My backup did not save to my catalog correctly.

[sheldonm23270031]

A about a year and half ago I updated to Windows 10 and Elements 2022.  (I was running windows 7/and element15 ). At that time I had to reload all my pictures in to a new catalog with albums and captions. I've been backing up every time I made changes to the catalog.

Then last week  I had to fix my windows 10 after it got corrupted and reload my elements 2022 software. The problem is that my catalog is empty all my Albums names and  captions. My pictures are on my hard drive and have to be put into the catalog.

I thought if I backed up my files it save all the albums  names captions etc. but just just save the pictures.
The question I have what files do I need to save use when I back up my system to make sure this doesn't happen again.

[Glenn 8675309]

Sometimes when users manually back up their catalogues, from outside of organizer  (using some backup software for example) they end up like you-- with empty catalogues

MY RECOMMENDATION:``

BACKUP USING ORGANIZER.

This is just one way of doing, it it, however, it's probably the best way to ensure your catalogues and images remain intact.

The first time I did a full backup it took my computer something like 14 hours to do-- be patient-- I had about 125,000 images at the time. 

[Greg_S.]

You haven't told us exactly what backups you have made.  So, if you had your old C drive backed up, you may still have a viable catalog with all your information intact.

The default location for the catalog is the following folder:  C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\

The catalog is found in a folder with the catalog name (default: My Catalog)

If you are able to search your system backup, look for a file (or files) named catalog.pse20db.  This is the database file for the catalog.  If you find any folders containing this name in your backups, restore the entire folder to your computer (in any location).   Once restored, double-click on the database file and it will open the catalog into the Organizer.  Of course, your current photo/video files must be in the same location they were in when the catalog was created.

For the future, you should follow Glenn's advice and create a full backup in Elements so that both your catalog and media are backed up.