Completely lost iphoto 06 library

Question

Level 1

0 points

Completely lost iphoto 06 library

Recently upgraded to iphoto 06 from iphoto 05 on an imac G5 running OS X 10.3.9.

Had just downloaded new photos and all my thumbnails turned blank and a message pops up saying I needed to update my thumbnails.

I clicked OK and then it said it needed to rebuild the thumbnail cache. I clicked OK and then within a few seconds rebuild function ends and all my pictiure and albums were gone.

I lost every picture I had. I have done the rebuild with option/command buttons, but to no avail. I have searched my harddrive using teh "find " feature for jpeg, tif, and raw files. Nothing.

Anyone know where my pictures went and how I can get them back??????

Imac G5, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jun 15, 2006 6:39 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

216,536 points

Jun 15, 2006 7:28 PM in response to lookingup

lookingup:

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. Don't worry, your photos are save in the iPhoto Library folder. It's just the library that's been damaged and doesn't know where to find them. Sort of like Little Bo Peep.

Although there are several possible approaches to the problem I think the following would be the most expedient. If it doesn't solve the problem you'll still have your current library untouched and ready to try other fixes. Try the following:

Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library

Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.

Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.

Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option

In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.

Click on the Create button.

Note: It can take some time to create the new library if you have a lot of photos. One user reported that with a library of about 5,000 images it took about 12 hours so plan ahead.

It's been reported that this method has worked where others have failed. It's worth a try.

Reply