Pixelpixie88 Loc: Northern Minnesota

THANK YOU!!!! You are a genius!
I found the ".lrcat.lock" and deleted it. Went into LR and on my first observations, it seems to be working smoothly. Keeping my fingers crossed.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Double check on Adobe web site to see that LR 3.6 will run on the version of Windows that you are currently using. Otherwise, I don't have a clue.

newryqs

This is a frequent problem when the Cloud has your stuff. I would have thought that Adobe had backed up their Cloud. Makes me reluctant to order the new Photoshop if it will only be available from the Cloud. How could I go anywhere where there isn't wifi to do editing? How will I know on the critical day that Adobe will recognize my account? If I have to, I would get a new program so long as it resides on my machine.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

I have been called all sorts of names but never that one.

The lock file is present when LR closed probably due to improper shutdown of computer as in power cut or throwing it through window etc.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I've got over 16,000 photos cataloged in LR4 and have never had a problem like yours. It automatically tells me it's time to backup my catalog from time to time and I do so often but not every time.

I'd suggest that a file in LR3.6 has been corrupted on your hard drive and is causing this. The re-install should resolve your problem. I very much doubt if it's the Adobe product itself or many users would be having the problem.

spphoto Loc: Long Island,N.Y.

Lightroom does not store your photos .They must have a location that lightroom can find,either on your hard drive or external.
The catalogue only list folders or photo that you have stored some where else

mdorn Loc: Portland, OR

So after you backup your catalog, then you need to backup your photo files separately? And when you restore after a hard disk crash, does the LR catalog know where those photo files are? Somehow they need to stay linked... sounds a little confusing to me.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yes, you do need to backup the photos separately. Lightroom just keeps track of where they are and what changes were made to them. I keep all my photos in subfolders inside "My Pictures" on my PC so when I do a backup, I just backup the whole "My Pictures" and everything gets backed up as one big batch but in their proper sub folders and sub-sub folders.

If I had a failure and had to restore them, I'd just restore the whole "My Pictures" to the C:/ drive then tell the new restored LR to sync folder on the fresh "My Pictures" to learn where everything is. Remember that you will be installing a new LR on the C:/ drive after a drive failure so it will be as dumb as a rock and not know where anything. There's no tracking that will take place unless you also backed up your Catalog on the backup drive and not just on the C:/ main drive.

It's not complicated as long as you remember that photo files are not IN LR, LR just keeps track of where they are.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

You do need to back up your photos just like every other file and folder that you value.

If you do a restore from a properly organized backup, it will put files back where they came from and Lightroom would find them.

If you restore them to a different structure, you can direct Lightroom where to look and it will reconnect to the file names it is looking for.

Some "export" a "final copy" of a photo when they think their Lightroom possessing is complete. Then they keep those "final copies" in a back up system.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

I have a couple of customers that run into this every now and then. LR wants to auto create a default library that it keeps wanting to choose. This is usually on the C drive but many folks create another library on another drive or in another location. LR remembers this but if that drive is unavailable or has changed letters then LR defaults to it's own library which has 0 entries. If this happens go to FILE - OPEN RECENT and choose your library.

You can also choose PREFERENCES - GENERAL - DEFAULT CATALOGUE and choose PROMPT ME... This solves the problem out-right.

Rest assured LR does not include or act upon your photos, it only keeps a record of where they are located and any changes you wish to make to them. The only exception to this is when you hit the delete key and then it asks you several times, "Are you sure"

But glad you found the LOCK resolution.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Its still not clear to me where the missing files were located. Were they on a specific location on the hard drive? On an external drive? Or were they somewhere in the cloud? If they are on the cloud I could easily see how they could disappear, which is why I would never trust important data to some third party's protection, especially without a backup on my end. If they were on the hard drive or an external drive there is no way LR could have spontaneously deleted them. And if deleted, some of them at least would be in the recycle bin. The OP needs to provide us with a lot more detail on the specifics of the computer, and the specific location of the missing files, otherwise this is all guesswork.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

The photos were never gone. LR just couldn't load them due to the lock situation expressed earlier.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

In her original post the OP said the first time this happened she lost all the photos not just the catalog and never found them. She indicated when it happened again recently she still had the originals unlike the event in December. Did i read her post incorrectly?

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

I base my answers on personal experience with several (non techie) customers and their predicaments. With out being there and having an understanding of first and second level help desk techs I would be willing to bet that the first time the pics were not lost just hiding. I see some of my customers save their "stuff" in weird places and when I ask them where they shrug their shoulders and say "right there on the computer" <sigh>

The same can be said for the second time when the problem was solved and the photos magically re-appeared. Now if indeed the photos were actually gone I would also be willing to bet that LR was not the culprit but a fat finger thing would be the usual suspect. Oh yes, and a convenient memory lapse. LOL

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

As a long time support person myself I completely agree, but in this case I can only go by what was reported by the OP, including her assertion that Adobe tech support couldn't find them either and that they are apparently still missing. I'm guessing Marsha is not a computer power user or she wouldn't have needed outside assistance looking for files on her hard drive. This assumes of course that the original missing images weren't on the cloud rather than a local drive. Keeping data of any kind on the cloud without a local backup is always a risky proposition IMHO. It places full trust in a third party to store and protect your data into perpetuity and allow you access whenever you need it, 24/7. Internet access may be temporarily unavailable, servers may fail, companies go out of business or sell their assets, or people die and no longer pay their bills and six months later their heirs can't find critical info or cherished memories stored on line. I perform incremental backups almost every day on two separate external hard drives and a third backup to a an encrypted USB flash drive which I keep on my key chain.