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Question regarding LR and external SSD
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Mar 14, 2019 11:17:43   #
rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle
 
I'm not sure if this makes any sense and it may even be a stupid question, but, is it possible to download Lightroom on to an external hard drive and run it from there? I'd like to use an older laptop when I'm traveling and I'm curious if that would work?

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Mar 14, 2019 11:22:47   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
Does it let you install on two locations, like desktop and laptop?
I don't have LR but my two editors are installed on the desktop and laptop.
Mos software now a days lets you as they know people will use a laptop when traveling.
(external drive installation would be slower running.)

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Mar 14, 2019 11:28:17   #
bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA
 
The Lightroom Classic CC should be installed on your primary drive. The license lets you keep it active on two computers. You can keep the catalog and all your image files on an external drive.

The other way to do it is to create a new catalog on the travel computer. Typically each trip with be a unique catalog. Then when you return to the main computer you exercise an "Import from an other catalog" and include the image files.

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Mar 14, 2019 11:36:40   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
You can install the software to two machines as part of your license, for your situation of a main workstation and traveling laptop. You can place your full catalog on the external harddrive and connect the HD to either machine or laptop and share the entire LRCAT file; just assure the same drive letter assignment for Windows, if applicable. You might also just have a separate LRCAT on the laptop and transfer the traveling work into the main LRCAT when you get home. There's a few options, somewhat depending on how you want to do things. Traveling with your main LRCAT and putting that file at risk, may / may not be as good as just merging the traveling results when you get home, depending on how you handle your back-ups, speed of transferring large files, etc.

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Mar 14, 2019 11:44:54   #
ronaldwrightdallas
 
you can install the LR on your laptop. if you have disk space issues you can set up the catalog on the external drive and import and process all of your photos on the external drive. depending on your old laptop and the speed of the connection and the external drive, you might experience slower processing.

I have all of my photos taken before this year on an external drive (raid type drobo system) and it works just fine. I keep my catalog on the local drive because it is faster that way.

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Mar 14, 2019 11:46:27   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
You should be able to. When installing the software, just point to the drive and location you wish to use. The caveat here is whether or not the software "records" the SID when it installs or when it checks with the mother ship to verify licensing.
--Bob
rydabyk wrote:
I'm not sure if this makes any sense and it may even be a stupid question, but, is it possible to download Lightroom on to an external hard drive and run it from there? I'd like to use an older laptop when I'm traveling and I'm curious if that would work?

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Mar 14, 2019 13:52:53   #
rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle
 
Thanks everyone, I just picked an external SSD for a second external drive to backup my photo's and I was going to try and install LR on it also, I do have LR installed on an older laptop that just runs sooo sloooow.

Again, thanks for the replies, y'all rock!

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Mar 14, 2019 16:42:36   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
rydabyk wrote:
Thanks everyone, I just picked an external SSD for a second external drive to backup my photo's and I was going to try and install LR on it also, I do have LR installed on an older laptop that just runs sooo sloooow.

Again, thanks for the replies, y'all rock!


An SSD is still going to have the USB bottleneck, so it probably won't be as fast as you're expecting it to be. I've never tried this, so I am curious as to what your results are.

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Mar 15, 2019 05:40:57   #
phot0n0ob
 
While you will be able to install Lightroom on an external drive, the application will still put some config information and other "stuff" onto your primary drive in places like the registry (Windows) or ~/Library (macOS) and as you move the external drive between computers, those places will be missing. That, coupled with the fact that running an application from an external drive (via USB) is rather small, makes me suggest - as others have - that you use your license to "properly" install Lightroom locally on both computers.

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Mar 15, 2019 07:48:07   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
I have LR Classic CC on my main computer drive and my catalog on an external SSD Drive works fine

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Mar 15, 2019 08:11:01   #
sv3noKin51E
 
rydabyk, if you can find a new copy of LightRoom 6 on disk, we purchased ours last year from Amazon (not the download). It the last version on disk you can buy, and luckily if you research it and learn how, it's faily easy to install it to your offline machine and keep it untethered if you want, meaning you don't need to connect it to the web, and never have to allow it to phone home. We use it on our offline workstation and it works great. Happy shooting. sv

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Mar 15, 2019 08:45:06   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
From what I've read here before, installing LR on an external drive is not a good idea.

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Mar 15, 2019 11:32:35   #
In-lightened Loc: Kansas City
 
The other way to do it is to create a new catalog on the travel computer. Typically each trip with be a unique catalog. Then when you return to the main computer you exercise an "Import from an other catalog" and include the image files.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing this tip...I was thinking about getting 2 external SSD drives for portability on trips. One for the catalog and one for backup. I keep the catalog and image files on externals. Though I always leave a backup of the LR catalog at home when I travel, I don't like taking the catalog with everything on it.

Learning how others think/do things is one of the most valuable aspects of the Hog for me.

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Mar 15, 2019 12:12:21   #
sv3noKin51E
 
jerryc41, Agreed, if one doesn't know how program linkage is accomplished during installation, installing LR to an external drive isn't for casual users to play with. Most programs can be installed to other folders and non-OS drives, but if that drive containing the LR installation is removed from the system, problems will arise that can make the nicest folks say the nastiest things. Many people don't have the kind of time or the confidence/skill level to tackle non-standard installations. Most programs are written to be installed to a predesignated folder on an OS drive, but it's possible to change that process; as long as the person doing the work has the chops and assumes all risk of doing things differently.

These days, OS's and programs are designed to be run by the companies 'as a service' on a licencee's machine via the internet, removing most of the control over the OS and programs from the owners. There are a few old guys left who still like doing things 'their way' without all of that so-called convenient assistance. So while it's still possible for a skilled owner/operator do run things differently, the OS may suddenly throw a tantrum at some point, which could very well render the program unusable. It's simpler, faster and easier to allow the LR installer to place the program on the OS drive, then clone the entire drive weekly, as a replacement for the same workstation or as a hardware independent OS/program replacement. om case pf drive failure. Regular imaging and automated multiple data backups should be used but that's a different story.

Installing LR to a secondary or external drive is a headache and a bit of a time waster. It has been done as an experiment but it wasn't for production so it wasn't practical.

No doubt someone can figure how to MacGyver a LR installation on an independent, external drive, by itself, as a sort of 'plugin' program. If anyone manages to get it done, it would be an interesting project for the system owner only, otherwise, it would be sure to garner unwanted attention from certain parties who would see it as a threat to their business model and immediately declare it as improper use of the owner's license. Again, it's not worth wasting time with. Even though this musing didn't solve the question, tried to keep it in line with the thread. Happy shooting. sv

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Mar 15, 2019 14:11:41   #
scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan
 
rydabyk wrote:
I'm not sure if this makes any sense and it may even be a stupid question, but, is it possible to download Lightroom on to an external hard drive and run it from there? I'd like to use an older laptop when I'm traveling and I'm curious if that would work?


The short answer is yes. Make sure your external drive is attached to your laptop and point the installer to your external drive. Once it's installed through your laptop, it may not open if you connect the drive to a different computer. LR will still need to execute on the laptop and will be constrained by the resources that it has. Give it a try and tells us about your experience.

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