How do I restore PSE catalog (index) but not the actual images

[Mark Woodfin]

How do I restore my PSE14 catalog which I backed up before having my C drive replaced?  All my images were on external drives which are still available and attached.  I do not need to restore the images as they still exist in the original drives.  When I try to do a restore catalog from backup PSE tries to duplicate the files on the new C drive and fills it up again.  This happens even if I specify restore to original location and do not overwrite files (no to all). The images are being copied to C under folders named with the drive letters of the external drives?

There must be a way of copying or restoring the catalog index and thumbnails without duplicating the images themselves?