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Hello!
I have the most updated version of CC. When I backup-ed my catalog from October today. I was met with a dialogue box explained I needed to decompress my files. I have downloaded applications, but all have failed me. I currently see this when I open my lightroom library:
How do I go about fixing this problem?
I would like to have my catalog restored to October probably. But at the very least I want my lightroom catalog to be turned back to normal.
Thank you in advance!
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LR 6/CC stores the catalog backups as ZIP files. If you want to open one of those backups you have to first Un-ZIP it, De-Compress it, using a ZIP-Un-Zipping program.
Most modern OS's will do that without an add-on program by double clicking the ZIP file. But if that doesn't work try 7ZIP.
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Still nothing. I decompress them and upload them and the same thing happens. Should I be taking an extra step? It doesn't seem to be making my file smaller. It is just opening it out of the zip file.
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Your screen shot is showing blank image boxes with an exclamation mark. That means LR can't find the images and has no preview of them.
Is that why you are trying to open a backed up catalog file?
Please note that no images are ever really IN LR. LR is a database program and references the images into the catalog file from where they are stored on your hard drive.
When images turn up missing that means you have either deleted them or move them outside of LR or disconnected the external drive they are stored on.
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Lightroom only backs up the catalog file, not the files or the previews.
For a catalog with the name Lightroom.lrcat, a matching Lightroom Previews.lrdata file is required to see the previews. If Lightroom doesn't find one, it'll generate them if it can find the original photos. These are missing based on the screen shot. Have files been moved since that catalog was created?
Recent catalogs can be opened via File>Open Recent, or by holding Control on PC or Option on Mac when you double click the Lightroom icon to start Lightroom.