technical question?? for catalog in PSE 5

[WNDERLND]

Hi all,

I installed PSE 5 with no problem and the photos/files on my C:/ Drive (my catalog) come up without any problems. (So far, I love it!)

My issue is that we don't have anymore space on my C:/ drive so we have purchased and installed another external hardrive (i.e: MAX). We have another external hardrive that serves as our back-up system (i.e: BETTY). We gave both external drives names to keep them straight but they are different sizes, so that is also a distinction when we look for files.

All my files have been copied to the main external drive (MAX) and I have run back-ups for everything onto BETTY. I want to delete the digital files from the C:/ drive and have PSE 5 only look at the ones on MAX.

How do I do that? What steps do I take next? Do I delete those files on C:/ first and then have PSE 5 "get photos" from the files on MAX? Does this create a new catalog?

Thanks for your help and sorry for the long winded questions. I wasn't sure how to ask without describing our set-up. :o

Wnderlnd

[troush]

Wnderlnd -

Have you already imported your photos from the C drive into Organizer? If not, then your plan would be fine. I would NOT let organizer just search your hard drive(s), I would just tell it where to look. And I would import one folder at a time.

After you have created your catalog, then you could delete the photos off the C drive.

If you have already imported your photos into the Organizer catalog, then you are better off moving the photos from inside Organzier. Unless you want to re-do your catalog from scratch.

-Trish

[WNDERLND]

I did already import the photos from the C:/ or current catalog to make sure PSE 5 was working correctly.

How do I create a new catalog from scratch? I know how to make it look for specific files rather than the entire MAX drive.

I find doing things with files inside the Organizer to be such a pain because the only way to see what is happening to to repeatedly run a re-connect which takes forever and doesn't always work. Unless that is the only way to create a new catalog from scratch.

HMM...:o

[troush]

Wnderlnd,

If you want to creat a new catalog from scratch:

1. Find the My Catalog.psa file and remove it. In the same directory you should find a tn.x.cache - where "x" is a number (like 3 or 4 or 5), remove that as well.

2. I think then when you open organizer, it will complain about no My Catalog and ask you to create one. Say yes.

3. Then I would NOT let it search your hard drives. I would do the File->Get Photos from Files and Folders, and then go to your MAX drive and do one directory at a time.

4. For the problem with reconnecting - first, only MOVE and DELETE files from within Organizer. Second, periodically (like after you import photos and tag them, and after you've edited a bunch of pictures) do a File->Catalog->Recover.

-Trish

[WNDERLND]

Thanks Trish...I also posted the similar question on Adobe's support forum board and someone there suggested that I do a catalog recovery and have it look in the MAX drive instead of the C:/ drive. I am just not sure...I am confused.

I do know how to make it look at specific files though, rather than having it search the entire drive. I won't do that. just curious what you think of the other suggestion. Yours sounds clearer.

I figure that as long as I have my photos and digital scrapbook files saved and copied in at least two other places, I should be fine. Right??

Okay, how 'bout this question: Does removing the catalog actually delete the files? Or just the connection to them? I guess I want to delete them from the C:/ drive as the last step, not one of the first. :o