# New laptop, how to access LR images on Ext HD from OLD laptop?



## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

I have a new laptop, installed LR, and would like to import images that were saved to an external HD that was used with the old laptop and LR.  Can this be done?  I don't have much experience with moving LR files around, so please be specific with any directions you might offer.  Thanks.


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## b_gossweiler (Feb 25, 2012)

See this excerpt of Victorias Book "Lightroom 3 - The missing FAQ".

Beat


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## clee01l (Feb 25, 2012)

The other thing that you probably don't want to do is reimport images if you have spent considerable time and effort creating a LR catalog with keywords and post processing adjustments on the old laptop.


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks Beat and Cletus.  I looked at the link to Victoria's book and it seems a bit unclear to me.  I have images on the old laptop and the external drive that belong to the LR catalog created on the old laptop.  Those images cover the years 2004-2011, and many have been post processed.  On the new laptop, I have over 1500 images so far from when I bought the computer in early February.  Ideally, I'd like to get all of the images from the old computer and the external hard drive into the catalog of the new install of LR on the new laptop.  I don't necessarily want or need to move the images onto the new laptops HD - if I can get the images from the old laptop onto the external HD that would be great.  But then I would like to incorporate all of the external HD images into the LR catalog on the new laptop.
My guess is that I should first move all of the image files on the old laptop HD onto the external HD using LR on the old laptop?  Then, I'm thinking I'll have to 'merge' that catalog of images and post processing side car files into the new laptop's LR catalog?  If this sounds right, can someone explain how I can get it done, including as much detail as you can?  My current version of LR is 3.6.  Thanks for any help.


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

OK, now that you've expanded a little on your opening post we can see that your need is a little more complicated than a simple move from one computer to another. The way you need to approach this should be as follows:

*On the OLD laptop:
*
Get the images off the internal HD and onto the external HD, and update the catalog on the old laptop accordingly. There are various means of doing this, and a lot depends on the folder structure that you have used. If you could post a screenshot of the Folders Panel in Lightroom on the old laptop, showing the top level folders on each of the two drives, we could suggest the best way to tackle this stage.

Once the Lightroon catalog is then looking only at the EHD, the next stage would be getting the catalog from the old laptop to the new laptop. Still on the old laptop, close down Lightroom and copy the catalog and associated previews to the EHD. At this stage I would rename the catalog (and associated previews folder) so that there is no confusion over the same catalog names when you get to the new laptop.

Close down the old laptop.

*On the NEW laptop:*

Connect the EHD. If you can arrange for the drive letter for the EHD on the new laptop to be the same as it was on the old laptop, then things will be a lot easier. So assuming it has the same letter, start Lightroom by double-clicking on the catalog file *from the old laptop on the EHD*, and verify that all the folders are 'seen' OK, i.e. there are no '?' marks which would indicate a missing folder.

All OK? In which case, with LR still running switch to the catalog on the NEW laptop (File>Open Recent>select appropriate catalog). Now you can simply do File>Import from Catalog....point to the catalog on the EHD and you will get a dialog box with various options. Make your selections and away you go.

*As ever, taking a backup of both catalogs before starting is always a good idea.*


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks Jim, I will hopefully be able to spend the time this weekend to get this done.  A big part of the problem will be that the old laptop is on it's way out, and very often does not 'see' the EHD.  I will keep my fingers crossed...    I will get a screenshot put up here as soon as possible.  I appreciate all the help.
Ken


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

kgilby said:


> Thanks Jim, I will hopefully be able to spend the time this weekend to get this done.  A big part of the problem will be that the old laptop is on it's way out, and very often does not 'see' the EHD.  I will keep my fingers crossed...    I will get a screenshot put up here as soon as possible.  I appreciate all the help.
> Ken



Here's the screen shot of LR on the old laptop, with the EHD showing also -



Would I be able to simply drag & drop the folders from the laptop HD to the EHD?  Will that move the files?  I was thinking of taking the 2011, 2012, Claire, and For PSP folders in the laptop HD and dropping them into the 'Archive' folder on the EHD.  (Since the '2010' folder was empty, I removed it from the laptop HD)

EDIT:
I am in the process of transferring the files as described above; it seems to be working fine, albeit a bit slowly.  I should wind up with an 'Archive' folder on the EHD that contains most of my image files.  There are 2 add'l. folders, '2008-04-16' and '2009', on the EHD.  I'm not sure why they are separate, but I can figure that out later.  Once I get the folders/images moved from the old laptop HD to the EHD, will my LR catalog be up to date since I am doing all of this within LR?


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks. A couple of questions:

I assumed the C drive is the internal, but why in that case is it not showing as being online?

Also, on the C drive, are there any other top-level folders apart from "Pictures"?


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

TNG said:


> Thanks. A couple of questions:
> 
> I assumed the C drive is the internal, but why in that case is it not showing as being online?
> 
> Also, on the C drive, are there any other top-level folders apart from "Pictures"?



The C drive is the internal.  It shows up 'green' on the laptop, but it didn't show that way in the screenshot.  Is that what you mean by 'not showing as being online'?  And there are no other folders on that drive that show in the 'Folders' list in LR.  Progress is still under way as far as getting images moved from the internal HD to the EHD, not quite half way there.


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

OK, just make sure you maintain the same file structure when you copy/move the images to the EHD. It doesn't matter if you create a different top level folder, but it certainly helps to maintain all the 'year folders' in the same structure.


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

Oh.  I hope I'm not doing something wrong Jim.  I'll wind up with the same folders that were under the 'Pictures' folder, but they won't be under a 'Pictures' folder on the EHD.  They'll be under the 'Archives' folder.  Will that work?


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

Yep, no problem assuming the 'year' sub-folders are all still intact.


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

TNG said:


> Yep, no problem assuming the 'year' sub-folders are all still intact.



Oh, good.  Thanks.  Can you explain more about getting the 'catalog and associated preview' folders/files taken care of once the image files are onto the EHD?


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

Yep, but will be a bit later, just about to eat!


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

Sorry, didn't pay attention to where you live!


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

kgilby said:


> Oh, good.  Thanks.  Can you explain more about getting the 'catalog and associated preview' folders/files taken care of once the image files are onto the EHD?



Obviously, in order to merge the two catalogs on the new laptop, you'll need to make the old laptop catalog accessible to the new laptop....and the EHD is the logical vehicle for this. So, when you're done copying the images from the internal drive of the old laptop to the EHD, I would proceed as follows:

1. On the old laptop, in Lightroom I suggest you first clean up that 2010 folder which appears on both drives. The one on the C drive is empty, so why not remove it to avoid any later confusion. Simply right-click on the empty 2010 folder and select "Remove" and it will be removed from the catalog.
2. If you know the full name and location of your catalog on the old laptop, simply close Lightroom. However, if you're not sure, go to Edit Menu>Catalog Settings>General Tab and make a note of the name and location of the catalog. Then close Lightroom.
3. On the EHD create a root-level folder called something like "Old Laptop LR Catalog Folder", then *copy* the catalog file from the location identified in 2 into that new folder. Alongside the catalog you'll find the previews folder (it will be called *catalogname Previews.lrdata*), also *copy *this into the new folder. To be clear, you should end up with a new folder on the EHD at the root level, it will contain the *catalogname.lrcat* database, and the *catalogname Previews.lrdata* previews folder.

Once that's all complete, you'll be ready to close down the old laptop and move to the new one, to which you'll need to connect the EHD. At that point you'll need to first launch the old catalog from the EHD in order to relink all the image folders. Because you've only got a relatively few folders to relink, it probably won't matter if the drive letter of the EHD on the new laptop is different to the old.

Don't start LR on the new laptop (as it will probably launch the new catalog)....instead use Explorer to find the catalog on the EHD that you created in 3 above, double-click on it to launch LR, then take a screenshot of the Folder Panel. Don't be concerned about the likely '?' marks, they're expected.


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks Jim.  I will work on this and let you know if I run into something I can't figure out.
Thanks,
Ken


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 25, 2012)

A screenshot would be useful, not sure I fully understand.


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## Cammie (Feb 26, 2012)

On this soooooooo much answers one of my questions.  I have ethe same problem with moving files will read Victoria's book on this issue and follow your directions. 

Huggles and Many Thanks! 

Cammie


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Jim, I've got all the files moved to the EHD, and the catalog and catalog preview files/folder moved to the root of the EHD as you directed.  Next I'll be attaching the EHD to the new laptop, double clicking the lrcat file on the EHD through Explorer to 'reconnect' those files.  You then explain how to import - "All OK? In which case, with LR still running switch to the catalog on  the NEW laptop (File>Open Recent>select appropriate catalog). Now  you can simply do File>Import from Catalog....point to the catalog on  the EHD and you will get a dialog box with various options. Make your  selections and away you go."  Will doing this move the image files from the EHD to the new laptop HD?  Because I don't want to do that - I'd like to leave those files on the EHD if I can.  Thanks.
Ken

EDIT:  From the new laptop, double clicked the lrcat file on the EHD, it launched LR and here's what I get -



All folders have the ?, including a 'Pictures' folder that shows that it's on the C drive.  How do I proceed from here?  I sense I'm getting close... (I haven't tried importing yet as I don't know what that will do with the files on the EHD.)  Thanks.


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 26, 2012)

You are doing fine, take a moment to fill out your profile here so we can better understand where you are!!

Relax and Jim will be back to help.


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 26, 2012)

kgilby said:


> Jim, I've got all the files moved to the EHD, and the catalog and catalog preview files/folder moved to the root of the EHD as you directed.  Next I'll be attaching the EHD to the new laptop, double clicking the lrcat file on the EHD through Explorer to 'reconnect' those files.  You then explain how to import - "All OK? In which case, with LR still running switch to the catalog on  the NEW laptop (File>Open Recent>select appropriate catalog). Now  you can simply do File>Import from Catalog....point to the catalog on  the EHD and you will get a dialog box with various options. Make your  selections and away you go."  Will doing this move the image files from the EHD to the new laptop HD?  Because I don't want to do that - I'd like to leave those files on the EHD if I can.  Thanks.
> Ken



One of the 'options' that I mentioned during the "Import from Catalog"  concerns how to deal with the images, the top one will be 'Add photos to  catalog without moving', which will be the one you want.



> EDIT:  From the new laptop, double clicked the lrcat file on the EHD, it launched LR and here's what I get -
> 
> View attachment 1891
> 
> All folders have the ?, including a 'Pictures' folder that shows that it's on the C drive.  How do I proceed from here?  I sense I'm getting close... (I haven't tried importing yet as I don't know what that will do with the files on the EHD.)  Thanks.




A couple of other things to do/consider:

1. On your new laptop, open the catalog on the EHD again and remove the "Pictures" folder from the C drive (right-click, select Remove). This won't delete it from the hard drive, it just removes it from the catalog.
2. Then you need to relink the missing folders. What drive letter has the EHD got on the new laptop? Ideally you want it to have a letter that won't get allocated to another device, so it could be given A: as per the old laptop, or you could go to the other end of the alphabet and give it something like X, Y or Z. If you decide to change the drive letter, you'll need to close Lightroom first as its catalog on the EHD is being used.
3. If you give the drive letter A: when you start Lightroom (again by double-clicking on the EHD catalog), you should find that all the folders will be automatically linked, i.e. no '?' marks. If, OTOH, the drive letter is not A: you'll need to relink the top three folders in the Folders Panel (all those below Archive will be linked automatically)....right-click on each of them in turn and select 'Find Missing Folder'. A file browser will pop up, use this to browse to and select the relevant folder on the EHD and click OK....the specific folder will disappear from under the A: drive and will reappear under the actual drive letter of the EHD, minus the '?' mark.

At that point, you should have the catalog fully restored, all images on the EHD. Could you post a screenshot so that I can check? Thanks.

Next step will be to merge it with the catalog on the new laptop, but before you get that far you need to decide a few things:

a) Where do you want the resulting merged catalog to be located: laptop internal drive, or on the EHD?
b) Do you have any Publish Services collections setup in either of the two catalogs?

Normally, the best approach (i.e. quickest) would be to open the larger of the two catalogs (in your case the one on the EHD) and import the smaller catalog (i.e. the one on the internal drive), but this can be done either way. Get back to me on these two points and I'll make a recommendation.


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Thanks Jim, for all of your detailed help.  I did a Google search and figured out how to get the drive letter back to 'A', which as you know, automatically relinked all my images!  I'll put a screenshot below.  I am thinking that I'd like the catalog to reside on the laptop HD, since the external may not always be attached.  There are no collections showing under Publish Services.  How about Presets?  Are they handled automatically?
Ken


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Kiwigeoff said:


> You are doing fine, take a moment to fill out your profile here so we can better understand where you are!!



Thanks Geoff, updated!


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 26, 2012)

kgilby said:


> There are no collections showing under Publish Services.  How about Presets?  Are they handled automatically?
> Ken



Just to be clear, when you Import/Export as Catalog, you lose any Publish Services that you may have set up. It sounds like you haven't used them yet, so no worries on that score.

Presets? Alas, they are NOT handled automatically. Presumably you had created/downloaded some on the old laptop? What about on the new laptop? It is possible to manually transfer presets over, but first you need to tell me what you had where.


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## kgilby (Feb 25, 2012)

I have a new laptop, installed LR, and would like to import images that were saved to an external HD that was used with the old laptop and LR.  Can this be done?  I don't have much experience with moving LR files around, so please be specific with any directions you might offer.  Thanks.


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Jim,  I have no User Presets in the new laptop, but have some on the old laptop.  I went into Edit, Preferences, Presets, Lightroom Presets Folder, and the dialog box that comes up shows 7 folders - one of which is Lightroom.  That folder contains many sub-folders (here's a screen shot):


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 26, 2012)

Probably the easiest thing to do then would be to copy the old laptop settings on top of the settings on the new laptop (apart from preferences). Suggest for now you simply copy that Lightroom folder, including all the sub-folders, onto the EHD but put it inside a new folder called 'Old LR Settings'. 

Ken, will send you a PM in a few minutes, can you watch out for it?


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Yes, I'll watch for it, thanks


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## kgilby (Feb 26, 2012)

Did you get my reply to your pm Jim?


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 26, 2012)

Yes, and have responded.


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## kgilby (Mar 2, 2012)

TNG said:


> Yes, and have responded.



Jim, thanks for all of your help with this issue, things are working quite well now.

I have a question or 2 about a couple of additional things I'd like to do.  I purchased a 3TB EHD that I'd like to use for ALL of my images going forward.  I'd first like to transfer the images that are on the EHD that you just helped me with.  That seems like it should simply be a matter of moving them from 1 EHD to another, within LR, right?
Then, I have another old EHD that was used with an old desktop and contains images processed using LR that I'd like to get onto the new 3TB EHD.  This way, all of my images would be in 1 place, ideally in 1 catalog, that can be backed up locally and online using Carbonite.
Does that make sense?  Would Victoria's book cover those kinds of issues?
Ken


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## kgilby (Mar 2, 2012)

I have run into a problem while moving folders from one EHD to another.  Here's how I started the move:  
1st - On the new EHD I created a new folder, from with Windows Explorer, at the root level, called 'Pictures'.
2nd - Then I copied and pasted an image into that folder, also done from within Windows Explorer.
3rd - Then opened LR and imported that image.
4th - Within LR I then deleted that image, so I was left with the empty 'Pictures' folder on the new EHD
5th - Within LR, I then dragged a folder on the old EHD, '2009' (which contains 2514 image files), to the 'Pictures' folder on the new EHD.
6th - Everything was going along fine, until the files stopped being transferred.  

1585 files have moved, and there are still 929 on the old EHD.  Lightroom is still show the 'Moving Folder' progress bar, but there is no more activity.  Both EHD's are still on (I can feel them 'spinning', and the lights are on)  It's been 15 minutes with no change.  Is there anything I can do to stop the process without corrupting anything?

Here's a screenshot:


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 2, 2012)

Ken, you can probably just cancel the task, but then you'd be left with two same-name folders on different drives....so any reattempt would have to be by selecting images (rather than the complete folder) and dragging from one 2009 folder to the other.

If you want me to have a quick look (I have a few minutes), you could fire up Teamviewer and PM the codes to me.


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## kgilby (Mar 2, 2012)

TNG said:


> Ken, you can probably just cancel the task, but then you'd be left with two same-name folders on different drives....so any reattempt would have to be by selecting images (rather than the complete folder) and dragging from one 2009 folder to the other.
> 
> If you want me to have a quick look (I have a few minutes), you could fire up Teamviewer and PM the codes to me.



I'd sure appreciate you taking a look Jim.  I'll pm you now.  Thanks


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