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Help...almost all of 8500 photos have a question mark on the upper right corner!

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Joined
Jun 1, 2011
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36
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Outside of Atlanta, GA
Hi Everyone,

Since i started LR3, it "recognized" the photos on my HD and I saw thumbnails of them on the banner below. Now when I turn it on, i can see "folders names" but no photos at all. Where did they go? Can I retrieve them?

Thanks in advance,

charlotte
 
Charlotte,

Are your images being stored on an external drive? if so, then your computer may have assigned a different drive letter to the drive than when you last used it. If that is the case, you need to re-assign the previous drive letter so LR can find the drive. Neither LR nor your OS knows that the drive has been assigned a new letter.

If your images are not on an external drive, then did you move the location where they are stored onyour internal drive? Any file or folder moves that happen outside of LR are not picked up by the program.

--Ken
 
Ken,

I have an external hard drive that I don't use...at least not consciously. And no, I haven't moved my folders. Any other ideas? :eek:(

charlotte

Charlotte,

Are your images being stored on an external drive? if so, then your computer may have assigned a different drive letter to the drive than when you last used it. If that is the case, you need to re-assign the previous drive letter so LR can find the drive. Neither LR nor your OS knows that the drive has been assigned a new letter.

If your images are not on an external drive, then did you move the location where they are stored onyour internal drive? Any file or folder moves that happen outside of LR are not picked up by the program.

--Ken
 
Where are your image files actually stored? What drive and what path?

Where do LR think they are stored? Hint: rightclick a photo and select "Show in Explorer" and "Go to folder in library"
 
We can see your screen capture, Charlotte, but we need other information to go along with it. You answered Erro's first question but not his subsequent questions, nor did you answer my questions. Can you go back and read them and answer them?
 
I wouldn't delete my photos using Windows. And especially the whole bunch. I can see my photos when i work on PSE 9. They are in "My Pictures".

Well now I'm confused. Your screen capture doesn't show the photos in "My Pictures".

And, please answer: did you rename your photos or folders?
 
Did you rename your photos or folders using any method at all (PSE, Windows, something else)?

I am still confused about your screen capture ... it shows the photos on the J: drive, yet you said they are in "My Pictures". Can you clarify this?
 
Paige,
This is the first that I have seen a "J' drive...didn't know I had one.

No worries. And sorry for not being able to follow up on my earlier post. I am at work and posted on a break. I am now at lunch, and will see if I can join the gang in helping you find your photos.

First let's see if your Windows file explorer can find one of your images. I am still using Windows XP so bear with me since I know that you are on Win7. If you right click on the Start menu, do you get a drop down menu that has "Explore" listed as a selection choice? If so, select it and a file explorer program shsould launch. Using the seach command, try to find one of your images in your LR catalog if you can remember the name of one. If the program finds the file, it will tell you where it is located, also known as the file's "path name". At the beginning of this name is usually a drive letter followed by a colon. This is the drive that contains the file. If you keep your files on the internal drive, there is a good chance that this letter should be "C:". If you are successful at doing this, write down the full path name or take a snapshsot of this window.

Now, open up LR and in the Library module, find the folder where you think that this image should be. Yes, there will be a lot of question marks, but LR should have a thumbnail preview of your images even if it does not know where the actual image is. Select that image and see if LR presents you with where it thinks that image is located as described in the posts above. Then compare that "path name" with the one that windows provided to you as I instructed above. These paths should look similar, but not identical. If so, then post both of the paths and we can guide you and LR to the photo's actual location.

My lunch break is ending soon, so I am sure that somebody else will be able to pick up where I left off. If not, I will try to check in later today.

Good luck,

--Ken
 
Another way to see where LR think a photo is stored is to:
- select a photo
- open the Metadata panel in the right hand side of the Library module
- Locate the row labeled "Folder"
- Hover the mousepointer over the folder name (not the word "Folder" but the foldername on the right). What folder does this indicate?
- Even further to the right is an arrow. Clicking that arrow opens the corresponding folder in LR
 
Ken,

Thanks for your help! I do have Windows XP like you do so maybe you can help me get the photos on LR. I have them in My Pictures and can work with them on PSE9 but seem to have lost them on LR.

Charlotte

No worries. And sorry for not being able to follow up on my earlier post. I am at work and posted on a break. I am now at lunch, and will see if I can join the gang in helping you find your photos.

First let's see if your Windows file explorer can find one of your images. I am still using Windows XP so bear with me since I know that you are on Win7. If you right click on the Start menu, do you get a drop down menu that has "Explore" listed as a selection choice? If so, select it and a file explorer program shsould launch. Using the seach command, try to find one of your images in your LR catalog if you can remember the name of one. If the program finds the file, it will tell you where it is located, also known as the file's "path name". At the beginning of this name is usually a drive letter followed by a colon. This is the drive that contains the file. If you keep your files on the internal drive, there is a good chance that this letter should be "C:". If you are successful at doing this, write down the full path name or take a snapshsot of this window.

Now, open up LR and in the Library module, find the folder where you think that this image should be. Yes, there will be a lot of question marks, but LR should have a thumbnail preview of your images even if it does not know where the actual image is. Select that image and see if LR presents you with where it thinks that image is located as described in the posts above. Then compare that "path name" with the one that windows provided to you as I instructed above. These paths should look similar, but not identical. If so, then post both of the paths and we can guide you and LR to the photo's actual location.

My lunch break is ending soon, so I am sure that somebody else will be able to pick up where I left off. If not, I will try to check in later today.

Good luck,

--Ken
 
Robert,

I located the metadata panel and did hover the mouse over the folder name. It shows that it is in My Pictures. But that doesn't address where the missing photos are, does it? Although when I did click on the arrow to the right, some of the folders on the left side of the library module suddenly lit up, making me think that they are being recognized. But still have a lot missing.

charlotte

Another way to see where LR think a photo is stored is to:
- select a photo
- open the Metadata panel in the right hand side of the Library module
- Locate the row labeled "Folder"
- Hover the mousepointer over the folder name (not the word "Folder" but the foldername on the right). What folder does this indicate?
- Even further to the right is an arrow. Clicking that arrow opens the corresponding folder in LR
 
This is confusing. LR apparently think your photos should be on the C: disk and the majority of them in the "My Pictures" folder. Your previous screenshot showed that your image files are on the J: drive. Where are they? Are they on both C: and J:?

However, LR seems to have found your "My Pictures" folder now and 7879 photos in it. There's only a few missing (17, 13, 20 and so on below). Is this correct?
 
I am going to be away from a computer for the better part of this weekend, so it would be best to work with Robert, Paige and others to help LR find the images in its catalog. But, first I think that it would be best to determine if any files are located on the J: drive. Hopefully none, so you can concentrate on the C: drive and the My Pictures folder. If I am wrong, and LR thinks there are images on the J: drive, that's OK. Just leave them there for the time being until everything is sorted out in LR. I'll try and check in if time permits, but you are in good hands with other forum members. I always seem to learn something from them, and I am sure they will help you get things resolved.

Take care,

--Ken
 
Charlotte,

I've sent you a PM regarding this matter.

Beat
 
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