Have to reimport--what happens??....

[picnic]

Today, while searching for a quite old file to print for client, I discovered that one of my external drives is dead in the water--can't access it.  I have it backed up on an offsite large drive so that's okay.  Then--while I had the large drive in to find the file I needed--I decided to back up the last 2 months on another drive/current (I also back up current year to dedicated internal drive--just in case) and found out it had 'issues'.  Consequently, I'm going to start fresh and put both the old smaller drive and my current drive (I have others--different for each year--'named' for LR sake and each drive is marked for easy identifcation when I need to connect it) on a new larger drive.

My problem is---everything is keyworded.  I can't copy from the old drives--so the only thing I can think of is to delete the current drives/folders and reimport.  My guess is that I will just have to rekeyword--I can't think of a way around it--or any other way.  I also assume I lose all LR changes, etc. --it will be like mporting brand new folders.   When I delete these drives/folders, I also assume that the keyword list will have the numbers of each keyword reduced.  Oh, woe LOL.  I'm just lucky though that I have these backed up.  However, its not exact (I learned my lesson on that--from now on, same name for dedicated internal folders) as I got lazy at times (I have my LR organized  year/month/date/name--and let the backup just put it in the backup month with date--but no name.  I'll straighten it out as I import again, and perhaps it will be just best to keyword as I go---perhaps just importing folder by folder.  It will take a LOT longer, but it will be right--keywords are important for me.

BTW--I have referred to my Martin Evening LR 2.0 book--and don't find anything to make me think how to do this differently.

Any thoughts???--or---- just "good luck (glad its not me)" LOL.

Diane

[DarkPenguin]

Did you save your metadata to the files?  If you did all the keywording should be in the files.  So when you reimport you'll get it all back.

If you didn't save your metadata you should.

Also, can't you have LR search for lost files?  Or am I thinking of another application?

[john beardsworth]

Diane - it sounds like all your pictures are backed up, so is your Lightroom catalogue working OK?

[Tklimek]

I feel kinda tired this morning, but isn't the metadata stored in the catalog anyway....unless you are using DNG?

It sounds like, and maybe I'm not understanding this, but just like if you were to move files outside of the Lightroom environment and then lightroom will display the little question mark indicating it can't find the files anymore.  Normally you can point lightroom to the new location and say "they are over here" and nothing is lost.  Am I missing something here?

Cheers....

Todd "not done with morning coffee yet" in Chicago

Did you save your metadata to the files?  If you did all the keywording should be in the files.  So when you reimport you'll get it all back.

If you didn't save your metadata you should.

Also, can't you have LR search for lost files?  Or am I thinking of another application?

[DarkPenguin]

You can store it in .xmp files.

[Tklimek]

Ah....true dat.

I'm not sure if the OP indicated whether or not they are using the catalog or sidecars to store the data.

Todd in Chicago

You can store it in .xmp files.

[picnic]

Did you save your metadata to the files?  If you did all the keywording should be in the files.  So when you reimport you'll get it all back.

If you didn't save your metadata you should.

Also, can't you have LR search for lost files?  Or am I thinking of another application?

DP, I don't think I did.  But--looking at the options, it appears that I can do that--though it will take a bit of time--have to see if I can do it individually, folder by folder, etc.  I agree--dumb on my part, but a lesson learned--the hard way.

I have no lost files on my current drive.  It accesses fine from LR--but will not copy successfully (get error message--redundancy error which indicates bad areas on drive according to what I found) to my large backup/offsite drive.  No rhyme or reason in the files it won't copy--but they must be corrupt according to what I was able to find.

And-miraculously, after trying to access the very old drive on 3 computers yesterday it has decided to 'spin up' today so before it 'goes away' again, I'm going to copy to the new drive and just have LR find it on the other drive.  That's one problem (hopefully) solved.

Diane

[picnic]

Diane - it sounds like all your pictures are backed up, so is your Lightroom catalogue working OK?

John, it is.  My catalog is backed up regularly and appears to have no problems.  I think I'm having problems(understanding type problems LOL) separating the catalog from the actual folders on the externals--perhaps.  

Diane

[picnic]

I feel kinda tired this morning, but isn't the metadata stored in the catalog anyway....unless you are using DNG?

It sounds like, and maybe I'm not understanding this, but just like if you were to move files outside of the Lightroom environment and then lightroom will display the little question mark indicating it can't find the files anymore.  Normally you can point lightroom to the new location and say "they are over here" and nothing is lost.  Am I missing something here?

Cheers....

Todd "not done with morning coffee yet" in Chicago

Todd, I don't think you are LOL.  BUT--and this is a big BUT that's my fault--not to be repeated.  If I'm unable to copy my current external drive to the new drive (either from within LR or manually and then reimport--or tell it to 'go there'), then I have to use my dedicated internal drive that I use for backup from a certain point on.   I SHOULD have named each of those folders  (year/month/date/name) as I do when I import--instead I just clicked 'backup' and it backed up to the F drive--but just put those in the 'month' folder by date--'imported on Saturday, April 4, 2009' as example.  So--those folders do not correlate with my LR folder names.  I spent some time yesterday renaming some of them, but some still don't correlate.  I have to think this through.

What it comes down to is---I backed up and I think most will work as you say when I tell it to 'go there' (didn't think through that option and that will obviously work) except for recent months that are only backed up on the 'temp' internal dedicated backup.  Its a 'just in case' drive--and normally I backup by copying my current months' folders from my 'named' external drive )which is the one LR points to) to my big offsite drive.  I have several months that are only on the temp file--but think I can straighten that out with time now that those of you here have made me think through my options.  I believe I was in crisis mode yesterday LOL--trying to find files to print for a client's job and 2 drives went batty.

Diane

[picnic]

Ah....true dat.

I'm not sure if the OP indicated whether or not they are using the catalog or sidecars to store the data.

Todd in Chicago

I'm using the catalog.

Diane

[picnic]

Thanks all.  I think you have pointed me in the right direction and I've had my tea and my  head is on straighter this morning.  

Diane

[john beardsworth]

My catalog is backed up regularly and appears to have no problems.  I think I'm having problems(understanding type problems LOL) separating the catalog from the actual folders on the externals--perhaps.

Good, then the next step would be to restore the images from their backup location to the new drive. Don't try to be too clever about restoring - ie don't start reorganising the folders in Finder/Explorer - just get them all where they should be. Then open Lightroom and see if the folders have any question marks. If your backup & restore is really good, the folders will be where LR expects them to be and there will be no question marks. If there are any, right click the folder and use Find Missing Folder. Don't do a Sync or Import in LR (it will delete the missing files and import the same pictures from another location) - if you're as well backed up as you think, it should simply be a question of fixing things with the Find Missing Folders.

Go gently, and try sorting out a few images to begin with.

As for the understanding thing, think of the catalogue as a register - when you "import" files, you are not really importing the files into Lightroom but are simply recording where they are. So the folders you see in Lightroom are like a list of locations, like listing shelves in a bookstore.

John

[DarkPenguin]

DP, I don't think I did.  But--looking at the options, it appears that I can do that--though it will take a bit of time--have to see if I can do it individually, folder by folder, etc.  I agree--dumb on my part, but a lesson learned--the hard way.

I have no lost files on my current drive.  It accesses fine from LR--but will not copy successfully (get error message--redundancy error which indicates bad areas on drive according to what I found) to my large backup/offsite drive.  No rhyme or reason in the files it won't copy--but they must be corrupt according to what I was able to find.

And-miraculously, after trying to access the very old drive on 3 computers yesterday it has decided to 'spin up' today so before it 'goes away' again, I'm going to copy to the new drive and just have LR find it on the other drive.  That's one problem (hopefully) solved.

Diane

Perhaps you should try to make the files in question "lost".  That is to say if it is having issues reading them you probably want to go to the backup.  So confirm the backup works.  Copy it over.  Make sure the place you copy it to is not having issues.  Whack the bad files.  (Just rename the directory or, if external, shut off the drive.) Then let LR find the files you restored.

Then you should have working files and all your metadata.  Then write your metadata to your files.

The big issue with this is that once you delete the mainline files you will be down to your backups.  If that is a singular backup you have no redundancy and if anything happens (trip over a cat and drop the drive) you could lose everything.  So keep that in mind.

[picnic]

Good, then the next step would be to restore the images from their backup location to the new drive. Don't try to be too clever about restoring - ie don't start reorganising the folders in Finder/Explorer - just get them all where they should be. Then open Lightroom and see if the folders have any question marks. If your backup & restore is really good, the folders will be where LR expects them to be and there will be no question marks. If there are any, right click the folder and use Find Missing Folder. Don't do a Sync or Import in LR (it will delete the missing files and import the same pictures from another location) - if you're as well backed up as you think, it should simply be a question of fixing things with the Find Missing Folders.

Go gently, and try sorting out a few images to begin with.

As for the understanding thing, think of the catalogue as a register - when you "import" files, you are not really importing the files into Lightroom but are simply recording where they are. So the folders you see in Lightroom are like a list of locations, like listing shelves in a bookstore.

John

Thank you John.  and thank you for the simple example of the catalog. I do know that I do not import the actual files into LR--and tell them to record them from where they are--but your analogy got it better understood.  I so don't want to lose my keywording.

Diane

[picnic]

I felt I owed my support team here the result.  I was very careful to make sure that all my folders in all years/months on the new drive (as I copied them from backup and the temp backup) were EXACTLY named the same as my LR folders for the same.  It took just a bit to make sure (next time--if there is a next time---I won't have to check--they will be because I'll make sure my 'temp' backup is exactly the same as my 'pointed to' folders, and of course my offsite backup is because its copied from the 'pointed to' drive), but in the end, it worked exactly as its supposed to--when I had it search for the new folder, selected it and the year folders moved from K drive to Q drive and O drive to Q drive (I combined my very old small drive with my faulty current drive--all on my larger new drive).  I made sure to name my drive before I worked in LR--and all is well.  Whew!!!!  

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.  How easy--honestly, it couldn't be easier.  I have a little bit of cleaning up to do--a folder still left 'hanging' up on old drive, but I believe this is just a misnamed folder on the drive--a couple of files missing, but I see where they are, so its back to normal.  Just love LR--and have since I started to work with the beta.  

Diane

[Tklimek]

Hey Diane!

Great to hear....glad to hear that it worked out for you in the end.

Cheers..

Todd in Chicago

I felt I owed my support team here the result.  I was very careful to make sure that all my folders in all years/months on the new drive (as I copied them from backup and the temp backup) were EXACTLY named the same as my LR folders for the same.  It took just a bit to make sure (next time--if there is a next time---I won't have to check--they will be because I'll make sure my 'temp' backup is exactly the same as my 'pointed to' folders, and of course my offsite backup is because its copied from the 'pointed to' drive), but in the end, it worked exactly as its supposed to--when I had it search for the new folder, selected it and the year folders moved from K drive to Q drive and O drive to Q drive (I combined my very old small drive with my faulty current drive--all on my larger new drive).  I made sure to name my drive before I worked in LR--and all is well.  Whew!!!!  

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.  How easy--honestly, it couldn't be easier.  I have a little bit of cleaning up to do--a folder still left 'hanging' up on old drive, but I believe this is just a misnamed folder on the drive--a couple of files missing, but I see where they are, so its back to normal.  Just love LR--and have since I started to work with the beta.  

Diane