# Remove external drive from Folders view



## 56 Chevy (Jan 10, 2012)

Win 7 64 bit PC  LR 3
I keep my photos on one of my external drives -- with my catalog on my internal C drive.
All of a sudden (not sure how it happened) another one of external drives is showing up under my Folders tab in the Library view.
This folder is annoying and I would like to remove it -- but can't figure out how to delete / remove / eject this extra drive.
I know how to ADD a folder -- but can't figure out how to remove this extra external drive from showing up
By the way -- I can't even seem to "highlight" the drive so that I can hit the minus sign next to "Folders" -- 
Thanks in advance
Art


----------



## clee01l (Jan 10, 2012)

You probably have folders showing under the Drive header. Using LR, remove the folders from the drive and the Header will disappear with the last folder.


----------



## dSly (Jan 29, 2012)

*Same Problem - Getting Desperate*



clee01l said:


> You probably have folders showing under the Drive header. Using LR, remove the folders from the drive and the Header will disappear with the last folder.


Yes, I did that but the drive keeps reappearing and loading up in the Catalog (it appears) all 16,000 pictures I already have in the Catalog in that same drive (under a different name, it is a NAS network drive)!! How can I stop this??


----------



## clee01l (Jan 29, 2012)

dSly said:


> Yes, I did that but the drive keeps reappearing and loading up in the Catalog (it appears) all 16,000 pictures I already have in the Catalog in that same drive (under a different name, it is a NAS network drive)!! How can I stop this??


This is a different problem.   There was an earlier thread (or two?) that deals with this problem in depth.  I'll need to search it out and get back with you.  Most likely your problem is that you have used different (mixed) capitalization to describe the volume to LR.   While I am trying to find the other thread, Can you post a screen shot with your Folder panel showing the top level folders and volumes that are at issue?

Perhaps Jim or Beat were involved in the earlier threads and can refresh my aging memory..


----------



## Jim Wilde (Jan 29, 2012)

Beat's the memory man, Cletus! A month or so ago I was dealing with a similar issue and he pointed me at a thread from the photoshop.com site which offers a potential workaround for the 'dual folder structure caused by capitalisation differences' issue. Here's the relevant section:


----------



## b_gossweiler (Jan 29, 2012)

TNG said:


> Beat's the memory man ...



Yeah, I've got this reputation at some places :crazy:

Beat


----------



## Hal P Anderson (Jan 30, 2012)

b_gossweiler said:


> Yeah, I've got this reputation at some places :crazy:
> 
> Beat



LOL

Hal


----------



## dSly (Jan 30, 2012)

*Duplicate Drive*



TNG said:


> Beat's the memory man, Cletus! A month or so ago I was dealing with a similar issue and he pointed me at a thread from the photoshop.com site which offers a potential workaround for the 'dual folder structure caused by capitalisation differences' issue. Here's the relevant section:
> 
> View attachment 1774


Thanks for the quick response; very interesting solution.  However, I don't think I can use it since my problem has to do with duplicate drives (not folders).  I don't think I have the "Update Folder Location" option for a drive, right?  

The two drives with "Volume_1" in the name are actually the one network drive... 
I can remove my network drive mapping (the N drive) but there's got to be a better solution.


----------



## b_gossweiler (Jan 30, 2012)

dSly said:


> I don't think I have the "Update Folder Location" for a drive, right?



No you don't, but if you perform "Update Folder Location" on your top-level folder(s), that should take care of it. Just make sure you know which entry to work on (it's the one NOT used for current imports).

Beat


----------



## dSly (Jan 30, 2012)

Beat, the "Update Folder Location" is not available for a drive; I can only do that for the folders _within _the duplicated drive.  I don't have a "top level folder" for a drive.  (or I just don't understand what you are suggesting)


----------



## clee01l (Jan 30, 2012)

TNG said:


> Beat's the memory man, Cletus! A month or so ago I was dealing with a similar issue and he pointed me at a thread from the photoshop.com site which offers a potential workaround for the 'dual folder structure caused by capitalisation differences' issue. Here's the relevant section:
> 
> View attachment 1774


Thanks Jim.  I even see Victoria's name  on the solution.


----------



## clee01l (Jan 30, 2012)

dSly said:


> Beat, the "Update Folder Location" is not available for a drive; I can only do that for the folders _within _the duplicated drive.  I don't have a "top level folder" for a drive.  (or I just don't understand what you are suggesting)


 The Volume labeled "Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)(N has a toplevel folder or folders. 

Click on the triangle on the right side of the Volume header to expose them.
 For each top level folder exposed, right click on the folder to open the context menu.
Choose {Update Folder Location...} from the menu
Navigate to the Volume\folder named "\\DLINK-489061\Volume_1\"
Find the corresponding  folder name and select it.
Repeat this process for all top level folders  on "Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)(N


----------



## dSly (Jan 30, 2012)

clee01l said:


> The Volume labeled "Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)(N has a toplevel folder or folders.
> 
> Click on the triangle on the right side of the Volume header to expose them.
> For each top level folder exposed, right click on the folder to open the context menu.
> ...



Ah!  Now I understand what you (& he) mean.  Thanks for the detailed instructions.

The top-level directories would be like all the directories that appear under that drive with a little arrow.  I guess I could try that but the damned thing is now listing 66 directories (that re-appeared while I was seeking help on the Internet). I suppose you are suggesting to use the "Update Folder Location" for each of the folders that are appearing?  That will take me forever!!

The more I use LightRoom, the less I like it; so far, it has not saved me anytime, it is rather creating a massive waste of time.

I thought I'd give it a try for one folder and it did not work; the nine pictures stayed at both places and I got this message:



I'm giving up for the day.  This is very bad software...


----------



## clee01l (Jan 30, 2012)

> Update Folder Location" for each of the folders that are appearing? That will take me forever!!


 These 'top level folders are subfolders of the folder named "Volume_1"  
On both volumes _"\\DLINK-489061\Volume_1\" and __"Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)" _ First click on one of the subfolders and Choose {Add Parent Folder}.  This should leave you with exactly one top level folder named "Volume_1" on each instance of the (same) volume.

Then you can follow my earlier instructions using the top level folder name "Volume_1".


----------



## dSly (Jan 30, 2012)

clee01l said:


> These 'top level folders are subfolders of the folder named "Volume_1"
> On both volumes _"\\DLINK-489061\Volume_1\" and __"Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)" _ First click on one of the subfolders and Choose {Add Parent Folder}.  This should leave you with exactly one top level folder named "Volume_1" on each instance of the (same) volume.
> 
> Then you can follow my earlier instructions using the top level folder name "Volume_1".


Thanks for your patience.  It seems to have worked and I am very happy and relieved. 

I am noticing that the process made parent directories appear under the drive I want to keep though.  This is not as much a deal as the previous problem but is there a way to remove the parent directories?

The directory "photos" is the only one I want to keep/see in this screen capture.  The other two are not relevant.  I saw the "promote subfolders" item but am not sure about it...


----------



## clee01l (Jan 30, 2012)

Yes, just right click on the _folder_ named "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1"  (not the Volume named "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1" and choose {Promote Subfolders} from the context menu.


----------



## dSly (Jan 31, 2012)

clee01l said:


> Yes, just right click on the _folder_ named "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1"  (not the Volume named "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1" and choose {Promote Subfolders} from the context menu.


That worked like a charm!  Thanks for your assistance, much appreciated.  :hail:


----------



## dSly (Feb 1, 2012)

clee01l said:


> These 'top level folders are subfolders of the folder named "Volume_1"
> On both volumes _"\\DLINK-489061\Volume_1\" and __"Volume_w(9\\192.168.1.21)" _ First click on one of the subfolders and Choose {Add Parent Folder}.  This should leave you with exactly one top level folder named "Volume_1" on each instance of the (same) volume.
> 
> Then you can follow my earlier instructions using the top level folder name "Volume_1".


Oh no!  It's back!!   Fired up the computer and Lightroom tonight -> the duplicate drive is back and it is already listing 71 folders and over 800 photos (assuming it is not yet finished synchronizing).

Is there a way to make the solution to the problem permanent?


----------



## clee01l (Feb 1, 2012)

What do you mean by synchronizing?  If you successfully removed the volume "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1" from the folder panel It will not return unless you add it or Import to it as a destination in the import panel.  When testing the solution that I offered I had a very difficult time even creating a UNC volume in the LR folder panel.  What are you doing that makes it appear?

Folders do not synchronize themselves. Are you initiating a folder sync in the folder panel with the UNC volume?


----------



## dSly (Feb 1, 2012)

clee01l said:


> What do you mean by synchronizing?  If you successfully removed the volume "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1" from the folder panel It will not return unless you add it or Import to it as a destination in the import panel.  When testing the solution that I offered I had a very difficult time even creating a UNC volume in the LR folder panel.  What are you doing that makes it appear?


I don't know.  I did move pictures around from a local drive to my network drive; I assume that's the thing that would have initiated a synchronization process.  I did not move/import into the drive I did not want to see because it was gone at that time.  I may have asked for folder synchronizations under the network drive that I see (want to keep) though.



clee01l said:


> Folders do not synchronize themselves. Are you initiating a folder sync in the folder panel with the UNC volume?


I do it at the folder level.  I don't think I can start a synchronization directly at the drive level; I don't see it in the menu.

I reapplied the solution yesterday and don't see the duplicated drive today.  I have not done anything with my pictures today though...


----------



## clee01l (Feb 1, 2012)

dSly said:


> ...I don't see the duplicated drive today but I have not done anything yet...


 Could you have accidentally opened an old catalog yesterday? 

It is usually unnecessary to do any folder sync. If image files were deleted from the catalog and not from the folder you might want to sync the folder to correct this accident (if it was one). It is not a good practice to add images to a LR managed folder outside of LR. If you want to add images to a folder, use LR and Import tham letting LR copy or Move the images to the folder you designate. 

Your screen shot in post #15 shows only Drive C: and "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1"   Drive N: will not reappear in this catalog unless you add it to the folder panel manually or open the import dialog and set it as a destination in the destination panel..


----------



## dSly (Feb 3, 2012)

clee01l said:


> Could you have accidentally opened an old catalog yesterday?



I start LR by clicking on the icon; I can't see how I could've opened an old catalog.



clee01l said:


> It is usually unnecessary to do any folder sync. If image files were deleted from the catalog and not from the folder you might want to sync the folder to correct this accident (if it was one). It is not a good practice to add images to a LR managed folder outside of LR. If you want to add images to a folder, use LR and Import tham letting LR copy or Move the images to the folder you designate.



I had a bit of cleanup to do and had to delete folders from the disk which can only be done outside of LR (as far as I know).  That's the type of situation where I would've needed a folder synchronization.



clee01l said:


> Your screen shot in post #15 shows only Drive C: and "\\DKLINK-489061\Volume_1"   Drive N: will not reappear in this catalog unless you add it to the folder panel manually or open the import dialog and set it as a destination in the destination panel..


I didn't deliberately do any of that.  I don't know how/why it reappeared.  I will do more photo cleanup over the next few days and pay attention to the situations that could cause the reappearance... 

Thanks for your continuous support and advice.


----------



## clee01l (Feb 3, 2012)

dSly said:


> I had a bit of cleanup to do and had to delete folders from the disk which can only be done outside of LR (as far as I know).  That's the type of situation where I would've needed a folder synchronization...


  Images referenced in the LR catalog need to be deleted from the LR catalog first.  You can then choose {remove} for any folder showing in the folder panel.  This will remove the images from the LR cayalog and if the folder is then empty, LR will delete the folder from the file system. 
Synchronize Folders adds images found in the folder that are not in the catalog.  This is not what you are wanting to do if you are trying to clean up LR and your file system.  Cleant up all folders cataloged in LR using LR.  Only after you have removed the folders from LR shoud you revisit the filesyste using Explorer.  Any residual folders will contain non image files or image files that were never cataloged and never imported into the folder by LR.  These will need to be dealt with using the filesystem functions.


----------

