Excessive time for backup

[dkwdkw0301]

My computer has been sitting on "Please wait while Elements Organizer prepares for backup..." for several hours.  Lots of pictures (65k) and lots of data (250gb), but Windows Task Manager says, "not responding" and I'm not sure how long I have to wait?  Any ideas?

[Greg_S.]

Not that it matters that much, but what version of Elements are you using?

Backing up a catalog of that size is going to take many hours and the time may depend on the kind of drive you are using for the backup (SSD vs. platter drive; and internal vs. external drive).  The message you are getting is normal and the TM "not responding" cannot be relied upon.  It is more important to look at whether there is any activity in the Elements processes.

So, I don't know whether you have taken any action to end the backup yet, but you should be prepared to leave the program running at least overnight.

If you need to run the backup again, there are a couple of things you should do before starting it.  First, make sure there are no missing files in the catalog.  Run the Find>All missing files command.  If you find any, either try to relink them or else delete the files from the catalog.  You should also run an Optimize and Repair from the File>Manage Catalogs dialog.  Complete the processes, even if you get a message that no errors have been found.

[Bob_Ganz]

Greg's advice is right on the mark. 65k is a pretty large catalog though I have heard of some that are as large as 200k. If you are bothered by letting it run overnight, you have a number of options. I do not use the Elements backup for the same reason you cite. I use a separate backup app which runs in the background. An incremental backup for my 17k media takes minutes. Of course you lose some of the features that Adobe has provided like easily being able to move the media to a different ocation without losing the links to the catalog. The other option depends on the device you are using for your media, as Greg states. I use a NAS and if I were using Elements Backup, it would be the slowest of all options, short of backing up on a cloud. If it is feasible for you, your best option would be to put your media on the most up-to-date SSD with the fastest data path.