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Catalogs Occasional User: Frozen by questions by LRC about "upgrading"

W

wbarker

New Member
Premium Classic Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2020
Messages
5
Lightroom Version Number
13.3
Operating System
  1. macOS 14 Sonoma
I am admittedly only an occasional user of LRC, but I try to keep current with my subscriptions from Lightroom Queen and search these forums when I have questions. When I fired up LRC this morning, I got the a pop-up (attached) about "upgrading" (a term that at least with respect to software nowadays ranks very high on the Orwellian irony scale) my catalog. Having once had a disastrous "upgrade" previously with LRC from which I have never been able to recover about a year's worth of photos, I am very leery -- especially when I read advice in my copy of the Missing FAQ and related email not to upgrade at certain times, and when I read other posts in the community before posting here. I'm frozen with fear ---- OK, that's a little over the top, but I really do not know how to proceed since there seems to be no option just to skip the upgrade. I would appreciate any plain-spoken advice that someone can offer. Thanks in advance. (Also, I had to guess the answer to the required answer "Lightroom Version Number" since I cannot open LRC without dealing with the attached dialog box (I just used the reference shown in the dialog box: 13.3)
 

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Solution
clee01l
New features with each release requires that the database structure (catalog file) needs to change. Upgrading allows the app to read the old structure and write out a copy of the database (catalog file) to accommodate the changes.
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-upgrade-catalog/

This almost always happens when a whole number (i.e. V12.0 > V13.0) happens. Decimal upgrades are usually bug fixes and new camera models. LrC v13.3 was the exception as a complete overhaul of the Sync Process was introduced. There is an option to skip or even roll back the version upgrade. And many people do. In the case where you have upgraded from v 13.3 to v 14.0 People often wait for version v14.1. since it contains bug fixes...
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New features with each release requires that the database structure (catalog file) needs to change. Upgrading allows the app to read the old structure and write out a copy of the database (catalog file) to accommodate the changes.
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-upgrade-catalog/

This almost always happens when a whole number (i.e. V12.0 > V13.0) happens. Decimal upgrades are usually bug fixes and new camera models. LrC v13.3 was the exception as a complete overhaul of the Sync Process was introduced. There is an option to skip or even roll back the version upgrade. And many people do. In the case where you have upgraded from v 13.3 to v 14.0 People often wait for version v14.1. since it contains bug fixes introduced in the decimal 0 release.

I hope that answers your question. If not, be persistent and we will see that you are comfortable moving forward. If you have already installed v14.0 or v14.0.1 and want to roll back to v 13.5.1 we can help you there too.
 
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Solution
Thank you so much for the explanation. With confidence newly instilled, I took a deep breath and pressed "Upgrade", and everything still seems to be there! Thanks again.
 
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It's likely that the Preferences for your Creative Cloud Desktop app are set to allow automatic upgrades of the apps that it manages, including LrClassic. You can turn that preference option OFF, which puts you firmly in control of the upgrade process, so then there would be no nasty surprises when the updated LrC needs to upgrade the catalog, i.e. YOU decide when to upgrade the app.
 
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wbarker said:
Thank you so much for the explanation. With confidence newly instilled, I took a deep breath and pressed "Upgrade", and everything still seems to be there! Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Be sure to have a complete backup first.
 
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