuts.

For example, I had my "Bible search" set to search "current Bible," for several months. One day my searches stopped working, and I could not figure it out. I discovered that my setting had been changed. Yesterday this happened yet again, and was very frustrating, as I wasted time trying different searches, all along.

Another example is in my Bible view window. I had the verse numbers set to appear in bold, green text. After a few weeks of use, I discovered that they had been reset to the previous color.

Incidentally, I have not re-installed my operating system at any time, but I have used "system restore" on several occasions. Nevertheless, the settings before the restoration were supposed to be the same as the ones after; in other words, all these things were set long ago, so even after using "system restore," for a date of two weeks ago, I would expect that all my TW settings would be those from two weeks ago (not from two years ago).

Perhaps there is a bug in TheWord, so that it gets confused through the use of "System Restore"?
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[csterg]

This is a very difficult thing to resolve because there is the human factor (you) that is involved that is very 'fragile' and 'subjective' - don't get me wrong when i say 'you', I am the same
We cannot really remember well a sequence of events when these things happen, 95% of cases it's not the fault of the program.

Now, it is VERY improbable that there is an issue with theWord there to be honest. And it is very difficult to look for one. Let me try to ask:
when you realize that something has changed, is it only this one thing (e.g. the color of a font) or everything has been reset?
Costas

[JG]

Often the factor that can be overlooked is switching to another layout and back without first saving the custom layout if any changes have been made to settings.

[ErikJon]

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Thank you, gentlemen.

I have only one layout that I use all the time, and a few that I save only as back-ups. That would seem to rule out the layout possibility.

In fact, these days, when I make any permanent changes to my layout, I re-save the layout as "User Layout 1". Sometimes I even close the program and re-open it, just to make sure the change is made. (Apparently this was an issue partly corrected in an older version, and that is why I began re-starting the program, just to be safe)

As for the elements that are changed, I have never made a written note, but these are the ones that I can remember:

1. color of the verse numbers in Bible view
2. linking options in all open Bibleview windows
3. Bible search -- "current Bible" option was my default, and on two occasions it has switched to another Bible, but I don't remember which.
4. The caption option "Use vertical popup for non-visible tabs" has changed on me twice in only three weeks' time, including today. All my Bibleview windows reverted from vertical to horizontal display, sometime this week.
5. The "default background color" reverted to default, once only.
6. "Passage headings" preferences, switched on me once, from "if the module does not have..." to "always use 'alternate'..."
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[csterg]

From this last post, it seems that the things that change are specific (e.g. not everything changes). This is strange and means that theWord is initialized with a different config file.
Is it possible that some other process restores a previous config file? Windows restore? Another backup program? Maybe you have more than one installations?
Costas

[ErikJon]

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Yes, there is only one or two changes noticeable, whenever this problem occurs. Please note that it does not occur every day, but perhaps once a week or two, and always regarding only one or two points mentioned.

Today, upon opening the program, I noticed that the Bible book in view was not the last one used when I closed the program yesterday. This used to happen daily, with the previous version of TW that I was using, so I thought that it had been corrected since. It is now better on that point, but not perfect.

I have no back-up programs (I just drag copies to an external drive). I use Windows Restore only about once every four months, at most, but the problems that I have with TW occur every one or two weeks, so I don't think that it is realted. I also use Norton Internet Security, if that means anything.

I had mentioned to Jon a bug with my color palette, but he could not figure it out, and it seems to be related. Namely, that every time I open TW, my "highlighting" tool, and often my text-color tool, are set to the color "none". I have to select a color once, in order to keep one color visible in each of these toolbar buttons (but never in the "underline" button). After that, for the rest of the session, the buttons work fine. My colors on the palettes themselves are not changed or lost at any time.

I do not have more than one installation on the computer.

I do have several back-up copies of the config.ini file, however, perhaps even ten. These I drag from the TW folder to a folder called "to be backed-up", when I do not have my "back-up drive" connected. Once a week I then plug in the "back-up drive," drag copies of this folder to this external drive. I also drag copies of all my most important folders--including the TW folder--to the back up drive, but I do not run any programs from the drive itself.

I am highly prone to hit certain keys by mistake, however, so I suspected that there were toggle features that I was activating or disactivating by mistake, but it does not seem to be the case.
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[csterg]

I have to suspect a user issue just because it would make no sense for only a few setting to be reset.
theWord will write and read everything in a single file (config.ini). I can understand if this file gets corrupted, but I can't think how it is possible that only a few settings are getting reset,
Costas

[ErikJon]

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O.K. I don't know what it could be.
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