Re: Postgres 9.2.4 for Windows (Vista) Dell Vostro 400, re-installation failure PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP!! (nearly fixed)

Stephen Brearley, 02.08.2013 11:40:
> I can change my registry reference to point to D:\..\9.2\data or D:\..\9.2\data_old without any (apparently) undesirable consequences,
> but I just can’t see my tables in the system, which makes me think I need to do more than this.

Why don't you use the official way to re-configure the Windows service and use pg_ctl unregister and pg_ctl register
to make it use the correct data directory. There is no need to manually change the registry.

> I am unable to rename \data to move all my old files wholesale into that folder, as Windows won’t let me,
> but if I move \base which appears to have all the database in it (and is about double the size in my old dataset),
> I get the same result, I can’t see my tables.

I you can't move the directory it means it is still be used/locked by another process. I always use ProcessExplorer (or ProcessExplorer, both from www.sysinternals.com - now Microsoft) to be indispensable to figure out which process is locking a file.

> I realise Thomas at least will frown most deeply at these ‘operations’, though they often work as a low-tech solution in many programs.

I do change the registry manually myself that's not the point. But I only do it if there is no tool support for it.
Changing the windows service is much easier done through pg_ctl and ensures that nothing is forgotten.

Thomas