How to retrieve lost photos

Question

How to retrieve lost photos

I am using iPhoto 2.01 on an iMac 10.4.1 and have lost nearly all photos in my library--only a handful (11) remain, over a thousand lost. I don't know how or why this happened. I think it may have happened when trying to change the DESKTOP, but I am not sure. Is there any way to recover the photos? Thanks

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), iPhoto 2.01

Posted on Dec 17, 2007 2:33 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 17, 2007 3:27 PM in response to mlppl1@aol.com

Using the DESKTOP option in iPhoto wouldn't cause a problem.

iPhoto is designed to do everything working from the options in the application. Trouble starts when you rummage around or make changes directly to the database - the iPhoto Library Folder.

Did you do anything to this folder in the pictures or photos home folder?

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Answer 2

Dec 17, 2007 4:06 PM in response to mlppl1@aol.com

Downloaded 155 photos, clicked delete originals. Chose new smart album. Gave name to album. Clicked create. Name of new album came up on list on left side. But, when I clicked on create the name came up on the list but the photos disappeared and an old album appeared with all the old pictures. I clicked on new name and the name disappeared out of list. Went to edit and clicked undo. The old album reappeared. Where and how can I find my pictures? I am sick about this lose.

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Answer 3

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Dec 17, 2007 6:19 PM in response to Thelma Straayer

Thelma,

If you're not using iPhoto 4 or earlier, you'll have a better chance at a relevant answer by reposting your question to the appropriate discussion area.

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Answer 4

Dec 21, 2007 6:01 PM in response to Peter Bannon

No, I did not do anything to that folder. I just happened to notice the problem with iPhoto when I made this change. At the same time, my trash folder was filled with "recovered files" folders containing multiple documents labeled "ImageCache", each of which having a series of letters and numbers. When I double click these documents, a note saying "The document "ImageCache" cannot be opened with ColorSync Utility" pops up. These are not documents or files that I sent to the trash, and I am wondering if they are somehow related to the problem with iPhoto. I pulled them out of the trash, but I do not know what to do with them or if they are even related.

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Answer 5

Raisin1

Level 1

0 points

Dec 30, 2007 8:00 PM in response to Peter Bannon

Help... iPhoto hangs... Photos do not appear (just outlines) or open. Messages: Unreadable files.
I recently did a re-install (Tiger), then installed Leopard. I lost all photos (1500). I was able to retrieve from beginning-2004, to August 2007. These are the ones that will not open.

In Finder, my photos are "date modified", 31-Oct-07 to 16-Nov-07. iPhoto.ipsopt, AlbumData.xml, Dir.data, Library.iPhoto & iPhoto.db are "date modified" 20-Nov-07.

All photos from September & October are missing (including 400 from trip to Italy).

Any & all help would be very much appreciated. Colleen

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Answer 6

cgh1409

Level 1

0 points

Jan 31, 2008 12:28 PM in response to Peter Bannon

hello, my name is Chris and I am a macbook owner but not to technologically savvy. I lost all my album photos in iPhoto is there anyone that can walk me through retrieving them please? i would be so grateful!!!

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Jan 31, 2008 12:38 PM in response to cgh1409

Chris

What can you see in the iPhoto Window?

Regards

TD

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Answer 8

tboarman

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2008 8:18 PM in response to mlppl1@aol.com

I am running Iphoto 4 on a power pc g4... When i open Iphoto I can see the thumbnails but when i try to access a photo it comes up with a blank page. I know the originals are still on the computer but iphoto does not access them. Is there anything i can do to restore the old photos?

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Feb 1, 2008 1:24 AM in response to tboarman

tboarman

This article may help:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107947

Regards

TD

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Answer 10

Mar 31, 2008 5:12 PM in response to mlppl1@aol.com

I was downloading my pictures into iphoto 6.0 My mac froze while it was still downloading the photos and I had to force quit the program. My pictures were not saved and were deleted from the memory card- is there anyway to retrieve them?
Thanks

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Answer 11

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Mar 31, 2008 8:56 PM in response to lostandhopeless

Hi, l&h, and welcome to Apple Discussions. Don't worry: yes, you can recover the pictures from the memory card if you haven't already used it to store new pictures. You'll need a card reader (about $10 if you don't have one already) and you'll need to download the free demo version of one or more of the following image-recovery utilities:

PhotoRescue
MediaRecover
CardRaider

Run the demo and see what it says is recoverable. If you find that all your photos are there to recover, pay for the full version and use it. Just save the pictures to a folder on the desktop of your hard drive, then import them into iPhoto from there.

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