Back Up and Moving Files and PSE 15 running slow

Backup and moving files can't be faster than doing it from your Windows explorer. Both tasks require reading and writing all your files elsewhere. For my 70 000 items catalogs, that requires more than two hours. When you ask the organizer to do that, it use the explorer to move the files, and at the same time it updates your catalog to indicate the new location on the other drive. Copying is slow, updating is very fast. Moving files is fast if you move them to the same physical drive. That means the files are not copied, only that the Windows explorer updates its own data just like the organizer does for its catalogs.

PSE 15 was running slow on my Windows 10 laptop (16 gig of RAM).  So, I did a back-up (via PSE's tool for such) to my external HD (it is called my E drive).  Now, it seems as if I have JPEGs scattered everywhere!

When you create a backup, you don't create a simple copy of the photo files tree, you create a 'package' into a dedicated folder. That package (the backup folder) contains everything needed for the Organizer to perform the 'Restore' function where you want.

I created a new folder on my EX HD.  I named it 'Pictures'.  The pictures that were in my C HD on my laptop named 'Pictures' - I moved those to my E drive folder named 'Pictures'. My goal is to get most of my images in that folder.  I do not like them scattered all over the place.  Therefore, my goal is every time I run across an image that is not in my E:/Pictures . . . is to highlight these images and drag and drop them into the E:/Pictures folder.

To do that you don't use the backup and restore method which is intended to move everything, image files tree and catalog. To move a part of your folder tree, you use the left Folders panel. You select the part of the tree to move, then you drag and drop it on the new folder.

Am I going to be creating a bunch of duplicates this way?  I guess I can avoid duplicates via checking to see if my drag and drop was successful and if it was . . . then to go back and delete the images from where I got them.  Is that OK?

No risk if you move by drag and drop. Simply be patient, that may take some time without a gauge to tell you the % performed.

I find the whole catalog/'back up' and 'don't move your images outside of PSE are it will not be able to find them', a bit abstract for my head.

As explained above, the backup and restore process is used mainly when moving from a computer to another (or to a different drive).

Since the organizer can do the same tasks as the Windows explorer:  move, rename or delete, always use it, NEVER the explorer. When the organizer does the job, it also updates your catalog.

Namely, on my EX HD leaving the 'My Catalog' folder ALONE -- YET, moving all other images to one folder on my EX HD?

You don't need to bother with the 'My Catalog' folder for your purpose. But it's good to know that this folder can be copied or moved elsewhere from the Windows Explorer, contrary to the photo files. The contents of the folder are still valid. So, if you decide to copy the catalog folder on your external drive along with your photo files, it can be used if you plug the external drive to another computer with the same Elements version.