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Russ001
Participating Frequently
March 29, 2019
Question

Importing files from a new external hard drive

  • March 29, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 1424 views

my old external 3TB drive was full so I purchased an 8TB replacement.  I copied the files as is from the old drive to the new one.  I had removed all of my prior LR catalogs so I was starting from scratch (that may not have been the right approach but was what occurred).  I have roughly 30000 images including all the side files making the 3TB of image data.  My files are organized such that I have one primary folder called “Lightroom” and all the images are under this one as sub- folders as well as sub-sub-folders etc.  I then clicked the import tab, highlighted the high level “Lightroom” folder, marked the “Add” tab and the files started loading.  When it completed, several folders and sub- folders were omitted.   Of the 30000 images, only about 23000 showed up.

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    4 replies

    JoeKostoss
    Community Expert
    JoeKostossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 29, 2019

    Russ001  wrote

    my old external 3TB drive was full so I purchased an 8TB replacement.  I copied the files as is from the old drive to the new one...

    I see this over and over again.  When an EHD gets full, there is absolutely no need to put all those files on a new larger EHD.  Lightroom works perfectly well with several EHDs.  I recommend keeping the files on the first EHD and start adding new files to a new (and larger if you want} EHD.  Keep both EHDs plugged in until such time that you find yourself not referring to old files and concentrating mostly on the new.  You can then put the first EHD in storage.  Pull it out only when you need it.  Lightroom will remember!

      B
      Community Expert
      Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 29, 2019

      I agree with JoeKostoss's approach.  

      There is another approach for users that want to keep it all on one EHD.  Plug in both the new and old drives to your computer.  Using the operating system (Finder or Explorer), copy all the files from old (like "D:\") to new (like "F:\") so that the only thing different is the drive letter.  The file structure has to be exactly the same.  Unplug and store the old drive.  Rename the new drive to what the old was named.

        B
        Community Expert
        Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 29, 2019

        This won't help Russ (the OP) much, but for any other readers, there is another consideration. 

        External hard drives keep getting cheaper.  $100 will get you 6TB!  Buy them in pairs.  Use the second one to backup the first with software like SyncToy,  GoodSync or other. 

        Part of this includes setting Lightroom Classic CC to write the catalog backups to the primary external drive.

        If you value your work, you will buy three, alternate the backups and keep one away from wherever you do your work.

          dj_paige
          dj_paige
          Legend
          March 29, 2019

          I copied the files as is from the old drive to the new one.  I had removed all of my prior LR catalogs so I was starting from scratch (that may not have been the right approach but was what occurred).

          Absolutely the wrong approach. No need to import anything. Simply point Lightroom to the files' new location, explained in this document: Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders

            ManiacJoe
            ManiacJoe
            Inspiring
            March 29, 2019

            Assuming that you mean that the import process skipped some folders that existed on the hard drive, if you do a second import, do the previously skipped files get found and imported? (Turn on the skip duplicates option.)

            Yes, you are correct in that deleting the old catalogs and doing a new import was the wrong approach. The correct thing to do was to open the old catalog and "relocate" the "lightroom" folder to be on the new drive.

              B
              Community Expert
              Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              March 29, 2019

              Did you delete the catalogs and their backups?  Do you still have the old drive?

              R
              Russ001Author
              Participating Frequently
              March 31, 2019

              Yes, I had deleted all the catalogs within LR to start over new.  I realize now from other comments that there was no need to do that.  I still have the EHD original data.

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