Things are ok as they are.
I will do things manually. Its worked fine for me. No software is perfect.
I have a new HDD coming tomorrow so lets see how things go.
its the sq that is most important to me. And roon sounds sublime.
I will say it again.
Keep things simple. Im not doing recans and continual backups and the like.
Is it ‘simple’ to have to rebuild your entire Roon database (and maybe have to import everything again perhaps) from scratch because by some fluke you lost (the integrity of) your Roon database and it wasn’t backed up using Roon’s own quick, automated and convenient backup option?
Just trying to help.
Yes, life can be made too complicated, I agree. And some of the details that could be different do not need to be, so we do not need to pay too much attention to them - unless we like to 
All - thanks for sharing a very comprehensive amount of knowledge and helpfulness. I have picked one answer, but in reality many of the responses qualify as good and useful answers - and I have tried much of what has been suggested already, with many happy hours ahead of me for trying out the rest
With this solid amount of feedback I now understand what made Roon so popular among music enthusiasts - it is not so much the software itself as it is the highly supportive and enthusiastic users.
I have accepted that Roon can only do so much on its own and a lot of the value it can help bringing to me will depend on my own efforts, mostly for adjusting tags and creating a good set of metadata around the music files.
I have also, finally, understood where much of the metadata comes from that appears when ripping and otherwise using software for dealing with music files: it comes from you! You enthusiasts deliver all that many, many people are making happy use of. I will try to become part of this too, bringing in a bit of my own effort to the common good.
It is a rich world - in general, but the music part of it in particular, with this enthusiast forum sticking out as something extraordinarily special. Thanks again for making this happen.
Having better tagged music files is actually a way to ensure you are not tied to Roon. Your collection is only as good as your organisation makes it, Roon can’t work magic, and neither could anything else.
It is a daunting task to organise your files from scratch. I get it, but Tagscanner makes it relatively painless once you get a good process going.
I have been downloading music for 2 decades now, and using Tagscanner for almost that long. It is the 1st thing I load up after I have added music files to my collection. My music is immaculately organised because of this. So I am unfortunately sitting on my high horse, having already done the work. But it is worth the effort. I promise. You will enjoy Roon a lot more, and your files will work anywhere you take them. Make Tagscanner a part of your routine.