# Transfer to new computer



## Gray Drake (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi

Purchased LR 4 on a disc and upgraded on line to LR5 a while ago.  Purchased a new computer this week and transferred all files to new computer.  Loaded 4 and upgraded to 5 on new computer.  As I recall from the last new computer, LR recognized my edit file and photos and auto populated the LR software, so it operated the same has with my old computer without much action on my part.  It is not auto-populating this time.  I want to make sure I do no lose all the edits from my 16,000 images, so I have not tried to import/export so far.

What is the best process to integrate the freshly loaded LR5 with the photos and LR edit data that was transferred from my old computer to the new one?  Thanks for any input.

Drake


----------



## Tony Jay (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi Drake.

There should be no need to re-import any images at all.

If you open your catalog what do you see?
If my understanding of your explanation is correct then it is possible that all the folders and images in them have question marks against them.
Agan, if my understanding of your explanation is correct then all that needs to be done is to R-click on the top level folder in your image collection and Lightroom should ask you if you want to locate the missing folder - follow th instructions and navigate to wherever the images are actually currently located.

Let us know how you go.

Tony Jay


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks for the response.

I am only seeing what I believe is the thumbnail images within LR5.  The library is currently unpopulated within LR.  I have not imported as of yet, because I do not want to import unedited files over edited files which could erase the edit info.  You are correct that most images have question marks.  R-clicking on the top folder does not produce the missing folder question in the pop up window.

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 18, 2015)

Can you post a screenshot of the expanded Folders Panel so that we can see what you see?

But you're right, do not try to reimport.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks for the response.
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I have attached a screen shot, only a few images show up of the total in my hard drive.  The resolution of all photos is poor.  The folders that appear were auto created,  I have not tried to down load anything.  This listing of folders is very limited, I have dozens more  in my hard drive that have not appeared in LR.  There is nothing in LR beyond images taken in 2010 or so.

I have not tried to download or import any images, nor have I tried to gain access to any of the missing folders.  



Any suggestions?  I certainly do not want to lose all my edits.

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 18, 2015)

Drake, your screenshot hasn't appeared, so can you try again? See this post for instructions on how to attach a screenshot.

Also, can you look in the "Catalog" panel, just above the Folders Panel, and tell me what's the "All Photographs" total number there.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 19, 2015)

Jim

Please check back.  Screenshot should now be available.

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 19, 2015)

To be honest, I don't really understand what's happened here, as I can't figure out why most of the folders are "missing", yet some of them aren't. Can you tell me if you go into Grid view for that "2012" folder that you have selected in that screenshot, do all the thumbnails have a small exclamation mark in the top right-hand corner (indicates they're "missing")?

Next, can you give me a screenshot of the Catalog panel (opened) and the top part of the Folders Panel?

Lastly, can you tell me if the image files are on an internal or external drive? What drive letter?

Thanks.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 19, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> To be honest, I don't really understand what's happened here, as I can't figure out why most of the folders are "missing", yet some of them aren't. Can you tell me if you go into Grid view for that "2012" folder that you have selected in that screenshot, do all the thumbnails have a small exclamation mark in the top right-hand corner (indicates they're "missing")?  *None have an active exclamation point - it is there but grayed out.*
> 
> Next, can you give me a screenshot of the Catalog panel (opened) and the top part of the Folders Panel? * Control panel in computer?  What folders?*
> 
> ...



*Thanks again for your interest and time!*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 19, 2015)

The screenshot I would like to see is of the Catalog panel and the Folders panel in Lightroom, see attached example:






As to the rest, I'm not really understanding exactly what you are saying, but that's probably just a terminology thing. Lets start with that screenshot, then I can probably start understanding the issue a bit better, and hopefully be able to help you sort it out.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 19, 2015)

Thanks for the response.  Here is the screenshot, which only shows a few of the dozens of folders I have in my hard drive.
I think I am going to just uninstall all LR software and start over.  Thoughts?

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 19, 2015)

Why would you want to start over? In your first post you said you didn't want to lose all the edits of your 16,000 images, and you'd certainly do that if you started over.

I can see from the screenshot that in your catalog there are 13,500 images for which Lightroom will likely still have all the edit information, so I don't understand what you mean that it only has a "few of the dozens of folders on your hard drive". Yes, many/most of the folders in Lightroom are recorded as "missing", but if they are still on the hard drive it's just a case of re-linking them back to Lightroom. So to me, starting over is the worst option at this stage. It's your call, of course, but personally I'd think it worth spending a little time doing some further investigation.

So, if you are happy to carry on, we first need to look outside Lightroom, to where you think the folders are on the hard drive. So can you start with a screenshot of the Windows Explorer view of the hard drive, showing as many as you can of the pictures folders, especially showing the top of the folder structure.


----------



## RogerB (Jan 19, 2015)

Gray Drake said:


> I think I am going to just uninstall all LR software and start over.  Thoughts?
> 
> Drake



Hi Drake - I wouldn't uninstall LR yet, the experts here might be able to spot where your troubles are and sort you out.  

However, if it does get to the point where you need to reinstall I notice in your original post you said you " Loaded 4 and upgraded to 5 on new computer".  You don't need to install version 4 first and then upgrade, as long as you have valid licence keys (which I assume you must have as you installed both versions on your new computer) then just download and install the latest version and use your licence keys to register it.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 19, 2015)

LR 4 - I understand now that I did not have to re-install LR 4 first, but I had the disc and thought I had to start there before upgrading to 5 on line.  I have valid keys to both 4 and 5.

Uninstalling - I am not recommending uninstalling, but offered it as an alternative.

Hard Drive Folders - most of my folders from my hard drive do not show up in LR now, some do, but most do not.  The photo folder structure in my hard drive is very conventional  All are subfolders to my Pictures.  Some are topic driven (for example Carol's Art",  but most begin with a year as you can see from the screen shot above.  I have 15 or so folders for each year, for example I have a folder "2014 - Flowers, Birds and Critters", and I have a similar one beginning with each year I have had a digital camera.  

Thanks for your interest, 

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 19, 2015)

The reason I asked for the screenshot of the folders using Windows Explorer is so that I can start making sense of what I see in the Folders Panel, i.e. Lightroom "sees" the top-level "Pictures" folder, and it "sees" one or two of the sub-folders below....but most of the sub-folders Lightroom doesn't "see", and we need to figure out why not. Hence the need to see the screenshot, so if you could so that it will be a great help.

And what do you mean when you say that "most of your folders don't show up in Lightroom".....are you referring to the ones with the "?" marks, are are you saying there's a whole bunch of other folders that don't appear in the Folders Panel in any form?


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 20, 2015)

Jim here are a couple of screen shots.  You will see LR has not picked up any of my folders on the hard drive after those from 2012 and actually have missed many folders from the earlier periods.  The screen shot from my hard drive shows all the 2014 folders, none of which are picked up by LR.

I have not backed up LR since the problem begun, since this will overwrite the edit fills in the back up folder.  It seems there was a corruption in the download of LR% and uninstalling may be the best action now.  I have called Adobe but they refuse any help.  I think if I do this process, by existing back up can be  used to repopulate LR and restore all the edits.  Comments on this process would be helpful.

Again thanks for all  your interest and time.

Drake


----------



## Tony Jay (Jan 20, 2015)

Drake, be patient.

I have watched this thread develop.
Jim has things well in hand.
Just let him guide you and all those lost images will be relinked - no need to cut your losses.

Tony Jay


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2015)

Drake, a couple of observations:

Taking a catalog does no harm, it doesn't "overwrite the edit files in the backup folder".....the backup process creates a new backup file (which is basically just a copy of the original catalog) every time you run it. Older backup copies are unaffected.

Secondly, if all those 2014 folders don't appear in the catalog, can you confirm that you have previously imported them? Lightroom doesn't "auto-populate", you have to instruct Lightroom to import them by the import process. If you have imported them, and they're not in the Folders Panel, that would imply you are using an older catalog....so let's explore that first. To start with that, close down Lightroom then start it again whilst holding down the Ctrl key. This will bring up the "Select Catalog" dialog box, could you take a screenshot of that before quitting. 

We'll need to sort out the catalog question before addressing any missing folders.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 20, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> Drake, a couple of observations:
> 
> Taking a catalog *(I do not know what this means)* does no harm, it doesn't "overwrite the edit files in the backup folder".....the backup process creates a new backup file (which is basically just a copy of the original catalog) every time you run it. Older backup copies are unaffected.  *So if I backed up 15 times, I could recover all the image info from the 10th  back up.  It seems, however, you would lose all the edits that occurred in the interim.
> 
> ...



*I am going out of town for a few days and would like to get this resolved beforehand.  Perhaps we can discuss more than one step in the resolution process in each posting.

The attached snip shows the file listing when the create a new catalogue button is clicked, there is no button named "Select Catalogue".  Sorry about the location.*

*Thanks


*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2015)

That should have been "Taking a catalog *backup*", apologies for the confusion. And yes, you can 15 backups and recover edits from the 10th backup, and if you are careful you will not lose all the other edits.

Drake, if you want to get this resolved quickly, then you have to help me to help you. Basically saying that you're not certain that you've imported all the 2014 (and now 2015) pictures into Lightroom doesn't help us move forward at all. You've repeatedly said that these folders don't show up in Lightroom, and that you don't want to lose the edits, so I'm working towards recovering that situation....but now without any certainty that the files have ever been imported. Can you provide any clarity on this?

Yes, it would be great to "*discuss more than one step in the resolution process in each posting*", but that's just not possible until we have a much clearer idea of the situation. The screenshot that you just provided is not what I asked for, so I'll try again:

1. Close Lightroom.
2. Press and hold the Ctrl key on the keyboard while starting Lightroom again in the normal way.
3. This should bring up the Select Catalog dialog box, like the attached:






Select "Quit" and post the screenshot, thanks.


----------



## Chris_M (Jan 20, 2015)

Erm, sorry if this sounds a bit silly, but it wouldn't be something as simple as the photos that are missing were on different drives would it?


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2015)

It may be, Chris....but first we need to establish exactly what files are supposed to be in the catalog, or if the correct catalog is being used. Once that's sorted , then we can go hunting for whatever files are missing.


----------



## smcf (Jan 20, 2015)

Jim I'm a new guy here (a month or so) and I just wanted to say I'm impressed by your consistent dedication and patience in trying to help us all out. Bravo sir.


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2015)

Hey, that's really kind of you to say so.....much appreciated!


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 20, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> That should have been "Taking a catalog *backup*", apologies for the confusion. And yes, you can 15 backups and recover edits from the 10th backup, and if you are careful you will not lose all the other edits.
> 
> Drake, if you want to get this resolved quickly, then you have to help me to help you. Basically saying that you're not certain that you've imported all the 2014 (and now 2015) pictures into Lightroom doesn't help us move forward at all. You've repeatedly said that these folders don't show up in Lightroom, and that you don't want to lose the edits, so I'm working towards recovering that situation....but now without any certainty that the files have ever been imported. Can you provide any clarity on this?
> 
> ...








*Here is the screenshot as requested.
*


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi

Purchased LR 4 on a disc and upgraded on line to LR5 a while ago.  Purchased a new computer this week and transferred all files to new computer.  Loaded 4 and upgraded to 5 on new computer.  As I recall from the last new computer, LR recognized my edit file and photos and auto populated the LR software, so it operated the same has with my old computer without much action on my part.  It is not auto-populating this time.  I want to make sure I do no lose all the edits from my 16,000 images, so I have not tried to import/export so far.

What is the best process to integrate the freshly loaded LR5 with the photos and LR edit data that was transferred from my old computer to the new one?  Thanks for any input.

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2015)

Thanks. That tells us that this is the only catalog that you've used on the new computer, which does mean that this is likely the catalog that you transferred over to the new computer....so the mystery deepens.

Do you still have access to the old computer? Would it be possible to start Lightroom on the old computer and take a screenshot of the Folders Panel there? I'm trying to find a catalog that has all those 2014/5 images showing in there....if we can't find one then all we can do is try to fix the broken links in the current catalog, after which you'll have to import those 2014/5 folders as new.

You obviously think that you have imported them, which I tend to think is likely also, so we need to find a catalog which reflects that. Other things we can do is inspect some of your backup catalogs....did you copy the backups folder over to the new computer when you migrated? And exactly how long ago did you switch to the new computer?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm still trying to get a complete picture of the situation.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 21, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> That should have been "Taking a catalog *backup*", apologies for the confusion. And yes, you can 15 backups and recover edits from the 10th backup, and if you are careful you will not lose all the other edits.
> 
> Drake, if you want to get this resolved quickly, then you have to help me to help you. Basically saying that you're not certain that you've imported all the 2014 (and now 2015) pictures into Lightroom doesn't help us move forward at all. You've repeatedly said that these folders don't show up in Lightroom, and that you don't want to lose the edits, so I'm working towards recovering that situation....but now without any certainty that the files have ever been imported. Can you provide any clarity on this?
> 
> ...



Thanks Jim.  Sorry a post made yesterday did not go thru, must not have clicked reply properly.  

The screen shot contained the info - Left side "Lightoom 5 Catalogue.Ircat", Right side "C\Users\Owner\Pictures\Lightroom"

I had deleted my screen shot, but this should suffice.

Drake


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 21, 2015)

No worries, I did see the post.

Did you see my response, post #26? A few more questions, I'm afraid....if you get back to me as soon as you can, we'll try to move things forward.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 21, 2015)

Jim this is the 3rd post of the info.  For what ever reason the post is not recording in the Forum.  Here is the requested snip.


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 21, 2015)

Drake, I did see that snip when you first posted it, and I still do.

At the moment I waiting on you to get back to me on the questions I asked in my post #26.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 21, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> Thanks. That tells us that this is the only catalog that you've used on the new computer, which does mean that this is likely the catalog that you transferred over to the new computer....so the mystery deepens.
> 
> Do you still have access to the old computer?
> 
> ...


*  See response above.*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 22, 2015)

Gray Drake said:


> New computer is a couple weeks old, and all the files appear to be transferred, however, the edits are not being applied to the images in the hard drive.



Can you explain what you mean by this? Lightroom is a "non-destructive" editor, which means that it never makes any changes to the image data of your original files on the hard drive. Instead, all the edits are stored as text instructions in the Lightroom catalog which you only see in the previews that it updates, and in any derivative files that you ask Lightroom to generate, such as exported jpegs or prints. But if you look at an edited file using another image viewer outside Lightroom, you will only see the original unedited file.



> Jim, I continue to feel even more strongly that an error occurred in the LR import process and that I should perhaps re import. I do not see a risk in pursuing this action, since it should not touch the edit info that should be residing in my back up folders.



Again, not sure what you mean when you say that an error occurred in the LR import process....."import" only adds new content to the catalog, it cannot cause several years-worth of images to disappear from the catalog....images from 2013, 2014 and 2015 do not appear in the catalog that you are using. To me, it's far more likely that somehow in the transfer of data to the new computer you have ended up with an old version of the catalog.....I cannot think of any other scenario that would fit the symptoms. 

There is no danger in importing those several years of images, except that you will have lost all the edits that you had applied to them. The edit info will only be residing in your backup folders *if there is a catalog backup that reflects the Folders Panel from before the transfer*, i.e. we need to have a catalog that shows the 2013, 2014 and 2015 folders in the Folders Panel.....if we can't, then you've lost all that edit info.

So perhaps that's what you need to look for next. Where are your catalog backups? Can you find one that was taken just before the move to the new computer (if you used Lightroom to take the catalog backup, you will find them neatly contained in date/time stamped folders in the Backups folder). Let me know if you can find them.

Also, have you done a search of the new computer for catalog files (in case the "correct" catalog was copied over). Do a search of the hard drive using Windows Explorer for *.lrcat files (note, that's a small-case L, not an upper-case I). Let me see the results if you find anything other than the catalog you're currently using.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 22, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> Can you explain what you mean by this? Lightroom is a "non-destructive" editor, which means that it never makes any changes to the image data of your original files on the hard drive. Instead, all the edits are stored as text instructions in the Lightroom catalog which you only see in the previews that it updates, and in any derivative files that you ask Lightroom to generate, such as exported jpegs or prints. But if you look at an edited file using another image viewer outside Lightroom, you will only see the original unedited file.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



*A snip of my .lrcat file search follows.  I did not purposefully do any updates, I am suprised to see te 1/21/15 up date.  Could this be auto activated?  The 12/16/14 edit probably is a complete file from my old computer.

Thanks again Jim.*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 22, 2015)

OK, well it looks as though we're getting somewhere at last. However, the picture is a little confusing in trying to determine which of those backup catalogs we should be targeting, it doesn't help that I can't quite see the original creation date of the time-stamped sub-folders to know in what order those backups were taken. No matter for now, but could I have another screenshot this time of the folder Pictures\Lightroom Edits\Backups....but expanded so that we can see all the time-stamped sub-folders (make sure we can see the full time-stamp).

What I think you should try is open the top 3 Lightroom Edits catalogs in that list, one after the other....but let's just do one for now. Start with the one at the top.....start Lightroom, go to Edit>Catalog Settings>General tab and check to see what catalog you have open. Depending on the way your Lightroom preferences are set, it may be the "Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat" catalog, or it may now be a "Lightroom Edits.lrcat". If it's the Lightroom 5 catalog, dismiss the Catalog Settings dialog box, then do File>Open Catalog and in the resulting file browser navigate to the Lightroom Edits\Backups folder, open the appropriate time-stamped sub-folder that corresponds to the topmost Lightroom Edits.lrcat from your search, and select the catalog from within. Once you have the correct catalog open (or if it's already the correct Lightroom Edits.lrcat), proceed as follows:

For now I just want you to open the Folders Panel, without doing anything else, and examine the folders listed in there. Are all your 2013 and 2014 folders listed? Don't worry if they all have "?" marks to indicate that Lightroom can't find them, we can deal with that later. What about the few 2015 folders, are they listed as well.

If all looks good, please take a screenshot of the Folders Panel and post it back so that we can see what needs to be done. If you have to, take as many screenshots as you need to capture the full extent of the Folders Panel.

So, to recap: for now I'd like to see a screenshot of the Windows Explorer view of the time-stamped sub-folders in the Pictures\Lightroom Edits\Backups folder.
Then, after opening the topmost Lightroom Edits catalog as per your search, a screenshot of the Folders Panel.

Thanks.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 22, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> OK, well it looks as though we're getting somewhere at last. However, the picture is a little confusing in trying to determine which of those backup catalogs we should be targeting, it doesn't help that I can't quite see the original creation date of the time-stamped sub-folders to know in what order those backups were taken. No matter for now, but could I have another screenshot this time of the folder Pictures\Lightroom Edits\Backups....but expanded so that we can see all the time-stamped sub-folders (make sure we can see the full time-stamp).
> 
> What I think you should try is open the top 3 Lightroom Edits catalogs in that list, one after the other....but let's just do one for now. Start with the one at the top.....*start Lightroom, go to Edit>Catalog Settings>General tab and check to see what catalog you have open.* Depending on the way your Lightroom preferences are set, it may be the "Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat" catalog, or it may now be a "Lightroom Edits.lrcat". If it's the Lightroom 5 catalog, dismiss the Catalog Settings dialog box, then do File>Open Catalog and in the resulting file browser navigate to the Lightroom Edits\Backups folder, open the appropriate time-stamped sub-folder that corresponds to the topmost Lightroom Edits.lrcat from your search, and select the catalog from within. Once you have the correct catalog open (or if it's already the correct Lightroom Edits.lrcat), proceed as follows:
> 
> ...


*Thanks, Jim.
Some comments - I will be gone for a few days beginning in about 4 hours, so be patient when you do not receive responses from me.  I need to resolve this issue soon, however, as I need to package a group of edited images for a program my wife is putting together.  This is why, I am interested in moving in more than single steps, as long as there is not a risk of overwriting existing info.   If I am going to have to re-edit all the related images, I must begin this process soon.  

1 - The 2014.12.16 Back up was the last one completed on my old computer
2 - **start Lightroom, go to Edit>Catalog Settings>General tab and check to see what catalog you have open.  The back up dated 2014.12.16 is listed.   At the moment a very disappointing find.
3 - Screen shot of folders panel.*




*5 - In the windows explorer file listing, 
* *Click on Edits
        Then click on Back ups
        Then click on 2014-12-16 (the last back  up from my old computer)
        Then click on back ups (surprised this shows up again)
        Only choice is 2015-01-14 (disappointing, since this is a back up from my new computer, but I have not gone beyond to actually see what is in this)

Drake*


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 22, 2015)

*Jim, I am very close to 
- uninstalling LR 5
- re-installing LR 5
- loading the picture files from my hard drive
- activating the LR back up that seems to be most complete
- if this back up is missing data,  than try one of the other back ups that will remain in the Windows file

Please indicate the risk with this process?

Thanks for all your time, Jim

Drake*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 22, 2015)

What does "At the moment a very disappointing find" mean?

With that 2014-12-16 catalog active in Lightroom, have you opened the Folders Panel in the Lightroom Library module to check what is listed there? Can I have the screenshot of that?


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 22, 2015)

Gray Drake said:


> *Jim, I am very close to
> - uninstalling LR 5
> - re-installing LR 5
> - loading the picture files from my hard drive
> ...



Uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom 5 will solve nothing and would be a complete waste of time.
Loading the pictures files into what? Which catalog will you use for this? If a new empty one then you will have lost all your edits of all your files.
Activating the most complete backup is what I'm currently trying to get you to do, anything missing should only be things you have imported since you stopped using that backup catalog, so there should be no need to revert to older backups.

So what we need to do is find the catalog that has the most complete data. In theory it should be the 2014-12-16 backup, so that's why I've asked to to open that catalog and then let's see, by inspecting the Library module's Folders Panel, what data Lightroom has. That's the key action right now.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 22, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> Uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom 5 will solve nothing and would be a complete waste of time.
> Loading the pictures files into what? Which catalog will you use for this? If a new empty one then you will have lost all your edits of all your files.
> Activating the most complete backup is what I'm currently trying to get you to do, anything missing should only be things you have imported since you stopped using that backup catalog, so there should be no need to revert to older backups.
> 
> ...


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 25, 2015)

*Jim, when going to LR this evening, all my hard drive folders are now appearing in LR Library Module, and the number of total images there has increased by over 2000, up to 16,669 (probably the number from the old computer).  I took no actions to generate this change except re-opening LR, which I have done a couple dozen times since the problem occurred.  We are leaving again this evening, but I will provide a response on status tomorrow afternoon.

I have done nothing to attempt to apply my past edits or check to see if they are there.  Will report.

Thanks for all your time and effort.

Drake*


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 25, 2015)

*It appears all my edits are now present in LR, as are the photos in smart collections and my Flickr folder..  Some have indicated LR does not auto populate, however,  this appears to have occurred.  

Any comments?
Drake*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 25, 2015)

Drake, that's very good news, but we need to check what catalog you are now using. 2000+ pictures don't suddenly appear in the catalog, complete with all their folders in the Folders Panel, as if by magic, i.e. you're now using a different catalog than when you took those screenshots a few days ago.

Logically, the catalog you are using now should be the 12/16/14 backup catalog, though you seemed to suggest that this was even more incomplete than the first one. However, open the catalog and verify once again that it is the catalog with all the folders, images and edits still intact, then do Edit>Catalog Settings and take a screenshot of the General Tab. Post that back here and I'll try to explain what I think has happened, and offer some suggestions for avoiding a repeat.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 25, 2015)

*Hi Jim

I check my most recent files from 2015 and they appear to be present now, along with my edits.   Why? Don't know!

Also did some editing today and discovered I could no longer authorize Flickr.  Went through the entire process with no success, so this is still an open issue.   In this process I discovered the LR 4 program is still residing in my computer.  Is it possible the missing file issue was because for some reason LR5 was accessing some files out of 4.  If this occurred, this may explain the condition where my more recent files and photos were missing from LR - since when I was using 4 these photos and files were not in existance.

Can, should I uninstall LR 4?

Thanks again, Drake*


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 25, 2015)

*Jim, this is a second posting of the same message, that did not seem to be recorded.  

A review of my files and images seems to indicate everything is now present.  I have no idea how or way.

Also, I did some editing today and tried to upload to Flickr and could not get authorization.  Still an open issue, even though I went through the process to re-authorize a number of times.  In this process I noted that LR 4 is still on my computer.  Is it possible that LR 5 has captured some LR 4 files that were saved at a time when the missing folders and images were not even on my computer?  It could be the library inventory missing the folders/images was created when only LR 4 was on my old computer.

In this regard, would any required files be lost if I uninstalled LR 4 now?

Thanks for all your time,
Drake*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 26, 2015)

No, nothing would be lost if you uninstall LR4.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 26, 2015)

*Jim  

Forgot about going to the new page when my message seemed to be disappearing.  Slow learner!  

The snip of the Edit window is attached to your inquiry above.

I will uninstall Windows 4.

As always, thanks.*


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 26, 2015)

Thanks. One last question, look at the General Tab of the Lightroom Preferences (Edit>Preferences>General Tab), and tell me what option is currently set in the Default Catalog section, in the drop down box alongside "When starting up use this catalog:"? There are only three options:

1. Load most recent catalog (which is what I suspect your prefs are set to). This, IMO, is a quite dangerous option for the unwary.....

2. Prompt me when starting Lightroom, brings up that "Select Catalog" dialog box when starting Lightroom, allows you to choose the required catalog. Useful for users like me who have multiple catalogs (though in my case the additional ones are mostly test catalogs).

3. Select a specific catalog, so that it is always the one used during startup. This is perhaps the most common option.


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 26, 2015)

Jim Wilde said:


> Thanks. One last question, look at the General Tab of the Lightroom Preferences (Edit>Preferences>General Tab), and tell me what option is currently set in the Default Catalog section, in the drop down box alongside "When starting up use this catalog:"? There are only three options:
> 
> 1. Load most recent catalog (which is what I suspect your prefs are set to). This, IMO, is a quite dangerous option for the unwary.... *This is my current preference.  I only use one catalogue.  All my downloads go into a sub folder within this primary one called "2015 Imports for Editing.  Since this is the case, and since I am now wary thanks to you, I will for the near future continue to use this one.*
> 2. Prompt me when starting Lightroom, brings up that "Select Catalog" dialog box when starting Lightroom, allows you to choose the required catalog. Useful for users like me who have multiple catalogs (though in my case the additional ones are mostly test catalogs).
> ...


Again, thanks Jim!!  Do you have any comments about losing access to Flickr, which was discovered yesterday.   Lightroom indicates I am not authorized, but when I click the authorize button, I get a blank screen titled static.photoshop.com.  This is reported as a problem on the web, but there have been no good resolutions that I have found.

Thanks.  You are a gem, in addition to being a Jim.

Drake


----------



## Gray Drake (Jan 28, 2015)

_*Jim

Thanks for all your interest, patience and time on this issue.  You are a credit to the services being rendered on this site.

Drake*_


----------

