I backed up my iPhoto library manually to an external hard drive. How do I restore it?
I backed up select portions of my hard drive to an external hard drive. At the time, I didn't realize that it was going to be so hard to recover the original photos from the iPhoto library. The backup is basically just a command-line "cp" of the iPhoto Library directory. What's the best way to either recover the original photos or restore the iPhoto library to a new computer?
OK, sorry for the delay. Holidays and whatnot.
Sooooo... the backup was basically a command line "cp -r", however the partition that I backed up to on the external drive was FAT32. So that explains why it's no longer a package. Clearly a mistake on my part, but still need to find a way to recover.
I tried to rebuild the library DB, but it just bails out with the same exact message ("You can't open your current photo library using this version of iPhoto. You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iPhoto. Please quit and use the latest version of iPhoto.").
So crap. Should I keep trying to find a way to get iPhoto to recognize my backed up library, or should I give up on that approach and just try to manually get my photos out of the backup? If the latter, what's the best way to do that? I see an "Originals" subfolder, does that have all my photos in it (I only care about originals, don't care about edits)? What about the "Data" subfolder, which also seems to have some photos?
Similar Messages
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Using Time Machine to back up an iphoto library located on an external hard drive.
I'd like to back up my primary iphoto library that currently exists on an external Simpletech hard-drive. I have a separate WD Passport external hard drive also attached to my iMAC. When I turn on Time Machine, it only seems to allow me to choose one of the two hard-drives to receive the back-up, and automatically excludes the Simpletech where my iphoto library is located from the back-up. Am I missing something?
This is normal. If you wish to back up your Hard Drive with the iPhoto library follow these steps:
Open the time maching preferences in system prferences,
Click options,
Choose the hard drive with your iPhoto library,
Click the - button to remove it frok the list. T
Time machine will now back up all the information on this disk as well as that on your hard drive in the computer to your Time Maching Hard Drive.
Hope this helps!!! -
my iTunes library is on an external hard drive; how do I set it so other users (accounts) on my imac, will also have the same library, with the same playlists
Quit iTunes.
Sign into another user account.
Hold Option, launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
Do this for all users.
NOTE: You must quit iTunes when switching users as the library can only be opened by one user at a time. -
I hate to say it.. But I have never backed up!! I have thousands of pics of my son on this mac book, it got wet and NOW I'm backing up (as i type) to a Seagate external hard drive- I plugged it in, and then Time MAchine launched automatically. It looks like it's backing up my whole computer, is it backing up everything? photos, address book, documents etc? If my computer crashes tomorrow, how would I restore all of this information on a new computer?
Help, I'm computer iliterate- hence the reason I got a Mac (so easy to use). I need reasurance that it will back up! How do I continue to back up? Leave the external hard drive plugged in? I'm telling you I'm below the knowledge of "Backing Up a Mac for Dummies"Time Machine makes a backup of the whole OS.X volume automatically, so you will have an exact copy of your hard disk in your Time Machine external disk. Also, Time Machine will make backups every hour, always that your Time Machine disk is connected. If you want more information, visit this site > http://pondini.org
To restore this in a new Mac, you have to use Migration Assistant. Just connect the Time Machine drive into the new computer, open Migration Assistant (it's in /Applications/Utilities) and follow the steps. You will be able to select what you want to transfer.
Also, if you have a brand-new Mac, you can do this during the initial setup. Setup Assistant will ask you to restore a backup, so connect the Time Machine disk and follow the steps -
The cable to the external hard drive that houses my iphoto library was accidentally disconnected while the library was open and up on the screen. We plugged it back in, but now the screen is frozen. Has anyone experienced this before? If I force quit, will I corrupt and lose access to the library on the external hard drive?
Shutdown the Mac. Disconnect and power off the external drive (if it has its own power supply). Reconnect the external drive and power on (if applicable). Boot Mac. If the external drive is not reading properly, open Disk Utility, select external drive, run Repair Disk.
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I recently had to back up itunes play lists to external hard drive whilst computer was fixed. reinstalled itunes but dont know how to reinstall my music from external hard drive. help?
The same way the library was copied/moved to the external drive.
Copy it from location A to location B.
Then point iTunes to the correct library. -
Like I said. . .
I recently migrated from an old MacBook to a new MacBook Air. I decided that since I have many tens of thousands of photos, I would keep them all on an external hard drive in the dedicated "iPhoto Library" (which I was very careful to migrate intact then move to the EHD). Now, when I go to the "Photos" tab in iTunes, all I get is a thinking wheel and no interface with which to choose which photos I want to sync to my iPhone (5s).
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly welcome.
Thanks!Hello Sandra,
The article linked below details how to go about restoring items from Time Machine in Snow Leopard.
Mac OS X 10.6: Recovering items using Time Machine and Spotlight
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6379
Sincerely,
Allen -
I did a backup of photos (iPhoto library) from my internal to an external hard drive. I have started to delete photos from my internal hard drive. It seems that when I delete from the internal drive, photos also delete from the external. I did a test and deleted one photo from iPhoto internal drive. When I plugged in the new backup (external drive) and clicked on iPhoto library, it opened iPhoto in the exact place I was working and that one photo was gone. What do I do? I do not want to delete the photos off of my external hard drive.
When I plugged in the new backup (external drive) and clicked on iPhoto library, it opened iPhoto in the exact place I was working and that one photo was gone.
When you clicked on the library iPhoto on the EHD iPhoto is op;ending the last library that was previously opened. To change libraries launch iPhoto with the Option key held down to get this window:
Then select the library that is on the EHD if it's in the window. If it isn't, click on the Other Library button, navigate to the EHD and select the library there. -
Can't drag and drop my iPhoto library on to an external hard drive (Seagate Go Flex).
I am trying to move my iPhoto library to an external hard drive (Seagate Go Flex wireless) but it won't let me drag and drop. When I drag the iphoto icon over the 'drop files here' it just disappears. No error message. I am running mountain lion. What can I do?
Susie,
(Seagate Go Flex wireless)
What is your iPhoto version? And your Mac OS X version?
With iPhoto '11 your iPhoto library needs to be on a drive formatted Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). Is your external drive formatted this way? If your drive is formatted differently, iPhoto will not be able to open the iPhoto library there.
When I drag the iphoto icon
And are you really trying to drag your photo library (from your "Pictures" folder) or your iPhoto application from the "Applications" folder? On MAcoS X 10.7 or later you will not be able to drag the application from the Applications folder.
Regards
Léonie -
I have all my photos saved on an external hard drive..if I upgrade to the latest version of iPhoto..will I be able to access my library?
Greetings,
The current version of iPhoto can read libraries on external drives (just double-click the Library).
It is always advisable to have a backup of your data before you make changes to it (like upgrading) so make a backup of that library just in case.
Finally, make sure the drive is Mac Formated.
Hope that helps. -
HELP! Can't get iphoto library to copy to external hard drive!!!
Have read countless directions online about how to copy my iphoto'09 library to an external hard drive. Despite following the directions, opening 2 finder windows and trying to copy the iphoto library to the hard drive, it continues to show a little symbol (a circle with a slash thru it) when I try to drop the library into the hard drive. I have a signature mini hard drive 250GB with lots of storage space left. Any advice? My first Mac and I am having so much trouble getting used to how everything works. This, I cannot figure out no matter what I try. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Do you have ownership on the external HD set to be ignored?
Click to view full size
If not do so and try again. If it still won't, download and run BatChmod on the library with the setting shown below and then try again:
Click to view full size
OT -
our old iMac died suddenly, but i had backed up the iPhoto application to a lacie external hard drive. however, when i try to open it in my new iMac which is installed with version 9.5.1 and is upgraded to maverick, it comes up with “cannot be opened, to open you must upgrade to latest version” and then makes you press the quit button.
the iPhoto version on the external hard drive is iPhoto 9.4.2 which i upgraded on 29/11/12 onto our old iMac (early 2007 version)
my new iMac is running on version OSX 10.9.1
i have looked at buying iphoto library manager and have emailed them about whether this would work, but any advice would be gratefully received as i cannot be the only person that has had this problem but i cannot find any answers that work.
thanks
JulieYOu can rebuild with Library Manager and this does not require a purchase:
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. -
My aperture library lives on an external hard drive that is corrupt and I can not locate the library. I do have it backed up with TM. How do I safely restore the library from TM to my laptop? I am using the newest version of aperture on my macbook pro.
Hello Sandra,
The article linked below details how to go about restoring items from Time Machine in Snow Leopard.
Mac OS X 10.6: Recovering items using Time Machine and Spotlight
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH6379
Sincerely,
Allen -
I deleted all the music from my itunes library because I mistakenly thought I had it backed up on an external hard drive. Can I restore the library from my ipod touch?
Maybe here:
iCloud: Troubleshooting creating backups -
I have backed my Mac Book pro up to my external hard drive using time machine. My iPhoto now does not show any images, even when I upload from my iPhone
Mac 101: File Sharing
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