# File appears to be unsupported or damaged error



## Pati (Mar 21, 2012)

One of my photos from my last import is showing an error "File appears to be unsupported or damaged". It had an edit applied to it, I think it was a copy and paste from another photo. I tried copying the photo from my external drive onto my Desktop then deleting the original from within LR and re-importing it. It still has an error. The copied file that's on my Desktop can be opened with PSE 6 though. The previous backup catalog shows the same error also. It's a PEF file that is converted to DNG during the initial import. 
Is there anything else I could try before ordering a new HDD? I've read on here it might be a hardware issue more than a software problem.

Off topic question. What are the Temporary folders that are in my external HDD?  
They are in external HD/Photos/March 2012/Temporary Folder 727061F7-13D6-4FA3-B75D-4C0A33347B55. There's a couple of them and they each have 1 PEF files in them.

TIA

Edit: I just opened the catalog from my backup drive and the same image shows a "Error writing metadata" with it.


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## Happy Haggis (Mar 22, 2012)

It might be worth opening the file in PSE and saving it with a different name. I've had similar problems in the past and that has worked for me.


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## Pati (Mar 22, 2012)

Happy Haggis said:


> It might be worth opening the file in PSE and saving it with a different name. I've had similar problems in the past and that has worked for me.



Thanks for the reply Happy Haggis. Another launch of LR 3 and no error showing. I hope it was just a glitch. I will remember your tip in case the error shows up again.

Anyone know what the temporary folders are for? Can I delete them? They are PEF files instead of DNG files.


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## Happy Haggis (Mar 23, 2012)

Glad you solved the problem, Pati.
Not sure what caused the temp files, but if you are happy that the same images reside elsewhere in your LR catalog you can delete them safely.


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## Pati (Mar 26, 2012)

Deleted them. No problems so far. Thanks again!


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