upgrading and moving

[peterforum]

Hi,

Please will you offer me your wisdom regarding the following:

I am upgrading both LR and my computer. I will be moving from LR 1.1 on XP Pro to LR 2.' on XP 64bit.

I have about 3''' RAW files plus corresponding LR data, prefs etc. to move to the new machine.

I think that I simply export the entire set of pics as a catalogue from current machine and then import them into my new LR 2 on the new machine. Is this correct? Am I likely to face any conflicts (due to change of OS and LR upgrade)?

When I make the 'Export as catalog' do I still need to tick box for 'Export negative files' even though I already have all these files on my backup drive which can simply be copied across to new drive? If so then will exporting all those files take long (ie overnight job)?

Many thanks.

Peter

 

[Denis Pagé]

Welcome to the forums Peter! Do this in this order:

1. Have a backup of images and Lightroom Catalog.lrcat (seem to be done).
2. Copy "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat" and all images to new machine at the same corresponding places in the file structure.
3. Copy "C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom" to same equivalent on new computer.
4. Do not Install Lightroom 2.' yet!
5. Download Lightroom 2.1 as there too many problems with 2.' and 2.2 show some problems for Windows users. Find it here.
6. Install Lightroom 2.1
7. Launch Lightroom and it will offer you to convert your old "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat" Catalog to the new format suggesting the name "Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat". This part won't be long as compared to step two.

You are now all set.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Let me add a little more to Denis' excellent instructions. Before step 2, you want to make sure that Lightroom is showing a tidy hierarchy, as that'll make it easier to relink once you get to the new machine. Instructions are here: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/blog/...can-i-change-it-to-show-the-folder-hierarchy/ That'll really come into its own if your drive letter changes, or the files end up in a different location.

 

[peterforum]

Thanks very much to both of you!
Peter