Move media files to removable drive does not work correctly

[pchisham]

I am using PSE 2018 (though 'error' was also in PSE12).

When I moved media files to DVD (PSE12) the thumbnail would have a disk symbol & the original file would be deleted from C drive and correctly be on DVD.

When I move approx. 550 media files to 2Tb USB 3.0 removable drive (PSE12 or PSE 2018) the 'dialogue' is as for moving to DVD BUT the files remain on C drive & no "disk symbol" is placed on thumbnail.  The Organiser says that the file is on the removable drive but it is not.  It is still on C drive.

So lets try a different removable drive.

When I move (fewer) media files to 8Gb USB 3.0 removable memory stick the files remain on C drive but the "disk symbol" is placed on thumbnail & the Organiser says the file is on the memory stick which it is! So other than the files remaining on C drive this is 'as intended'.

This error was uncovered because I am trying to 'convert' all my media files that are currently on 40 DVDs to a USB 3.0 2Tb removable drive.

Seems PSE won't let me do this.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[MichelBParis]

pchisham  wrote

I am using PSE 2018 (though 'error' was also in PSE12).

When I moved media files to DVD (PSE12) the thumbnail would have a disk symbol & the original file would be deleted from C drive and correctly be on DVD.

When I move approx. 550 media files to 2Tb USB 3.0 removable drive (PSE12 or PSE 2018) the 'dialogue' is as for moving to DVD BUT the files remain on C drive & no "disk symbol" is placed on thumbnail.  The Organiser says that the file is on the removable

What you are calling the "disk symbol" is probably the "offline media" icon. When you have imported to a DVD or moved files to a DVD. Storing to DVD is a kind of 'legacy' feature nowadays (people rather use external drives or thumb drives), but it has always been possible to move files from and to DVD since the beginning of Elements nearly 20 years ago.

That symbol means that the files on the DVD are 'indexed' in the catalog with all their exif and properties. The links in the catalog point to the DVD identification. The catalog folder also keeps the small thumbnails (max 320 x 240 pixels) in a 'thumb.5.cache' file. Those small thumbnails are good for quick browsing of your library, but they are not big enough for full screen view. The import process for DVD has a default option to create bigger 'previews' for managing your photo files when the DVD is not connected. Those previews are stored on C:

Have a look at the folders panel (tree view) on the left. You should see a sort of 'folder' named 'offline media' on the bottom with all the disconnected DVDs. You can check that when you plug in a DVD the files are no longer with the "offline" circular icon.

There are several workflows to do the migration you are wanting.

First question: are all the files in your 40 DVDs indexed in a single catalog?

Do you use the menu 'Move or copy to removable drive'?

- or use the drag and drop for folders in the left folder panel?

- or simply the 'move' option for selected files?

Other ways :

- moving from the explorer (not from the organizer) and reconnecting

- Creating a full backup for all your files (requires plugin in all the DVDs in turn when they are called for), then restoring on a single drive.

[pchisham]

Answers to your queries below

[pchisham · Accepted solution]

By following this process I achieved the desired result.  Some observations/comments follow after the process.

1.     Create New Catalog

2.     For each of my CDs/DVDs of archived media:

2.1     Using PSE, import media from DVD drive to new Catalog

2.2     Using PSE, Copy/Move to removable drive to MOVE the imported media to removable drive

3.     After importing last CD/DVD, Back up new Catalog to different removable drive

Some observations:

1.     In the above process, PSE imports the media to a folder: Pictures/Adobe/Photos from removable media.  It does NOT delete these files after the MOVE action above.  Watch out - your C drive may fill faster than you expected!

2.     The MOVED files from your Catalog do not have the "offline media Icon" displayed against the thumbnail.  (I previously incorrectly referred to this as the disk symbol).  I think this is a WIN 7 issue rather than PSE.  WIN 7 refers to my 2Tb removable drive as Hard Disk drive rather than Devices with Removable Storage.  So I guess PSE follows suit.  Annoying though.

3.     I had previously used Windows Explorer to copy the DVD to C: drive then used PSE to import media to new Catalog.  That gave the spurious incorrect results described in my original post.  My guess is that even though I copied the media from DVD to C: drive before importing to PSE, PSE still somehow retains the DVD pointers & location details.

From my perspective this issue is now resolved/closed!

[MichelBParis]

pchisham  wrote

From my perspective this issue is now resolved/closed!

Ok, I am really glad you solved your problem.

Do you allow me to follow up on the discussion, since many users will read it and find a solution for similar but not totally identical problems?

Imagine another user with 40 DVDs but with a single catalog. There are excellent reasons to use a single catalog.

- just try to find the files with tags for some persons at a given period among the 40  DVDs. The catalog will know which DVDs to call for.

- just try to do a full backup caring for all the 40 DVDs. Same work to plug in all DVDs successively to create the single backup folder. But after that, you can restore in a single job the contents of all your 40 DVDs to a single external drive.

Also, reimporting in new catalogs loses all your albums, stacks, version sets or notes (even if you have 'written metadata to files').

Main reason to have a single catalog:

Photoshop Elements 6/7/8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

[pchisham]

Since this is 'no reply' not sure how to reply . . .