Moving iPhoto from internal hard drive to external hard drive

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Moving iPhoto from internal hard drive to external hard drive

My computer is almost full, so bought a new external hard drive to move my iPhoto to. Here is the problem.

I followed the directions on quitting iPhoto and by going into the Pictures folder, I copied to the external hard drive. That worked just fine.

I tested the pictures and videos on the external and work. Same events, amount of pictures, movies, etc.

So I went into my internal iPhoto and deleted one event (not an important one thankfully). I then went into my external hard drive and opened up iPhoto. The event was also deleted there. Why?

I only have one library for the photos. I also have version 8.1.2.

How can I delete the photos on my internal to free up space on my computer, but have it not affect the photo library on the external hard drive? The only reason I purchased an external hard drive was to move my photos from my internal and free up much needed space.

Did I do something wrong, or miss a step? If somebody can help me in "very easy" instructions on how to fix this problem, I would greatly appreciate it! I am not a computer whiz, so need the instructions given to me very simply.

Thank you!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 20, 2012 10:39 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,193 points

Jul 20, 2012 10:41 AM in response to tetiva

Are you sure you are really using different libraries when you "go" to them in iPhoto?

iPhoto: How to move the Library folder to a new location - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229

How to redirect your iPhoto and iTunes files to an external harddrive -
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6058202

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Answer 2

tetiva Author

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Jul 20, 2012 10:44 AM in response to Limnos

I am only using one library. I never made any others.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

207,439 points

Jul 20, 2012 11:00 AM in response to tetiva

I tested the pictures and videos on the external and work. Same events, amount of pictures, movies, etc.

So I went into my internal iPhoto and deleted one event (not an important one thankfully). I then went into my external hard drive and opened up iPhoto. The event was also deleted there. Why?

Beccause you were still looking at the internal iPhoto. How did you go the the external iPhoto? You can't just double click on it to open it. You must launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and select the external iPhoto in the next window or by clicking on the Other Library button, navigating to the EHD and selecting the library there:

OT

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Answer 4

tetiva Author

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Jul 20, 2012 11:09 AM in response to Old Toad

I beg to differ. I was looking at my internal iphoto library and deleted one event. I then quit iphoto and went into the external hard drive where I copied the iphoto and opened iphoto. The event was also deleted there. So how do I delete photos from my internal without affecting my external? Do I need to create another library in my external iphoto and move my current photos into there? So confused...

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

207,439 points

Jul 20, 2012 11:15 AM in response to tetiva

How did you go to the second library. There is no way one can delete an event or photo from one library and have it deleted from another, separate library.

Make sure you launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and double clicking on the iPhoto application.

Also make sure the library on the EHD is not an alias of the internal library. That has caught other users before.

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Answer 6

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Jul 20, 2012 11:27 AM in response to tetiva

How were you opening the Libraries?

Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'

Regards

TD

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Answer 7

tetiva Author

Level 1

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Jul 20, 2012 11:27 AM in response to Old Toad

Like I have said before, I am not a computer whiz. When I got this Mac in 2009, I started using iphoto. Never added or changed libraries, so assuming I just have the one. When I copied my iphoto to my external, it seems to be seeing the same library. Honest, I didn't do anything different. That's why I am confused. I thought that once I copied my iphoto to my external, I could do whatever I wanted to my internal. Not the case.

Which iphoto to I do the option key with? My internal or external? What is this supposed to do? How do I check if the external library is not an alias of the internal? If it is, how do I change to something different? Would this solve the problem so when I delete from my internal, it doesn't delete from my external?

I thought that this would be an easier process. So much for liking my Mac right now.

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Answer 8

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Jul 20, 2012 11:30 AM in response to tetiva

Here's the thing:

You copied the Library to the External.

That means that you now have two Libraries - one on the external, on one the internal drive.

So, how are you choosing which Library to open?

You open the iPhoto application while holding the option key to choose which Library to open.

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Answer 9

tetiva Author

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Jul 20, 2012 11:39 AM in response to Yer_Man

I am opening both by double clicking on my internal or my external. All I know is that if I delete an event on my internal, it's also gone on my external. Same goes when I delete an event from my external, it deletes from my internal.

All I am trying to do is to protect my photos. I thought that if I moved my iphoto to my external, they would be safe there and I could delete from my internal. But it's not working this way.

HOW DO I FIX THIS PROBLEM????

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Answer 10

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Jul 20, 2012 12:18 PM in response to tetiva

This is really quite simple.

There are two possibilities here only:

1. You keep opening the same Library.

or

2. You failed to make a copy at all.

Stop doing this:

I am opening both by double clicking on my internal or my external

Do this instead:

Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'

You will see two Libraries Listed.

If you don't then you didn't copy it properly.

If you do, then select the internal Library. Make a deletion.

Then repeat:

Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'

This time select the external. Is the change reflected there?

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Answer 11

tetiva Author

Level 1

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Jul 20, 2012 1:21 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks everyone. I contacted Apple directly and paid the $50 to get this resolved. On top of that, they are also helping me move my time machine from my 2TB to my 3TB hard drive.

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Answer 12

mjstoner

Level 1

4 points

Aug 20, 2012 2:12 PM in response to tetiva

Hi, I suspect but may be wrong that tetiva might have been opening a copy of the iPhoto app on the external drive and not opening the iPhoto app on the loca/internal drive and directing it to use the external copy of the iPhoto library directoy. With time machine it is easy to get confused which app is running, esp. with spotilght

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Answer 13

St1ngray

Level 1

8 points

Sep 14, 2012 12:14 PM in response to tetiva

The question one should ask himself before doing this, is how bad you would want to keep your photos in case either your computer or ext. harddisk dies. Personally, I would not ever want to lose my pictures. Hence I keep them all on my MBA and have a complete system backup on the external harddisk. Realize that by moving your picutres to an external harddrive, you are probably not keeping two seperate physical copies of your data anymore. Hence you are at risk.

In my opinion it is better to move all other stuff to the external harddisk, besides the backup that is already there. So movies etc. And leave your pic's in a double location, at least the special ones you never want to lose.

You could also buy a second harddisk just for your backup, but I doubt that will backup your other ext. hard-disk as well. :-)

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Answer 14

Lio118

Level 1

0 points

Mar 12, 2013 8:02 PM in response to tetiva

Hey tetiva,

I totally understand what you are saying. Did you get some resolution to your problem? If so I can really use your help.

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Answer 15

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Mar 12, 2013 8:31 PM in response to Lio118

Yes he did - did you read TD's answer?

It is not possible for iPhoto to access two different libaries at the same time - so it is not possible for you to have two libraries both having photos deleted from them - if you want to resolve your misunderstanding post exact details and it can be resolved

The most common issue is on iPhoto '08 adn earlier that double clicking on an iPhoto library does not open tha tlibrary but opens the default library - but with no information that is just a wild guess

LN

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