Changing destination drives

[Sisyphus 1]

Hi I recently had an external hard drive fail, I bought a new external drive, but Lr is looking for the original to back up to. The disks are from different manfacturers, how do I change the destination to back up to the new external drive?

[JohanElzenga]

When you get the backup dialog, click on the 'Choose' button and choose the new destination.

[Sisyphus 1]

Thanks

Unfortunatley I have all the filles on my new drive which were put there by one of Adobe's  helpers via a computer share I have no idea how to get those back from the million and 1 fies that represent each days photography. Lr CC appears not to have worked correctly since day one. Are there any further tiers of help besides the community and someone messing around inside my computer?

[dj_paige]

Yes, we can help, but we need a much more clear explanation of the problem. Screen captures showing the issues would help — use the "Insert Photos" icon to include your screen capture in your reply; do NOT attach files. Also, please state the version number of your Lightroom Classic (and not word like "latest" or "up-to-date").

[Sisyphus 1]

Thank you. My version 13.4  I am running it on a mac version 12.7.6 I somehow deleted the catalog where Lrc stored my files from my mac during a clean of my HD, I contacted support wherby I allowed access to  my computer to an agent. he transferred the original files or some of them to an external HD. He also did a few other things I am not sure about.

The long and short of things is my files could not be found by Lrc to compound things my external drive failed but not before I managed to transfer them to a new drive, I would like to set this up as my new readable drive so the files are visible in Lrc. or maybe delete my version of Lrc and reinstall it and start a fresh with the backup catalog on my HD. To be honest a lot of it is over my head.

[dj_paige]

We need screen captures to illustrate the problem. I said that already, please follow the instructions I gave.

Reinstalling LrC will not solve this problem.

[Sisyphus 1]

Screen captures of what? an image like this I have followed the instructions you gave I have also explained what the problem is please be more specific with what screen shots you require

Many thanks

[JohanElzenga]

A screenshot like this is indeed totally useless. What you need to do is look in the folder panel on the left of the Library module (not the Develop module). That is where Lightroom Classic shows you the folders where your images are stored. Are the names of these folders in italics and do they have a question mark in front of the names? That means that Lightroom Classic does not know where these folders are. It could be something simple, like Lightroom Classic is still looking for those folders on the old disk that crashed, and the new disk with the same folders and images on it has a different name. In that case simply renaming the new disk so it has the exact same name as the old disk had should be enough to solve this. In other situations you may need to do a bit more. Read this if you still need more guidance: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

[Sisyphus 1]

Thanks for your help, I think you could be right regarding re naming the disk I did manage to transfer all the folders from my ailing drive to the new one the files I believe are stored in a folder named Lightroom within a sub folder containg about thirty letters and numbers. this was where the  agent stored them. I have tried to include a screenshot of my folders but it does not upload but baiscally under the folders drop down it shows macintosh HD and the drive capacity and used space under that are two folders, new folder with items one is white the other grey with a question mark under this the  pictures folder and under that the expansion disk which is black. I once again thank you for your help.

[JohanElzenga]

A screenshot is definitly needed to understand what you are trying to say. To post a screenshot, you must visit these forums with a web browser, not through email. Then you can embed a screenshot in your post using this button: 

[Sisyphus 1]

Thanks I have posted a screen shot of my catalog and folders section in the left hand pane. I have also renamed the new drive, at present the old drive has been sent away for file recovery. I hope this helps and once again thank you.

[JohanElzenga]

Your screenshot only shows folders (some missing) on your internal disk. It shows an external drive called 'Expansion', but that drive is offline. There seem to be two 'new folder with items' folders (although one is missing) at the same level, which is not possible, so they are probably in different parent folders. To see those parent folders, right-click on the (non-missing) folder and choose 'Show Parent Folder'. 

[Sisyphus 1]

Hi 

I have done as you asked I have enclosed a screenshot of what it shows, The new folder with items appears to be in the Assingment folder on my desktop. 

[JohanElzenga]

OK, that explains the two 'new folder with items' folders. The one that is missing was on the desktop. The one that Lightroom Classic does see is inside the 'Assignment 1-2 do not delete' folder, which is also on your desktop. Maybe this is actually the same folder, and you moved it in this new 'Assignment 1-2 do not delete' folder outside of Lightroom, so Lightroom does not know that you did. Later you imported two new images in that folder, so Lightroom added it to the catalog without realising this was actually the missing folder...

Lightroom does not show any folders on the offline 'Expansion' drive. That is strange, because if Lightroom does not know any folders on that drive, it should not show the drive at all. If I understand you correctly, Lightroom does show you its images in the grid, or doesn't it? If it does, then what happens if you select one of those images and then choose 'Go to Folder in Library'? Does that show the folder(s) on the offline drive?

[Sisyphus 1]

Last things first the 'Expansion' drive is the one that failed, as far as I can remember I created the 'new folder with items for a project I was working on and put it in the assingment folder. Unless the Adobe help person did something I am not sure. I am guessing that when I get the new 'Expansion ' drive  form the  recovery people it will recognise the drive although re naming the other drive did not seem to make any difference, is it possible to delete Lrc and re install and it will then create a file to store my backup.

The guy did put a file on the 'Expansion' named Lrc where all the originals are stored drilling down through the folders I get a set of folders by year and then by month.

I  have always found Lrc to be a bit of a pain but I do believe rightly or wrongly that the loss of the 'Expansion' maybe why the files cannot be found now re naming the new drive did not seem to help find them Moving forward what do you suggest? As an aside Lr is looking for the 'Expansion ' drive to back up too.

[JohanElzenga]

The Lightroom Classic catalog is a database. Regardless of whether that Expansion drive is offline or online, Lightroom Classic should show you those images that it thinks are on that drive. They will be shown as 'missing', and all the folders will be shown as missing, but they should be shown nevertheless. Let me illustrate that with my own main 'Fotobestanden' drive. I'm on the road right now, and that drive is at home, so it is offline. This is how Lightroom Classic shows that:

In your screenshot Lightroom Classic does not show anything on that drive, however, even though the triangle in the upper right corner is pointing downwards, meaning the view should be like in my screenshot. That is strange and may indicate a catalog problem, but without having the new drive available I would not try to solve that right now.

[JohanElzenga]

BTW, you can already fix the missing 'new folder with items' folder, if that is indeed the same folder as the other one. To do that, right-click on the missing 'new folder with items' folder and choose 'Find Missing Folder'. Then in the dialog that comes up, select the 'new folder with items' inside the 'Assignment 1-2 do not delete' folder. Lightroom will say that this folder already exists and ask you if you want to merge them. Click 'Merge' and both folders will now be one and the same and no longer have missing images.