donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Hello Lightroom experts,

I'm using LR3 and have been for a long time. This seems to be a new problem. I have a ton of images on an aux drive called Free Agent. When importing Free Agent appears as an option. However when exporting Free Agent is no where to be found. I'd really appreciate any ideas about what is happening.

Thanks!
Donna

Giugly01 Loc: Woodstock, NY

Did you set your export location in the save dialog?

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

That's where my aux drive does not come up as an option.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

I've had 2 Free agent drives go bad on me...it started as you describe, then the Orange light and drive would never rest...spinning 24/7 then they went south...Now I use WD externals. If I were you...copy your photos to another drive.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Really?? You think it's going bad even though it shows up other than where I mentioned? OMG, I have soooo much on that drive.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Forgot to say thanks. Maybe I better get Carbonite because moving almost 2T is going to take a long time esp when I don't know where to move them to. I have some folders that shouldn't be empty that are now. Did that happen to you, too? I very rarely ever cut images to move them. I always copy to another folders so this doesn't make sense. I had some amazing butterfly shots that are now missing and I can't find them anywhere else. I'm feeling sick.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Ok, I forgot to say that my Passport (WD) is also not showing up as an export option. Only my main hard drive is an option for exporting to UNLESS the original image was on one of those drives. In that case I can select to save in the "same folder as original image". But if neither of those drives is the "original" folder then I have no way of saving to them via the export menu. Another tidbit is that I had upgraded to LR 5 and had issues so I went back to LR 3. Prior to that I had not issues. Well other issues but not these. (-:

Thanks for all the help any of you can offer. It is much appreciated.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

Are you on a MAC or PC?
Not sure if skipping over LR4 and going to LR5 from LR3 had anything to do with it...I've had filing issues with LR4 where my catalog is showing two separate folders for 2013, yet all paths from any file are pointing to the same location on my external drive (show in Explorer)...to date no one including Adobe has figured that one out.
In any case...
I know that sick feeling, luckily before the drives went I was able to copy maybe 95% of all data to other drives. Carbonite I don't think will be much faster than you transferring them yourself to another external drive, in fact I'd bet doing it yourself to a 2 or 3 TB would be quicker having USB3. I just moved about 2TB of photos and I think it took maybe 6 hours. I did it overnight while sleeping, I only sleep 5 hours a night and it was done when I woke up.
I just picked up 2 more WD 3TB drives for $129.00 at Staples.

http://www.staples.com/WD-My-Book-3TB-Desktop-USB-30-External-Hard-Drive-Black/product_265654

Drives today are so cheap, can't hurt having several backups.

I always make multiple backups to multiple external drives, both daily incremental and weekly totals using Acronis Backup Software. Plus I have LR5 make a second copy to start with. Then I let Acronis do my regular backups.

BTW, just remembered, my daughter also had a Free Agent go on her, she lost all her recorded I-tunes media. Others swear by them, I don't trust any Seagate external product. Internal drives are fine.

Can you see the drives using Explorer? Outside of LR...

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Yes, I can see them outside of LR. Not sure if it's called Windows Explorer in Windows 8 because I see nothing called that but they show up in Computer and in Libraries on the left hand side and they also show up in LR for everything EXCEPT exporting. Thanks for all the info. I'm working on it! (-:

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Ooops, I meant Windows 7, not 8.

Michael66 Loc: Queens, New York

In another posting, you called this an aux drive. It appears that you are using this as your actual working drive. Possible issues with this drive aside, you should have a second one of these as a backup. Something as simple as copying all changes from your aux to backup drive every time you work. These drives are cheap. Surely cheaper than the loss of all your work.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

I have the main drive in my tower and then two aux drives plugged in - a Passport by WD and the Free Agent. Just bought another WD Passport but it's only 1T. That said I have a LOT of stuff that could be culled from all the drives. My best stuff would easily fit on the new 1T but it will take a LONG time to cull thru. Thanks for you input. Much appreciated.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Ok, I have an update and it's a bad one. I contacted someone about a photo shoot I did for her of her two guinea pigs about 14 months ago. She was thrilled that I'd called and ready to purchase prints, DVD of the whole 204 images, etc. I found the folder of raw images on my Free Agent GoFlex and imported them into Lightroom. I selected 10, processed them and exported into "same folder" with subfolder Daisy and Peaches jpegs. I then went to find that folder to print those. First I was taken aback because the Daisy and Peaches jpegs folder was not IN the Daisy and Peaches Raw folder but next to it. I opened the raw folder to see if there was a jpeg folder in there, too, and it was EMPTY!!!! The files inside the raw folder have disappeared! I have no images to make a DVD that I was going to get some really good money for. I'm sick. Does anyone have ANY idea what could have happened to those images?

Thanks in advance as always. Donna

Cameralark Loc: Torrington, CT

Try importing one (1) image into Lightroom from each of the drives that are not showing up and then see what happens. In many cases this procedure will let Lightroom know where to find the drives.

donnahde Loc: Newark, DE

Um, I import images from both of the aux drives all the time. It's exporting when they don't show up. It's just too weird, I know.

At this point I'm duplicating any folder I have in the Free Agent drive to the My Pictures on my hard drive BEFORE I ever touch it in LR. It's ludicrous but until I can cull thru the 2T of pictures on that drive and cut them down to 1T (which is all the room I have on my new drive) I feel like I HAVE to do that.

Thanks for your input.