Question for Adobe

Question

I know that this is a user-to-user forum, but I also know that Adobe folks stop by here and I'd appreciate their attention.
I am a very regular contributor to this forum and have noticed a trend that is frustrating me. There seems to be an increasing number of users of PSA SE [I don't see this with PSA or PSE Organizer], who report the sudden disappearance of all their image files; they are shown as disconnected in PSA SE and cannot be found anywhere on the hard drive or the recycle bin.
I have been perfectly prepared to accept that this might be nothing to do with PSA SE itself. Other explanations are: users making errors; users deleting/moving the files not realizing the problem they are causing; other software deleting the image files.
But it is happenning just too often for this to explain the problem to me.
Can you please:
1) Confirm whether there is any conceivable mechanism whereby PSA SE could trash all the image files in this way.
2) Suggest an investigative procedure in the event of such an occurance.
Thank you.

Answer 1

Colin:
Let me start by thanking you for all your support of the Starter Edition user community. I am from Adobe, and I do try and read this forum every day to keep an eye on what's going on with Starter Edition users. It helps me know what the main issues seem to be so we can make the next version better.
To your questions:
As you've described to folks, SE doesn't actually hold your photos. It catalogs the images on your hard drive, or any other storage mechanism attached to your PC. Inside the SE catalog, we keep a pointer to the location of the photo on the storage device. If you delete that image file, move it, or detach the storage device from your PC, SE can't find the image as it's no longer where SE thinks it is. This is what we call a Broken Link. We do have some code to help reconnect the catalog with missing files, but if the files are gone, there's nothing to re-connect to.
I think the typical scenario folks are running into is that they "get" photos into SE from a removable storage device like a memory card, or directly from their camera if it is connected via USB. Once the removable storage device is removed from the PC, SE can no longer find the original files.
Other than the Delete Photo command, SE doesn't manage the original files on the hard drive, so it cannot delete them without the user specifically deleting them from within SE, which would also delete them from the catalog. Any disconnected file is a result of the original having been moved or deleted outside of SE.
For an investigative procedure, a user could always select the thumbnail of a disconnected image in SE, and select View>Properties. A window will open and in the bottom of the window is the complete file path to where SE thinks the file is. Knowing where SE thinks the file is could help trouble-shoot things. I.E. if the path is pointing to a removable drive, then it's clear what the problem is.
I don't know if all this info helps, as I think that it's all stuff you already knew. We do recognize that file management is problematic for folks, and are working on ideas to simplify the process. The Adobe Photo Downloader (that thing that pops up when you connect a camera or other storage device with images on it) is one way of helping. When getting images into SE using APD, we actually make a copy of the original image on the users hard drive, and then point there instead of to the camera. We'll continue to make improvements in future versions of SE as well.
Thanks again for all your help in this forum. There are A LOT of SE users out there who appreciate your help.
Cheers
Bob