LR4 - New Motherboard - Lost edits

Dark Knight

Dark Knight

Messages
13,760
Edit My Images
Yes
Evening All

Long story short:

PC Died > Sent for Repair > Back with new Motherboard & nearly blanked Drive > Installed LR4 again > Directed LR to Catalogue

Problem is all pics are there but none of my alterations/edits - Anybody know what should be pointing to what file and from where :thinking:

THANKS :)
 
Sounds like someone has wiped them off your drive, I'll be very difficult to retrieve, prob pro recovery job.
I wouldn't hold much hope
Sorry
 
The lightroom catalogue file holds all the edits: this will be called <something>.lrcat

I have always saved mine to a specific place, but it looks as though the adobe default location is in 'My Documents'.

Hope this helps
 
SnapperMatt said:
The lightroom catalogue file holds all the edits: this will be called <something>.lrcat

I have always saved mine to a specific place, but it looks as though the adobe default location is in 'My Documents'.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Hi Matt - That sounds hopeful :)

I have them files (I too don't save in the default file location), I just need to find what needs to be pointed to it - Thanks A Lot (y)

I'll go Google now, but if anybody else knows ??
 
I think you can do 'File\Open catalogue...' and select one to open it

It sounds like you have created a new catalogue with the new install and then re-imported the images to the new catalogue. Hopefully if you open an old one it will have all your edits - you may need to point it to the originals again though.

Good luck
 
SnapperMatt said:
I think you can do 'File\Open catalogue...' and select one to open it

It sounds like you have created a new catalogue with the new install and then re-imported the images to the new catalogue. Hopefully if you open an old one it will have all your edits - you may need to point it to the originals again though.

Good luck
Click to expand...
Cheers Matt - that did not actually work, but what I thank has happened, is that they are my Edits in there, Just I am not able to undo anything in history and there is no little symbols on the thumbnails showing they have been edited - if that makes sense :thinking:
 
Dark Knight said:
Cheers Matt - that did not actually work, but what I thank has happened, is that they are my Edits in there, Just I am not able to undo anything in history and there is no little symbols on the thumbnails showing they have been edited - if that makes sense :thinking:
Click to expand...

Sometimes those little symbols can take a bit of time after opening the album to appear?
 
Strange...

Can you check how many lrcat files you have? When you first ran the reinstalled copy of lightroom it would have created a new one and if you then imported your original files into the new folder they would all have no edits on them. Is there perhaps your old catalogue somewhere with the edits in it?

Failing that, did you have lightroom set to backup the catalogue regularly? If so, can you find where these were saved? I think these are just copies of the lrcat files so you may be able to open a backed up one.
 
SnapperMatt said:
Strange...

Can you check how many lrcat files you have? When you first ran the reinstalled copy of lightroom it would have created a new one and if you then imported your original files into the new folder they would all have no edits on them. Is there perhaps your old catalogue somewhere with the edits in it?

Failing that, did you have lightroom set to backup the catalogue regularly? If so, can you find where these were saved? I think these are just copies of the lrcat files so you may be able to open a backed up one.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm thats a point - Thanks Again Matt

Now I look closer, they do have no edits

Yes I do regular 'Auto' backups every week, onto a separate Expansion Drive... My PC did die before I got my weekly backup done, so If I tried to re-install that, would that wipe my new pics ?? or just overwrite the backed up ones ??
 
Might i suggest this software
its free for now - superb at backups and selective restores its a bit of a pain to download as the site bandwidth is often full but once you get it and run with it its very good and could stop this situation happening again
backup software

As for your missing lrcat file, have you tried searching all files and folders using the windows search engine for *lrcat* then looking at creation dates etc??
 
One thing I'm not clear about is exactly what files you have and what files have been recovered or kept. Do you have all your original image files? Either on your current disk or in a backup - or have some of these been lost? Also, did they wipe the drive in your PC or have they put in a new one?

The problem is that the lrcat file contains your edits, but it doesn't contain your original images so I am concerned as to whether any of these have been lost.

When checking for your original files can you check that you can actually find them on your disk - due to the way LR uses previews, it is possible for you to see previews of images in the library module of LR when the actual original image is actually missing from the disk. If this is the case, LR puts a small '?' icon in the top right-hand corner of tile for the missing image(s). If you find this, then it is not a problem if you have backups of the images. If the original files have been wiped and you don't have backups for them you do have a problem.

If you have all your original images you will need to open the latest lrcat file you have from before your problems. This will contain all edits made before the crash. If you had imported any new files between the backup of the lrcat file and the crash, these will not be known about by LR and you will need to re-import those ones and any edits you've made for them will be lost.
 
SnapperMatt said:
One thing I'm not clear about is exactly what files you have and what files have been recovered or kept. Do you have all your original image files? Either on your current disk or in a backup - or have some of these been lost? Also, did they wipe the drive in your PC or have they put in a new one?
Click to expand...
:)

Well, it was a faulty Motherboard they say, put a different make/model in so presume that's why they only recovered all Data (all programs were missing)

The problem is that the lrcat file contains your edits, but it doesn't contain your original images so I am concerned as to whether any of these have been lost.

When checking for your original files can you check that you can actually find them on your disk - due to the way LR uses previews, it is possible for you to see previews of images in the library module of LR when the actual original image is actually missing from the disk. If this is the case, LR puts a small '?' icon in the top right-hand corner of tile for the missing image(s). If you find this, then it is not a problem if you have backups of the images. If the original files have been wiped and you don't have backups for them you do have a problem.
Click to expand...


If you have all your original images you will need to open the latest lrcat file you have from before your problems. This will contain all edits made before the crash. If you had imported any new files between the backup of the lrcat file and the crash, these will not be known about by LR and you will need to re-import those ones and any edits you've made for them will be lost.[/QUOTE]
I definitely have the images (Image 1) and the lightroom files I had on d:drive (image 2)


Photography folder by TP DK..., on Flickr


Lightroom Files by TP DK..., on Flickr

Currently LR is looking at the 'Lightroom 4 Catalog (51k file)
 
Gr8Shot said:
Might i suggest this software
its free for now - superb at backups and selective restores its a bit of a pain to download as the site bandwidth is often full but once you get it and run with it its very good and could stop this situation happening again
backup software

As for your missing lrcat file, have you tried searching all files and folders using the windows search engine for *lrcat* then looking at creation dates etc??
Click to expand...
Ahhhh Thanks - I'll have a google on that :)

I have the Ircat file (i think) I'm just unsure where in lightroom should be pointing to it :thinking:

Currently I have the LR pointing at the Lightroom 4 Catalog file

found in:

Edit > Preferences > Goto Catalog settings > then clicking 'Show' next to location, I then browsed to aim it at the Correct Catalogue - hope that was right :D


LR4 Catalog Location by TP DK..., on Flickr
 
Good news on the original images being safe!

Given that you should be able to open the latest backup you had of the catalogue before your crash. In your screenshot you can see the backups folder they are stored in - but I guess that if you have re-installed LR, this will only have backups in since you re-installed. If you can find the ones from before the crash you should be able to find the latest one of those.

You can safely open different catalogues to see what's included in them - they don't overwrite each other - you will just be opening the catalogue as it was at the time it was taken.

If you open the last backup before the crash you should find it is almost up to date (it won't know about any images you imported between the backup and the crash so these will need to be re-imported and any edits redone)

Assuming everything looks correct in this backup (the images in there should have thier edits and metadata etc), you should copy it to where your lrcat file usually lives as you will want the backup to become your new real database. Please shutdown LR before copying the file as we don't want to corrupt it by having it in use while you copy it!

Once you have moved it to the correct place for it to become your real catalogue you will need to re-import any images you imported between the backup and the crash. You will then be able to re-edit these and should be back to as close to your pre-crash situation as possible.
 
SnapperMatt said:
Good news on the original images being safe!

Given that you should be able to open the latest backup you had of the catalogue before your crash. In your screenshot you can see the backups folder they are stored in - but I guess that if you have re-installed LR, this will only have backups in since you re-installed. If you can find the ones from before the crash you should be able to find the latest one of those.

You can safely open different catalogues to see what's included in them - they don't overwrite each other - you will just be opening the catalogue as it was at the time it was taken.

If you open the last backup before the crash you should find it is almost up to date (it won't know about any images you imported between the backup and the crash so these will need to be re-imported and any edits redone)

Assuming everything looks correct in this backup (the images in there should have thier edits and metadata etc), you should copy it to where your lrcat file usually lives as you will want the backup to become your new real database. Please shutdown LR before copying the file as we don't want to corrupt it by having it in use while you copy it!

Once you have moved it to the correct place for it to become your real catalogue you will need to re-import any images you imported between the backup and the crash. You will then be able to re-edit these and should be back to as close to your pre-crash situation as possible.
Click to expand...
Fantastic - Thanks Matt... your a diamond, I'll try that in the morning :clap:
 
Your problem lies with whoever repaired your system, a new mono meant new drivers that's all, he should of been able to do that without reinstaling the complete OS, hence losing a your programs.
He should of backed the drive up at least, prior to trying to repair the install and he should of made every attempt to use a mono with a similar chipset.

Well at least you'll learn from this, next time pm me and I'll walk you through the complete fix without having to pay some useless idiot.
 
Dark Knight said:

Lightroom Files by TP DK..., on Flickr

Currently LR is looking at the 'Lightroom 4 Catalog (51k file)
Click to expand...

thats 51mb, which is pretty small for all of those folders you have there. what sort of size are the backup catalogues post work?

Gr8Shot said:
Your problem lies with whoever repaired your system, a new mono meant new drivers that's all, he should of been able to do that without reinstaling the complete OS, hence losing a your programs.
He should of backed the drive up at least, prior to trying to repair the install and he should of made every attempt to use a mono with a similar chipset.

Well at least you'll learn from this, next time pm me and I'll walk you through the complete fix without having to pay some useless idiot.
Click to expand...

not strictly true, some motherboard replacements wont get as far as letting you switch the driver. thats why its best to always reinstall the OS.

edit - oh and the same chipset means squat too. had a direct replacement once, same make, model and chipset but slight different revision and BSOD'd.
 
Last edited:
Gr8Shot said:
Your problem lies with whoever repaired your system, a new mono meant new drivers that's all, he should of been able to do that without reinstaling the complete OS, hence losing a your programs.
He should of backed the drive up at least, prior to trying to repair the install and he should of made every attempt to use a mono with a similar chipset.

Well at least you'll learn from this, next time pm me and I'll walk you through the complete fix without having to pay some useless idiot.
Click to expand...
Thanks I Certainly will, Nice One :clap:

Thankfully I didn't have to pay for the fnck up, it was a warranty repair, but I was certainly stunned when I turned it on, I thought I had lost the whole lot, I nearly cried :D
 
neil_g said:
thats 51mb, which is pretty small for all of those folders you have there. what sort of size are the backup catalogues post work?
Click to expand...
Thanks Neil... I'll have a look... My backup-s are done to the Expansion drive would it be there I look ??

Come to think of it Maybe I should do a monthly back up up my images as well to a different drive, I also have a 1TB NAS drive I could put them on although it would be a slow transfer, or to DVD's :thinking:


not strictly true, some motherboard replacements wont get as far as letting you switch the driver. thats why its best to always reinstall the OS.

edit - oh and the same chipset means squat too. had a direct replacement once, same make, model and chipset but slight different revision and BSOD'd.
Click to expand...
Ahhhhh I see... well the old board was a ASUS P9X79 Pro and the new board is an MSI X79-GD45 (8D) - not that i want to know why now, I just would like my edits back :)
 
Yes, try restoring that one (as described in my last post) - this should be the most up to date version with all your edits up to the backup date. Any imports and / or edits made between the backup and the crash will not be in there though so you will need to re-import the images and re-do any such edits.

Keep posting if you have further questions...
 
Excellent news! Glad its sorted as well as possible
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top