PSE 11 freezes when calculating total media size during a full backup

Question

Like many other users on these boards, I am unable to complete a full backup of a particular catalog on my machine using PSE 11 (or PSE 10 for that matter). I have four catalogs on this machine and three of the four complete the full backup process without any problems. That last, non-cooperating, catalog is much larger (7,389 photographs) than the others, but I do not think that this would pose a problem.
Following other advice and guidance, I have removed all videos, audios, projects, PDFs, and audio captions (in other words, all media types other than photographs) from the catalog. The only files remaining are photographs (that is, JPG files). I attempt to complete a full backup and, when calculating the total media size, the PSE 11 application freezes at five to six percent. I have attempted this in PSE 10 as well, but with the same results. (I was hoping that the new release would fix the problem. No luck.)
The only other item of note is this, when I search for the various media types, I see the message "no media to be displayed" in the middle of the organizer window. However, when I search for video, I do not see the message--the organizer window is blank (no text message as seen for the other media types).
Lastly, I have reconnected all missing files. (None.) Optimized the catalog. Fixed errors in the catalog anyway. (None.)
Does anyone have any other ideas on how I can complete a full backup of this catalog? A large cash reward awaits... (kidding). Please advise. Thank you!

Answer 1

I found that backing up with other software does not maintain the stacks, versions and albums. These are lost, even if I write the metadata to the files...that only keeps the tags, in my experience. PSE 12 doesn't fix the problem so no need to upgrade unless you want to for other reasons.
I do have a solution that worked for me. There are quite a few steps but worth the effort if it also solves your problem.
The main culpret in my case were "Locked / Read Only" files. Since I did several things simultaneously, I may have had video file issues as well.
Here is what worked for me:
A. First: Save your "Meta Data to Files".
1. On the Organizer Main Screen click "File" -- "Save Metadata To Files"
B. You can have Adobe find files that it doesn't like by having it search your "Pictures" directory.
1. On the Organizer Main Screen click "File" -- "Get Photos and Videos" -- "By Searching".
2. Find your "Pictures" directory in the "Look in" drop down box & click on it.
3. Click "Search"
4. When the "Search results" are complete, click "Select All" -- "Import Folders".
5. A "Getting Media" dialog box shows the results.
6. Click the "Reason" header to sort the results.
7. Scroll down to display any errors that Adobe finds.
8. Make note of the "path" and "file name" under the "File" header.
9. Use Windows Explorer to find and fix the issue(s). Look for "Read Only", "Locked", "Archived" or "Hidden" files and change the attribute. I believe that these are part of the problem.
10. Check for non-picture or video files that Adobe can't handle and move or delete the offending files.
Note: I have files with these extentions and they work: AVI, BMP, CR2, GIF, JPG, MTS, MOV, PDF, PNG & TIF.
Note: I had: ZIP, TGA, SHS & PPT files that I moved or deleted. Adobe shouldn't import files it can't handle, but I removed them just to be sure.
11. Try your backup again.
C. If the above doesn't work you can narrow down the issue by trying to back up the database selectively by Photos, Video, Audio, Projects or PDF.
Note: Many people believe that "Video" is the culpret, so I suggest that you rule that out first by removing your Video files from your catalog. This does not delete them from the hard drive. They can be added back into the catalog but there may be some loss of information for Stacks, Versions or Albums so remove Photos from the catalog as a last resort .
1. On the Organizer Main Screen click "File" -- "Manage Catalogs".
2. Click "Current Catalog".
3. Click "Repair" in "Catalog Manager"
4. Click the check box "Reindex Visual Similarity Data".
5. Click "Repair Anyway".
6. When complete, click "Optimize" in "Catalog Manager".
7. Click "Cancel" in "Catalog Manager".
8. On the Organizer Main Screen click "View" -- "Media Types".
9. Uncheck all but the "Video" option.
Note: "Photos", "Audio", "Projects" & "PDF" will be unchecked and you will only see "Video" files displayed.
10. Click "Edit" -- "Select All"
Note: Be cautious during the next few steps.
11. Click "Edit" -- "Delete from Catalog".
12. Caution! - DO NOT click the "Also Delete The Selected Items From The Hard Disk" check box.
Note: You don't want to delete the video files from the hard disk you only want to remove them from the catalog.
13. Click "File" -- "Backup Catalog" and complete the backup to the desired location.
Note: You may have to resolve some missing file(s) issues
Note: Hopefully you now have a backup of all your photos.
14. Assuming that this was successful, you then know that video files are the culprets and have to go digging. You can selectively add them back by type.
15. If not successful, you will have to selectively add (rescan) or remove (as above) the media types until you find the one(s) that created the issue. Remove "Photos" last to avoid information loss.
Good Luck!
Ed 
Message was edited by: 205EdMLewis