# Beware: Lightroom Classic installer deletes Lightroom 6 / CC2015!



## Johan Elzenga (Oct 18, 2017)

It seems there is a nasty bug (or feature) in the Lightroom Classic CC installer. If you install the upgrade, you would expect that the previous version (Lightroom CC2015) is kept, so you can perhaps first play around with a newly created catalog, or go back to Lr CC2015 and your old catalog copy in case of problems. *The installer removes Lightroom CC2015 however* and it also disappears from the list in your CC app, so I wouldn't know how to reinstall it (except from a local backup...).

There are also reports from Lightroom 6 (perpetual license) users, who mistakenly thought that this was an update for their version already, who lost their Lightroom 6 application and got a trial Lightroom Classic CC version instead...


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## davidedric (Oct 18, 2017)

Bloody hell.  That is serious.  Thanks, Johan


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## DGStinner (Oct 18, 2017)

During the update, there's advanced options in the Cloud app.  One of those options, checked by default, is to uninstall previous versions.
To get CC2015 back, there's a dropdown next to Open for CC Classic.  One of the choices is Previous Versions.


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## davidedric (Oct 18, 2017)

DGStinner said:


> During the update, there's advanced options in the Cloud app.  One of those options, checked by default, is to uninstall previous versions.
> To get CC2015 back, there's a dropdown next to Open for CC Classic.  One of the choices is Previous Versions.



That is simply ridiculous.  What game are they playing?


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 18, 2017)

DGStinner said:


> During the update, there's advanced options in the Cloud app.  One of those options, checked by default, is to uninstall previous versions.
> To get CC2015 back, there's a dropdown next to Open for CC Classic.  One of the choices is Previous Versions.



OK, so you _can_ get it back (at least CC2015 user can, not sure about Lr6 users). That's something, but it is still ridiculous that the default is to uninstall. Upgrading Lightroom is not the same as upgrading Photoshop, because you have to upgrade your catalog too.


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## PhilBurton (Oct 19, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> OK, so you _can_ get it back (at least CC2015 user can, not sure about Lr6 users). That's something, but it is still ridiculous that the default is to uninstall. Upgrading Lightroom is not the same as upgrading Photoshop, because you have to upgrade your catalog too.


This is an issue that should have been surfaced during the beta test.  Of course, Adobe did beta test with LR 6 perpetual users.  Or did they?

Phil Burton


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## Jimmsp (Oct 19, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> OK, so you _can_ get it back (at least CC2015 user can, not sure about Lr6 users). That's something, but it is still ridiculous that the default is to uninstall. Upgrading Lightroom is not the same as upgrading Photoshop, because you have to upgrade your catalog too.



When I did the install, I checked the box (advanced options) to keep the older version of LR and not delete anything. That is the way it actually installed. I still can open the old LR 2015 CC .
Then when I opened the new LR Classic I had it update the main catalog (I still have the old one backed up on a external HD). It actually gave it a new name (which I have since changed.)

So far, all is quite good.


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## clee01l (Oct 19, 2017)

Jimmsp said:


> When I did the install, I checked the box (advanced options) to keep the older version of LR and not delete anything. That is the way it actually installed. I still can open the old LR 2015 CC .


I did this too.  It seem fairly obvious and straight forward Clearly marked "Check the box if you want to keep the old version" 
The only people that might need this warning are those that might be sleepwalking through the install.


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## Ian.B (Oct 19, 2017)

clee01l said:


> I did this too.  It seem fairly obvious and straight forward Clearly marked "Check the box if you want to keep the old version"
> The only people that might need this warning are those that might be sleepwalking through the install.


maybe not everyone is confident enough to start clicking this in that out buttons Cletus --- I'm getting smart enough to a look however  atm so I have no intentions, or needs [_or trust_] to go any further than what I have from Adobe now. As per my thread; my only concern is being able to access Lr5 in the future if I have a computer crash or need a new computer


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 19, 2017)

The people who thought that this was the 6.13 update didn't click that option, even if they saw it. Why would they want to keep 6.12 next to 6.13? And casual users don't usually click an 'Avanced' button either. They expect the installer to behave properly by default, and 'Avanced' to be a special type of installation for experienced users. Often an 'Avanced' installation does not install everything. In the past, Photoshop CC2017 was installed next to Photoshop CC2015 by default, so I was also surprised when my wife told me her CC2015 version was removed. On my own system I have a different type of installation, so I never saw this installer in action.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 19, 2017)

I just read this official answer on the feedback forum:

“7.0 should not be available as upgrade if you check for updates through Help> updates. But if you upgrade through Thor, it has never differentiated between a perpetual vs subscription and it is not possible to change now.”


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## NeilM (Oct 19, 2017)

[QUOTE="clee01l,

The only people that might need this warning are those that might be sleepwalking through the install.[/QUOTE]

You must be referring to me then.  I now seem to be an unwilling member of the  Classic CC brigade and cannot find a way back.


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## Hal P Anderson (Oct 19, 2017)

clee01l said:


> The only people that might need this warning are those that might be sleepwalking through the install.


NeilM beat me to it. I was about to say "That would be me."


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## Bob_Dunkley (Oct 19, 2017)

One more annoying thing with the update- when I installed it, on clicking the icon a warning box from Windows popped up saying that either the version is not for Windows, or one of the files in the installation is corrupt. I uninstalled it and started again, same thing. Thus I went to the CC control panel and chose the installation of CC2015. At least all my stuff is there. 
BobD


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## Jimmsp (Oct 19, 2017)

I read everything that Victoria wrote before I upgraded. After that my decisions were straightforward.


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## CloudedGenie (Oct 19, 2017)

I was busy re-installing software on my Surface Pro yesterday (Outlook and iCloud integration suddenly disappeared, and I started losing work when working on files synced with OneDrive - overall system stability was declining - and all the Windows troubleshooter could recommend was "it may be good time to try a Fresh Start"...) Since all my data files have been backed up, I decided this may be the best option...

Since my "Fresh Start" coincided with the release of the new Lightroom, I almost installed the new cloud version by mistake, because I did not know the version I want is now called "Lightroom Classic" and the cloud version is the one featured on Adobe's main page... Fortunately I decided to browse through Victoria's blog while waiting for some other software to finish installing!

I am a Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber (I need Acrobat and decided to give Premier Pro a go for the video editing)... My Lightroom Classic installed as a 7-day trial so I guess I'll see what happens next week...


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 19, 2017)

CloudedGenie said:


> I am a full Adobe Cloud subscriber (I need Acrobat and decided to give Premier Pro a go for the video editing)... My Lightroom Classic installed as a 7-day trial so I guess I'll see what happens next week...



That's strange. If you are a full Adobe CC subscriber then Lightroom Classic shouldn't first install as trial.


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## CloudedGenie (Oct 19, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> If you are a full Adobe CC subscriber then Lightroom Classic shouldn't first install as trial.


That's what I also thought... Hopefully it's just a bug in the messages that will sort itself out before the end of the week...


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## clee01l (Oct 20, 2017)

CloudedGenie said:


> That's what I also thought... Hopefully it's just a bug in the messages that will sort itself out before the end of the week...


If you let Adobe CC App manager install the new apps for you, you should not get a trial install.


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## Samoreen (Oct 20, 2017)

DGStinner said:


> During the update, there's advanced options in the Cloud app.  One of those options, checked by default, is to uninstall previous versions.



DGStinner, could you please elaborate on this ? In the CC Desktop app I don't see any such option.


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## DGStinner (Oct 20, 2017)

Samoreen said:


> DGStinner, could you please elaborate on this ? In the CC Desktop app I don't see any such option.


Since I've already upgraded all of my computers, I'm going from memory. When you click to upgrade to Lightroom Classic within the Cloud app, a window pops up.  At the bottom is "Advanced Options".  When you click on it, one of the options is to uninstall previous versions.  If you uncheck this box, it'll keep CC 2015.


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## Samoreen (Oct 20, 2017)

DGStinner said:


> When you click to upgrade to Lightroom Classic within the Cloud app, a window pops up.



Thanks. I just clicked on Install in the CC Desktop app and the download started immediately. No popup window. Does this happen after the download completed and before the installation starts ?


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## Samoreen (Oct 20, 2017)

Ah, OK, this popup window only appears when clicking on Update All. Not when updating a single app.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 20, 2017)

That makes it even worse...


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## Jimmsp (Oct 20, 2017)

Samoreen said:


> Ah, OK, this popup window only appears when clicking on Update All. Not when updating a single app.



No. I updated PS first. Then I went back and updated LR. I had the option at that time.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 18, 2017)

It seems there is a nasty bug (or feature) in the Lightroom Classic CC installer. If you install the upgrade, you would expect that the previous version (Lightroom CC2015) is kept, so you can perhaps first play around with a newly created catalog, or go back to Lr CC2015 and your old catalog copy in case of problems. *The installer removes Lightroom CC2015 however* and it also disappears from the list in your CC app, so I wouldn't know how to reinstall it (except from a local backup...).

There are also reports from Lightroom 6 (perpetual license) users, who mistakenly thought that this was an update for their version already, who lost their Lightroom 6 application and got a trial Lightroom Classic CC version instead...


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## Samoreen (Oct 20, 2017)

Strange behavior (not yours  ). When I clicked on Install for LR, I didn't have this option. I think that this should be an option in the Preferences, not a choice to be made on the fly.


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## DGStinner (Oct 20, 2017)

The popup only occurs with CC Classic.  If you're installing the "new" Lightroom CC, it's considered a completely different application and not an upgrade of CC 2015.


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## CloudedGenie (Oct 20, 2017)

clee01l said:


> If you let Adobe CC App manager install the new apps for you, you should not get a trial install.



It appears that the "Trial Installation" may have been erroneous messages from the Creative Cloud App. It still says "You started your 7-day trail of Lightroom Classic CC 2 days ago", but installed Photoshop, Acrobat, Media Encoder and Premier Pro as full versions... When I open Lightroom, it says nothing about being a trial version...


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## Wernfried (Oct 21, 2017)

I had similar problem. I was running Lightroom 6 perpetual license and wanted to install new LR Classis as trial - mainly in order to verify whether all plugins are already working.
There was no option to keep existing installation, the installer simply removed existing LR installation. 

It was no problem to install Lightroom 6 perpetual license manually afterwards, however this is not what I would expect from a "good" software.


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## Deleted member 39308 (Oct 21, 2017)

Adobe do the same method of updates with new versions of Photoshop. You have to dig into the options to retain the old version, by default it uninstalls old versions. Photoshop doesn't always migrate actions and plugins in my experience so I am a keen options hunter!


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## Wernfried (Oct 21, 2017)

Ad Astra said:


> Photoshop doesn't always migrate actions and plugins in my experience so I am a keen options hunter!



This I cannot confirm for Lightroom. Whenever I removed and re-installed LR, it kept everything - even the most recent selected photos and any passwords for publishing service.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 21, 2017)

Wernfried said:


> This I cannot confirm for Lightroom. Whenever I removed and re-installed LR, it kept everything - even the most recent selected photos and any passwords for publishing service.



Photoshop has a plugins folder inside the main application folder, so third party plugins will have to be moved or copied in case of a new install. Lightroom plugins are stored in a different place, that every version of Lightroom uses. So Lightroom plugins will automatically show up in a new installation. Things like the most recent selected photos and passwords for publishing services are stored in the catalog itself, so they always carry over too.


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## Bernard (Oct 21, 2017)

I am a bit lost reading some apparently opposite informations.
I am a LR 6.12 perpetual user, can someone summarize what I should do (and not do!) in order to:
1) install 6.13 on october 26
2) install later LR classic for trial purposes, without loosing 6.13
Help > updates or CC app ?  will I get a check box or not ??
Thanks


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## Zenon (Oct 26, 2017)

Adobe must have been getting a lot of complaints. I decided to cave and got today it and it was unchecked by default. I'm glad I came across this site for that info. 

It was seamless. Took less than 5 minutes and updated the catalogue, retained all my presets and defaults. Laptop too.


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## Wernfried (Oct 27, 2017)

Seems to be corrected in latest update: Lightroom Journal | Tips and advice straight from the Lightroom team.



> The good news is we fixed this issue and wanted to get a quick release out to immediately address your concerns.  Now once you click on the “Update” button next to Lightroom Classic CC, you will see under the Advanced Options, the “Remove old versions” is unchecked by default.  As a result, you can try out Lightroom Classic CC for the trial period and still keep Lightroom 6 running in tandem on your desktop.
> 
> We sincerely apologize for not providing a better user experience for our perpetual customers to try out Lightroom Classic CC while still keeping Lightroom 6 in place.  This was a mistake on our end.  Please let us know if you are experiencing any additional issues with this process moving forward.


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## Zenon (Oct 27, 2017)

Well I'm still ticked at Adobe for going subscription but I must say I feel relieved that this now over and I can just shoot. No more messing around with DNG for PS. I know I could send a file to PS from LR. I felt I was good customer buying CS2 and LR5 and paying for all the upgrades over the years and they did not offer a choice.      

I had my cursor on the buy button for Capture One Pro several times but $300 US kept me from pressing it. They are offering subscriton as well and who knows if they may decide to drop perpetual licensing in 6 months so that was what really stopped me. 

I worked the Capture trial pretty and as far as I'm concerned I could do just as good with LR if not better. It took a year and 2 trials to warm up to LR. I had trouble getting past the Low, Standard and High export sharpening options instead of total control like Capture and PS offers an amount slider. 

In the last 6 months I studied the detail tab in LR and came here to ask questions about the detail slider. If you work that palette and the NR adjustments you can get some excellent results. So it took a few years of tweaking (colour too) to get LR the way I wanted it and did not relish the thought of starting over. 

It was never really about the money, just the principle. When I learned that I did not have to use the cloud for storage that finalized my decision. It is like nothing changed on my end. I'll give it a year.


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