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Thread: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

  1. #1
    Not *@!%in Postman Pat! Ruggerbugger's Avatar
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    Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    My collection has outgrown my 500GB drive, so I'll be moving it to my just-ordered 2TB drive. The question is, what is the best way of doing this, specifically recreating my Lightroom 4 catalog? I've googled, but found all sorts of bitty advice. I thought asking here would clear things up.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzo
    my a55 shoots great video in 1080i

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Clone the entire drive ?
    Cheers, David



  3. #3
    Not *@!%in Postman Pat! Ruggerbugger's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    It's more the best way to recreate the Lightroom catalog really. I'm happy dragging everything across (I know it'll take ages), it's whether Lightroom will have a strop.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzo
    my a55 shoots great video in 1080i

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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggerbugger View Post
    It's more the best way to recreate the Lightroom catalog really. I'm happy dragging everything across (I know it'll take ages), it's whether Lightroom will have a strop.
    You can swap the drive letters of the new drive to match the old (assuming its not c: )
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    I don't know on the Lightroom front, but when doing any sort of large amount of file copying - Teracopy.

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Aye, as long as the drive letter and directory structure is the same Lightroom *should* see it as the same drive.
    Cheers, David



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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    and another reason why LR sucks

  8. #8
    Not *@!%in Postman Pat! Ruggerbugger's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Well those of us without CS5 have to make do


    Click here for larger versions of photos

    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzo
    my a55 shoots great video in 1080i

  9. #9
    Not *@!%in Postman Pat! Ruggerbugger's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Quote Originally Posted by mikerr View Post
    You can swap the drive letters of the new drive to match the old (assuming its not c: )
    The old drive is C


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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzo
    my a55 shoots great video in 1080i

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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggerbugger View Post
    Well those of us without CS5 have to make do
    CS5? nah C1

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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    In LR export as catalogue (to file). If you're reinstalling LR on the new setup do so now, set new catalogue location in preferences then file import as catalogue and select the file you just made.

    Step by step instructions: http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1664584

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    Not *@!%in Postman Pat! Ruggerbugger's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    I'm going to have to read that a few times before it sinks in. I have one question though. It seems as thought LR creates a new folder with the photos you want to move as part of the export process. Is this in addition to the folders that already exist on the source drive? If it is I don't have the space for that. What's stopping me just moving everything across to the new drive (not a new system) and pointing LR to the new folders?


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    Quote Originally Posted by Gonzo
    my a55 shoots great video in 1080i

  14. #13
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggerbugger View Post
    I'm going to have to read that a few times before it sinks in. I have one question though. It seems as thought LR creates a new folder with the photos you want to move as part of the export process. Is this in addition to the folders that already exist on the source drive? If it is I don't have the space for that. What's stopping me just moving everything across to the new drive (not a new system) and pointing LR to the new folders?
    I was thinking you would export to the new hard drive. It's an alternative to moving your pictures separately - by moving them as a LR catalogue you get the original pictures and the catalogue meta data (all the changes you've made to them etc.). You could just move the photos and rebuild the LR catalogue - that also shouldn't lose the meta data. LR will complain a bit at you when it can't find the original locations of the photos but will offer the option to search for new location.

  15. #14
    Boooooom Barakka's Avatar
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    Re: Moving photo collection from one drive to another

    You don't need to export the LR catalog, change drive letters or anything like that, LR is really good at this;
    • Copy the files to their new location keeping the folder structure the same
    • Make the old location unavailable
    • Start the LR Catalog - the previews will load (from the catalog) but all the images will be marked as "offline or missing"
    • Right click on the root folder of the photos on the list on the left
    • Select "Find Missing Folder" and point it to the new root folder location
    • LR will propagate the new location to all the subfolders and images
    • Done

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