# Cannot delete lrcatalogue.lock file



## nickelly (Oct 13, 2011)

cannot open my Lightroom catalogue due to error message:

"cannot open catalogue because another application already has it opened" 

lightroom defintely not open elsewhere but if I try to delete lrcatalgue.lock file as suggested elsewhere for this problem I get another error message:

"cannot delete ...catalogue.lrcat: the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"

Do I have to resort to a previous backup or is there another solution?


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## clee01l (Oct 13, 2011)

Nickelly. First, Welcome to the forum.  We need to resolve the issue that will not let you delete the *.lock file.   

Make sure that LR is not running before you try to delete this file.  Even though there is no window displayed LR might be still one of your background processes.  The simplest way to resolve this is to re-boot your PC.   Another method is to open Task manager and kill the Lighrtoom process.  Either approach should permit you to delete the *.lock file.  Once that is done, you should be able to open LR normally.  

If LR fails to open normally, and there is no *.lock file present, hold down the {Alt} key when clicking on the LR shortcut.  This will open with a dialog to let you choose a different or new catalog and not the default catalog. 

Should you continue to have problems, report back here with more details and we can dig deeper.


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## Hal P Anderson (Oct 13, 2011)

nickelly,

Welcome!
_
"cannot delete ...catalogue.lrcat: the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" _

If that is indeed the message you're getting, you are trying to delete the catalogue file instead of the lock file. Don't do that; you'll regret it. .

Hal


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## nickelly (Oct 13, 2011)

clee01l said:


> Nickelly. First, Welcome to the forum. We need to resolve the issue that will not let you delete the *.lock file.
> *Thank you for your reply Cletus*
> 
> Make sure that LR is not running before you try to delete this file. Even though there is no window displayed LR might be still one of your background processes. The simplest way to resolve this is to re-boot your PC. Another method is to open Task manager and kill the Lighrtoom process. Either approach should permit you to delete the *.lock file. Once that is done, you should be able to open LR normally.
> ...


*Help please?*


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## nickelly (Oct 13, 2011)

*That is indeed message I am getting when deleting LOCK file not lrcat file although I can see why you might suggest otherwise.  Thanks anyway...... 
*


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## Hal P Anderson (Oct 13, 2011)

Nickelly,

Perhaps the folder really _is_ corrupt. After all, you're getting that really weird error message that points to the wrong file. 

--Can you copy your catalogue out of that directory? If you can, also copy the <catalogue>Previews.lrdata folder to wherever you moved the catalogue. That will save you having to re-build the previews.

--Failing that, have you kept backups of your catalogue? You can use one of those if necessary.

Hal


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## nickelly (Oct 13, 2011)

Thank you Hal.

i do have backups but a few days old so dont want to lose if avoidable.  Will look at your suggestion and report back -thanks again.


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## clee01l (Oct 14, 2011)

Have you tried renaming the *.lrcat.lock file?  Do you also have a *.lrcat-journal file in the folder with the catalog?  What is the full name of each of the files in the folder with your catalog? A screen shot of the Windows Explorer detail folder view would be helpful.

Before we go to much further, for insurance I'd like you to use Windows Explorer to make a copy of your current catalog file.


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## nickelly (Oct 14, 2011)

clee01l said:


> Have you tried renaming the *.lrcat.lock file? Do you also have a *.lrcat-journal file in the folder with the catalog? What is the full name of each of the files in the folder with your catalog? A screen shot of the Windows Explorer detail folder view would be helpful.
> 
> *Not able to rename file -I get same 'file corrupted' message as previous.  Do* *have a *.lrcat-journal file in the folder with the catalog
> 
> *Before we go to much further, for insurance I'd like you to use Windows Explorer to make a copy of your current catalog file.



*Have made copy of catalog file but not been able to paste screen shot here - have attached jpeg of screen shot to this post.*


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## Jim Wilde (Oct 14, 2011)

A few posts back, Hal suggested copying the catalog and previews into a completely different folder. Have you tried that? If not, suggest you do....create a new folder, then copy the first 4 items from your posted list into the new folder:

Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat
Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue Previews.lrdata
Lightroom Settings (folder)
Backups (folder)

Then double-click on the Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat file *in the new location*, which should allow Lightroom to start normally.


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## nickelly (Oct 14, 2011)

Thank you Jim - had not got around to trying out hal's suggestion partly because i wanted to check implications.  However have started copying the suggested folders & files and will let you know the outcome when i get back from the pub -it is Friday after all!


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## clee01l (Oct 14, 2011)

Jim has a very good point.  If you have not tried Jal's suggestion, now is the time to do it.  I am most puzzled as to why control over the "Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat.lock" file dos not return to the user after a reboot.  This is most unusual. You may have some cross-linked files and this is one of them.  I would recommend strongly that you run chkdsk at your first opportunity and repair the HD if it needs it.


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## nickelly (Oct 14, 2011)

OK - carried out suggested procedure & LR opens so thanks for everyone's input. 
 Will run chkdsk as suggested.  Photos & catalog reside on same external drive -does this have any bearing on the issue i have been having?
 Should I carry on running this catalog from new location?  Presumably as long as I set up new shortcut to new location I can eventually delete the 'old' files & folders?


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## clee01l (Oct 15, 2011)

Untill you can determine the problem and delete the existing "Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat.lock", you can't use the original folder The copy of the catalog is as good as the original and If your make LR changes, it will become your new master from this point forward.  There is nothing wrong with this.  If Chkdsk finds and fixes cross-linked files, you should be able to then delete the "Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat.lock" file. If you still can not delete "Nicholas Kelly Photography catalogue.lrcat.lock", I do not know what to try next. 
The important part with what you have done is that you have recovered (a copy of) your master catalog and did not nee to fall back on a recent backup.

I did notice that your backup location is on the same drive as the master catalog.  This is not ideal if your HD fails.  And it will fail eventually. I would recommend that you start backing up your catalog on another drive. 

Your catalog and master images can reside on the same drive.  the only issue is with the catalog and preview cache. If these are on a slower drive, your performance will be degraded to the best level of that drive. An internal bus mounted SATA drive will be faster than the same SATA drive accessed via USB.


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