Iphoto freezes during upgrade to iPhoto '08 -- many photos corrupted

Question

When upgrading to iPhoto 8 (using iLife '08 disks), the program froze while photos were in mid-conversion. I am able to access some (those that had finished being converted before the program froze?) but am unable to access most of my photos. In Finder, for the photos that successfully converted, I see a thumbnail image, the photo title, the date taken, the file size and "Jpeg image."
For the photos that I can no longer access, the thumbnail images are all little pages with an arrow pointing to a red "JPG" at the top, the photo title is now IMG_0062.JPG, the date of all the unconverted photos is Dec 18 2005, the files are all 4 KB, and the kind of photo is listed as Alias.
When I try to double click one of the non-converted files, the following error message appears: The alias "IMG_0154,jpg" could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found." I have the option to: "Delete Alias" "Fix Alias..." or "OK" If I try to "Fix Alias" 4 files appear (T104.ithmb, T155.ithmb, T206.ithmb, T257.ithmb -- They are all 853 KB, were created on the same 1/15/06 but at 4 different times.) Choosing one does not solve the problem.
In the Events section of iPhoto 8, there are empty events in the place of where the converted photos should be (even lists the number of photos, but the 'event' itself is blank).
Can anyone help? These are the only copies of these photos and they're very important.
Thanks!
Mquinn

Answer 1

Mquinn
Can you se an Folder called Originals inside the iPhoto Library, in your Pictures Folder - if necessary go there and right click on the Library icon and go 'Show Package Contents' on the Library.
This Originals folder should contain your actual photos.
If it does then: To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD