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Everett5C24
Participating Frequently
July 28, 2021
Question

Snafus with PSE Catalog Move Using Backup-Restore

  • July 28, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 1697 views

I’ve been using the Elements Organizer in various versions going back to Photoshop Album some twenty-ish years ago in different computer generations.  For years now, I’ve had a PSE 6 catalog, which has worked fine.  Now, I am trying to move that PSE 6 Catalog from a Windows 7 computer to PSE 2021 on a Win10 computer.  I did this via backup and restore.

 

I started by reconnecting, optimizing and repairing the PSE 6 catalog on the old computer before running backup.  All well.

 

The problem came with the restore on the new computer (to an external HD).  I’ve tried two different ways to restore, but both are creating problems.

 

If I allow PSE to flatten the folder structure down to the final folder, then the new catalog comes out messed up.  This is because many of the final folders had the same name even though under different trees.  For example, I might have had a final “good” folder under a “2010 10 07” folder and a “2010 11 09” folder, etc.  The restore kept only the final folder, merged all those separate “good” folders into just one “good” folder, and dumped all the “good” images there.  So the catalog could not distinguish pictures with the same JPG number, with the result that version sets got messed up (e.g., JPG 14 paired with some other JPG 14 even though the actual images were different).

 

To fix that, I next selected restore to original folder structure.  This solved the former problem, but somehow resulted in TWO copies of the original folder structure and all of its photos.  So I ended up with duplicates – confusing, and taking up excess space.  (Actually, it seemed like the duplication only took place after PSE 2021 started to “convert” the catalog following restore.)  To be more specific, I now have a folder called “Master Catalog” and also “Master Catalog 1,” and both have the same sub-folders and media.  This is confirmed by the fact that the restored original-structure folder is roughly twice the GB of the original PSE 6 folder or the PSE 2021 flatten-restore.  Apart from the duplicates showing in Windows Explorer, however, the original-folder restore seems to work fine relative to achieving a functional PSE2021 catalog.

 

Neither result is optimal though.  How can I solve?

 

One possibility I have considered is running backup-restore off the newly created PSE2021 catalog resulting from the restore-to-original-folder-structure of the PSE 6 catalog.  My hope would be that PSE 2021 would back up only the catalog-linked media and leave the duplicates behind upon restore. 

Or am I better off just settling on the restored PSE2021 catalog – since it seems to work at least – and not worrying about the duplicate set showing in Windows Explorer?  The dupes aren’t really hurting anything, for now, but I fear they will lay the groundwork for confusion in later years and so would prefer to clean them up if possible.

 

Please advise.  Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    MichelBParis
    MichelBParis
    Legend
    July 28, 2021

    To be simple and safe:

    - Restore on a new drive, partition or empty new master folder

    - Specify to keep the original folder hierarchy. You can reshape or simplify your folder tree after the restore.

    • - When satisfied with the result, you can delete the old folders from the Explorer.
    E
    Everett5C24Author
    Participating Frequently
    July 29, 2021

    Many thanks to you (and Peru Bob) for your prompt attention.  I really do appreciate it.

     

    Your response puzzles me a bit, though, and I think that may be because we are miscommunicating.

     

    This is not a case where the duplicates consist of the original source copies plus the restored copies.  That would be easy.  As per your suggestion, I would simply delete the original source copies following a successful restore.  I think your response is aimed at that simple problem.

     

    But my problem is different.  The problem here is that the restore/conversion itself spawned duplicates.  See the attached screenshot from Windows Explorer illustrating the trees. 

     

    I restored the PSE6 catalog to an empty HD (Photo Drive(D)) and into an empty folder (PSE Catalog).  The restore generated “Master Catalog” (the name on the prior HD used with PSE6) but also “Master Catalog 1.”  As you can see from the screenshot, the folders in the two “Master Catalogs” under "PSE Catalog" overlap substantially.  “Master Catalog” contains approximately 20,000 files (as it did on the source HD with PSE 6), and “Master Catalog 1” has about 60,000.  I don’t think I can possibly tell which among these many files PSE needs (or not) so as to delete safely.

     

    My question is, is there a way to restore to a functional catalog that does not result in spawning two copies of my approximately 20,000 photos?

     

    At this point, I have only two ideas. 

     

    The first is to give up and live with the duplicates as the price for a functional catalog.  I mean, the catalog seems to look fine and work well at this point.  The only problem is that Explorer is clogged with duplicates; that’s bad house-keeping and a potential problem in later years. 

     

    The second is to run a backup-restore off my new PSE 2021 catalog in the hopes that doing so will capture only the catalog-linked media and not any extraneous duplicates.

     

    Please advise.  Many thanks again.

    MichelBParis
    MichelBParis
    Legend
    July 29, 2021

    I read again your first post which I admit I did not pay attention to details.

    In PSE2021, what you are describing about the folder structure suggests you are in the default list  folders view (shows only last step folders alphabetically) instead of the usual 'tree' view with the whole hierarchy like in the Explorer. Select the second option on top of the folders panel.

     

    Am I wrong in thinking that you are restoring directly under your D : drive root folder? It's never stated clearly, but when choosing a 'custom' restore destination, you should always create your own master folder under the root.

    Then you get your 'personal master folder' including all the photo files and the restored  PSE6 catalog folder (the database) which has been renamed with a 1  suffix and the present PSE2021 catalog folder (same name as before). Then you can tell the number of media files in your 'personal master folder' excluding the two catalog folders.

     

    Thanks for your feedback, I'll have more time later in the day.

    Peru Bob
    Community Expert
    Peru BobCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 28, 2021

    I've moved this from the Using the Community forum (which is the forum for issues using the forums) to the PSE forum so that proper help can be offered.

     

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