PSE 2024 Organizer Incremental Backup Procedure??

[Walter_H]

I am in the process of building a new Windows 11 PC. I'll be transferring my PSE Organizer catalog to the new PC via a catalog Restore. I have done a Full Backup of my photo catalog which is located on an external drive. The path to the backup is "E:\PSE BACKUPS\2024\Photos". The disk organization on my new PC will be identical to my current PC - the only thing that will change is the Computer Name. I will just have bigger SSDs (1 TB C: & 2 TB D:) and my external drive E:.

I am attempting to do an Incremental Backup and I get some messages that are a little confusing to me. I don't want to proceed with an Incremental Backup that won't restore my complete catalog.

To start the Incremental Backup, I select the path of my previous Full Backup and I get this message:

I just want to add new or modified photos since the last Full Backup. Do I answer Yes or No? If I answer No, I just get the prompt to select the path again.

I answered "Yes", then selected the path of my Previous Backup file and I got this message.

Do I have to select a different path for the Incremental Backup? If I select a different path, how does the Restore process work with multiple Backup paths?

Or, Is there a different, better way to transfer the photos and catalog to my new PC?

[MichelBParis]

Hi Walter,

Indeed, an incremental backup procedure creates a new "backup folder" for each increment as well as in the full backup folder made before the increments.

So, you end up with many "backup folders" which you have to specify in the correct order when you do the incremental restore.

That means you should never specify an existing backup folder path;  you can delete previous backups yourself before stawerting the process.

As the incremental backup restore has to start with a full one, followed by incremental ones from most recent to oldest, it is necessary to follow the prompts of the dialogs in the process. By the way, it's important to name your backup folders so that you may find the right order yourself.

Clearly, in your situation I would start again with a full backup.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/backup-restore-move-caExplorertalog-photoshop.html

Note that if your library (the media file trees) is in the default  Explorer "User/Your name" location, you may have problems if your name haws changed in the new computer. This will create additional (empty) folder steps under your new user name to recreate the older folder hierarchy.

About other ways to transfer catalog and media to a new drive, see that recent discussion:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-elements-discussions/new-computer/td-p/14337434

If you use an external software to backup the media file tree only, and the catalog folder separately, the catalog will remember the original location, so that all files will be seen as 'missing" or "disconnected". Using the reconnect option in PSE does not work in practice, so only fiddling with the Sqlite database of the catalog would enable you to make the catalog point to the correct "volume = disk" name.

[JON36392603yith]

Could you help me please; I have made a full backup to an external drive, but elements 2024 will not let me save incremental backups after I add new photos; any ideas?

[Greg_S.]

@JON36392603yith, please explain your problem in more detail.  As @MichelBParis has explained, you have to designate a new folder for each incremental backup.

[JON36392603yith]

I have recently installed Photoshop Elements 2024 and save my photos to an external drive; also I have made a backup folder on another external drive and I have made one full backup, but cannot make incremental backups to the full backup folder; I can choose external dive but it will not let me choose previous backup path in the second window. Regards

[Greg_S.]

Here is the process:

1. Choose Incremental Backup from the FIle>Restore dialog.  This will open a new dialog.
2. In the Backup Path, choose a backup folder different than the full backup.  (It is best to create a new folder.)
3. In the Previous Backup box, Browse to the original backup folder and select the .tly file that will be found there.  If you don't find the .tly file, the backup is incomplete.  A popup status will show that the program is looking for the added files. 
4. When that completes, you will be able to click the Save Backup button.

If this doesn't answer your problem, we need a further explanation of why you cannot make the incremental backup.

[JON36392603yith]

Thanks for your reply; however, I have found that if I choose file - copy/move select ext drive then backup folder and OK then it works ok. The only thing is that I will have to choose only the recently imported files, which at the moment could be many hundreds or thousands. This way I don't have have to create new folders. Thanks anyway.

[MichelBParis]

Thanks for your reply; however, I have found that if I choose file - copy/move select ext drive then backup folder and OK then it works ok. The only thing is that I will have to choose only the recently imported files, which at the moment could be many hundreds or thousands. This way I don't have have to create new folders. Thanks anyway.

By @JON36392603yith

I am not sure I understand what you mean with "copy/move" and "OK then it works ok".

The original question is about how the Organizer incremental backup does work (and has been implemented by Adobe), which has already been explained in this discussion.

The bigger risk is not the difficulty to create multiple backups, which implies creating multiple catalog folders.

It's that most users are not able to create a single global restore from both the initial full backup and each incremental backup folder. If you insist in trying the process, you must check the wole restore process to see if the process works as YOU expect.

I you succeed, you'll discover that the process is not saving enough time and you'll be disappointed.

To answer the last question of @Walter_H , If your intent is to migrate to a more recent computer, simply use a full backup.

If your intent is to save much more rapidly your media files library and your catalog, better use external syncing solutions on your external drive AND the option to backup only the backup structure.

So, a decent backup scheme can use less frequent full backups together with syncing utilities requiring only a few minutes after a working session, followed by an automatic structure backup when you close the organizer.

I also recommend making a simple copy of the whole catalog folder alongside your full backups.

It's good to know that if you only want to move to a new more recent computer, the smartest way is to create a full backup followed by a restore on another external drive.

- you can use the duplicated file hierarcy with the saved catalog immediately to be 100% sure it's ok.

- you can do the same immediately from the new computer just by plugging in the external drive.

Both the incremental backup system and the command "copy/move to new disk" are legacy features which made sense 20 years ago when you had to manage CDs and DVDs.

If you ask about other syncing softwares, other users may suggest various options. I use myself the free Microsoft Synctoy tool (File synctoy). I have no idea for Macs, but the general belief seems to be that you should not use Time Machine and the organizer at the same time...