LaunchBox Video Recovery v1.0

Recover missing playlist and platform videos

LaunchBox Video Recovery scans your video library and helps you recover missing platform or playlist videos by finding likely matches elsewhere in your LaunchBox video collection.

The script can then optionally create symbolic links to the best matches, restoring videos without duplicating files.

This is especially useful for large LaunchBox libraries where videos may already exist but are stored under a different platform or theme folder.

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What This Script Does

LaunchBox Video Recovery can:

• Scan LaunchBox Playlist XML files for missing videos
• Scan LaunchBox Platform XML files for missing videos
• Search your video library for possible matches
• Score candidate videos based on similarity
• Let you choose the correct match
• Create symbolic links to restore missing videos

The script helps recover missing videos without copying or duplicating large files.

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Why This Exists

Large LaunchBox video libraries can become fragmented over time.

Common causes include:

• Media packs installed for the wrong platform
• Theme videos stored in different platform folders
• Moving media between drives
• Playlists referencing videos that no longer exist
• Duplicate or renamed videos

Instead of manually searching thousands of files, this script finds and links likely matches automatically.

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Features

• Recover Playlist videos
• Recover Platform videos
• Dry-run mode (test without making changes)
• Interactive selection of candidates
• Candidate scoring system to identify best matches
• Automatic symlink creation for recovered videos
• Report generation for all actions

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Match Score Explanation

When the script finds possible replacement videos, it displays them with a '[ match score ]':

      Missing: Aquarium Collection

0. [1170] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Final Burn Neo\Theme\Aquarium.mp4
1. [960] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\MAME\Aquarium Gameplay.mp4
2. [820] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Arcade\Aquarium Trailer.mp4
3. [610] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Arcade\Aquarium Intro.mp4

Higher scores mean the script believes the video is a closer match.

Score Guide

Example:

     Missing: Aquarium Collection
     Candidate: Aquarium.mp4

• "Aquarium" → strong match
• "Collection" → missing word (small penalty)

Result: high score

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How Matching Works

The script evaluates candidate videos using several factors:

• Exact word matches
• Partial word matches
• Filename similarity
• Platform folder relevance
• Penalties for extra or missing words

This helps identify videos that are likely correct even when stored in another platform folder.

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Requirements

• Windows
• PowerShell
• Administrator privileges (required for symlink creation)

LaunchBox does not need to be running while the script runs.

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How to Run

Place the script anywhere and run it with PowerShell from inside that location:

         powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\LaunchBox-Video-Recovery-v1.0.ps1

1. Selecting Playlist or Platform recovery

2. Choosing dry-run mode (shows what will be changed without changing anything yet)

3. Setting report output folder

4. Selecting video search roots

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Example Workflow

Example scenario:

A playlist references a missing video:

       H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Playlists\Aquarium Collection.mp4

       H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Final Burn Neo\Theme\Aquarium.mp4

       H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Playlists\Aquarium Collection.mp4
       → symlink to H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Final Burn Neo\Theme\Aquarium.mp4

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Typical Output

Example:

Playlist XML files checked : 718
Missing destination videos : 365

Missing: Aquarium Collection

0. [1170] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Final Burn Neo\Theme\Aquarium.mp4
1. [960] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\MAME\Aquarium Gameplay.mp4
2. [820] H:\LaunchBox\Videos\Arcade\Aquarium Trailer.mp4

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Safety

The script is designed to be non-destructive.

It:

• Does not delete videos
• Does not overwrite existing videos
• Only creates symbolic links to existing files

Dry-run mode lets you preview all changes before anything is created.

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Recommended Usage

This script is most useful for:

• Very large video libraries
• Recovering missing playlist videos
• Fixing broken media references
• Consolidating video libraries across platforms

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Feedback

If you encounter issues or have suggestions, feel free to post feedback.