First, thanks for the suggestion.  I guess I should have known that; I will try it.

Second, the reason why I do worry about it is that I periodically delete old backups.  I almost deleted that "2012-01-06 1552" folder because I was thinking it was just, oh, well, an old backup folder.  In fact, it has the current LRCAT file in it.  That's why I'm concerned about it.  I would like to be able to name that folder so that I don't forget what is in it and accidentally delete it.  Yes, that's why I have backups, but it's good not to delete the original file if you can avoid it.

As far as re-importing my photos, I guess I didn't ask that question the right way.  I never re-import photos anyway.  I have my import function set up so it does not import suspected duplicates.  The gist of my question gets to where does LR create the new catalog, and do I have a say in where it gets put.  I don't create new catalogs very often, so I frankly do not remember how these got created, how they're named, and where they are placed.    I have no idea why this LRCAT file for LR4 is in that 2012-01-06 folder.  It does not make sense.  I might have updated an older version of LR3 in January, but I really do not think I did.  But I do know I certainly did not upgrade to LR4 in January because it was not out, yet.  The gist of my question was to try to rename the LRCAT file and put it into a location that I would not mess with.

What I was thinking initially was that I would delete the photos from the current catalog but not from the disk, and then I would reimport them into a new catalog that was created with a name I wanted.  That's why I asked the question the way I did.   But your solution should work, and it's a lot easier.

I know LR is an excellent tool for managing my photos.  In addition to photo editing, that's what I use it for.  I think I manage my photos very well, thank you, and because of that, my questions sometimes pertain to other things.  I won't go into details, but I have a concurrent issue right now with a backup system I use, totally separate from LR.  It's an external drive that backs up my internal drive, where I keep all of my photos and LR catalogs.  For some reason, one or more of the LRCAT files is not backing up onto that external drive.  That's what started me looking into this whole thing.

I appreciate your solution, and I will try it.  But there are things you may not understand about why I am asking them, and, therefore, you cannot say that I am "making a mountain out of a molehill." 

I know I shouldn't be putting the backups on the same physical disk.  I've been doing this, but I also have been backing up that internal physical drive to an external drive.  That's where I thought I would be protected.  But, as mentioned, not all of the LRCAT files are backed up on that external drive, and I have yet to figure this out.  I think it might have something to do with the Archive attributes......because the backups created by LR might already be considered as "Archived," then maybe that software I use to backup to an external drive might not be backing up to that external drive?  I'm not sure, but the weird thing is, some of the LRCAT backups are backed up; others are not.  I just discovered this lately because of an issue I have had with that external backup system.  I'm still working on trying to figure this one out.

But, your comments lead me to think of another thing I should do.  I actually do have 2 internal drives, the system drive (C:) and the G: drive, the latter one being the drive I put my picture files on.  I need to put those LRCAT backup files on that G: drive rather than the C: drive, where the working LRCAT file is. 

Thanks.