Cannot do a complete backup

Question

I have Elements 10 on Windows 7.  When I try to do a complete backup to an external hard drive, I see "calculating total media size" and the execution bar stops at 96% and nothing else happens.  I have waited for an hour, nothing.  My CPU usage meter shows no activity.  It is like it is hung up.  I cannot cancel, I have to click the x button.  At some point in the past this wroked since I had three complete backup files on my external drive (which I deleted before doing this).
What's wrong?

Answer 1

Hi Michel,
MichelBParis wrote:
I am a regular reader of the LR forum where you find lots of computer experts and I have still to read a complaint about the database engine choice.
That's an interesting point, and I freely admit I don't know if the problems seen here with catalogs are due to:
The SQLite database engine itself.
The design of the Organizer's database structure.
The program code used by Organizer to manipulate its data.
MichelBParis wrote:
In my experience, the usual advice to run 'repair' and 'repair anyway', inherited from the days of Access, are only 'placebos' and I have never been of any use. (Always in my own experience).
I don't know what the Organizer's "repair" does, so I share your scepticism about that function -- it's never helped with issues we've seen here.  The "optimize" function, however, is valuable and has always been valuable, even when using Access.  The reason is that when a database is told to "delete" a record, for performance reasons the record is simply marked as "no longer available".  The physical space occupied by that record's ones and zeros is still there on disk.  With time, if a lot of records are deleted there are accumulated a lot of "dead" areas that affect performance.  "Optimizing" rewrites the physical ones and zeros, physically removing the "deleted" records and moves the remaining ones and zeros on disk to create contiguous used areas on disk.  (This is why "optimizing" is also called "compacting".)  With "personal" databases like Access and SQLite, that optimization must be initiated manually, but "enterprise class" databases like MS SQL Server (and MS SQL Server Express) and Oracle and IBM's DB2 are server-based database engines and can perform that database maintenance automatically.
MichelBParis wrote:
I am a regular user of John R Ellis's psedbtool, and I consider that integrating some of his diagnosis and repair tools instead of fancy automatic processes would be a welcomed progress.
That's pretty much the same point I'm making.  There are huge advantages to having a database engine running as it's own separate process.  One of those advantages is that the database engine can constantly run its own optimization and integrity-checking processes against the databases that are connected to it.
Here's why I'm so enthused about "enterprise-class" databases (and MS SQL Server Express in particular):
The way I see it, any free open-source database (like SQLite) by definition, does not make a profit for its developers.  The quality of that database is determined by the skill of the developers, their dedication, and how much time they can afford to spend on it.  On the other hand, major databases like MS SQL Server, Oracle and DB2 generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for their respective companies.  Therefore, they will have the most knowlegeable and skilled developers available in the world working full-time on those databases.  Those databases are used for extremely critical applications like credit card processing on a global scale, so those databases will incorporate the most advanced and reliable features known to man.
If I can have a choice of databases for my personal use, it would be foolish not to choose the most advanced and reliable one.  Each of those companies offeres an entry-level database, and in the case of MS SQL Server, MS is aggressively promoting the free "Express" version as an "entry-level" database in order to impress users with its features in the hope that they will later spend the money on its flagship database.  That's why the free "Express" version uses the same database engine as the "big" SQL Server.
So, I enjoy using MSSSE for my personal projects, and I sleep well at night knowing I've got something at the top of its class.  For our image cataloging purposes, there is the example of this program, whose "Pro" version allows the use of other database engines:
http://www.cerious.com/thumbnails.shtml#standard
I'm surprised that feature has not been implemented by Adobe, especially for Lightroom.
Ken