pse7 user 2 computers & external hard drive

[cjedsall]

I am tring to figure out how I can use my media files on my laptop & PC saving my tags and albums that i have created with pse7 organizer.

I don't know if a person can install your pse7 on your external harddrive and then the items would be tagged and usable on both computers or if this even makes sense.

I would be very happy to hear your take on this.

[dj_paige]

http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshopelements-6-7-faq.htm#_Using_a_single

[cjedsall]

here is the link that was relevant, i think. Seems like maybe it is not the best idea for me to be pursuing



Photoshop Elements 6/7 (Windows) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
John R. Ellis
Last updated May 17, 2009
Copyright 2008-9 by John R. Ellis


Using a single catalog on multiple computers

If you want to access your catalog from multiple computers, there are several viable approaches, depending on your needs. In each of these, you can only access the catalog from one computer at a time. I recommend that you only attempt these if you are comfortable and experienced administering computers, especially with approaches 1, 3, and 4.
1. Keep the main catalog on your desktop, work on new photos on your laptop, and periodically merge from the laptop to the desktop.
This approach would be suitable if you want to take your laptop on trips, downloading, editing, and tagging photos as you go. On the laptop, you keep a small “working” catalog with your complete tag hierarchy but only the new photos you’ve added (PSE has a command that lets you export and import tag hierarchies). When you get home, you copy the photos back to the desktop and import them into your main catalog. See Merging catalogs (http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshopelements-6-7-faq.htm#_Merging_Catalogs) for a complete discussion of how to do this.

2. Store your catalog and photos on an external hard drive.
If you keep your catalog and all your photos on an external hard drive, you can move the drive from computer to computer. Though external hard drives (especially the portable ones) can be significantly slower than internal drives, many people have been satisfied with the performance of PSE on such drives. If you travel extensively using such a drive, be sure you have regular backups on yet another drive, because traveling can be tough on an external drive.
To move your catalog to an external drive, use the File > Catalog > Move command. To move your photos, see Move your photos to another location (http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshopelements-6-7-faq.htm#_Move_your_photos).

3. Keep copies of your catalogs and photos synced on the two computers.
In this approach, you keep a copy of your catalog and photos on each computer. When you want to switch from one computer to the other, you use a third-party utility such as SmartSync Pro or Microsoft’s SyncToy to sync the catalog and photos folders on the new working computer.
In general, this will only work if you keep the photos in the exact same location on each computer. For example, on each computer you could make a new folder, c:\pse, and store your catalog in c:\pse\catalogs and your photos in c:\pse\photos. When you want to sync, you’ll have to have both computers on the same network, with one computer accessing the other via a shared network drive.
See approach 2 for how to move your catalog and photos.

4. Store your catalog and photos on a shared network drive.
See Storing the catalog and photos on a network drive (http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshopelements-6-7-faq.htm#_Storing_the_catalog) for details. I strongly recommend not trying this unless you have prior experience with Windows networking.