Setup Snapshots

Almost every broken LSPDFR setup got broken by a change: a plugin you updated, a mod you installed, a file that quietly vanished. But by the time the game crashes, most of us can't remember what we touched last Tuesday.

If you took a snapshot while things were running well, the app can answer the question for you. When you analyze a crash log, the report gets an extra section — “Since your last snapshot” — listing every tracked file that was added, changed, or removed since then. If the crash started recently, the culprit is very likely on that short list.

1. 1Open Settings → Snapshots and switch on Take snapshots.
2. 2When your game is running well, hit Snap. That's it — it takes a second or two.
3. 3Play as normal. If a future log analysis finds problems, the report will show what changed since your snapshot.
4. 4Each snapshot in the list has a ⋮ menu: What changed? compares it with your folder right now, Make baseline pins it as the comparison point, and Delete removes it.

Good habit:hit Snap after any session where everything worked — especially right after you've installed or updated mods and confirmed the game is happy.

For each file in the places that matter to LSPDFR (plugins, scripts, lspdfr, and loose files like ScriptHookV.dll in your game folder), a snapshot stores:

• the file's name and location (e.g. plugins\LSPDFR\CalloutManager.dll)
• its size and date modified
• its version number, when the file has one
• a fingerprint— a short code calculated from the file's contents. If even one byte of the file changes, the fingerprint changes completely. It's how the app can provea file changed, but the fingerprint can't be turned back into the file — it's a one-way code.

Your mods folder (which can be enormous) is tracked by name, size and date only, so snapshots stay fast and small.

A snapshot never contains your actual files. It can't restore them, and nobody could rebuild your mods from it. It's a list about files — like a shipping manifest, not the cargo.

• Never touches your game. Taking a snapshot only reads your folder. Nothing is written, moved, or modified inside your GTA V install — ever.
• Never leaves your PC.Snapshots are not uploaded, synced, or shared. They aren't part of the Online plugin checkup or usage statistics. (If you use the Share feature on a report, the report only mentions file names that changed — never your folder locations.)
• Never runs in the background. The app only scans at the moment you hit Snap or analyze a log. Nothing is watching your files while you play.

In your app data folder: %LOCALAPPDATA%\RPHLogAnalyzer\snapshots — the Snapshots panel shows the full path and clicking it opens the folder. Each snapshot is one small file (usually well under 1 MB).

If you open one in Notepad, it looks like random gibberish. That's deliberate: the files are sealed so they can't be accidentally edited or corrupted without the app noticing — a damaged snapshot is simply ignored rather than giving you a wrong answer. They're still your files on your disk: delete them (or turn the feature off, or delete the whole folder) and they're gone. Turning the feature off never deletes anything by itself.

The app also tidies up after itself, keeping only your most recent snapshots so the folder never grows forever.

Crash reports always compare against one snapshot — the baseline. Normally that's simply your newest snapshot, and every new Snap rolls it forward.

If you want to compare against a specific moment instead — say, the snapshot from before a big mod spree — open its ⋮ menu and choose Make baseline. It gets pinned (the chip reads Baseline · pinned) and stays the comparison point until you Unpin it or delete it.

Does it slow my game down? No. Nothing runs while the game runs. A Snap takes a couple of seconds inside the app, and repeat snapshots are even faster because unchanged files are skipped.

Can it fix or restore my files? No — snapshots are a list, not a backup. They tell you what to fix, not do the fixing. Keep using proper backups for the files themselves.

Is any of this personal information? The list is file names, sizes, dates and version numbers from your game folder — the same things anyone would see opening the folder. It stays on your PC.

Why does the report say “no changes” after a crash? Then your tracked files match the baseline — whatever went wrong probably isn't a new or changed file. Check the rest of the report (runtimes, updates, environment) instead. Also make sure you're comparing against the snapshot you think you are — the Baseline chip in Settings → Snapshots shows which one reports use.

I added a file but “What changed?” doesn't show it. Check which folder the snapshot recorded (shown under the toggle, and on each snapshot if it differs from your current install) — a snapshot of one install can't see changes in another. And remember the comparison is against that snapshot'smoment in time: if the snapshot was taken after you added the file, there's no difference to report.

• System Check — the read-only check of your PC and game files that folds likely crash causes into your report.
• Report Sharing — turn a finished report into a private, encrypted link.