LaunchBox Platform Parker — park platforms you're not using and cut startup from minutes to seconds

[-McFly-]

What it is: 
A single PowerShell script that lets you temporarily "park" platforms -
cleanly removing them from your library so LaunchBox/BigBox doesn't parse them at startup -
and restore them later, byte-for-byte, whenever you want. No third-party software, no
installer, nothing modified except your Data XMLs (which are backed up on every run).

Why: 
LaunchBox parses every XML file in `Data\Platforms` at startup, so startup time
scales with library size. On my ~1,500,000-game / 47.4 GB library, BigBox took ~11 minutes
to reach the wheel. After parking the platforms I rarely browse (media pseudo-platforms,
obscure systems), the same install starts in about 80 seconds - and everything comes
back with one command when I want it.

Why not just delete/hide platforms in LaunchBox?
Deleting throws away your metadata and can cascade (removing category links, playlist placements).
Parking sidesteps all of that: LaunchBox never sees an inconsistent state, so it never prunes anything,
and unparking restores the exact original data.

How it works

For each parked platform the script saves a manifest in `<LaunchBox>\_parking\`
containing:

- its `<Platform>` node from `Platforms.xml`
- all its category links from `Parents.xml`
- all its emulator mappings from `Emulators.xml`

…then moves its games XML from `Data\Platforms\` into `_parking\` and removes those entries
from the live files. **Nothing is ever deleted** - your games, media, and images are not
touched at all (they're just not loaded). Unparking re-injects everything and moves the
games file back under its original name.

Safety features

- Refuses to run while LaunchBox or BigBox is open.
- Backs up `Platforms.xml`, `Parents.xml`, `Emulators.xml` and `ListCache.xml` to
  `_parking\backups\<timestamp>` before every operation.
- Saves after each platform, so an error mid-run can't leave you half-done.
- Finds games files by content when the filename doesn't match the platform name
  (LaunchBox sometimes shortens names when creating games files — e.g. a platform called
  "MS-DOS Magazines & Newsletters" can live in `MS-DOS Magazines.xml`).
- Deletes `ListCache.xml` after changes so the sidebar rebuilds with correct counts
  (skippable with `-KeepListCache`).
- Writes a log of everything it does to `_parking\parker.log`.

Usage

1. Save `LB-Platform-Parker.ps1` anywhere.
2. Close LaunchBox / BigBox completely.
3. Right-click the file → *Run with PowerShell* (or from a terminal:
   `powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\LB-Platform-Parker.ps1`).
4. First run: point it at your LaunchBox folder (it remembers it afterwards).
5. Use the menu:
   1) Park platforms      (remove from library, keep safe)
   2) Unpark platforms    (restore)
   3) Unpark ALL
   4) Status
   Q) Quit

The park list shows each platform's games-XML size - that's its share of your startup
time, so park the big ones you don't browse. Selection accepts numbers and ranges
(`1,4,7-12`), `all`, or type text to filter the list first.

Command-line use also works if you want to script it (e.g. park before a session, unpark
for a showcase):

(powershell)
.\LB-Platform-Parker.ps1 -Action park -Platforms 'Platform A','Platform B'
.\LB-Platform-Parker.ps1 -Action unpark-all
.\LB-Platform-Parker.ps1 -Action status

Requirements & notes

- Windows PowerShell 5.1 (built into Windows 10/11) or PowerShell 7. No modules needed.
- Always run it with LaunchBox/BigBox closed (it checks and refuses otherwise).
- Parked platforms won't appear anywhere in LaunchBox - that's the point. Your images,
  videos, manuals and game files stay exactly where they are.
- If you use cloud sync / multiple machines pointed at one install, park/unpark on one
  machine at a time.
- Tested on LaunchBox 13.x. Standard disclaimer: it backs up everything it touches, but
  you're responsible for your library - keep your normal backups too.

Restore path if anything ever looks wrong: copy the three XMLs back from the newest
`_parking\backups\<timestamp>` folder, and move any `_parking\*.games.xml` files back into
`Data\Platforms` (renaming `<name>.games.xml` → `<name>.xml`). That's the entire failure
surface.

The zip file includes these instructions (best read using Notepad++) and the powershell file.

If you find bugs, let me know and I'll fix them.

Enjoy the fast boots. Feedback welcome!

Platform-Parker.zip