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Mike Woodford
Participant
February 15, 2017
Question

Photoshop Elements 13 catalog, following a wiped C:drive

  • February 15, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 729 views

I encountered an MS update issue that necessitated a fresh install of Win10, thus wiping my C: drive.

1) Prior to the C:drive wipe: My photos were on an extra 1.5Tb drive, with a drive letter that I forget now (let's call it Z:). The PSE13 catalog referred to that drive and file structure (approx. 24,000 images). No problems. I backed-up my PSE13 catalog through the standard PSE13 dialogue - in fact it was backed-up over time with a Full followed by three Incrementals.

2) After the C:drive wipe: (Win10 had installed OK on C:). The extra 1.5Tb drive had to be re-linked as a foreign drive resulting in a change in drive letter to E:. PSE13 reinstalled OK. But now I have my photos on the 1.5Tb drive (with a new drive letter, i.e. not the original location), and an empty catalog.

How should I use the PSE13 Catalog Restore dialog, to simply reinstate my backed-up catalog, but to refer to the new location of the original photos and file structure? I simply need to continue life with the original files in the original file structure on the 1.5Tb drive with the catalog pointing to the correct place, and all my ratings, labels etc preserved.

There may be an embarrassingly simple answer to this - I hope so!

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

S
Adobe Employee
shraddhaj3923389
Adobe Employee
February 15, 2017

Hi,

Trying to explain first what restoring does: When you restore a catalog that has been backed up, the contents of the backup catalog are recreated on your computer.


As mentioned by you, you have backup and all the media in your hard-disk but its volume name is changed and so we can not restore catalog at original location. Here what we have to do is, restore your catalog at new location in hard-disk(which will create a new copy of files at the path given) and then we will copy the catalog from hard-disk and place it in your local computer.

Here are the steps to be followed:

1. Rename the root folder directory where all media is place(say it was Pictures rename it to Pictures_old). And create a new folder with name Pictures

2. Launch Organizer, Go to Files->Restore Catalog.

3. Choose backyp.tly file from the path your backup was created

4. Under Restore files and catalog-> Choose new location>click on browse to specify the path >Go to hard-disk volume, choose folder Picture(newly created folder) from hard-disk.

5. Check the option for "Restore Original Folder Structure" so that in new folder original hierarchy remain maintained.

6. Now click on Restore button.

Note:

If you selected Restore From CD/DVD, Elements Organizer prompts you if more than one disc is required to restore a catalog. Follow the onscreen instructions, which differ depending on whether you’re restoring a single backup set or a single backup set plus one or more incremental back ups.

1. After Restore is completed properly, please check all your files and settings are up.

2. Also compare the size of folder(should be of same as of the old media root folder, in our case it is Pictures) inside newly created Pictures with Pictures_old to make sure all media are restored properly.

3. Now go to Restored folder on hard-disk. You will find a folder name as the name of catalog you can see in Organizer.

4. Copy that whole folder, go to C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs and Paste the folder. Relaunch EO

5. Go to Files->Catalog manager-> Choose All user option-> You will see your catalog which you pasted in step 4

6. Double click on catalog to launch. Now this catalog is on your local disk and files are back on Hard-disk.

7. After you check your all files and catalog details you can remove the catalog folder(just the catalog which you copied earlier in Step 4) from from hard-disk.

8. Also you can delete the media files folder which we asked you to rename because now you have all the files recreated after restoring in New folder. (Before deleting make sure size of older media folder is same as new one(just to confirm all files are restored properly).

Enjoy Photoshop Elements,

Shraddha

    M
    Mike WoodfordAuthor
    Participant
    February 18, 2017

    thank you very much for such a prompt and thorough response Shraddha; I will digest it and act on it today.

    M
    Mike WoodfordAuthor
    Participant
    February 18, 2017

    Dear Shraddha,  thanks again.

    I have this situation, and in case I can avoid a further restore (an enormous, time-consuming process with 24k entries), I ask you please:

    I did run a restore of the catalog to a new location. This was successful (apart from hundreds of thumbnails that would not refresh without manually selecting them and hitting "update thumbnail", which is fine).

    So:

    My original photos & file structure remain unchanged on the "extra" 1.5Tb drive (E:) in folder Pictures2; this is 777Gb. The PSE13 catalog represents only a subset of those files/folders, therefore the restored version of Pictures2 (on D:) is only 491Gb (purely the 24,000 images in the catalog, folder structure preserved).

    I need the restored catalog to be "re-directed" or "re-pointed" from the restored data/folder structure on D: to the original data/folder structure on E:.

    I cannot overwrite/delete my original photos & file structure because I must retain that extra data and files at all costs (represents years of work), and it would be impractical to trawl through and reinstate all the many files/data and subfolders into a restored version.

    If the catalog cannot be "repointed" in the above way, what is the best way to retain my data AND keep my catalog please?

    Perhaps the following approach would work:

    1. Rename original photos & file structure on the "extra" 1.5Tb drive (E:) to "old"
    2. Restore catalog to the "extra" 1.5Tb drive (E:) as per the original root and filename
    3. Rename the restored Pictures folder to "keep"
    4. Rename original photos & file structure on the "extra" 1.5Tb drive (E:) back to their original names
    5. Refresh all thumbnails in PSE13

    Many thanks in advance, and for your trouble!  ( - :

    Mike W.

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