Backup photos from 1 external drive to another

New to Lightroom. Currently backing up total Mac system with Time Machine onto 500GB external drive, but my internal 250GB HDD space is shrinking due to large Lightroom files. Response time getting pretty bad too. I read on forum that I should not use TimeMachine to backup Lightroom photos, so I'll stop doing that.
I only have 2000 photos on Lightroom so far (mostly DNG), but plan to import 17,000 from iPhoto ASAP, and another 10,000 from other files, with another 2000 annually.
I bought two 1TB external drives (firewire 800), planning to move all photos onto one and backup the photos on the other. (still plan to use 500GB external drive as TimeMachine backup for the rest of the iMac data and system). I plan to daisy chain all 3 HDD drives, but what steps in LIghtroom should I take to move and setup the new Lightroom backup scheme? And then, what cyclical procedures should I follow?
I have read lots of helpful Q&As on the forums on specific problems, but what "I the novice" needs, is step by step instructions on how to set this all up in Lightroom.
iMac24 Mac OS X (10.5.7) 2.16 GHz, INtel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 250GB internal HDD, Canon 9950 scanner, Canon IP3400 printer

Thanks to both you guys. For performance reasons, I decided to keep catalog and previews on internal drive, and move photos to the external HDD. I installed new external drives, and using LR "new folder" technique John suggested, I created a "2009" folder and subfolder, but when I chose photos to move to new subfolder folder, I get this warning:
"MOVING FILES ON DISK
This will cause corresponding files on disk to be moved. If you proceed, neither this move nor any changes you've made prior to this can be undone."
I have previously modified (using Develop tab functions) many of the photos that I am moving. When I move, will the non-destructive capability be lost? In other words, will I lose the ability to change back to original state of the photos? If so, how can I maintain this ability? I've made changes on hundreds of these 2,000 photos, but worst case, I can go back and recreate the original status of the photos if I have to, but it would be more work, so is there is a way around this?

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Plan to move photos from one drive to another - Need advice

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Why won't photos from external drive stay on my computer (iPhoto) once I disconnect the external drive?

I'm trying to move photos from my external drive to my new computer. When I connect the external drive, I'm able to view all the photos in iPhoto, and I'm able to drag photos to a desktop folder and/or directly into iPhoto. But, when I disconnect the external drive, I no longer have access to the photos on my computer. I'm sure there's a step I may be overlooking but I'm using the same process I've used in the past and cannot determine next steps.

Thanks so far.
I'm currently working on a 2012 MacBook Air 13", running OSX 10.8.
Upon opening my external drive, I've dragged the iPhoto Library to my computer's desktop. When I've opened iPhoto and tried to import the library (from external drive and/or from the desktop), I'm unable to do so, i.e., the library is not highlighted (it won't allow me to click on it).
I can open and view the library from my external drive in iPhoto when the external drive is connected to the computer. But, once the external drive is disconnected from the computer, I'm unable to view the library
I've tried all of the aforementioned when the "Copy Imported Item(s) to the iPhoto Library" is checked.

Trying to restore photos from external drive and realized TimeMachine had been turned off. Found in Imac backup folder in iPhoto library a modified folder with many of the missing pics. Can I restore these?

I recently had a hard drive crash on my iMac. After replacing the drive, I discovered that TimeMachine had apparently been turned off for six months, and all my photos from that period were missing after the restore. In looking on the external drive used by TimeMachine, I discovered a folder called Imac backup, and under iPhoto Library was a folder called Originals and subfolders for each year. To my surprise, there were photos covering the missing time period! Somehow I imported the 2011 folder from the external drive into iPhoto, and then I discovered they were small files of less than 100 KB each, not the 1-2 MB original photos. So now all of 2011 is screwed up, not just from May on. These photos also include faces pulled from many larger group photos.
I can get Jan - April restored using TimeMachine. But in continuing to explore the Imac backup folder, I found a similar folder in iPhoto Library called Modified. This folder has many of the missing photos in their original MB size in folders indexed by date for the missing period after April. Is there a way that I can get these modified photos back onto my new hard drive and into the iPhoto library without causing more damage? If TimeMachine was turned off after April, how did those modified photos and all those small images from the missing period find their way to the external drive?
Any wisdom greatly appreciated.

What you want to do is merge the two Libraries? The only way to do this is to use the paid ($20) version of iPhoto Library Manager
I created a new iPhoto Library on the iMac and dragged the entire iPhoto Library from the MacBook into that new Library. It worked, however it all came over into one big album and my previous album structure was gone
Never import one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.
Regards
TD

Moving photos from external drive to iPhoto '11

OK. I'm going nuts. I recently purchased an iMac and I migrated all of the photos from my old G5 with no problems. All of my photos and their Album structures came along. Now, I also have a lot of different photos on a MacBook that is also running 10.6.6 and iPhoto '11. The MacBook is backed up onto an external drive which I am trying to use to move the photos to the iMac. I have tried what Terrence Devlin suggests. I tried to drag the MacBook iPhoto library into the iMac Pictures folder, but it asks me if I want to replace the existing iPhoto library. I most certainly do not. I don't want to lose anything that is already on the iMac.
I tried manually exporting folders from the external drive by clicking individual albums in iPhoto and "exporting" them to the iMac desktop, but not all of the photos come in the export, no matter which folder I try to export.
Yesterday, before I updated the laptop to iPhoto '11, I created a new iPhoto Library on the iMac and dragged the entire iPhoto Library from the MacBook into that new Library. It worked, however it all came over into one big album and my previous album structure was gone. There are waaaaay too many photos for me to go back through and sort them again. Did that happen because I was going from an older version of iPhoto to a newer version or will it happen again if I drag the MacBook iPhoto Library into a NEW library on the iMac? (I only ask before I try because it took several hours the first time.)
So what do I do? I want all of my photos on the iMac with my existing Album structure. If I have to do it Album by Album fine, but how? Selecting every photo from an album and dragging it to a folder on the desktop doesn't work either. I can always take every photo minus one. Weird.
Thanks,
John

What you want to do is merge the two Libraries? The only way to do this is to use the paid ($20) version of iPhoto Library Manager
I created a new iPhoto Library on the iMac and dragged the entire iPhoto Library from the MacBook into that new Library. It worked, however it all came over into one big album and my previous album structure was gone
Never import one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.
Regards
TD

Deleting photos from external drive when referenced (not copied) to iPhoto

Hi, I've seen similar posts, but none of them really answers my question.
I have an external NAS drive with RAID, where I keep ALL my data, because I use number of ways to access them. I also have my photos there. I recently bouht MAC MINI and I want to use it to organise my photos. Because I have only 80G drive on MAC, I choose to import the photos from the external drive to iPhoto, NOT copying them to it's own library but rather referencing them only.
Now the question I have - When I delete a photo in iPhoto by putting it to Trash and then empty the trash, the file still stays on the external drive, although it disapperas from iPhoto library. This is uselesss to me, because I WANT the file to be deleted from the external drive (orginizaing the files, right?).
The only way I found I can do this is clicking on the file in iPhoto, selecting "find file on disk" then deleting the file from disk, then deleting from iPhoto, one by one. That is no way to do it, I would rather use Picasa instead, although I like iPhoto more, I think it is superior in almost everything else.
One more question: is there a way to see a list of directories imported to iPhoto?
thanks,
J.

J.
What I need is to delete the file when I "look" at it,
Use a File Organiser. That’s what they are for, organising files. Other than that, if you’re using a database application such as iPhoto then you have to use the application to manipulate the data.
You ask a question:
But I am still wondering why isn't there any setup option to actually allow iPhoto to delete referenced files.
and the answer
I know it may cause some problems for some user,
iPhoto is firmly focussed on the home user with a point and shoot camera. It’s very effective at what to does, but it does very simple things. Any setting that could lead to inadvertent data loss is avoided. (There are occasional posts on the forum from folks who uncheck that ‘Copy Files to Library on Import‘ setting but who then don’t actually move the files from the camera. They wonder why iPhoto has “lost their photos“.)
You mention that you’re using the NAS so that access your photos in a number of ways. IF you can tell us what ways you use, perhaps we can help.
I just need to know which directories I imported to iPhoto.
How are these directories organised? Named?
Regards
TD

Moving music and photos from external drive

Bought a new 27inch iMac for Xmas this week. Today my G5 imac wouldn't boot and has a video RAM error code 2NYD/1/4:2103 and I can't boot in safe mode or from and external drive with carbon copy cloner backup. I am resigned to the G5 being toast. This of course removes transferring files using Migration Assistant.
My question is can I bring all my iphoto pictures and itunes songs/ library to the new iMac from the external drive and what is the best way to do this ?? Will there be issues with the backup being 10.5 and the new iMac being Snow Leopard ??
Thanks for any help.

Read the article I provided and it will give you all you need to run Setup Assistant successfuly. You will need a cable to connect the two machines, the G5 probably only has FW400 and the new machine only has FW800 so you will need a cable like this one. Your local computer store should have one or possibly your local Radio Shack. If you can't find one at either place just order it from Amazon.
NOTE: There will be no need to drag and drop any files from the external HD to the new machine, SA will take care of it all. SA is also smart enough to not overwrite newer applications on the new machine. For example if the Clone has iLife 08 on it and the new machine has iLife 11 on it the new machine will only have iLife 11 on it after running SA.

Help copying files from external drive to another external drive

I'm trying to backup the files I have on an external drive and this has turned into ****, I feel I'm a Windows user all over again.
First I tried to encrypt an external drive, just as I've encrypted several others. The solution was to pay for a new OS (10.8.2).
Now I'm trying to drag/drop the files from the old external drive to the new one (Seagate 3TB) and I get this message:
"The operation can’t be completed because the selection contains both backup items and non-backup items."
In a discussion somebody said "Use SuperDuper". I downloaded it but it's an app to make exact backups. I don't want this, I just want to copy files just as I've done in years.
If someone can help me, I'd like to know:
1. What does that message mean? The selection was the files in the old drive. Both backup items and non-backup items?????
2. How can I simply drag and drop the files as I've done all my life?
* I DON'T WANT A BACKUP APP, I DON'T WANT TO BUY APPS FOR SOMETHING SO SIMPLE AS COPYING FILES, SOMETHING THAT A MAC SHOULD DO.
Please advice.
Thank you.

Hi,
in PowerShell copy is an alias to the Cmdlet Copy-Item. A parameter "NewOrNewer" does not exit. You have to create your script that meets of your needs.
Have a look on the CmdLet Copy-Item
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849793.aspx
I hope that helps you.

How do i move photos from external drive to iphone

Currently i run on the Mac Pro Retina,
Since this doesn't have much storage i recently moved my entire 40Gb iPhoto onto an external drive. This worked great and love the new storage i have on my mac.
I plug my GoPro into my mac and it imports the photos onto the iPhoto on my external drive.
However the problem occurs when i try get those new photos onto my iPhone, i plug it in and go to photos on my phone in iTunes and it only shows my old iPhoto stuff, so i can't get those new photos across to my iPhone. I've tried the choose file option and chosen external drive but i doesn't seem to work?
And help as to how i can get these photos across would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried to remove the iPod Photo Cache from your iPhoto library? Perhaps it is corrupted.
Try this: iTunes: Understanding the iPod Photo Cache folder
if removing the cache does not change anything, try repairing your iPhoto library by holding down the key combination option-command ⌥⌘ and launching iPhoto while holding down both keys firmly, until you are seeing the Library First Aid panel. Select the option "Repair Database" and press "Repair".

How can I import file of photos from external drive into photoshop elements 11 organizer?

I just started with elements 11 after many years of El., 10. How can I import files from external disk to elements 11 organizer? My files were stored on the external drive.

Hi,
The Canon S100 wasn't supported until version 6.6 of camera raw and that isn't supported by pse 8.
You options are to either upgrade to pse version 10 or use the DNG converter
for windows http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5310
or
for mac http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5309
Brian

Deleting Time Machine backup folder from external drive

I'm trying to delete my Time Machine backup folder off my external hard drive, but the system won't let me because it says [my computer name] folder is in use, when it clearly isn't; I've turned off Time Machine and deselected my drive as backup.
Additionally, it takes about an hour for my trash bin to count the number of folders it needs to delete, and only after this does it say it is unable to delete these folders.
How can I delete my backup folder?

This is a picture of my Disk Utility display showing my internal drive (labeled 750.16 GB...... & below it the name ROBESPIERRE). Below that is an external drive I have connected (labeled 160.04 GB..... & below it the name untitled).
Note that the external HDD, 160.04 GB...... entry has been selected (shown in blue). That will open the 'Partition' window. If you select on the name, the 'Partition' window will not be an option.
Make certain that you have selected the correct entry.
Ciao.

HT1751 How to transfer iTunes media files from external drive to another external drive and bring in the library from the main drive.

I have my iTunes media on an external hard drive while the library is on the main computer drive. I want to move both to a larger external drive. How do I get both together? When I consolidate, it only transfers the media files. Help.

Since I already consolidated, can I just move the library to the root level of the external drive then option click to point to that library? But using that method, all the media files are at the root level along with the iTunes folder. So nothing will be in the iTunes media folder itself. WIll that work?

Transfer windows backup files from external drive

I just converted to a MacBook Pro after my PC died. I backed up everything to an external hard drive using Windows Backup and it looks like everything is contained in zip files. Is there a way to transfer my documents, photos, and videos from the external hard drive without going through each individual zip file??? I contacted Apple Support and they didn't have a clear answer for me on what I should do.

Thank you both, Elliot Jordan & d6d24r94 for your very quick answers! I've actually opted to try the move of the entire folder to Trash and am in the process of emptying it now. It is slow, with thousands of files being deleted, but it seems to be working very well. I had Googled first for an answer and had been put off shifting to Trash but it the easiest method - not being so savy and all.

Using Time Machine to backup data FROM external disk to ANOTHER external

i have my itunes library and my iphoto library on an external WD disk connected to my MacBook Pro. So, i have a lot of nice data on that disk that i want protected... but Time Machine is not playing nice with the external hard drive. It's not listed on the list of items "Not to backup", yet when I go into the Time Machine interface, i can't go more than 1 level deep in Finder when selecting the external disk.
has anyone seen this behavior? it's supposed to work.
thanks!

Did you backup your data from that external disk using some other backup software before?
I am also trying to figure out problems with external HD using time machine to back it up. Am not quite sure yet why it is not working right.

How Do I Move My Photos From One Drive To Another?

Can I simply do this in my "Folders" view by dragging the highest level "Photo Folder" to the other drive.
My computer's primary drive (C) is only 500GB whereas my second drive (D) is now 1TB. For obvious reasons I would like to get my nearly 3,000 digital photos moved to the larger drive.
Running Premiere Elements 11 under Microsoft Windows 7 on a Lenovo W520 Laptop

MGW of Boulder
The bottom bottom line may be to make the photo-moves in stages, one successful stage after another C to D drives.
And, then make Elements Organizer Slideshow Project (.psess) and Premiere Elements project.prel media reconnects
as they come, using whatever the program gives you in the way of media reconnect dialogs. Alternatively using the
program's Replace Footage feature.
ATR Premiere Elements Troubleshooting: PE11: Replace Footage
Below is the unabridged version of the above.
The bottom line is that you are going to run to media disconnect/reconnect issues when you move, delete, or rename
files/folders after the save close of the Elements Organizer Slideshow Project and/or the Premiere Elements 12 project
file which uses the Slideshow Project as source media.
The reconnect of the Elements Organizer’s Slideshow Project media can be as simple as double clicking the Slideshow
Project thumbnail in the Elements Organizer and watching as it automatically reconnects the media to the Slideshow Project.
Other times, the program is unsuccessful in the find/reconnect mission, and its dialog offers you the opportunity to “find them
yourself and reconnect the media to the Slideshow Project”.
In this scenario where Premiere Elements is working with the Elements Organizer slideshow, when you open the Premiere
Elements saved closed project, you should be greeted with the first of the “Where is the file…..?” messages. Using the first
and directing it to the current location of the first missing photo can restore not only that photo but all the others in the folder.
In most cases, the reconnection of the missing files at the Elements Organizer level did not automatically reconnect the
media in its slideshow contribution to Premiere Elements. But, there was one time when it did.
When you write 30,000 photos to be moved…the variables are overwhelming. The main objective should be maintain the
integrity of your existing saved closed Premiere Elements projects files and that of the Elements Organizer Slideshow
Project files. I would use the Project Archiver to archive these existing projects. If you need Project Assets media whether
used on the Timeline or not plus the media that went to the Timeline, then use the Copy option of the Project Archiver. If you
just want media that went to the Timeline, then use the Archiver option.
Adobe Premiere Elements 11 * Archiving projects
The rationale behind the Project Archiver is that is makes copies of the source media and the project .prel file and places
them in a special folder. The project.prel in that folder then traces back to the source media in that folder and is independent
of the original source media on the computer hard drive.
If you want to get the Elements Organizer Slideshow Project (.psess file) out of harms way, you could consider copying that
file and saving it to a safe save spot on the computer hard drive. The Slideshow Project (.psess file) is found
Local Disk C
Program Data
Adobe
Elements Organizer
Catalogs
Name of Catalog
Projects
And in the Projects Folder is the Slideshow Project (.psess file).
As I said in the abridged version of all this at the top of the post, you may not want to be this "guarded" and instead just use
the approach mentioned at the top.
I will think about this some more.
ATR

Transfer photos from external drive

Can anyone help me with migration assistant? I've downloaded it but it doesnt work?

As mentioned, .exe are files (and cannot be opened on a Mac as they are Windows proprietary); photos are jpeg's. Since I don't run Windows, I do not know how Windows Photo Gallery works, but would assume that it does not work on a Mac. And, how is your external formatted as Windows: FAT32 or ? You can't expect two completely different systems to be 100% compatible - Windows uses a totally different code and has totally different file structure.
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Backup photos from 1 external drive to another

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