# Gathering across multiple hard drives



## Ewokchef (Jul 19, 2018)

I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere.  I looked for it but couldn't find anything similar although I'm sure others have struggled with it..  I have photos scattered over 3 internal hard drives, 1 external and now a laptop.  I've been trying to find and import all of them.  I have lots of duplicates and lots of frustration.  In an attempt to see how widespread the files/photos are I ran a "search" through my whole desktop (not the laptop) for nef files.  It found 194K + items!  I'm not a full-time professional photographer  so this is obviously crazy but shows how bad my structure is.  Can I do anything with these files from where they were found during the search?

I would like to import  all of my photos into the 4TB external hard drive.  The goal being to be able to work on the laptop and the desktop.  Any suggestions, plans, outlines would be so appreciated.  Or if someone can point me to a previous answer that would help that would be great.  

I did try to search in the ebook for some terms but I am not finding a solution.  Anyone help?   TIA.


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## Jetze Posthuma (Jul 19, 2018)

Ewokchef, congrats, there are probably lots of people in this situation!

You might make a list of all nef's (including path) on your 5 disks. 
Append the lists, sort them in excel on the file name (not loosing the path), in this way you'll find the duplicates. 
Seperate the duplicates and bring the unique files together on your 4TB disks, then import in Lightroom.

Would that be an outline of a plan?

Cheers Jetze


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## Jimmsp (Jul 19, 2018)

There are certainly a couple of ways to proceed. You have already made a great first step by choosing Lightroom. Using the Library module, you can easily organize all of the photos.
Let's start with a couple of questions.
First, a nef is a raw file - so you found 194k of those?  If you take a wild guess, how many of those are duplicates?
Does the external HD have any unique nefs on it?
I assume you did some viewing and photo processing before this. What software did you use, and did you produce jepgs of some or all of the raws?
Did you rename any or all of the nefs as they came out of the camera?
Do you have any organizational structure on your internal drives, such as one upper level folder like "Pictures" that has all the photos in it?

You said you have started to find and import them. How far along are you?

Basically, you can start importing all of them where they are. Tell LR not to import duplicates. Since the raws don't change, you will only get one copy of each nef - unless there are multiple names associated with a duplicated photo.
Then you can use the Lightroom library to drag the photo folders onto the external drive. This will be a good start at the organization, and LR will remember where they all are.

Once we fully understand the current situation, we can help you along a few steps at a time.


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## Jetze Posthuma (Jul 19, 2018)

I would follow Jim's advice,
Appears to be far superior than mine.
Only make sure not to overlook any folder with pictures stored in it.

Kind regard, Jetze


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## Jimmsp (Jul 19, 2018)

Jetze Posthuma said:


> Only make sure not to overlook any folder with pictures stored in it.


That's why I asked about the current organization.
We could ask LR to look at the whole hard drive to find all the photos, but that probably isn't necessary.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 19, 2018)

_First, a nef is a raw file - so you found 194k of those? If you take a wild guess, how many of those are duplicates?  _ 
I don't see how I could have more than 30-40K or so of original raw files.  I do have some jpg originals, too, from before I started shooting exclusively in raw but I didn't hunt for those.  

_Does the external HD have any unique nefs on it?  _  I'm sure there are some on the external but I don't know.  I can look?

_I assume you did some viewing and photo processing before this. What software did you use, and did you produce jepgs of some or all of the raws?'   _
I've been using LR for probably more than a year and I just wish I had started here .  I started with Picasa way back when and then used PS Elements for several years.  I've done editing on all of those programs and exported from LR into JPGs for sharing them.   I was using Laura Shoe's video series most recently to try to make some sense of the mess I had made of LR;  it is a  really good series but I don't follow her well so I decided to look for help from LRQ.

_Did you rename any or all of the nefs as they came out of the camera?_  I'm not sure if I renamed them but probably not.  Not consciously for sure.

_Do you have any organizational structure on your internal drives, such as one upper level folder like "Pictures" that has all the photos in it?_   I have tried to import the photos into an upper level file called "Photos Go Here".  That's a Laura Shoe suggestion and I find that very workable.
_
You said you have started to find and import them. How far along are you?   _I've been trying to do all the 2017 and 2018  since I got the new laptop in May of 2018.

I don't know if I gave complete enough answers for you to make sense out of my chaos and help me to dig my way out but I very much appreciate your willingness to listen and try.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 20, 2018)

Ok.
I assume that you only have on LR Catalog. That will make life much easier.
Now let's think about where you want to end up.
You said you want to end up with all the photos on the external HD (EHD).  That will work - but you need to consider a back up plan from the start. That will need to be an external HD of the same size. And if all the photos are in one folder, than you only need to back up one top level folder.

So, to start - make a upper level Folder on the EHD called "All Photos".  You can make this with Lightroom, so that LR knows about it. You will eventually have LR  put all you photo folders into the All Photos folder.

Inside All Photos, You should have upper level folders for all years : 2018, 2017, 2016 , etc.
Some people like to have all subfolders of the year folders as just dates; eg 2017-03-25
They then use collections as a way to subdivide things by key words, such as location
But I don't remember where I was was on Mar 25 2017.
I tend to like subfolders with locations if I am there a lot on different dates.
So my substructure looks like:
All Photos
>2018
>2017
>>Arizona
>>>Desert Museum
>>>>2017-03-20
>>>>2017-04-15
>2016
All photos are keyworded.
Also - when I import my photos, I have LR change their name to a format of Date-text-sequence number.
This is going to be difficult going backwards, as some your processed jpegs will lose their relationship to the raw.
So as you import them, keep the names you have for now.
And just add them in place.

If that makes sense to you, then have LR  create the year folders inside All Photos on the EHD.

Now it is time to start having LR find all your photos.
Where are the 2018 photos located that you have already imported?

If I assume they are on an internal drive, you are going to eventually drag them to the 2018 folder on the EXD.

But before you do that, can you show me an expanded screen capture of your folder library structue as it currently exists.

Jim


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## PhilBurton (Jul 20, 2018)

Jetze Posthuma said:


> Ewokchef, congrats, there are probably lots of people in this situation!
> 
> You might make a list of all nef's (including path) on your 5 disks.
> Append the lists, sort them in excel on the file name (not loosing the path), in this way you'll find the duplicates.
> ...


You didn't say if your system is Windows or MacOS.  if Windows, a great duplicate detection utility is this Duplicate Cleaner - Find Duplicate Files.  Just drag all your photo folders to the right side of the Where To Search window and then let it run.  The free version works great, but I upgraded to the Pro version so i could see duplicates by folder.  Another utility that really helps can compare two folders and show your matches and differences.  Scooter Software: Home of Beyond Compare.  Highly recommended.

Just be sure to not delete files that have been edited, so you'll need to locate each catalog that contains a file that is a duplicate.

Good luck.

Phil Burton


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## Ewokchef (Jul 20, 2018)

Jim,
I'm using Windows 10 and definitely only one catalog.  I'm not sure how to create the "all photos" folder through LR. I think that folder would be the same as my "photos go here" folder?  That's where I've been importing them into up to now.   I'm attaching a snip of my current structure.  The folders under the way it looks for 2018 is the way I'd like to end up.  



Having a date under the year so they'll be chronological and then event or description because I also need a reminder more than the date. . And I want to use keywording.
Re: backup, I can't really afford another EHD right now.  I do have a large non solid state on my desktop that possibly could be used for backup for now.  
Also I'm using Carbonite as a backup program too but only have it on my laptop right now.

I do want to be able to move the EHD from the desktop to the laptop and be able to use both if I can.   I'm not sure how to find all the photo folders.

Thanks so much!


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## Jimmsp (Jul 21, 2018)

This is looking good.
I would suggest that you simply import from a single internal disk into the folder "Photos go here". You could put them into a folder called "To be Sorted".  *Be sure you check the box to not import duplicate*s. LR will find all the photos. Then, using the Library module, select All Photos; or select all photos in the folder called "To be sorted".  Under Metadata, look at them by  date. You can then make a folder in the appropriate year by month, and drag all the photos from that month into that folder. Rename the folder as you have done in 2018.
Repeat this for all your drives.
This will take some time, so have at it, and have fun.

I don't know how often you will change editing locations - from the desk top to the lap top. The brute force way to do that is to also put the Lightroom Catalog and previews onto the EXHD (as you have done). Then the pc will be transparent and you will keep everything in sync.

But I strongly suggest that you find a way to backup the EXHD. Hard drives will fail - and they won't tell you when it will happen.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 21, 2018)

_


Jimmsp said:



			This is looking good.
I would suggest that you simply import from a single internal disk into the folder "Photos go here". You could put them into a folder called "To be Sorted".  *Be sure you check the box to not import duplicate*s. LR will find all the photos. Then, using the Library module, select All Photos; or select all photos in the folder called "To be sorted".  Under Metadata, look at them by  date. You can then make a folder in the appropriate year by month, and drag all the photos from that month into that folder. Rename the folder as you have done in 2018.
Repeat this for all your drives.
This will take some time, so have at it, and have fun.
		
Click to expand...

_


Jimmsp said:


> _I don't know how often you will change editing locations - from the desk top to the lap top. The brute force way to do that is to also put the Lightroom Catalog and previews onto the EXHD (as you have done). Then the pc will be transparent and you will keep everything in sync._
> 
> _But I strongly suggest that you find a way to backup the EXHD. Hard drives will fail - and they won't tell you when it will happen._




I am very excited and beginning to see a light at the end of the vast LR tunnel.  Are you saying to import through  LR or move them in a drag and drop or copy and paste fashion from  the File Explorer area on my computer into "to be sorted?"   It's hard to tell how many GB I have of duplicates and I am excited to clean that up.  Would you also recommend one of the finding duplicates software as Phil suggested above?

Also another probably dumb question: as I look in each of the drives for that transfer, would a search be the easiest way to find them all in each drive?  Many don't seem to be where one would expect them.  Like under pictures or something.

As to how often I will change locations, that probably depends on travel schedules and on how long my desktop actually will keep on chugging away.  I really needed a new system but decided to go to a laptop. 

And I will get a backup for the EHD just as soon as I can!  I know it's dangerous.  I don't have words for how much I appreciate this.  I'm sure I'll have more questions but I do know it is taking time and energy and I don't want to monopolize or for you to know how much it all means to me.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 21, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> I am very excited and beginning to see a light at the end of the vast LR tunnel. Are you saying to import through  LR or move them in a drag and drop or copy and paste fashion from the File Explorer area on my computer into "to be sorted?" It's hard to tell how many GB I have of duplicates and I am excited to clean that up. Would you also recommend one of the finding duplicates software as Phil suggested above?
> 
> Also another probably dumb question: as I look in each of the drives for that transfer, would a search be the easiest way to find them all in each drive? Many don't seem to be where one would expect them. Like under pictures or something.
> 
> .....



I am saying to import directly with Lightroom.  You don't have to find and move the files by hand. LR will find them. It may take a while, depending on the number of them. Start with one Hard Drive at a time, and start with the obvious upper level folders - like Pictures and Documents. You can select any and all of the folders to look in. When you get to the second and 3rd hard drive, do the same.  Again, LR will find them, and ignore duplicates if you tell it to.
When you do the Import, select "Move" files, and move them to the new folder "To be Sorted".  And select "Don't import suspected duplicates."
Lightroom will do the work for you.
When you are done with the desktop, you will have to do the laptop the same way.

When you get through with the first drive, feel free to check back in. But I think it will become obvious to you.

We can deal with the organization later.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 21, 2018)

I forgot to say above - when selecting a folder, be sure to check the box that says include subfolders.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 21, 2018)

Thanks again, Jim.  

I  have a strange thing going on. I'm moving files into a "to be sorted" folder and it seems to be taking forever. It shows as two tasks in progress: "moving and importing photos" and "building standard previews".  It's been engaged for well over an hour.   I don't know if my computer or LR have frozen or if it just taking that long to move them.  I'm afraid to shut LR down.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 21, 2018)

Don't shut it down. Look in the lower left corner of the screen, and see how many it is importing.
It will take quite a while, as the folder you are moving them to is on an external drive. Is it a USB 3 or a USB 2?


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## Ewokchef (Jul 21, 2018)

It's a USB 3. It isn't showing  me a breakdown of what's yet to be done.  It does show the folders with photos being added.  And up on the left top is where it says 2 operations in progress.  I may just need to be patient and let it alone?   It's moving into "to be sorted."


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## Jimmsp (Jul 21, 2018)

Be patient.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 22, 2018)

Hi again, Jim.  I just thought I'd update you that it has been moving since yesterday!  So I"m being patient.  The little green box is a little over half done right now.  I wish I knew for sure how much needs to transfer yet.  My EHD shows 880 GB still free of the 4 TB.  I'm praying to the computer gods that my desktop keeps working.  I'm itching to get into the photos.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 22, 2018)

It looks like you chose a large folder to begin with - must be lots of photos. You are spending a lot of time making the previews and moving them to an external drive. But in the end, it will be worth it.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 22, 2018)

I had no idea that one was so big or I definitely would have chosen a smaller one for sure.  And I'm sure it will be worth it but wow.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 23, 2018)

Jim (or anyone who has knowledge)  Hi again.  My transfer continues today. The photo count continues to go up and the available space in my external drive continue to decrease but the % of Lightroom progress has fluctuated.  Last night it showed 76% and now it shows 44%.  Any further advice?  I'm currently just letting it run.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 23, 2018)

Is the progress bar just down to one bar? If so, it is probably just making previews.

You could also open up WIndows File Explorer, look at the photo folders on the external HD, and look at properties. That should tell you how many photos are there.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 23, 2018)

Okay it shows 384 GB with 90K files in the new "to be sorted file".  I'm sure  I did check no duplicates but that makes me wonder.  For a while, I took RAW + JPEG.  That could be some of it.  I knew it was messed up...  

The progress bar still shows 2 operations in progress.  But there are no new  photos shown since 10:27 am.

You could also open up WIndows File Explorer, look at the photo folders on the external HD, and look at properties. That should tell you how many photos are there.[/QUOTE]


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## Ewokchef (Jul 23, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> Okay it shows 384 GB with 90K files in the new "to be sorted file".  I'm sure  I did check no duplicates but that makes me wonder.  For a while, I took RAW + JPEG.  That could be some of it.  I knew it was messed up... :(
> 
> The progress bar still shows 2 operations in progress.  But there are no new  photos shown since 10:27 am.
> 
> You could also open up WIndows File Explorer, look at the photo folders on the external HD, and look at properties. That should tell you how many photos are there.


[/QUOTE]
Okay it shows 384 GB with 90K files in the new "to be sorted file".  I'm sure  I did check no duplicates but that makes me wonder.  For a while, I took RAW + JPEG.  That could be some of it.  I knew it was messed up... :(

Sorry but  one change has happened:  It has progressed from 44% to 47% on the lower tool bar but no other changes.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 23, 2018)

OK. Sounds like you have 90k of photos to work with, and LR is now working away on previews.  LR treats jpegs and raws separately.
Stay the course.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 19, 2018)

I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere.  I looked for it but couldn't find anything similar although I'm sure others have struggled with it..  I have photos scattered over 3 internal hard drives, 1 external and now a laptop.  I've been trying to find and import all of them.  I have lots of duplicates and lots of frustration.  In an attempt to see how widespread the files/photos are I ran a "search" through my whole desktop (not the laptop) for nef files.  It found 194K + items!  I'm not a full-time professional photographer  so this is obviously crazy but shows how bad my structure is.  Can I do anything with these files from where they were found during the search?

I would like to import  all of my photos into the 4TB external hard drive.  The goal being to be able to work on the laptop and the desktop.  Any suggestions, plans, outlines would be so appreciated.  Or if someone can point me to a previous answer that would help that would be great.  

I did try to search in the ebook for some terms but I am not finding a solution.  Anyone help?   TIA.


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## DGStinner (Jul 23, 2018)

Jimmsp said:


> LR treats jpegs and raws separately.


Only if the box is checked in Preferences, otherwise it treats the JPG as a sidecar to the raw.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 24, 2018)

DGStinner said:


> Only if the box is checked in Preferences, otherwise it treats the JPG as a sidecar to the raw.


True - I wasn't specific here. But I believe that LR will find both files and move them to the hard drive, where the Win File Explorer will recognize two seperate files.


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## Ewokchef (Jul 24, 2018)

Hi again, Jim. A new issue.  My desktop stopped working and I was forced to do a hard restart.  I have no idea what damage that caused, if any.  I am showing 78219 photos in the To Be Sorted Folder.  I"m hoping that means that I have those to work with to put in the structure that I wanted.  I guess I won't know until I start working in LR again to see if there were files that were corrupted by doing that hard restart.  In looking in Properties of 'to be sorted', it shows the same as it did earlier this afternoon: 384 GB, 90,310 files and 1328 folders.

I do have a computer guy that can run through the hard drive(s) and make sure everything is okay, if you would advise that.  Otherwise I'll just start going through them and see what I have?  You have been so much help!  I hope it's all where it's supposed to be...  Any further advice is welcome, of course.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 24, 2018)

Is your LR Catalog on the external drive? If so, that should be ok. But if I were you I would be sure to make a second back up copy of it onto another drive, such as your laptop.

In the LR Library, select "All Photographs" (upper left) then along the top of the window select Metadata. The first WIndow will show them sorted by date.
Start looking through them and think about how you may want to start filing them away.
There are many options open to you. 
I think the most straightforward will be to sort them into folders by month and year.


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## PhilBurton (Jul 24, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> Hi again, Jim. A new issue.  My desktop stopped working and I was forced to do a hard restart.  :(I have no idea what damage that caused, if any.  I am showing 78219 photos in the To Be Sorted Folder.  I"m hoping that means that I have those to work with to put in the structure that I wanted.  I guess I won't know until I start working in LR again to see if there were files that were corrupted by doing that hard restart.  In looking in Properties of 'to be sorted', it shows the same as it did earlier this afternoon: 384 GB, 90,310 files and 1328 folders.
> 
> I do have a computer guy that can run through the hard drive(s) and make sure everything is okay, if you would advise that.  Otherwise I'll just start going through them and see what I have?  You have been so much help!  I hope it's all where it's supposed to be...  Any further advice is welcome, of course.



Ewok,

I suggest that you start LR and then quit, and selecting the options to optimize and then back up the LR catalog.  I hope that you have been backing up the catalog frequently, at least once a day.


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## LouieSherwin (Jul 24, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> Hi again, Jim. A new issue.  My desktop stopped working and I was forced to do a hard restart.  :(I have no idea what damage that caused, if any.  I am showing 78219 photos in the To Be Sorted Folder.  I"m hoping that means that I have those to work with to put in the structure that I wanted.  I guess I won't know until I start working in LR again to see if there were files that were corrupted by doing that hard restart.  In looking in Properties of 'to be sorted', it shows the same as it did earlier this afternoon: 384 GB, 90,310 files and 1328 folders.
> 
> I do have a computer guy that can run through the hard drive(s) and make sure everything is okay, if you would advise that.  Otherwise I'll just start going through them and see what I have?  You have been so much help!  I hope it's all where it's supposed to be...  Any further advice is welcome, of course.



As Phil said check the verify catalog button when you restart Lightroom or if it opens immediately quit and check the "Test integrity before backing up". If it doesnt offer the backup option then start again and go to the catalog settings and select to backup everytime you exit Lightroom. 

I would not proceed until you get a good backup with a tested catalog.

Next I would want to see a screen shot of the Folders panel with the "To Be Sorted Folder" expanded. I am want to see exactly how that is organized at this point.  I am concerned that you have put all 78K images into one folder. If so that is going to stress your desktop (external drive).  

Please get that done and we will continue from there.

-louie


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## Ewokchef (Jul 24, 2018)

I have been backing up the catalog regularly and it is in my external hard drive. The catalog setting show that it is in there.  I can take a screenshot of the "tobe sorted" folder.  And yes I have put all the images into that one folder from the one internal hard drive labeled in my system as G.  I have two more internal drives which I yet need to copy from.  This is a snip of the way I want to organize the folder system:  



This is some of the "to be sorted" for the one year.  Fully expanded is too big to copy because the years go back forever:


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## Ewokchef (Jul 24, 2018)

Jim, to respond to your suggestion re catalog backup on my laptop--the drives from laptop and desktop are not connected at this point. Also I can't locate the "all photographs" spot, although I do know how to sort using metadata.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 24, 2018)

A couple of thoughts.
You seem to be in great shape. Now you have work cut out for you, especially if you want all the folders to look like what you showed for 2018.
But it should be straightforward.
When I started a kewording project like this, I just worked a little bit at a time, and worked backwards in time.

If the folder structure came over like you show it, then all you need to do is drag a folder (using Lightroom) from "to be sorted" to your final top level folder "Photos go here".

You would also save yourself a lot of work in renaming the folders if you simply keyword all the photos. You will want to do this eventually anyway, so you might as well do it as you organize. For instance, I see you have a folder called Easter. SImply add that keyword to all the photos in the appropriate folder when you look at them.  Then drag them into the appropriate year folder in "Photos go here".

I would also not tackle the other internal drives until you get this one in good shape.

Do you have room on the first internal drive now to back up the "to be sorted" file and the "Photos go here", and your catalog?
If so, I would do that before you start moving the folders around on the external.
Then back them all up every night.


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## Jimmsp (Jul 24, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> Also I can't locate the "all photographs" spot, although I do know how to sort using metadata.


In the Library module, go to the far left, and look at the very top under "Catalog".


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## LouieSherwin (Jul 25, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> I have been backing up the catalog regularly and it is in my external hard drive. The catalog setting show that it is in there.  I can take a screenshot of the "tobe sorted" folder.  And yes I have put all the images into that one folder from the one internal hard drive labeled in my system as G.  I have two more internal drives which I yet need to copy from.  This is a snip of the way I want to organize the folder system:  View attachment 11200
> This is some of the "to be sorted" for the one year.  Fully expanded is too big to copy because the years go back forever:  View attachment 11202



Hi, 

Ok I see that you are using a date based folder structure for your imports into "To Be Sorted" folder. I was concerned that perhaps you putting all the images in to one single folder but that is not the case. 

I would suggest that you try to figure out some strategy to process smaller chunks of images going forward with the remaining hard drives. You risk additional LR crashes and each one has the potential to corrupt you catalog. 

Also DO NOT erase ANY of your source images until the entire process of moving to the new external drive is completed and to be  completely honest the new hard drive is *completely backed up to another 4GB drive*. One poor soul came here not to long ago and had deleted his source images as he consolidated onto a new large hard drive. Right at the end the new target drive failed and he ended up loosing his entire image collection. I know that cost is a factor but consider the risk.

-louie


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## Ewokchef (Jul 25, 2018)

LouieSherwin said:


> Hi,
> 
> Ok I see that you are using a date based folder structure for your imports into "To Be Sorted" folder. I was concerned that perhaps you putting all the images in to one single folder but that is not the case.
> 
> ...



Louie and Jim, I will definitely pull smaller chunks!  I actually didn't know (although I should have) that that drive was the one containing the most photos.  I can get another new hard drive by next Wednesday for sure but hopefully before.  I may need to ask how to implement the backup but hopefully I can figure it out. When I am transferring from one drive to the other, I have been using the right-click command under Photos go here>year> new folder> move selected pictures into new folder.  Does that sound right?

I have to tell you that I am SO excited and pleased with how this is working.  And scared because it is so easy!  (Fear of doing it wrong, looms large!)  I was able to move all of 2017 into new folders yesterday.  I don't have words for how much I appreciate your help!

I do have cloud backup on Google photos for what it's worth and everything backed up by Carbonite. I also have most of my original memory cards going back many years, for what they are worth.   I'm a bit of a hoarder anyway and have been afraid to re-use very often.  My plan for today was to delete duplicate and bad photos, something that is needed badly.  
Sharon


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## Jimmsp (Jul 25, 2018)

Ewokchef said:


> ....
> I can get another new hard drive by next Wednesday for sure but hopefully before.  I may need to ask how to implement the backup but hopefully I can figure it out. When I am transferring from one drive to the other, I have been using the right-click command under Photos go here>year> new folder> move selected pictures into new folder.  Does that sound right?
> ......
> I do have cloud backup on Google photos for what it's worth and everything backed up by Carbonite. I also have most of my original memory cards going back many years, for what they are worth.   I'm a bit of a hoarder anyway and have been afraid to re-use very often.......
> Sharon



Well, I am glad to hear it is going so well. 
As for backing things up, this is a whole new story. If you ask 5 people how they do it or what they recommend, you will probably get 7 different approaches.
Cloud backup is very good, but not sufficient. That gives you a good off-site backup.
Many of us have at least two external hardrives with backups.  Most of us some sort of software to actually produce the backup, and do it on a regular basis.
There are multiple suppliers of software you can use for backup.  
Since I am retired, and losing a file would not be a tragedy, but an inconvenience, I no longer do incremental backups (ie, keeping multiple versions of a changed file). Others do.
I just want a mirror image of my important data folders out on my backup drives.
I now use a paid package called Allway Sync.  It works for me, as it only backs up files that have changed which saves time. I use it daily.
You may find it a bit cumbersome, maybe not. There are many other alternatives.
Most new drives also come with something.

And once you have another external drive as a backup, you can reuse your camera cards.


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