How do I correct a botched transfer of Lightroom from one computer to another

[johns490623]

I have a MacBookPro laptop (late 2011) which had a 750GB HDD. Just over a year ago I installed Lightroom with a Creative Cloud Subscription. I managed to transfer my Photos Library into Lightroom using aliases, and since then have regularly added new photos. I like the product very much, although I am still a long way from being an advanced user.

I have just made a major modification to my computer replacing the HDD with a 500GB SSD. I still have the HDD connected as an external drive and I have been transferring applications and data to the SSD. I have, in effect, a new computer.

Unfortunately, I failed to read thoroughly the instructions for transferring Lightroom from one computer to another before I tried to copy it to the new SSD. The result is that I lost the links to the photos and disrupted the metadata. What I have at the moment is the Lightroom Catalog.ircat file and the Lightroom Catalog Reviews.irdata file, plus the Backups of the catalog, on both hard drives. As I tried to sort out the mess I also downloaded the latest version of the Lightroom application to the new SSD. So I have two Lightroom applications.

When I tried to access my photos I found that the links were broken, but I was able to restore them after watching Laura Shoe's video using the File Finder function. So I can access the photos and develop them, but the metadata has been disturbed. At least I have not lost any of the master photos!

I attach a screenshot below which shows the structure of the Folder part of the left hand side, the catalog headings are not showing correctly. The Collections and Flickr albums show correctly:

I am very shamefaced for having messed up  like this, but I would be very grateful if someone could advise how I can sort it out. Should I delete Lightroom from the new SSD and start again with trying to transfer things correctly? Or could that be dangerous?

John Speed

[dj_paige]

So I can access the photos and develop them, but the metadata has been disturbed.

What do you mean by "disturbed"? Be very specific and detailed so we can understand exactly what the problem is.

Did you at any time during or after this transfer of Lightroom import the photos into Lightroom?

[johns490623]

Thanks very much for your quick response. In answer to your first question, it says "Changed on disk" for the Metadata Status of photos in the Macintosh HD /Users.........../Master (14543 photos). In the section Volumes/Macintosh1......../Pictures (4654 photos) it says "Up to date"

The only photos I have imported into Lightroom since the transfer are some that I took yesterday. As far as I recall, the application is accessing the photos in the photolibrary which has not been moved. All my photos are on iCloud. And they all show in Photos.

Is that helpful?

[dj_paige]

So if you look at the metadata for these photos in Lightroom, does it appear correct, or not?