"File missing" icon in PSE3 Organizer

[Janter]

I recently attempted a backup catalog and was informed there were many disconnected files. (I later discovered how that happened.) Being new to PSE3, before I did anything stupid, I read a lot of Adobe Help and closely examined the files. I of course noticed the little red "file missing" icon at the bottom center of each affected file. This looked OK. I sorta understood what was happening and I was able to reconnect some of the files. But then I noticed there were two sizes of "file missing" icons - one about one-quarter the size of the original. I then searched Adobe Help and this forum for something about two different sizes of the icon. Nothing!

I completed the reconnect using the Reconnect Missing Files dialog box in the backup routine with no problem. When I reviewed the files, the large icons were all gone but the small icons were still there. I did another backup and the program did not recognize any disconnected files even though some had the small icon still located at the center bottom.

I have considered and/or tried everything I can think of to get rid of that little rascal and the only thing that works is to delete the file and establish a new connection "the old fashion way."

Does anybody know anything about this mini-icon? What is it? How did I get it and how do I get rid of it?

Thanks. Janter.

[MikeH]

Janter,

Are the icons on every picture or just some?

Have you tried to recover the catalog? (Organizer > File > Recover then choose Recover in window).

Mike

[Janter]

Mike, thanks for the reply.

Brief answers to your questions:

No, out of about 4,000 files most had the large icon and only a handful (wild guess at 200) had the small icon. No known file had both icons.

Could not find File > Recover but found File > Catalog > Recover which I assume is what you were referring to. No, I did not try that because that procedure, as I understand Help, restores the catalog to a previous backup. This was my first attempt at backing up the catalog after moving a lot of files from PS Album to PSE3 and adding some, so that doesn't seem appropropiate.

This is an interim reply. I intend later today to reexamine everything and give you all the details that might help shed more light.

Question: Have you or has anyone ever seen the two sizes of the "file missing" icon? Whether Yes or No, how/where might I find more info on it?

Should I mail/call Adobe?
Is it available in a commercial book?
Is there another online source?

Appreciate your help. Thanks. Janter.

[Janter]

Mike, here is an event update.

On my previous posting I meant to say, “No, the mini-icon is not on every picture.”

Today, the mystery of the “missing file” icon took a turn for the worse. Instead of having only an estimated 200 files with the mini-icon, now more than 90 percent have the icon. Yes, I repeat, HAVE the icon. I still have no idea what or when I did something to create them. There are no large icons, just the small ones. In the past two days I have added, deleted, manipulated, and reconnected files so that the catalog has expanded to 7500. I know that some of these files are duplicates connected to different sources because I have saved some of them in more than one directory – a newbie’s error on my part that I am in the process of figuring out how I will correct.

Meanwhile, I can find no rhyme or reason for why the mini-icon has appeared, what it means, or, especially, how to get rid of it easily. (The only way I can get rid of it now is to delete and then "Get photos.") When I use a tag to call up a group of files, it is still there. I did a “reconnect all missing files” and the dialogue box says they are all connected, but the mini-icon is still on most of the files. Yesterday, I added “Write Tag Info To Files” to a lot of files but that didn’t seem to have any effect.

The only files in my catalog are photos with 99.9 percent being jpeg.

Today I stopped at Borders book store and made a cheap review of their PSE3 books. Very little discussion on the missing file icon and absolutely NOTHING on a smaller version.

This is a real head scratcher. Thanks. Janter.

[MikeH]

Janter,

Can you adjust the view in Organizer so that it shows only one of these files, take a screen print and upload it to www.pixentral.com (it's free).

Then, post the url that pixentral gives the picture in a reply.

I've had a similiar problem but I want to be sure what this small icon looks like.

Mike

[Janter]

Mike, here is the pic. I had to use a photo well copy with four pics because when I tried either one or two pics, the icon would not hold on. It held only by selecting four or more.

Meanwhile, I might have discovered the problem. Not sure yet, but here’s a possibility:

I have nearly all my pics connected to files on an external hard drive (K). Last night I deleted and reconnected a lot of files and got rid of the mini-icon. Everything looked OK and when I ended, I closed and turned off K. This morning when I opened PSE3 nearly all the pics had the icon on them – darn!!! Upon examination, the reconnect dialogue box indicated that most of my files had 0 connections. Only at this point did I realize that I had not yet turned on K. Looking further, I found that those pics that had one link and no icon were connected to internal drive (D) and those with 0 links and an icon were connected to K. Voila!!!! I think somehow/someway PSE3 set the mini-icon when it couldn’t connect with K. Problem is that they don’t go away after they connect to K.

Mike, do you think there is something there?

To this point I have linked nearly all my pics to K because that’s where the history file is, and I normally keep only recent/working pics on D. I’m going to try moving a complete file to D, with no duplicate pics, since I have enough room to do it. With backups on K and/or CD/DVD.

But that doesn’t explain the mini-icon. Just curious. Do you or does anyone have any experience similar to this? Where might I find some info?

Thanks. Janter.

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=144On4zCVly8mGUuFSesXg7zWKvRs1

[MikeH]

Janter,

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the screen shot. We both have the same problem. Over 60% of my files have (well had) that small icon.

I contributed to the problem because I re-organised my folders outside of PE3 which obviously plays havoc with Organizer!!

When I tried to reconnect the files I had moved, PE3 performed very strangely. Some it did reconnect, others it just completely failed to find, even when I tried to connect manually. It also reported broken links on files that either I hadn't moved or were edited within PE3 and saved to the original location.

Trying to recover the catalog had no effect...

After failing to solve this (and assuming that I had corrupted the catalog beyond repair) I took the drastic step of deleting the whole catalog and starting again, well with a smaller number of pictures.

I am going to monitor the catalog over the next few days and test some conditions one by one under which it should perform normally and monitor the status of the files. I want to establish whether it was something I did, or if there is a bug...

I will let you know how I get on.

All of my files are on my hard drive, but PE3 claims to be able to see original files stored off line, so it shouldn't be your K drive.

Mike

[Janter]

Mike,
Like you, I have finally decided that trying to salvage the current catalog is just too hard. Trying to get my hands and mind around 5000 to 7000 files, many of which had been imported from Album 2, was too much. Last night I opened a new catalog and, hopefully using what I have learned in the past week, will carefully build a new, exclusive, clean, well-maintained PE3 source file on D and carefully build a new catalog. I think that’s important. I first wrote tag info to my source files on K in hopes that I wouldn’t lose that data and have to examine every detail of every file again, and then copied small portions of them to the PE3 file. I was able to add almost 1000 files and everything seemed to go OK. The display options/functions of the organizer appear to be doing what they supposed to do.

Anybody have better ideas, comments, experiences that might heal my wounds?

Different question: How do I reconnect/change link on a single photo?

For example:

I have the same photo, jpeg1, on drive K and drive D.
K\Storage\Files\jpeg1
D\Documents\PE3\jpeg1

Jpeg1 is in my catalog and currently linked to K, but I want to have it linked to D without deleting K.

How do I change the link from K to D?

I’m sure the answer is so easy I’ll be embarrassed, but I just can’t hit on it.

Thanks. Janter.

[meesha]

Anybody have better ideas, comments, experiences that might heal my wounds?

I had the same problem and found this thread while looking for solution. I didn't see any suggestion but this is what fixed little broken icons on top of my photos.
Right-click on thumbnail and choose "Update Thumbnail"
You can do it in bulk by selecting all thumbnails (ctrl-A) and selecting "Update Thumbnails for selected Items"

[sandie]

IF it has the broken link icon(small) how are you going to right click on thumbnail if it is not to be found so you can "update thumbnail" and where is the update thumbnail command?

[sandie]

I also see lots of the red broken signs. NOT sure where they came from since I work inside the organizer all the time naming files etc. I do copy pics I am working on in PSE3 but that should not make it so we can not connect right?
I had to copy all my pictures in MY PICTURES because the new laptop was defective and now have to repopulate the PSE3 that I installed last night. I tried working from going to File Browse in PSE but it seems hard to work that way instead of with Organizer but it must be something I am missing 'cause that is the way 6,7 and CS work. When I opened a picture from Browse folders and then opened from a folder it gave me a picture about quarter screen and little pics in the folder to the right, distracting. Can I maximize that picture only? I find the reconnect thing really bogus and sometimes it will not reconnect at all so the picture is lost to Organizer.

[meesha]

IF it has the broken link icon(small) how are you going to right click on thumbnail if it is not to be found so you can "update thumbnail" and where is the update thumbnail command?
I guess we are talking about two separate problems:
1.When thumbnail is visible,but on top of it you see a small broken link icon. Icon can be on some or all of your thumbnails and it disappears when you actually click on thumbnail. When trying to reconnect, it says that there is no files to be reconnected.
This is what I fixed by updating thumbnails.
2.When thumbnail is not visible and completely replaced with a broken link icon. This means that either file is lost,renamed or moved and needs to be reconnected.