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Setting up an external hard drive

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Ole Kvaal

Ole Kvaal

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Premium Classic Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2016
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37
Lightroom Experience
Beginner
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
7.4.1
Operating System
  1. macOS 13 Ventura
Before starting my migrating (LrC -> LR), I thought it would be a good idea to improve my backup routines.
So: I am going to get - and set up - an external hard drive for storing my catalogue and photos, or at least copies of these. But the more I search, the more the how-tos seem to differ. Could someone please point me to an easy-to-read-and-understand, step-by-step, tea-spoon-mode manual? (I prefer text to videos, but a slow video will do fine. :) )
 
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You are going to use Lightroom desktop. The Lightroom desktop library is not a catalog (the catalog is in the cloud). It is just a cache to speed up Lightroom so it does not have to access the cloud for every little thing. Consequently, backing up this library is of little use. You cannot restore anything from a backup of this cache, the cloud always takes preference.

Lightroom has the option to store a local copy of the original images. You can turn this on in the preferences, where you can also set the location.
 
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Johan Elzenga said:
You are going to use Lightroom desktop. The Lightroom desktop library is not a catalog (the catalog is in the cloud). It is just a cache to speed up Lightroom so it does not have to access the cloud for every little thing. Consequently, backing up this library is of little use. You cannot restore anything from a backup of this cache, the cloud always takes preference.

Lightroom has the option to store a local copy of the original images. You can turn this on in the preferences, where you can also set the location.
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Thanks. Well, that seems pretty straightforward. And I will save some money by not buying a new EHD. BTW, in "preferences", it was already set to .lrlibrary. So I guess I'll just start with the migrating, then. Wish me luck. ;-)
 
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Ole Kvaal said:
I thought it would be a good idea to improve my backup routines.
Click to expand...
Now that we know that Lightroom or Lightroom Classic have nothing to do with Backup, have you considered what might happen to all of your critical user data when your primary disk (MacIntosh HD) fails? How do you plan to recover from that eventuality? Having a backup plan implemented will save you a lot of future grief.

Many of the questions that show up here are from desperate people that have no backup. Are you setting yourself up to be one of them?
 
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clee01l said:
Now that we know that Lightroom or Lightroom Classic have nothing to do with Backup, have you considered what might happen to all of your critical user data when your primary disk (MacIntosh HD) fails? How do you plan to recover from that eventuality? Having a backup plan implemented will save you a lot of future grief.

Many of the questions that show up here are from desperate people that have no backup. Are you setting yourself up to be one of them?
Click to expand...
Well, that's exactly what I originally thought. Maybe I misunderstood the previous poster when I supposed he meant that backups would be of no use along with the cloud? Anyway, now my migration is done (I ended up with quite a few duplicates, but I can handle that).
But I would be more than happy with another backup, so I guess I'm back to my original question then:
Where do I find an easy guide to set up an EHD for Lightroom?
 
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There isn't an easy guide—if you had a crash with your HDD, from Lightroom, you would simply install the Client again from Adobe, and it'd all download from the Cloud.

Cletus's point (and a very important one) is, what would you do about all the other data (non-Lightroom) that isn't cloud-based?

However, your actual question was backing up Lightroom Classic files before migrating to Lightroom Desktop (so cloud). For Classic (only) we produced a comprehensive guide:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/backup-lightroom-files/
 
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Paul McFarlane said:
There isn't an easy guide—if you had a crash with your HDD, from Lightroom, you would simply install the Client again from Adobe, and it'd all download from the Cloud.

Cletus's point (and a very important one) is, what would you do about all the other data (non-Lightroom) that isn't cloud-based?

However, your actual question was backing up Lightroom Classic files before migrating to Lightroom Desktop (so cloud). For Classic (only) we produced a comprehensive guide:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/backup-lightroom-files/
Click to expand...
OK, so I may be misreading or misunderstanding once more. To begin with, I was told that there's no use in bothering with a backup of LR, as Adobe would take care of that. Fine. But then: "Many of the questions that show up here are from desperate people that have no backup. Are you setting yourself up to be one of them?", which I thought would mean that I SHOULD have a back up.
As for other files and programs, the most important of them would be on my Apple or Office accounts. And several other apps. Pretty much like Adobe Cloud, I guess. (And I'm also running a Time Machine - with or without any benefits? I no longer know. :) )
But if I should try to sum it up from the replies here: there is NOT much point in setting up an EHD for the sake of my photos, right?
 
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If you are using Lightroom Desktop (not Classic) then for the sake of Lightroom - absolutely not. But until then, ensure you have a backup while a Classic user.
 
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Paul McFarlane said:
If you are using Lightroom Desktop (not Classic) then for the sake of Lightroom - absolutely not. But until then, ensure you have a backup while a Classic user.
Click to expand...
Ah! NOW I see it. I never thought there would be to different cases. Although it should be obvious. So an EHD may be useful after all, for the LrC bit.
Well, I have been a user of "new" LR only for a few hours yet. so I haven't really decided which one I will go for. So maybe I should get a disk for my LrC stuff. If I got it right now, I thank you all for your help and patience which may have lead me to see this in another perspective. And the right one, finally.
 
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Always feel free to ask questions, sometimes we'll respond with questions because we aren't quite clear on the thinking, but hopefully we always get there!
 
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Paul McFarlane said:
Always feel free to ask questions, sometimes we'll respond with questions because we aren't quite clear on the thinking, but hopefully we always get there!
Click to expand...
Again, I thank you SO much. I'm very pleased with the help I got here, and any confusion and brain haze is completely on me. (Also when it comes to using the right terms.)
And yes, I will be back. :)
 
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