How can I retreive my photos now that photoalbum starter has been discontinued?

Question

I tried to register but was told that adobe no longer supported this product. I tried unlocking with the code 79f38d43 but the unlock screen only gives me the option to exit without unlocking. When I downloaded the photos off my camera the program deleted them from the camera so now these locked images are the only copies. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Hi,
It is likely that your photos are somewhere on your hard drive.  This was a really good product that I wish they still supported. I'm guessing you are on Windows so I'll give you the way to find them for Windows.  If it's Mac, it's slightly different but the same idea it's just different selections to do the search. I also don't know how sophisticated of a user you are, but I'm judging you aren't really technical, so if I'm too detailed in my instructions here, please forgive me I just want to be sure you find them.  It's a very anxious situation when you think you've lost your pictures. Experienced and technical users have their own ways to do these things that are quicker and easier and I know that.  But I'm absolutely sure this way will work so you may know of another way to do any part of this.  But I'm writing these instructions in such a way that there is no ambiguity or uncertainty for different Windows configurations, personalizations, or setups.  I'm almost certain these steps will ALWAYS work.  I'm also assuming that Photoshop album isn't working for you anymore and that windows is the only way you can see them.
The Basic idea is that you need to search your hard drive for the photos using the time they were created.  First, I'll tell you how to get to the place where you can search, then I'll give you some ideas of what criteria you should search with from very specific to more general. Luckily Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition imports them to the hard drive and stores them just like any other Windows file.  The tags, collections, and timeline and all that stuff is within the program, but unless you tell the program to delete the file specifically, it's probably still there.
To Search the whole computer in Windows:
Left-click the Start button
Right-click My Computer to get a little menu
Left-click the Search option from the menu
This will give you a dialog box or window that says Search Results at the top.  The choices you make here will determine how many results you will have to sort through to find what you want.
The Simple way (if they are typical picture files) LOTS OF RESULTS
Left-click Pictures, music, or video
Left-click the box next to Pictures and Photos
Left-click the grey box that says Search
This will then search your entire computer and all the hard drives, memory cards, cameras attached to it for anything that looks like a picture and put the results on right hand side of the Search Results box.  It will look in My Pictures first then go on to the rest of the hard drive then everything else and it will skip the obvious places like the "system" and "hidden" areas for your pictures.  So, the good thing is that if it is in My Pictures, which is likely, your pictures will be at the top of the list.  You don't have to wait till its' done, you can look while it's searching and if you find the pictures, click the grey button that says Stop (same button that used to say Search).  Then you can do what you want with the pictures
On my computer, it gives me thumbnails of each picture it finds, but yours may give you a list.  If it is a list, and you want thumbnails, click the View choice at the top of the Search Results, Thumbnails window to get thumbnail pictures.  You can scroll through the list and look at all the thumbnails for your picture.  WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF PICTURES THIS CAN TAKE A VERY LONG TIME (HOURS IS POSSIBLE) TO MAKE ALL THE THUMBNAILS
If it's a list, you might be able to tell by the Date Modified or Date Created if one of these things is what you are looking for.  If you see one you  then you should open it up and look at it to see if it's what you want.  If you have always used Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition to do that and need help with that you can write another message here asking for help.
If you don't find it this way, it may be identified as something other than what Windows calls a picture.  If that's the case, close the Search Results window, repeat the To Search the whole computer in Windows, steps above, but then
A TIME-SPECIFIC WAY
Left-click All files and folders
Left-click When was it modified and specify when the pictures were taken and/or when you put them on the computer.  Don't choose I don't remember. Make a guess to narrow down the list you will get. Try the date you think you put them on the computer first.  If you don't find something you recognize, try the date you took the picture.
Left-click the grey box that says Search
If you still can't find it, repost and I or someone else will try and help you, but you should find them this way.
Good Luck
PS I ask anyone who reads this and thinks that this is the "long" way to do it to just refrain from criticizing my instructions.  This isn't the way I would do it either, but I don't think leilah is all that technical so I'm trying to make it foolproof versus quick