Restore from backup

[Girts]

I'm new here so apologies if this has already been asked, but I can't find it.

I've just replaced my PC and re-installed LR. Now all my keywords, profiles etc have gone, even though I backed up regularly. Surely there's a way to restore these settings from backup, but I can't find it.

Any ideas?

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hopefully you've backed up your catalog somewhere safe when you reinstalled. By default it would have been placed in the My Pictures folder, unless you chose an alternative location. Search for a *.lrcat file.

If you know where that is, hold down Ctrl while opening LR and it'll ask you which catalog to open - and you can choose your old catalog.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Girts]

Wow, Victoria, that was quick! Thanks, I'll give that a try.
Girts

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Let us know how you get on!

 

[Girts]

I tried that, but it still hasn't found my old presets etc. so it looks as if I'll just have to re-build them. Hey, ho. The price of progress?

Girts

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ah, yes, presets would have been stored in c:/Documents and Settings/[your username]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets/ along with custom web galleries, preferences, etc. Most programs store their user data in those folders, so it's always worth adding to your backups.

 

[Brad Snyder]

If you still have access to the old PC, things like presets and preferences are kept in x:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom. (Where x: is the OS root drive, usually C:\)

Slightly different path on Vista, a lot different on Mac.

If you think you might be a frequent visitor here, it's useful to everyone if you build a signature block with your technical details. See User CP, above left. Samples abound ...

 

[Girts]

Thanks to you both. I've still got the old PC so one guess what I'm doing next (after a stiff cup of Earl Grey, I think).

Then I'll do the signature block, but I wanted to ask the question first in between finding lost passwords and re-installing stuff. There are too many forums, I think, where people hide behind funny names (this actually is my name) and carp at other people. Not good.

Thanks again - a great intro to the forum.

Girts

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Slightly different path on Vista, a lot different on Mac

For anyone's future reference, it's handy to have all of the paths together I guess, so:

Windows XP - <systemdrive>/Documents and Settings/[your username]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets/
Windows Vista - <systemdrive>/Users/[your username]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets
Mac - <systemdrive>/Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets

 

[Denis Pagé]

For anyone's future reference, it's handy to have all of the paths together I guess, so:

Windows XP - <systemdrive>/Documents and Settings/[your username]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets/
Windows Vista - <systemdrive>/Users/[your username]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets
Mac - <systemdrive>/Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Presets

And if all else fails, look for my tip in the "Tips & Tricks" forum under Your presets dissapeared? Here is why! They can be at different places as per your configuration and/or luanguage settings!

 

[SAS]

I have been going in circles trying to find the answer to what I thought was a simple question. I accidently removed the ratings from some photos. I don't remember which ones, and since I was using a filter, they disappeared from my screen as soon as I made the change. No problem I thought. I had made a backup of the calalog just before the accident, so I thought all I have to do is replace the current cataloge with the backup. However, I cannot find any instructions on how to do what I thought was a simple procedure. Is there a simple way to do this? How do you do it?

 

[SAS]

P.S. I am now using Lightroom 2.'

 

[Brad Snyder]

The backup catalog is just an exact copy of the original catalog. (*.lrcat) There aren't really any automatic or menu driven provisions for restoring from the backup, other than 'import from catalog'.


1) You can just double click the backup catalog to open it. Be cognizant that this catalog resides in a different location,(i.e., your designated backup folder). As you work be care to not confuse it with the original catalog in your originally structured location.

or;
2) Rename or otherwise backup the original catalog file. Copy the backup catalog to that location. It should open normally.


In the future, possibly an Undo, (ctrl-Z) issued right after the mistake, might have saved the hassle.

 

[SAS]

Thanks Brad. I did the things you suggested. The undo did not list the action I wanted to undo even thought I had just done it. I imported an older catalog, but that did not seem to help either. Maybe the ratings are stored in the xmp file?

 

[Brad Snyder]

I would be inclined to think not. It's certainly possible, but you would have had to saved the XMP data prior to the mislabeling, and then not saved it afterwards. If you had autowrite XMP on, that scenario is unlikely. If you were saving XMP manually, it would all depend on your timing.

In addition, the XMP is saved by individual file, so you'd either have to select each file individually to update metadata(which doesn't improve your current situation much), or be willing to do so with the whole applicable folder/collection.