Inspiring

Answered

move catalog to a laptop with existing PSE 2020 prg installed.

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
October 17, 2024
16 replies
2425 views

I am preparing to leave home for my winter place. I use a desktop here but a laptop when I travel. I have the program installed on both. I thought I had moved the Catalog to an EHD last winter but I see now that the catalog is different on the laptop from that on the desktop.

I have completed a Full Backup that includes buc and tly files as well as BOOO files. I reconnected, optimized and repaired before making the Backup.

#1 Can I somehow update the Catalog on the laptop to conform to the newer version in the saved Backup?

#2 Do I need to reinstall PSE 2020 on the laptop in order to do a Restore using my Backup?

#3 At present my catalog is shown as below but I wanted to have it only on the EHD so that I could switch from desktop to laptop seamlessly. Is this possible?

I hope I have explained the goal I am trying to achieve, to have my catalog on an EHD that can be used by both devices.

Elements Organizer 18.0.0.0
Core Version: 18.0 (20201207.m.154403)
Language Version: 18.0 (20201207.m.154403)

Current Catalog:
Catalog Name: My Catalog
Catalog Location: C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\My Catalog\
Catalog Size: 75.7MB
Catalog Cache Size: 856.8MB

System:
Operating System Name: Windows 10
Operating System Version: 10.0
System Architecture: Intel CPU Family:6 Model:5 Stepping:3 with MMX, SSE Integer, SSE FP, SSE2
Built-in Memory: 7.8GB
Free Memory: 530.1MB

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Greg_S.

@Grace Muskokan said: I am confused by the fact that photos I added to the catalog on the desktop do not appear on the laptop catalog. So it seems I have the same catalog open but it is keeping a different version according to the device I use to import photos?

No. Given the information you have provided, I suspect that you are using two different catalogs. Go to Help>System Info . . . It may take a little while to display the dialog, but at the top, you will see the location of your currently open catalog. Do the same on both computers and see if there is any difference in either the name or location of the catalog on each machine.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

I have looked at your desktop screenshots, and the desktop catalog is set up properly. So is your D drive on your laptop the

#8 EHD or another internal drive?

@Grace Muskokan said: OK I think I have the catalog opened correctly in E drive on both. However, when I go to choose catalog file under the Catalog folder there are 3 different ones with heading catalog.pse18db. I always use the first one in this list.

Yes that is the correct one to use. You have hidden file extensions in Windows Explorer. But look at the type of file and it should correlate with the correct file extension:

@Grace Muskokan said: My new files are stored on a separate EHD. If I copy that folder to the E drive won't all the photos that have already been imported be then disconnected?

Why do you want to keep the files on two hard drives and make things difficult for yourself? The whole original idea was to put all of your photo files on your E drive so that they can be shared. You also needed to keep the catalog folder on the shared drive so that it could be used by both computers. The catalog folder is relatively small. So storage should not be an issue. The secondary hard drive should be used to backup the photos on the shared drive.

@Grace Muskokan said: I do not know if it is OK to copy the folder from EHD #8 with my PHotoBackupByYear to thje E drive.

It's unclear to me what will happen if you copy the folder on EHD #8 to your E drive. Yes, it is likely that they will be disconnected. But I don't know if you have actually imported those files to the E drive catalog, or not. At this point, I think the best approach would be to copy the folder to the E Drive, then try to import the files into the catalog. If you get a message that the files are already in the catalog, then it will be necessary to find them in the grid and reconnect them to the new location on the E Drive. If the files are actually imported, you may find that you have duplicates within the Organizer because they are in different folders. If that is the case, you can delete the disconnected copies.

@Grace Muskokan said: I can cope with taking that external EHD #8 with me if that is the solution.

As I have already said, that is not the ideal solution. You should use the second EHD only to backup the files on the shared drive.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

It worked as soon as I copied the photos to the E drive where my catalog is

Thanks, I know you likely told me all this before but I think I got it now.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

The screenshots in your first recent post do not appear to be from your laptop, and there are no posts attached to your second post which is supposedly from your desktop.

So, here's what appears to me. Whichever computer is displayed in your screenshots is using a catalog that is stored on the D drive of that computer. You need to have both computers using the catalog that is on your E drive which should be the drive letter assigned to the shared EHD.

If I am right about the D drive being on your desktop, then the easiest way to fix this would be:

attach the shared drive to the desktop
browse to the catalog.pse18db file on the E drive using Windows File Explorer
double-click on the file.

The catalog shared on the E drive should then open in the desktop's Organizer. Presumably that catalog will not have the files that you recently imported to that computer and you will need to import them again into that catalog. If you have followed my previous directions, those files should be stored on your shared E drive.

Since I can only see one set of screenshots, I can only comment about the computer from which they were taken. It's possible that the other computer needs to be fixed in the same way.

Both computers need to be using the same catalog stored on the shared drive.

All new photos need to be stored on the shared drive.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

OK I think I have the catalog opened correctly in E drive on both. However, when I go to choose catalog file under the Catalog folder there are 3 different ones with heading catalog.pse18db. I always use the first one in this list.

All new photos need to be stored on the shared drive.

My new files are stored on a separate EHD. If I copy that folder to the E drive won't all the photos that have already been imported be then disconnected? I do not know if it is OK to copy the folder from EHD #8 with my PHotoBackupByYear to thje E drive.

I can cope with taking that external EHD #8 with me if that is the solution.

I have edited my ealier post to include the desktop screenshots of the Manage catalog and System INfo shots.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Grace, you haven't given me enough information to figure out what the current situation is. You say that I was correct about the different catalogs. But you haven't told me what you have done to correct that problem. Please show me a screenshot of the Help>System Info dialogs for both computers. All I need is the top few lines showing the Current Catalog and the full path of the catalog.

Next, please show me the File>Manage Catalogs dialog on each machine. Make sure that the E drive is connected to the computer when you take the screenshots.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

Hi Greg,

I think I have figured out the problem while following your instructions.

When I switch from destop to laptop, making sure E is the only drive connected,, the photos that I imported to the desktop are greyed out. But when I connect the EHD #8 with my complete Photo Backup by Year folder on it, the photos are connected and show up.

So I guess the next step is how do I move that EHD folder onto my E drive so that it is accessible to the laptop when I travel?

Or do I just need to take it with me?

Greg_S.

Correct answer

Community Expert

@Grace Muskokan said: I am confused by the fact that photos I added to the catalog on the desktop do not appear on the laptop catalog. So it seems I have the same catalog open but it is keeping a different version according to the device I use to import photos?

No. Given the information you have provided, I suspect that you are using two different catalogs. Go to Help>System Info . . . It may take a little while to display the dialog, but at the top, you will see the location of your currently open catalog. Do the same on both computers and see if there is any difference in either the name or location of the catalog on each machine.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

thanks you were right about the different catalogs. It does take longer for the photos to load from the E drive but the catalog does load.

Next problem, when I import photos on one device they are greyed out when I open on the second device.I then have to reconnect them in order for the image to appear. The info is there showing the location but the photos are not there till I connect them. They do not appear in the catalog structure either.

I'm thinking I have to have my whole Photo Backup By Year folder moved from the #8 EHD to the E drive.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Is this happening to all of the photos in the catalog?

There are two things I see in your screenshot:

The two grey thumbnails are missing files in the catalog. This means that they have been moved outside of the catalog into which they were imported or else have been deleted (by you).
The photos have a -1 suffix in their names. Generally, this means that they are copies of files that are in the same folder, although there could be other reasons.

If it is only these two photos that are missing, I suggest you search your computer for where these files are actually stored. If it is your entire catalog, then something else has gone wrong.

When you say that the catalog worked when you first moved the E drive to your laptop, do you mean that you could see all of the photos in the catalog on your laptop. Did you make sure you have the correct catalog open on your laptop. Or could it possibly be a prior catalog that had the folder mess you were trying to clean up?

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Glad I could help you sort it out, Grace.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

I saw the catalog work when I moved the E drive to my laptop, a while ago when you first helped me set up my E drive catalog. but now although I can open the catalog and tags are shown for each photo, the photos do not appear. I hope this is something simple that I can adjust, but I fear that it is something drastic that will be a whole other problem.

Do you have any idea what has happened?

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

I did a restart and the photos returned. Halleluja!

I am confused by the fact that photos I added to the catalog on the desktop do not appear on the laptop catalog. So it seems I have the same catalog open but it is keeping a different version according to the device I use to import photos?

Greg_S.

Community Expert

@Grace Muskokan said: Now if I understand you the Folders that contain photos, Family Name All Scanned and Photo Backup By Year need to have the actual photos copied to the Folders that are located in the My Photos folder.

If you had a proper backup and the restore was successful, you need do nothing further. All the photos should be there and there is nothing to copy.

Any new photos should be saved in your desired hierarchy of folders somewhere on the shared EHD. (It doesn't have to be in any particular folder but to keep things more simple, you should keep everything under the My Photos folder in whatever system of folders you want to maintain.

You should now open the catalog named My Catalog on both computers, one at a time (with the E drive connected to the active computer), As mentioned earlier, perhaps the easiest way to do this is to use Windows File Explorer to navigate to the My Catalog folder on the E drive and double-click on the catalog.pse18db file. The correct catalog should then open within the Organizer. Alternatively, go to the File>Manage Catalogs dialog, select Custom Location and Browse to the E:\Elements Catalogs folder. Your catalog named My Catalog should appear in the list. Select and Open it.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you for your time and your patience. I now have the catalog available to use on both devices. I wish I had asked for help years ago, but at least going forward I have a workable system for travel. I will be blessing you every time I add another shot of a "Lifer bird" to my catalog, and now when I return I do not need to struggle to update.

I am very grateful for the help,

Grace

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Yes, you have confirmed what I suspected. So, now, do as I suggested in my last post:

Move the three folders marked in the following screenshot back to where they were before (under Organizer backup 30 April 2023 folder??)

In Windows File Explorer cut and paste the My Catalog folder to the root of the E drive (or to another new folder on the root of the E drive).

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

Photos moved for 3 folders inside Organizer.

New Folder on E Drive T7 called Elements Catalogs that contains My Catalog.

Now if I understand you the Folders that contain photos, Family Name All Scanned and Photo Backup By Year need to have the actual photos copied to the Folders that are located in the My Photos folder. That way the catalog has access to the originals and any changes made in Organizer or Editor will be updated there.

Have I got that right?

I don't think I put Folders for each on the T& drive that are not inside the MY Photos folder.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

It looks to me like the My Catalog folder is the database folder that should NOT contain any of your photos (or photo folders). It has been placed there by the Restore operation. Please give us a screenshot of that folder in Windows File Explorer so that we can see the full folder contents. If I am right, the folder will contain the catalog.pse18db file.

If it is in fact the catalog database folder, you need to return the photo sub-folders within it to their original location, or at least to under the My Photos folder. Use the drag-and-drop method to do this.

Do not touch the Themes folder as that is part of the catalog database folder.

Once you confirm my suspicions, you should move the My Catalog folder to another location on the drive. You can use Windows File Explorer to perform a cut and paste operation for this folder. You can create a new parent folder on the root of Drive E and call it something like Elements Catalogs. It would also be OK to leave it on the root of the E drive. The net result will then be either E:\Elements Catalogs\My Catalog or just E:\My Catalog.

As for saving this thread for future reading, you can bookmark the URL in your browser. Or once you are signed into the forum, you can click on your profile picture and click on the View Community Profile link. You will then be taken to a list of posts that you have made, and they will contain a link to this thread. If you have email notifications turned on, you should have received a bunch of emails linking to this thread.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

Here is the windows Explorer shot. It does contain the file you mentioned.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Yes, you are ready to go. When the Restore dialog asks you where to put the backup, select the My Photos folder as the new location.

G

Grace MuskokanAuthor

Inspiring

thanks so much for staying with me on this. I think I have the first part done. At least it seems to me the catalog is on the T7 drive. Whew, something accomplished today. Is there a way I can mark this thread so I can go back and read it when I want to refer to some of your answers? It has really helped me to think this through.

Here's a screenshot of the catalog folder section. I have already started to drag and drop. I moved the 2006 folders from where they were nexsted down below to be right under My Catalog. How exciting! I might actually get this back to some recognizable order.

does this look right?

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