Lightroom Backups

GeoJerry · 05-04-2016, 05:59 PM

I have a question on Lightroom backup mechanics. I understand the catalog backup procedure and do that regularly. My question has more to do with backing up the photos that the catalog references.

Suppose my catalog on drive C sees my photos on Drive A, and I have RAW unedited copies of the originals on Drive B. Drive A then fails. Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well? Without manually doing it for each image or folder of images? I'm not quite sure how to backup all of my pictures and how to restore their link to my catalog if I lose my primary drive.

Thanks!

maltfalc · 05-04-2016, 06:10 PM - **1 Like**

as long as the backup has the same folders as drive a, just replace drive a and copy the files over to it.

**jatrax** · 05-04-2016, 06:15 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by GeoJerry

Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well?

Essentially, yes. Lightroom is quite flexible about this. If your photos are in A:/photos all you should need to do is click on the '?' on the lost folder and point it to B:/photos and everything below that will be found.

Another option is to rename the new drive the same as the old drive, depending on your operating system. So if the drives were 'drive A' and 'drive B' and 'drive A' fails you remove it and rename 'drive B' to 'drive A' and Lightroom doesn't even know you swapped drives.

A new backup on an a third (or fourth) drive is recommended before doing anything else at all though.

Na Horuk · 05-05-2016, 08:42 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by GeoJerry

Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well? Without manually doing it for each image or folder of images?

If you delete an image on the hard drive and Lightroom has it in its catalog, it won't be able to find it, and it will tell you that. It will also give you an option to find it yourself - so you can browse to a new folder, and find that missing image file. And there is a checkmark that tells LR to do look for other missing photos in this folder. So if you move or rename folders on hard disk, its not a big problem.

However, some data is stored within the dng file itself. So if you lose an image and then use an older dng file, it might look different. Especially if you use more than one PP software (LR, and Photoshop, and plugins). So you might lose some PP info if you delete dng files and then find older backups.

GeoJerry · 05-05-2016, 04:10 PM

Thanks to all for answering, this makes me feel a lot more comfortable!

rawr · 05-06-2016, 02:03 PM

Originally posted by jatrax

If your photos are in A:/photos all you should need to do is click on the '?' on the lost folder and point it to B:/photos and everything below that will be found.

I can confirm this works fine. Lightroom seems to be pretty good at recognizing that photos from the new location are the same ones that it worked with at the old location.

05-04-2016, 05:59 PM	#1
GeoJerry Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,158	Lightroom Backups I have a question on Lightroom backup mechanics. I understand the catalog backup procedure and do that regularly. My question has more to do with backing up the photos that the catalog references. Suppose my catalog on drive C sees my photos on Drive A, and I have RAW unedited copies of the originals on Drive B. Drive A then fails. Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well? Without manually doing it for each image or folder of images? I'm not quite sure how to backup all of my pictures and how to restore their link to my catalog if I lose my primary drive. Thanks!

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05-04-2016, 06:10 PM - 1 Like	#2
maltfalc Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Winnipeg Photos: Albums Posts: 396	as long as the backup has the same folders as drive a, just replace drive a and copy the files over to it.

05-04-2016, 06:15 PM - 1 Like	#3
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by GeoJerry Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well? Essentially, yes. Lightroom is quite flexible about this. If your photos are in A:/photos all you should need to do is click on the '?' on the lost folder and point it to B:/photos and everything below that will be found. Another option is to rename the new drive the same as the old drive, depending on your operating system. So if the drives were 'drive A' and 'drive B' and 'drive A' fails you remove it and rename 'drive B' to 'drive A' and Lightroom doesn't even know you swapped drives. A new backup on an a third (or fourth) drive is recommended before doing anything else at all though.

05-05-2016, 08:42 AM - 1 Like	#4
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Originally posted by GeoJerry Can I then tell Lightroom that the photos are now on Drive B and all is well? Without manually doing it for each image or folder of images? If you delete an image on the hard drive and Lightroom has it in its catalog, it won't be able to find it, and it will tell you that. It will also give you an option to find it yourself - so you can browse to a new folder, and find that missing image file. And there is a checkmark that tells LR to do look for other missing photos in this folder. So if you move or rename folders on hard disk, its not a big problem. However, some data is stored within the dng file itself. So if you lose an image and then use an older dng file, it might look different. Especially if you use more than one PP software (LR, and Photoshop, and plugins). So you might lose some PP info if you delete dng files and then find older backups.

05-05-2016, 04:10 PM	#5
GeoJerry Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,158 Original Poster	Thanks to all for answering, this makes me feel a lot more comfortable!

05-06-2016, 02:03 PM	#6
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	Originally posted by jatrax If your photos are in A:/photos all you should need to do is click on the '?' on the lost folder and point it to B:/photos and everything below that will be found. I can confirm this works fine. Lightroom seems to be pretty good at recognizing that photos from the new location are the same ones that it worked with at the old location.