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Vintage35
Participant
May 27, 2021
Answered

Old PSE 5.0 organizer will not open the PSA file

  • May 27, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 751 views

I have 3 computers, all with Windows 10, all loaded with PSE 5.0, they all work fine except the Organizer freezes (Not Responding) when I try to open the PSA file on my newer laptop, the same file opens fine on the other 2 computers so it's not a corrupt file. I even did the "repair" on the one that does open and then tried it on my newer latop and it still freezes. I can create a new PSA file and load images into it just fine but my original PSA file I've been working on for 10 years or more has all my custom categories etc... it has hours and hours of work into it and I DO NOT want to start over... I downloaded PSE2021 and tried to open it that way (convert) but when I Browse for the file it doesn't show. I tried right clicking the PSA file>Open With> and chose Organizer for 2021 but it opens in the 5.0 organizer

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Greg_S.

In order to use an Elements 5 catalog on a 64 bit computer, you have to use the conversion utility.  See this article.

4 replies

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Greg_S.Community Expert
Community Expert
May 27, 2021

@Vintage35 said:

I tried using just the 2021 but it couldn't "see" the converted file. I did go back and read the tutorial on the link you gave me and it says 13 must be installed, I Chatted with Adobe support (yes I got a human with no waiting!) and they gave me a link for a pse 13 Trial, it mearly needs to be installed on your computer then the 2021 can see the converted file (or any version 14 on up)... weird Huh?

 

That makes no sense whatsoever.   All Elements 2021 needs is to see the catalog.pse13db file.  More specifically, it will find the folder in which that file is stored.  There are various reasons why Elements didn't see the file in the Convert>navigation dialog. But not having a prior version of the program installed isn't one of them. For example, if the catalog has been converted previously, you need to check a box in the dialog:

 

In short, I believe whatever you read in the link I provided has not been updated.  So, the references to Elements 13 and 14 in that link are no longer fully relevant.  I was just able to successfully start the conversion of an Elements 13 catalog, using Elements 2021.  The fact that I happen to have Elements 13 installed on my machine would not have made the slightest difference.  I am confident that if I were to uninstall Elements 13, the Elements 2021 conversion would still take place.

Phil Pickering
Phil Pickering
Legend
May 27, 2021

Hi,

 

If you need some extra help (in addition to the great advice so far from @Greg_S.), I posted a walkthrough of the process I used to successfully convert an Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 catalog (same database and file structure as Adobe Photoshop Elements 5) to Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 here:

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-elements/transferring-tags/m-p/11949048#M68508

 

If you run into any problems at the conversion stage, take a look at the follow-up replies in the same thread.

 

And whilst you don't need Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 installed on your computer for this particular issue, the trial version is still available to download by following the instructions on this page should you ever need it in the future 🙂 :

 

Direct Download Links for Adobe Photoshop/Premiere Elements 13 (Courtesy of ProDesignTools)

 

Hope that helps 🙂

 

    Greg_S.
    Community Expert
    Greg_S.Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 27, 2021

    Elements 2021 will convert the Elements 13 file. Go to File>Manage Catalogs and use the Convert button. 

      Greg_S.
      Community Expert
      Greg_S.Community ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      May 27, 2021

      In order to use an Elements 5 catalog on a 64 bit computer, you have to use the conversion utility.  See this article.

        V
        Vintage35Author
        Participant
        May 27, 2021

        My other computers are 64 bit they work fine, I did the convert, it changed it to a PSE13db file, won't work unless I can find a PSE 13... Impossible, I've searched everywhere, all links SAY 13 but lead to the Adobe homepage that only has, the newest version... unless someone knows a good place to download older versions of PSE

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