PSE 6.0 Catalog Warning!

[troush]

All,

There is a thread over at the Adobe forums: someone deleted a catalog and it also deleted the picture(s) in the catalog. They haven't figured out why, and I don't know all the details. (The photos were in another catalog.)

So, my warning is: do NOT delete a catalog, unless you have removed the pictures from the catalog without deleting them from the hard drive, AND have done a FULL backup of your photos.

-Trish

[mom2bandc]

Thanks Trish! Sounds like that could be a big problem!

[troush]

Okay, from the adobe forums, it looks like this could happen if you Restore a catalog. Here's some info:



If you do a File > Restore Catalog, selecting New Location and leaving Restore Original Folder Structure unchecked (the default), PSE will restore both the catalog *and* all the photo files into the specified folder.

If you then do File > Catalog > Remove to remove that restored catalog, it will delete the folder and all of its contents, including the photo files that restored to it.

I think this is bad design on the part of Adobe – the Users Guide would lead one to think (as Paige does) that because catalogs don’t contain photos, removing a catalog won’t remove the photos. Page 102 of the Guide says:

The catalog contains information about each photo and media file, but it doesn’t contain the actual photos and media files.

Thus it’s natural to assume (as George and Paige did) that the File > Catalog > Remove command would only remove a catalog, not the photos referenced by the catalog. Oops. In the case of a catalog restored to a new location using the default options, removing the catalog also removes the photos.


But, further on in the discussion, the original poster said that it was an original catalog, not a restored catalog, that was removed and the photos deleted. Here's what he said:



Thanks for the clarification John. BTW the catalog I had was not a restored catalog but an original built to the defaults of the program. But, unfortunately this is just saga #1.

Now, I have recovered, with the help recovery software and an almost current copy of my photo file on an external drive, 7000+ photos. So now to the next saga....

I decided to experiment with the recovered photos. I copied the photos to a new folder in a different branch of the same file tree as the current photo folder. I then opened PSE 6 and went to catalog manager and clicked on the "new" button to add a catalog. I named it "pictures we recovered". Well, now get this...there is also now, another new catalog "Pictures 050508-3, (the name of the new recovered photo file). The watch folder is only checked for "notify me". AND...drum roll please...the catalog I started with (wife's photos) is now GONE...GONE GONE. Yes you read that right, gone and not in the recycle bin. Photos are still in the file this time, whoopie.


So, please use caution with deleting catalogs, and adding new ones. Adobe has reported back to the original poster that they are investigating the problem.

I would make sure you store your catalog in a separate directory as compared to where your pictures are stored. I know if you use the Photo Downloader, you can specify where to put the photos. I would make sure your photos are in My Document\My Pictures or some such, and the catalog under c:\Documents and Settings\... (the default location).

You can go under C:\Documents and Settings and make sure the Downloader hasn't stored any pictures there. If it has, use the Organizer to move them, don't move them yourself.

Hopefully, this will prevent anything dreadful from happening.

-Trish

[givenout]

Thank you so much. This is very useful information!!!!