Need help, I seem to have lost 2 months of photos

Question

Hello, I own PSE5 on Windows XP. I just recently purchased a hard drive and was in the process of moving my photos to it. I was following the article on Adobe's website entitled
Move files to another disk using Folder Location Arrangement in Photoshop Elements 5.0 (Windows). I was at Step 5 which says:
5. If an alert displays the message, "You are attempting to move the currently open catalog file. The folder can not be moved while the catalog is open. Close Photoshop Elements and move your catalog file to a new location first and then try moving this folder again.", then do the following:
a. Click OK and close Photoshop Elements.
b. Use a program such as Windows Explorer to move the catalog file to the desired location.
c. Open Photoshop Elements and start at step 1 to use Folder Location Arrangement to move the folder.
I did receive the alert message, closed PSE, and manually moved my pictures to the new hard drive successfully (they were located in My Documents > My Pictures > Adobe and I moved the Adobe folder). When I opened PSE, I got a message saying that it couldn't find my Catalog so I navigated to the new location and selected the Catalog (this wasn't in the directions, but i just assumed it was the case--how else could I get from Step 5c back to Step 1?) Step 5c says to go back to Steps 1 through 4:
1. Choose Folder Location from the Arrangement pop-up menu, in the lower left corner of the Photo Well.
2. Locate the folder of items you want to move in the Folder Location Tree and click once on the folder name to select it; the folder name will display highlighted in blue.
3. Drag this folder to the disk you want to move it to in the Folder Location tree. Release the mouse button when the correct destination folder is highlighted.
4. If a dialog box displays telling you that the folder being moved contains files that are not visible in the Organizer, then click Yes. (See About the Folder Location tree section above.)
I was a little confused by the fact that the old location still had the Adobe folder in it and that I was moving it to the new hard drive that already had a folder named Adobe. I moved it anyway thinking it was just the organizer information I'd be moving. When I dropped the folder, an error message came up saying something to the effect that a problem occurred and it couldn't continue. I clicked OK and went back to Windows Explorer to check out the photos on the new drive. The only thing I found was the Catalog file, no photos at all. I went back and checked the My Pictures folder and saw an Adobe folder, but it only contained 2 folders, "Other Photos" and "Outgoing E-mail Attachments" which I think are the default PSE folders. I did a search of my computer and none of the photos showed.
I'm relieved to say I have a backup, but it was updated 2 months ago--lots of photos were taken in that span of time. I have PSE open now with the Folder Location view selected. The old Adobe folder is still visible, but the sub-folders all show as kind of greyed out. The thumbnails show in the main area, but if I double-click on a photo it starts searching for the missing file. I'm letting it search while I type this.
I hope someone can help me. I've looked in the Recycle Bin, run a search, tried to undo, etc. I tried to follow the directions carefully, but it didn't seem to match. I'm definitely frustrated and sad, but I'm trying to stay calm in order to work this out.
Thank you in advance,
Fora

Answer 1

You might want to download something called an undelete utility. These can find files and recover them even after they appear to have been lost. There are some undelete utility programs that are free. Look at tucows.com
Also, it appears that you have POSSIBLY overwritten the actual files, which you moved manually, with I don't know what, which you moved in PSE's folder location view.
Next, in the future ... NEVER (that's: don't even think about it) move your photos in Windows. NEVER. NEVER. Not ever. Not once. This always (that's ALWAYS, as in 100% of the time) causes problems and usually makes things difficult to fix.
Lastly ... make regular backups! I must say this in the forums about seventy bazillion times a month. Make regular backups! Regular depends on how often you take photographs and edit them. Since my photographic activity usually happens on the weekends, I make backups every Sunday night. You may need a different schedule, depending on your activity level. MAKE REGULAR BACKUPS!