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Post by callsign on Oct 1, 2015 13:16:30 GMT
One of my EHDs has recently failed taking with it all the TIFF images held on F: which formed part of my only catalogue; their JPEG mirror images are in the same catalogue, safe on D: on my laptop.
I have a fairly recent Organizer Backup on another EHD but, sadly, there has been a lot of tidying up and organising of files done between its compilation date and the disk failure, so a lot of work lies ahead.
Ideally, I would just like to restore the backed up TIFFs to a new F: on a new EHD, but I suspect that will not be possible and I shall have to do a full restore.
Surprisingly, searching the web has produced very little information on the use of Restore within Photoshop Elements, but if anyone can point me towards a good source of help I would be grateful. I vaguely remember going part way down this road some time ago on the Village forum, when I had similar problems but there is no trace of that now.
One further point, if I was to restore the backup fully under a new name would I then have access to the JPEGs in the existing catalogue? This would be very helpful and save a lot of work, I think.
Any help would be appreciated.
Searson.
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Post by michelb on Oct 1, 2015 14:33:21 GMT
One of my EHDs has recently failed taking with it all the TIFF images held on F: which formed part of my only catalogue; their JPEG mirror images are in the same catalogue, safe on D: on my laptop. I have a fairly recent Organizer Backup on another EHD but, sadly, there has been a lot of tidying up and organising of files done between its compilation date and the disk failure, so a lot of work lies ahead. Ideally, I would just like to restore the backed up TIFFs to a new F: on a new EHD, but I suspect that will not be possible and I shall have to do a full restore. Surprisingly, searching the web has produced very little information on the use of Restore within Photoshop Elements, but if anyone can point me towards a good source of help I would be grateful. I vaguely remember going part way down this road some time ago on the Village forum, when I had similar problems but there is no trace of that now. One further point, if I was to restore the backup fully under a new name would I then have access to the JPEGs in the existing catalogue? This would be very helpful and save a lot of work, I think. Any help would be appreciated. Searson. When you have your media files on several drives, the backup is able to restore to the original drives or to a new location on a single drive. Restoring such a catalog on 'original' drives may be tricky if one of the drives is unavailable; I have never tested a similar situation. So, you restore to a new location, a new master folder on any available drive. The restore creates a different folder for each former drive, so that everything is recovered, all image files and the catalog. If your tiffs are 'version sets' of your originals, the version sets are kept and you keep the link between original and version. Once you have restored, it's possible to move the contents of a folder representing a former drive somewhere else, for instance on a new external drive. Does this help? |
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Post by callsign on Oct 2, 2015 14:28:44 GMT
Thank you, Michel, that was very helpful, and reassuring. I'm about to put it into practice now and will let you know how I get on.
One minor point, though: Will I be able to import jpegs from the old catalog to the new one to help me decide which lost tiffs, (there could be very many, like a couple of thousand), need retrieving/editing?
Searson
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Sue
Junior Forum Member
Learn something new every day
Posts: 132 
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Post by Sue on Oct 3, 2015 9:29:26 GMT
As long as your pictures still physically exist you will be able to import them. The catalog contains pointers to your pictures, not the actual pictures.
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Post by callsign on Oct 10, 2015 10:56:16 GMT
The last 10 days have been a real struggle to return operations to normal after the failure of an EHD in late September but after two attempts following Michel's instructions, and a battle with USB 3 RF problems I got there - nearly. My plan was to restore the catalog to the new EHD, tidy up the folders and files then move/drag & drop them in their new/former homes. This went smoothly until, in my wisdom, I thought it would be simpler to deal with the residual tiff files left on the new EHD by just changing the drive letter to the original one. That really put the cat among the pigeons!!
Somewhere along the line I have upset PSE 11 over its catalogs and in an endeavour to rectify its claim that the catalog could not be found I have got deeper and deeper into the mire because it is present but not working.
Put simply, my jpegs and tiffs are safe but I can't get my one and only catalog to work. Please, is it possible to put my files into a new catalog and then delete the old one? And, if it is possible how is it done and where does the catalog go?
My concern is that I have corrupted the catalog with my meddling and I should somehow try to get back to square one.
Searson
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Sue
Junior Forum Member
Learn something new every day
Posts: 132
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Post by Sue on Oct 10, 2015 11:08:05 GMT
Hopefully Michel will pipe in. I think if you change your drive letter back to where you were you will sort yourself out. If I remember correctly(been many years since I had this type of problem) but it isn't just the drive letter but also the serial number that has PSE upset.
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Post by michelb on Oct 10, 2015 16:43:11 GMT
I agree with Sue that setting the drive letter back should get you back.
I don't think your catalog is lost or 'corrupt', but some of its contents may be false.
tips:
- Finding catalogs: do an explorer search for a file named 'catalog.pse11db': the catalog is the folder containing that database file.
- Opening the organizer with the found catalogs: double click on the above catalog.pse11db, that should open the organizer with that catalog
- Repairing 'corrupt' catalogs: use the catalog manager and click on 'repair'. That does not solve all problems, but that can do no harm.
- catalog folders can be moved or duplicated. That's one way to create a backup of the catalog without the photo files.
- Problems with drive letters: they may be very tricky; the effect is to show all or some of your photos as 'disconnected' in the organizer.
I think you should find your catalog easily and be able to set the drive letter back.
Then we'll probably have to deal with disconnected files.
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Post by callsign on Oct 12, 2015 14:59:14 GMT
Nothing has been easy this last month, Michel, even finding the catalog.pse11db file proved a trial! However I think some progress has been made but as the road ahead looks to be no more inviting than the one I've been on for so long, some further guidance seems sensible, in case I find myself falling off a cliff. But now for the next step.
After a lot of manual searching (I couldn't get the computer searches to come up with anything, no matter what I tried) I found five examples of the catalog.pse11db, four of which were each nestled in a separate folder bearing the catalog's name, spread over 3 drives, with the catalog.pse11db file (and the thumb.5 cache) carrying various 'last modified dates'.
There was also a MyCatalog in the C: with a catalog.pse11db & thumbcache file showing they were last modified in June 2014, about the time I changed laptops, and little else.
I also noticed the Catalog Manager showed the one and only catalog I use, located in the F drive; I had previously fought the good fight successfully to change the letter of the new EHD, it was a struggle. It was also pleasing to see the JPEG side of the catalog back in the C/D drive.
I now wish to do some serious tidying-up but without throwing the baby out with the bath water. So, as I am uncertain about how to deal with the 'old' catalogs and images in C/D: I really need some help. At present I have 3 duplicate catalog sets in D: and one in C: which is quite quite a lot of surplus baggage.
Any help would be most welcome.
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Sue
Junior Forum Member
Learn something new every day
Posts: 132
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Post by Sue on Oct 12, 2015 22:37:59 GMT
The simplest thing is to pick your "production" catalog and delete the others. If you are hesitant to do this, create a folder with a name so you know they are old, extra catalogs and move all of them there. Each one may need to be in a unique sub-folder.
Once you determine your "production" catalog do a PSE backup so you have a backup and a fall back in case things go south.
I suggest as you clean up you do incremental backups on a frequent basis.
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Post by callsign on Oct 15, 2015 9:08:57 GMT
As well as trying to deal with the problems covered by this thread, I have been simultaneously trying to sort out what lay behind the recent messages I had been receiving concerning 'Runtime error' in PSE11 referring to Organizer.exe and application termination in an unusual way, but, again unsuccessfully.
Later, I was trying to backup, as Sue suggested, but this failed at around the 50% mark as did an attempted 'move' of a batch of files.
Puzzled, I began to wonder whether somehow the confluence of the failed EHD, the RF problems with my mouse (Logitech), which caused very strange behaviour, the new and old USB 3 hubs not performing or performing strangely, and the introduction of the new EHD to the computer not going smoothly, might have given PSE11 a bit of indigestion.
Researching a bit more, I came across a lead in another forum, uninstalled and reinstalled PSE and since then things have returned to normal, including the disappearance of the Runtime messages.
Many thanks for all your help along the way, it was much appreciated.
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