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I
IAN JULIAN
Inspiring
March 28, 2021
Question

Part 2 How to Use External Hard Drive for Organizer

  • March 28, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 778 views

As stated, I need 2tb storage for my Organizer, so for the first time in 18 years, am considering external hard drive, although I would still prefer to have it all on my laptop if possible.

 

Is it just as fast externally?  I have a new 4 tb SSD external hard drive.

How exactly to I do it?  I obviously know how to Backup but what do I then do to Restore?

 

 

Thank you.

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

MichelBParis
MichelBParis
Legend
March 30, 2021
quote

As stated, I need 2tb storage for my Organizer, so for the first time in 18 years, am considering external hard drive, although I would still prefer to have it all on my laptop if possible.

 

Is it just as fast externally?  I have a new 4 tb SSD external hard drive.


By @IAN JULIAN

 

Speed:

I have been storing my photos and catalogs on external USB drives for years. That's mainly to be able to use them immediately in either desktop I have in two distinct locations or with a laptop (USB3 connection). Since I have enough space on my desktop, I also have a restored copy of the photo files and the catalog locally. For normal usage of the editor and the organizer, I don't see any difference in speed. That is due to those processes using mainly RAM and scratch disk.

 

For backups, both the type of drive (SSD vs conventional) and the USB connection are important, since most of the backup/restore time is based on read/writes. I have switched to an external SSD for my library and catalog. The small size of the drive is appreciated, but as expected, for normal use of the editor and organizer, there is not much difference in speed.

I suspect that an SSD for storing the backups would give noticeably better speed, but since backups and restores are made at night, I don't really care if that takes only 3 hours instead of five... For other tasks like syncing drives and folders, saving the catalog folders, it's nice to get more speed in your workflow. I prefer to keep several affordable conventional external drives for backups than a single SSD one for safety.

 

    I
    IAN JULIANAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 22, 2021

    Thank you for your detailed reply.  If I read correctly, you are able to switch your external hard drive between different computers.  Is that correct?  

     

    Also, are you able to store your Organizer photos on your computer and an external hard drive at the same time?  How would you do that?  

     

    Many thanks

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Y
    Adobe Employee
    yachikag68482697
    Adobe Employee
    March 30, 2021

    Hi @IAN JULIAN,

     

    Thanks for reaching out to Adobe forums.

    To save your backup on external hard disk, you need to create a folder on the external disk and specify that folder while saving the backup. Similarly, if you want to restore your catalog on external disk, you have to create a folder to restore to.

    To restore your catalog, go to File > Restore Catalog. Locate backup.tly file from the catalog backup you want to restore from. Specify destination folder you want to restore to & click Restore. Catalog should be successfully restored.

    I hope this helps.

     

    Thanks!

     

    I
    IAN JULIANAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 12, 2021

    For some reason, I still am having problems with this.  I try and try!  

     

    I manage the backup okay, (I know this must be okay, because I am able to restore to another computer.  However, when I try to resotr to an external hard drive I get this message - 'The disc in drive Maxtor (E) does not contain a valid backup'.  And it will not work properly.

    MichelBParis
    MichelBParis
    Legend
    April 12, 2021
    quote

    For some reason, I still am having problems with this.  I try and try!  

     

    I manage the backup okay, (I know this must be okay, because I am able to restore to another computer.  However, when I try to resotr to an external hard drive I get this message - 'The disc in drive Maxtor (E) does not contain a valid backup'.  And it will not work properly.


    By @IAN JULIAN

     

    To restore to an external drive, the procedure is the same as restoring to a new custom location in another computer.

    You have both the external drive with the backup folder (maybe the E drive) and the destination drive (maybe F drive).

    Start by creating a new master folder in F, such as F :/My Library and specify this master folder as the destination.

    If your backup folder has been able to restore on another computer, it is ok and should work the same on the destination drive. Be sure to give R/W permission to that drive.

    In your restore options, you can either keep the original structure or not. If you do, you'll get the same original path including redundant and empty subfolder steps in the system 'Pictures'. You can remove them afterwards if you wish.

    The result will also restore the catalog folder just under the 'My Library' master folder.

    You can keep it there or use the catalog manager to move it back to the default hidden location on the C drive.

     

    Suggestion: create a small test catalog to test the process rapidly and check that the backup is ok.

     

     

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