Copying iPhoto Library Hangs

I was trying to copy my iPhoto library from my MacBook Pro to an external hard drive but as it was copying it just hangs when it's only 10% completed. I've tried this multiple times with the same result. Left it running all night and nothing changed. Any ideas here? My hard drive on my MacBook is full and I'm trying to copy around 200GB library. Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Mar 31, 2016 6:40 AM

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14 replies

Mar 31, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Bucky0901

Before I spend any money on the software, is it possible that I need to export some videos out of iPhoto first and then transfer them separately to my EHD to make some space available on my laptop? Is it possible that my problem is that my internal hard drive is just too full and that's why the copying isn't working properly? I will say that iPhoto will crash/close on its own lately. Thanks

Mar 31, 2016 11:42 PM in response to Bucky0901

Two things:


1. 6 gigs is not enough. Nowhere near enough.


OS X needs about 10 gigs of hard drive space for normal OS operations - things like virtual memory, temporary files and so on.


Without this space your Mac will slow down as the OS hunts for space on the disk, files will be fragmented, also slowing things down, apps will crash and the risk of data corruption - that is damage to your files, photos, music - increases exponentially.


Your first priority is to make more space on that HD. Nothing else can be done until you do.


Purchase an external HD and move your Photos and Music to it. Both iPhoto and iTunes can run perfectly well with the Library on an external disk.


2. It is very likely that the Library has been damaged by being on an overfull disk.


Do you have a back up? (he asked expecting the answer 'no'...)

Apr 1, 2016 5:27 AM in response to Bucky0901

Deleting files is just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. You have way too much data on that disk. Get a lot of it off. As I said above:


Use a back up utility to 'back up' the library to the new location. Any one that stores the Library in the same format will do.


Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store


This will take care of the glitches that occur along the way.


Once the Library is off the disk we can try figure out how to fix it. A likely fix will require the same amount of space, at least.


How can I tell if my library is already corrupted?


This would be a clue:


but iPhoto won't open.

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Copying iPhoto Library Hangs

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