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Loretta Wilson
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All photos missing!!!!!

Jul 4, 2012 8:09 PM

I have been using Lightroom 3 for about 6 months now.  I wanted to use an older photo and noticed all my older files were offline or missing so I clicked on a older Lightroom back up and poof all my photos are gone!!!  What the???  Does Lightroom delete the photos automatically or did I miss a fundamental rule about storing my images?  When Lightroom asked me to perform a backup,  I assumed I was doing the right thing now I am thinking otherwise.  I don't have time machine on my laptop set up yet, please help me.

463 Views   4 Replies   Latest reply: ssprengel, Jul 4, 2012 10:18 PM
 
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  • Loretta Wilson
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    1. Loretta Wilson,
    Jul 4, 2012 8:27 PM   in reply to Loretta Wilson
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    So after searching like a mad woman, I found all the files on my desktop.  My 12yo has managed to move them all into her folder...

     

    a. How could she have done this in one fell sweep?  All the files are in her one folder, not in the dated folders they came from.

    b. How can I restore them to their folders?  Do I have to do it manually?

     
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  • ssprengel
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    2. ssprengel,
    Jul 4, 2012 9:10 PM   in reply to Loretta Wilson
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    Did your 12yo use LR or some other program?  One of the Import options for LR is Move. 

     

    If the files have been moved from many folders into one, then there’s no magic way to fix things; however, if you used LR’s import-folder-creation mechanism to create the date-folders then you could CREATE A NEW, EMPTY CATALOG AND OPEN THAT, then import the photos from the desktop folder into that new empty catalog using the same destination that your originally put them, letting LR create (or use) the date folders, again, the same way it had, initially, then open the old LR catalog and they should be back where you want them.  

     

    If your date folders are of your own creation, then you may need to use Windows Explorer to put all the photos back where they should be.

     

    It would probably be wise to make a backup of all the photos, and all the empty folders and the old catalog before you start trying to fix things, in case something doesn’t work, you can revert back, repeated.

     
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  • Loretta Wilson
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    3. Loretta Wilson,
    Jul 4, 2012 10:13 PM   in reply to ssprengel
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    Thanks so much for your reply!  This is such a puzzle to me, not only did she move all of the lightroom photos out of their folders but she has moved all of my files from my documents to her folder, deleting all of the parent folders that I had created.  Spending hours manually moving them all back to their right home...what a nightmare!  At least she didn't delete them I guess...I just can't figure out how she did it???

     
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  • ssprengel
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    4. ssprengel,
    Jul 4, 2012 10:18 PM   in reply to Loretta Wilson
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    I guess that part is between you and her.  Good luck.

     
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