IPhoto needs to generate thumbnails, then freezes. What can I do?

Question

     When I open iPhoto, it says that it needs to generate thumbnails. As it does, popups say "Alert cannot find file." There are about one to two hundred of these popups, and they have two buttons: "Find file" and "cancel." A loading bar shows the progress, but it only advances when I click "cancel." After an infuriating twenty minutes, the status bar is finally complete, only to have iPhoto freeze. It cancels logout and shutdown; the only way to get out of it is to perform a cold stop. What can I do?
     I should tell you that my photo library is enourmous. It has almost seven thousand high-quality photos and videos. Is this part of the problem?
Thank you,
MrMacMan1

Answer 1

Seven thousand photos is not a big library these days. We've seen reports from people with in excess of 300,000 images in their. I have a library more than 6 times the size of yours, so we can take it that the quantity is not an issue.
iPhoto is telling you what the problem is - it can't find the files that are meant to be in the Library.
Are you running a Managed or a Referenced Library?
A Managed Library, is the default setting, and iPhoto copies files into the iPhoto Library when Importing. The files are then stored in the Library package
A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing because you made a change at iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced. (You unchecked the option to copy files into the Library on import) The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.