Moving Develop Presets to a new desktop.

[WesternGuy]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom Classic version: 9.4

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I am moving my Lightroom and other apps to a new desktop. I am assuming that if I replace the Develop Preset folder that Lightroom generates on the new machine with the one that I copied from my old machine that it should be a straight forward replace operation - 1. Copy Develop Preset folder on old computer to a thumb drive. 2. Delete Develop Preset folder that Lightroom created on the new machine - it doesn't seem to have anything in it (file is empty). 3. Copy "old" Develop Preset folder from the thumb drive to the appropriate folder on the new computer.
When I start Lightroom, all of my previous Develop Presets should be present on the new computer.

What I need to know is whether or not there are any problems with this process - any "gotchas" in moving the Develop Preset folder off the old computer and replacing the Develop preset folder created by Lightroom on the new computer with the one from the old computer.

Can I assume that a similar process works for any of the other folders in the Lightroom folder on the old computer that I will copy to the new computer's Lightroom folder -
C: \ Users \ [my username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom \ .

Any insight that anyone can provide for this process will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

WesternGuy

 

[Paul McFarlane]

That's the correct way to do it. I'd suggest check our Moving Computers (free eBook) which covers other files you won't want to miss (go to Downloads)

 

[johnrellis]

Many people get confused by all the similarly named folders containing presets, which have changed location in the most recent versions. The most reliable way to get to the folders is to do Preferences > Presets > Show Lightroom Develop Presets and > Show All Other Lightroom Presets, which opens Windows File Explorer with the relevant folder selected.

 

[WesternGuy]

Paul, thanks for the reference. Definitely going to get that one.

WesternGuy

 

[WesternGuy]

johnrellis, thanks for the info - that is how I found where the Develop Presets are and where they should go.

WesternGuy

 

[WesternGuy]

Paul, I went to the "Downloads" section and I could not find find a document entitled "Moving Computers". Maybe I am not looking in the right place?

It would seem to me that if I moved the Lightroom folder from the old computer - C: \ Users \ [my username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom to the new computer, deleting the newly prepared one first, then a lot of the "problems" will be taken care of. Let me know if my logic is correct. Thanks.

WesternGuy

 

[Victoria Bampton]

It would seem to me that if I moved the Lightroom folder from the old computer - C: \ Users \ [my username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom to the new computer, deleting the newly prepared one first, then a lot of the "problems" will be taken care of. Let me know if my logic is correct. Thanks.

Sorry we missed this one. Yes, that Lightroom folder, and also the Camera Raw one in the same location (excluding its GPU subfolder).

 

[WesternGuy]

Thank you Victoria. You should know that you have piqued my curiosity (I have lots of it). Why not the GPU sub-folder? What does it have that the new computer does not need, or, oppositely, what is in the Camera Raw folder that will benefit the new computer.

It would be nice if there was a written document, or a web page, that outlined all of the folders and files that Lightroom needs/uses and where they are and what they are needed/used for. It would make this whole process of understanding the application a lot easier, particularly when these folders and files seem to be scattered all over my C: drive.

WesternGuy

 

[WesternGuy]

Victoria, further to your last response. If I move the Camera Raw folder from the old computer to the new computer, except, as you note, the GPU folder, presumably, I replace the GPU folder in the old folder with the GPU folder that already exists in the new computer.

WesternGuy

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Have a look at the Backup Checklist on page 61 of your Classic book for that list, and there's more blurb about what some files do on page 396.

GPU folder - I'm not 100% sure what would happen if you took the GPU folder from the old computer. It contains information about the graphics card self test pass/fail, and was known to cause crashes in the past when accessed from the wrong machine. It might be fine now, but leaving it empty or using the one from the new computer is the safe bet, especially on Windows.

 

[WesternGuy]

Have a look at the Backup Checklist on page 61 of your Classic book for that list, and there's more blurb about what some files do on page 396.

GPU folder - I'm not 100% sure what would happen if you took the GPU folder from the old computer. It contains information about the graphics card self test pass/fail, and was known to cause crashes in the past when accessed from the wrong machine. It might be fine now, but leaving it empty or using the one from the new computer is the safe bet, especially on Windows.

Victoria, thank you for the update and the information. They are all greatly appreciated.

WesternGuy