Backup - the serious way

[Franke]

Greetings.

I have been reading the forum for some time, but i can not find a really good tutorial to make the perfect backup. Let me introduce you to my situation.

'. I run windows xp and LR 2.2

1. I have a DELL rigg whit raided disks for redundancy. I store my pix on this in a pretty strait forward file tree, sorted by year like '1, '2, '3 and so on. i have now 8'''+ pix. This tree is sometimes backed up on an external HD. (Not often enough)

2. I have a D-LINK DNS-323 NAS as a backup, and storage for some special files and pix. This filesystem is accessed in LR.

3. I always check my db for integrity errors when LR asks for it, and i do backup my LRCAT db (85 mb as we speak) regularely.

Now, what do i need to do to be able to set everything up as it was after a serious failiure such as winxp re-install? My pix are fine, they are securely backed up, the thing is to get the db and the pix to rock even after a reinstall. Is it all about re-installing LR, load the LRCAT db, and put the filetree in place just as it was and everything should work fine? Or are there any hidden obstacles in this process that i´m failing to see?

Please share some expert advice here, because i already screwed this up once, and i really do not want to re-organize all this stuff again.

 

[fware]

Hi

I copy my original fies and the .lrcat to a external disk for backup.
To restore, or to test on Windows 7..., I do

- Install OS
- Install LR
- Copy back the original files with directory structure
- Copy back the catalog file .lrcat (This file can live wherever you want).

Start LR and select the .lrcat as you catalog and you are back in business.
The preview images are created on the fly as you need them, so no reason to save them.

It is that easy.

 

[Ian Farlow]

Topic moved.

 

[Franke]

Please tell me where you moved this thread.

 

[Ian Farlow]

The Topic has been moved to Lightroom General Discussion, and there is an expiring re-direct in place where you originally posted it.

 

[Brad Snyder]

Franke, the thing you've omitted, but may be catching with some other portion of your overall backup strategy, is your Lr Preferences and Presets.

On XP, these live at:

sysdrive:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom

Make sure you catch this tree in your backup, and you should be completely good to go.

 

[Franke]

Brad,

i could find no such catalog on my setup. What is the name of this file and/or catalog that is supposed to reside inside this /lightroom directory?

How ot this file supposed to be loaded back to LR on install?


Thanx,

Franke

 

[Brad Snyder]

Oh crap, Franke. I forgot to add the standard warning. Microsoft decided that this stuff was too dangerous for the average user to access, so these folders are 'hidden' by default on a standard Windows setup. Do this, Windows Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab > approx 1'th item down, set the radio button on 'Show hidden folders and files'. You may have to close and reopen Windows Explorer to refresh the changes. That should make that stuff visible. There are numerous subfolders, which will make a lot of sense when you see the names.

On re-install, you just copy this folder tree back into the same location.

 

[Franke]

Right. I found this catalog as described, and i have now a copy on a safe location.

So, to sum this up:

1. I re-install windows and LR
2. I put all the pix back in the same directory as before. (related to LR db)
3. I copy back the presets folder to the path mentioned before
4. I load the LR LRCAT file.

Im back in bussiness?

If this is correct, i will now write my personal disaster recovery plan.:cheesy:

//Franke

 

[Brad Snyder]

Yes.

 

[fware]

I have stored my own presetes with the catalog. Please see the preference settings for this. Saves time on backup/restore if your presets are with the catalog.

 

[Denis Pagé]

I have stored my own presetes with the catalog. Please see the preference settings for this. Saves time on backup/restore if your presets are with the catalog.

With Catalog do not necessarily mean into Catalog...
One may wonder some day "Why did my presets disappeared?"