JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

I need HELP; I'm not a computer Wiz!

After a computer crash and lock-up, I had the old OS (Win8.1) removed, & Win7 Pro and upgrades installed in its place, reinstalled PSE10, downloaded my old files from Carbonite (which had a problem and had to be re-started from the beginning). I ended up with a totally screwed up Pictures file.

If I dig down into the C drive & then several levels into the Pictures file, I find several duplicate folders one of which has my full file and a couple with a portion of the pictures (maybe 60%) and a bunch of empty folders with the same names as the folders in the complete file. It also seems as if the file structure is screwed up. For example, one file chain has something like Pictures>Jcamsr>My Pictures>Jim's Photos2>that holds Jims Photo (which is complete) & a Second folder Pictures2 that is incomplete. I may have contributed to the mess in trying to use it and I might have been able to straighten out the mess with the old Windows Explorer Program, but I can't find it in Win7 Pro:thumbdown:

The PSE Organizer seems to have the same repetition of all the file structures & folders with the correct names, but they are ALL empty.

Questions: 1. Can I go into the Organizer and delete everything except one tree structure and then re-import the pictures (one folder at a time?) or when I delete a named, but empty, folder will it also delete the full folder with the same name and the pictures?

2. Should I just make a back-up of the file with the Pictures files I want to save, uninstall PSE10, delete all the excess files & structures Files on the "C" drive, then re-install PSE10 and start over?

3. I'm considering getting a 2TB External hard drive, splitting it into two 1TB drives and using one for a duplicate Pictures file and the other for a full system backup. Is anybody out there doing that and how much over my head is the process going to be? I've already tried using the Settings in the welcome screen to not open the Organizer and pulling photos to be edited directly from the Pictures file. That works, but I have to be very careful saving the edited pictures as it sometimes saves them in one of the folders in another tree. I would think that problem would go away if the Pictures file in use were on a different drive?

I think I'd still have to straighten out the mess on "C" as best I can, but the photos at least would be protected if I disconnected the new drive from the computer.

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

I cannot help you get your catalogue back - if you had it on the C drive, I expect it is gone the the happy hunting ground. However, you should be able to tell PSE 10 to rebuild the catalogue file although you will probably have to put back the tags on each picture. Quite a big job!

To save this from happening again, I suggest that you:
- split your HDD into two partitions (or install a second HDD) and put all your data on the non-operating system partition or disc.
- Tell PSE to save the catalogue to a directory in the Pictures folder (this has worked for me for PSE 6, 9 and 11).
- back up the catalogue file every time you back up your pictures.

As a number of others have said in the past, don't even just rely on a single backup. I have two, one on an external HDD and one on my laptop. Preferably keep one off site.

saichiez Loc: Beautiful Central Oregon

Have never approved of the "catalog" system used in any of Adobe's products that offer Organizers.

The Catalog file is not a container for your images. It is simply a file of "links" from the Organizer to the locations of images in your computer.

The Catalog system based Organizer in Elements is NOT interactive... meaning it does not watch and make changes based on manual changes you make in Windows Explorer. It does not survive data loss or file relocation resultant from a crash or meltdown. You must manually rebuild the system, or delete the catalog and rescan for a new catalog.

Once you lose the images and go to your backups and reload the images into to the computer, they are often in different locations than the "catalog" file in the Organizer originally found them.

I don't believe you can correct the Organizers Catalog file once a major relocation of images has taken place.

This corruption and breaking of links also occurs when you manual move image files and folders OUTSIDE of using the Organizer, as in simply moving files and folders in Windows Explorer and then going back to the Organizer... many broken links.

I have not used the Organizer in Adobe products for some time, so this info goes back a couple of years.

The solution is to be very certain that your images are in the computer in some order by viewing them in the Pictures/My Pictures system folder in Libraries. Be very sure this part is right.

Then, In Elements, there is a function for deleting the current catalog file. Then do an import and scan the computer Pictures folder to create a new catalog. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to use an old catalog or find an old catalog, based on the melt down of your catalog and system at use in the time.

Adobe builds this delete and rescan/import process into every version of Elements. It is common to have broken links and corrupted catalog files. They do not contain your images, but simply links to where the images reside in your computer.

The most important elements of your problem:
1) Understand where your images are actually located in the computer.. they are not in Elements, although they can be managed locationally by Elements Organizer.
2) Understand that once you start organizing using Elements downloader or folder view options, that if you go into your Windows Explorer and start manually moving files, you are going to break links locations in the Catalog in Organizer.
3) Pick one or the other:
a) Either manage files with the Organizer, or
b) Use only manual management in Windows Explorer, but
c) Never use both... one or the other.

Sounds like you must first make sure about the location of your replacement files from your backups using Windows Explorer and clean up any redundancy/other duplication.
Then you must deal with the catalog situation. Delete and rescan for a new catalog.

I first suggest you consider posing your question on the web site www.elementsvillage.com, which is often looked over by techs from Adobe.

Adobe also has a very well run forum.

I would encourage you first ask this question on those forums. I would not consider UHH a good, responsive site to get answers for a question as technical as you pose. After all, aren't your images at risk?:

I have disable the Organizer in every version of Elements that I have used. I learned how to shut off the Organizer on ElementsVillage, and I don't use it. Neither do I support it's use by students unless they fully understand it's weakness and complexity.

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Many people say this, but I regularly move files using Windows Explorer (WE) and Organiser can find them again. I do this because I keep my processed files in different directories to my RAW files. Until PSE 11, whenever I used 'Save As', PSE would make me navigate to my new directory every time which was a real nuisance.

What I did instead was just 'Save As' into the RAW directory. At the end of editing all pictures, I used WE to drag the edited files to where I want them, then go back to Organiser and call 'Files/Reconnect/All missing files' which then reconnects the moved pictures. It seemed to work best if Organiser was open when I used WE, otherwise I sometimes had to help it find the first file.

With PSE 11, it remembers where I 'Save As' to, so I don't have to move files manually any more.