computer went down my catalog is empty...

Hi

My question is this.?I took my PC in for repairs the shop saved all my pics on the pc.?they then dummped all my programs.?can I get them back into the catalogs?they belong in??I do have back up dvd's of most of the photos.?but the pics are still on my hard drive.?If i put them back in pse 3 will the tags, catalogs and colletion be there or am I going to have to resort them all again? there are aproximatly 12,000 photos.?when i put in my back up dvd's elements wants to overite any exsiting files. Will I end up with 2 copies of all the photo's??One more thing is there a way to know all the pic's on my pc are are back in the adobe program?

P.S. I was just about to upgrade to pse7?or light room 2 should I do it know or after I get my catlogs and tags back??

Thanks in advace for any help

Randy

computer went down my catalog is empty...

Did you make a backup of your catalog file? Did the repair people make a copy of your catalog file? Can they go back in and retrieve the catalog file?

If you can find your catalog file (default name is My Catalog.psa) then your tags will be there. Photos must be in the exact same directories as before.

If you can't find your catalog file, your tags may or may not be there. In PSE, you may have chosen the command File%26gt;Write Tags and Properties Info to Files, which will write the tags to your files. If you didn't do this, then your tags are gone. Without the catalog file, your collections are gone.

Upgrade now? If you can get that catalog file back, use that, make sure everything is working properly before upgrading. If your catalog is gone and you have no tags, I don't see any harm in upgrading and then starting from scratch, importing your photos.

Lecture: in the future, backups of your photos and catalog file are mandatory.

computer went down my catalog is empty...

Thanks for your answers.?I do have back up's on dvd I am not super pc savvy so i always worry when somthing like this happens.?i will look for the file you mentioned that contains the tags.

thanks again?the forum is verry helpful

Randy

Hi just an update.

the .psa files were saved and have been restored.?catalogs are back.?Im ready to upgrade.?thanks for your help

Randy