IPhoto - My iPhoto is not responding. When I click on iPhoto I get a never ending spinning beachball. I almost think it is looking in the wrong place for the pictures. How do I redirect it back to the Mac hard drive?

Question

My iPhoto is not responding.  Whenever I click on the iPhoto icon I get a twirling beachball.  It is as if the machine is looking in the wrong place for the photos.  How can I see where the machine is looking to find out if this is really the problem.  How can I see the path?

Answer 1

Try this:  launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and check to see if the same problem persists. If it doesn't then the problem lies with your current library.
If that's the case  Apply the two fixes below in order as needed: 
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Since only one option can be run at a time start with Option #3, followed by #4 and then #1 as needed.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 - click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option.
4 - In the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments.  However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT