Where BigOven Looks for Files

stevemur — Mon, 08 May 2006 03:23:11 GMT

Default File Structure (What BigOven Expects)

All user-created data for BigOven is stored under a folder called "My BigOven Recipes" on your PC.

(Program data, supporting binaries and help files are installed, by default, into "Program Files\Lakefront Software\BigOven" or "Program Files\InspiredCooking", depending upon which version you've purchased -- downloaded or retail.)

OK, you say, so where is that "My BigOven Recipes" folder?

For newer versions of BigOven, your "My BigOven Recipes" folder is stored in your PC's "Shared Documents" folder.

The "Shared Documents" folder sounds a little magical, but really, it's simply a shorthand that is displayed for Windows XP users that means this specific path on most PC's:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents

On Windows Vista, the location of your computer's "Shared Documents" folder is:

C:\Users\Public\Documents
For older versions of BigOven, specifically those prior to 1.8.929, BigOven used to install the "My BigOven Recipes" folder in the "My Documents" folder for the user who first installed the program, by default.

Note: the "My Documents" folder on your PC is no longer the recommended location, since this location doesn't easily allow multiple Windows users to share shopping list or recipe data across the same PC. This is also technically not compliant with Microsoft's recommendations on where shared data should be stored.

For performance reasons, i.e., so BigOven doesn't have to scan your entire hard-drive each time it wants to build a list of recipe boxes on your PC, the BigOven software is quite particular about the layout of the folders in this directory, so don't go shuffling or renaming things in there. The program will not like it. Specifically, a typical layout of your "My BigOven Recipes" folder should look something like this:

In the example illustrated above, there are four recipe boxes, called "crockpot", "myfavorites", "standard", and "steverecipes". And each of those folders contains a folder called "Pictures", which -- you got it -- is for pictures.

You can back up the entire My BigOven Recipes directory by using the "Backup" command on the File menu. Then, you can copy this to a CD-ROM (or a network), and copy it over to another PC on which you've installed BigOven. (Be sure to exit out of BigOven before copying over these files, and don't try to load the recipe boxes straight from the CD-ROM, because BigOven needs write permissions on this directory when it opens, and a CD-ROM is Read-Only.)

BigOven needs to know where it can find your "My BigOven Recipes" folder if it's been moved. It will prompt you when you load the program to point to it. Simply navigate to your "My BigOven Recipes" folder and press "Open" to proceed.

If you are still having difficulties in file location issues, perhaps the registry settings that BigOven uses need to be manually updated. See this quick reference to get back on track. Thanks!

Frequently Asked Questions

Where BigOven Looks for Files