How do I open an " not writable" catalogue?

Question

I just upgraded my processor and OS to Windows 7. I reinstalled Lightroom 3. When I try to open a catalogue, I get an error message that it cannot be opened because it is not writable.  Any suggestions?

Answer 1

There are at least three reasons for that:
a) You don't have write permission for the drive the catalog sits on. This is a feature in Win 7: for each drive you have to give yourself full permission. Right-click the drive in question, go >Properties >Security tab and highlight your log-on name. You should have check marks for "Full Control", "Modify", and "Write".
If you don't, click on <Edit>, make sure that you name is highlighted and check the boxes "Full Control", etc.
BTW you also have to do this for the drive your photos are on, i.e. for every drive that Lr uses (also think Lr cache).
b) Lr requires enough free space on the hard drive where the catalog sits in order to be able to write to it. If there isn't enough free space left, you ge the message that the catalog is not writeable.
c) Lock-file: When Lr is open there is a lrcat.lock file that sits right besides your catalog. It prevents that Lr is opened in two instances because that would create problems with the catalog. The lock file should NOT be present when Lr is closed, but sometimes it doesn't disappear for reasons unknown to me. With Lr closed check if you see a lock file (same name as your catalog but with ending "lrcat.lock"). If you do, send it to the Recycle Bin / Trash Can. Don't delete your catalog, the .lrcat file!