Lightroom Catalog Corrupt

[simplify]

I was working in Lightroom today importing images from a card when it made my iMac crash.  When I restarted and opened Lightroom it told me the catalog was corrupt and could not be repaired.

I started a new catalog and tried to 'Import From Catalog'  which didn't work.  So I then 'Imported from disk' and had all 30,000 images reimported within an hour.  
The only problem is all of my settings and keywording is not there.  
Can anybody tell me where to find this file in my old lightroom folder so I can retain all of my old settiings?
Thanks,

[Per Ofverbeck]

I was working in Lightroom today importing images from a card when it made my iMac crash.  When I restarted and opened Lightroom it told me the catalog was corrupt and could not be repaired.

I started a new catalog and tried to 'Import From Catalog'  which didn't work.  So I then 'Imported from disk' and had all 30,000 images reimported within an hour.  
The only problem is all of my settings and keywording is not there.  
Can anybody tell me where to find this file in my old lightroom folder so I can retain all of my old settiings?
Thanks,

I´m not an expert, but it seems your first move should be to find the last "pre-disaster" version of Lightroom´s own database backups.  Normally, there should be a subfolder in the Lightroom folder (beside the current database) named "Backups", although you may have chosen another location for it.  Anyway, leave all your images where they were, quit Lightroom, enter that "Backup" folder, and open the subfolder bearing the latest pre-disaster date.  Inside is one file with the ending .lrcat.  Double-click it, and Lightroom should hopefully open exactly where it was when that backup was performed.  If this saves you, copy this .lrcat file to the place where your corrupt, and your newly created catalogs are now (after moving these somewhere else; if there is a file with the ending .lock there when Lightroom isn´t running, you should remove that one, too).


You´ll have to redo everything you did after that crash, including the import-from-card that crashed the run in the first place.  If all goes well, discard your corrupt catalog, and that fresh one you created "within an hour"; they´re huge, and just take up a lot of space.  The .lock file is just a flag of 4 kB size, but discard that one, too, just to tidy up.

Just a final remark, to avoid confusion: what Lightroom backs up is just the catalog, NOT the images themselves, nor the previews.  It is the sole responsibility of the user to backup his/her images in a safe way, to prevent the mother of all disasters: losing your entire body of work....  The previews can always be rebuilt, so personally, I don´t back them up.

[Mort54]

Can anybody tell me where to find this file in my old lightroom folder so I can retain all of my old settiings?

The Catalog IS where all of your settings are stored. Hopefully you were saving regular backups of your catalog. Lightroom asks you periodically if you want to backup your catalog. All you have to do is click the OK button. It only takes a few minutes, or less, to do so using this option. Alternatively you can export your settings to sidecar files, tho I think this isn't recommended because it causes a performance hit. If you haven't been backing up your catalog, and you haven't been exporting your settings to sidecar files, then your old settings are gone.

Ideally you don't want to store your images in your catalog (tho I'm sure there are other opinions about this). Instead you link to your images on your hard drive and just use the catalog to store your settings. This makes catalog backups painless and almost instantaneous.