Help with back-up external drive (My Passport Ultra)

[dianne99]

My Passport external Drive has failed!  However I do have an older My Passport Ultra that has about 80% of my photos on it.  When I go to Lightroom I am seeing all the photos and files that existed on the drive that has now failed (all showing with a ?).  However I want to "find missing photos" using my older backup drive.  They were both designated as Drive D my laptop.  So....how do I get Lightroom to look at the new Drive D and find the photos?  PS - am not very "techy"

[dj_paige]

"Find missing photos" is the wrong command here. "Find Missing Folder" might help. However, first you should plug in the older drive, make sure it is assigned to letter D:, and then LrC should find the files on that drive, assuming the folder hierarchy and file names have not changed. If Windows does not assign letter D: then using Windows change the letter to D:.

[dianne99]

Thank you for your reply.  My issue is that the original drive was damaged - it had been plugged into the computer when someone pumped into it and it fell on a tile floor.  So Lightroom thinks it is still attached BUT my laptop will not recongnise it when I plug it in.  I have send the drive for "data recovery" (very expensive!).  So, I want to use my back-up older drive. When I plug it into the laptop it is assigned as Drive D but when I go to Lightroom it is not being recognized as LR did not release the drive that was previously attached.  I hope this description makes sense.  Again, I thank you for your reply.

[dj_paige]

If I am understanding what you did, then LrC should recognize the new drive D: but you seem to be saying that LrC does not recognize it. Please show us a screen capture of the LrC Folder Panel. Please use the "Insert Photos" icon to include your screen capture in your reply. Do not attach files.

[dianne99]

Thanks again!!
So, I have now figured out how to change the drive letter for my backup
(older Passport Ultra Drive) from Drive D to Drive F.
When I go into Lightroom - this is the screen shot......
[image: image.png]

Then, when I attempt to add photos from the Drive F I get this screen
[image: image.png]
It then gives me this message....."this appears to be a duplicate of
another photo already in the catalogue.

What I am attempting to do is to replace the LR catalogue with the photos
that are on Drive F. In other words - I no longer have the photos that
were on the damaged drive so I need to replace the entire catalogue with
the photos that are on my backup drive (now drive F).

[dj_paige]

You tried to attach files, which didn't show up. I gave instructions to use the "Insert Photos" icon. Please follow those instructions. (and you cannot do this via e-mail)

Also, no need to change D: to F:, as already explained, in fact this makes things more complicated. The old drive that you plugged in should be D:

[dianne99]

OK, I believe part of my problem is now fixed.  My new drive, now assigned as Drive D (I changed it back) is now being recognized by Lightroom.  But, when I first go into any folder the entire folder comes up and I can see all the photos in that file but then within seconds the photos are greyed out and if I click on any individiual photo in any file I get a message "this appears to be a duplicate of another photo already in the catalogue".  One thing I should make clear is that the older drive that I am attempting to use now is NOT idential to the one that failed.  It is missing photos from the past year as I did not keep it up to date.  So I realise that I have lost all the photos taken in the past year.   I think, what I need to do is to replace the entire catalogue - delete all the photos and reload them using the Drive D.  Does this make sense?

[Lumigraphics]

This is the downside of trying to use a different drive. Some photos will already be there, those you don't need to worry about. They are in the catalog AND on the disk where Lightroom expects them. The missing ones will be the problem.

One thing to note. You said the portable drive was your backup? But it sounds like it was your primary drive AND you don't actually have a current backup, which would be a completely different drive, preferably at another location, where you had a copy of everything.

Yes you can go to a date recovery company like DriveSavers or OnTrack, but they charge several thousand dollars (I once saw a DriveSavers recovery quote for $8000 IIRC) when a $100 USB drive would have done the job.

I strongly recommend buying another hard drive TODAY and making a backup onto it, before you even mess with the drive holding what is now your only copy of your photos. If something goes wrong then you would have nothing otherwise.

[dianne99]

Yes, you are correct - the My Passport external drive was my backup. Just
to explain a little further...
I originally had all my photos on my laptop (with My Passport as a backup)
but the internal drive was getting full so I ordered a new larger 4T My
Passport and moved all my photos off the laptop and onto the Passport
(first mistake - lol). I then stopped using the original smaller
Passport. My intention was to buy a larger internal storage drive for my
laptop and use the Passport as my backup. I started putting it off
thinking it did not have to be done immediately. Then, as luck would have
it, the external drive got damaged!! So no photos on my laptop and only
the older Passport had all my photos (minus about 10 months of photos). So
the 2 external drives i have were not identical.
So now I am attempting to use the older Passport (I have ordered a new
drive for my laptop and will have it installed in about a week.)
Which now takes me to the current problem of how to either replace the
catalogue with the folders/photos that are on the external drive I have OR
find the missing folders/photos that are on the drive I have and I do
realise that I will be missing a lot of pictures that exist in the LR
catalog but do not exist on the drive.

[Lumigraphics]

Make a backup of what you have (now the ONLY copy) before you do anything else.

[dj_paige]

... if I click on any individiual photo in any file I get a message "this appears to be a duplicate of another photo already in the catalogue".

Are you trying to IMPORT photos? If yes, that is why you get this message. Please answer this clearly.

If no, please provide a lot more details about where in the LrC interface you are when this happens, and what "click" you are doing, a single click ought not to produce any message. Emphasis on "a lot more details".

[F. McLion]

... and then select the topmost folder in folder hierarchy to start and relink.

https://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

[dj_paige]

... and then select the topmost folder in folder hierarchy to start and relink.

https://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

By @F. McLion

If the folder hierarchy and folder and file names haven't changed, setting the drive letter to D: is sufficient and the above is not necessary. If this has changed, then the above step is necessary