Reset to factory
I work with both the release 1.0 for normal projects and the nightly build to see what's up and coming. I've always had one nagging issue with the nightly build, and decided to try a restore-to-factory to resolve it. In order to do that, I searched for the handbook page on the website on how to do that. I have some questions and suggestions regarding this page and procedure:
1. The page appears to recommend to do the command-line through the run dialog first, why? It is much easier to delete the INI file than to have to resort to error-prone typing, esp an app install path. Granted I work with an administrative account so I have access to everywhere and can delete at will, maybe USER-level access can't delete the INI file.
2. The page also says the INI file is found in the MusE folder (in various locations) but this is only true for the 1.0 release. You may want to mention that the nightly release INI is in the MuseScore folder in the same directories.
Comments
Revert factory settings actually does a few more things that delete the INI file. But it may be worth considering this suggestion for Windows and Mac users.
The handbook is written for users of the stable releases only. If you are using the Windows nightly builds there is a special shortcut for reverting to factory settings. Go the folder where you installed/extracted your nightly build and open
mscoreNightly\special\revertToFactorySettings.batIt is actually quite a bit easier to revert factory settings on the nightly builds because (1) people uses the unstable nightly builds are more likely to need to do this (2) people testing the nightly builds are more likely to know what the .bat file will do (3) and if they double click it out of curiosity they are less likely to be concerned that they accidentally lost all their settings.
In reply to Revert factory settings by David Bolton
Personally, I've never used software that has such a professional look and feel, yet requires you to do old fashioned command-line things. Can you describe what other things Revert does if not just deleting the INI?
Does "Reset to Default" (under Preferences) do something similar or does it only affect the preferences panel that's showing? What about adding the factory reset option under Preferences, with a warning when you select it?
In reply to Factory reset by schepers
It deletes other preference files such as customized palette, session files. The location for these other files is mentioned in Revert to factory settings .
The "Reset to Default" (under Preferences) overwrites the main preferences INI file.
Reverting to Factory settings on a stable version of MuseScore should be extremely rare (and purposely difficult). Most users should never need to do it. Do you find yourself doing it often?
In reply to It deletes other preference by David Bolton
No, I've only had to reset MuseScore once which is why I referenced the reset page and was surprised to see such an archaic reset method.
I know a reset should be a last resort, but I think, judging from the types of instability issues reported in the forums, the line "have you done a factory reset" comes out quite often even for the regular 1.0 users. Until MuseScore becomes more stable there should be a simpler and more standardized method of resetting the app.