PACSMAN Loc: MA

Stop messing around with external drives and get a NAS.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

A NAS system is not a good answer for files you are actively processing as speed are restricted as compared to TB3. Best of luck.

lschiz Loc: Elgin, IL

I would suggest too:
Start a new catalog. Save the old one and back it up. Use it to access those images but start a new CAT so saving and backing up on closing is faster.

brianajo Loc: Youngstown, Oh

you can change the drive letter on new drive to the letter of the old drive unplug old drive after you copy the files then rename the new drive

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

PACSMAN Loc: MA

I don't disagree with your statement. I normally copy all my working files to a local drive and them move them to my NAS in Lightroom when I'm done. It sure beats messing around with multiple external drives.

stangage

The advice I received from a Lightroom Sensei was to do the copy of the photo files to the new drive "FROM WITHIN LIGHTROOM". Then Lightroom will know where the files are. If you do the move from outside of lightroom then you may be faced with the laborious process of telling Lightroom where to find each folder or individual file. You can then change the drive letter if its important to you. The other piece of advice from this same person was, as mentioned above, to keep your Lightroom catalog(s) on your main system drive and keep them backed up These .lrcat files are not really big but contain all the editing info that you have done. Having the .lrcat files on your system drive will also speed up your editing process a bit. This is particularly true if you use an SSD as your system drive

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

You are correct in this, as I stated in an earlier post, but darn, why do it the easy and quick way when you can figure out all kinds of "work arounds" that take longer and add to the difficulty of the simple task at hand...

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Your source was correct, you catalog should be on c drive in the Lightroom.

As far as copying, no. As long as you do your copying with Windows and and do an exact copy of all the directories then rename the new drive the same as the old drive there's nothing else to do Lightroom will see it immediately. This is exactly what I do. You have to remember, each time you unplug an external drive, and plug it in later, it may not be the same drive letter. So, I think my way to actually better, or you will have to tell Lightroom where the new one is.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

That way will work, but if you have a lot of files it is likely to be slow. Last time I moved files through LR, it moved the files rather than just copying them.

I think there are two ways that compete for "best":

(1) Copying the entire folder structure to a new larger disk, then re-naming that disk so it has the same path as the original disk;

(2) The method posted by Bogin Bob (https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-681355-1.html#11904304) which I have not personally tried, but if it works it is probably the easiest method.

Note that, whichever way you use, you should explicitly rename the new external disk you are using for your original photos. The reason is that when you connect an external disk to your computer, the OS looks for a convenient name for the new disk. If you have set up a name explicitly that name will be used (as long as another disk with that name is not currently attached). If you have not set up a name explicitly using the Disk Management utility, the OS will choose the new name. If it chooses something other than what Lightroom expects, LR will not see your images.

rck281 Loc: Overland Park, KS

You can't have 2 DRIVES plugged in with the same drive letter! It's easy to change the drive letter in Windows by using Disk Management.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

I have discussed this before. I always use number 1. I label any disk I have changed the drive letter with the drive letter and program it is used for. If you have a drive labeled "F" and it is only used with LR, light room will see it as f ( go will the computer) no problem. And when this drive is not connected, and the next drive letter available is "F" windows will label it "G" I believe, because "F" is already reserved. Just like "C" is reserved. I have my external drives labeled F g and g. C and d are used by the system and e is my data drive, internal. "D" is not always reserved. Some times it is the back up drive for windows.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

May not be an issue if using LR a lot and the catalogue is still on the internal drive. After import LR does not access the original files very much, so being on a NAS is not an issue. PS is a different issue. However, (to the other poster) a NAS actually is an external drive or drives.