Upgrading hard drive...can I just move the folder?

[ksignorini]

I'll be upgrading my hard drive in the next week or so. I am very comfortable doing this on the Mac and PC's.

My question, however is Lightroom database related. Working on Mac OS X, will Lightroom maintain my database if I simply move my Pictures/Lightroom folder from the old drive to the next and then tell the newly installed Lightroom application which database to use?

One further complication (maybe) is that I have data on multiple drives being recorded in one database...so if I do what I described above, will it still "notice" the pictures on the other drive being referenced in the database?

The last thing I want is to lose my database and edits--I have over 2',''' images.

 

[Brad Snyder]

Kent,

Just moving the catalog file (*.lrcat) will be fine. It can be located anywhere. You just have to be able to point LR to it when you start the program. Typically, you would move the whole containing subfolder with the preview cache folders as well.

If you haven't moved the source image files, the catalog will have no trouble finding them. If you intend to move the image files, it's helpful to move them in LR, (subject to that no multiple folders thing, in your other post).

If you do move the images independently (say with Finder/Explorer) try to preserve the hierarchy/folder structure, which will minimize the hassle of relocating them later. If the files/folders get confused, they'll turn red in the Left Hand Panel folder listing; you can right-click on the red folder, and choose locate missing folder.

Try not to move the catalog and the images all in one go. I've found that small steps are best.