I got a new computer last month. I set aside a day to systematically and very methodically transfer all files and software to the new computer. Everything went great, and I even spent a good chunk of time reorganizing folders, getting rid of duplicate files, and creating a new Laptop Utopia for myself.
A few weeks later, last night in fact, I realized what I had done.
Somehow I lost almost half of the pictures I took of my family since last December.
I can’t quite figure out how it happened, and I stayed up until 2AM last night looking for them, scouring the Picasa message boards for some clue, and downloading pictures off this blog (Thank Blog!) to regain some small fragments of the pictorial history I had created.
This is a call for help, my computer savvy friends. I’m going to tell you what I think happened, and maybe one of you can give me a tip or two to make some magic happen?
1. I ran Picasa backup on my desktop’s hard drive and an external hard drive, simultaneously. Picasa made copies of everything and I directed it all to be saved on the external hard drive. I copied this backup to the new laptop.
2. I installed Picasa on the new computer. It found the backup files all by itself, without me running the “restore backup” utility. I thought it had everything. Done!
3. I reorganized everything.
4. Last night I finally realized that there were a lot of folders missing. So I ran the backup. All that did was duplicate the folders that were already there. So I poked around and discovered that the backup made copies of the folders from the external hard drive, but not the photos IN them. I looked on the external hard drive. That same backup is there, but the original folders are gone. I may have deleted them (yes, duh, shame on me, I went through all that last night over and over again, with much crying and hair-pulling) but they are not found in any recycle bin.
5. I am left with this: a whole list of folders labeled “Big Sur Feb 2008” and “Christmas 2007
and “Brady and Kyle videos winter 2007” and the like, but no contents in the folders besides a *.ini file that Picasa made.
Does anybody know – is there a way to recover these lost pictures? Do I need to just get over myself and stop dreaming in “folder view?” I still feel sick.
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My heart goes out to you. I emailed your post to Les. He understands stuff like this and hopefully has insight. Good luck!!
Oh God I am so sorry. I am a mac girl and can’t help you in any way. Other than to express my sympathy. You are right, pictures aren’t people but they are irreplaceable. 🙁
Oh, Kim – I feel your pain. I wish I could help you, but I’m not a Picasa user. I hope someone who is can give you the magic bullet to get your photos back. I’m sure they are still on the site somewhere.
Oh dear! I hope this is fixable, and I do have a suggestion to try… On your old desk top, try running a restore to a date before you began running the Picasa backup. Or, you might want to call one of the “geek squad” types (but not them) and ask if they know how to help you. A couple of hours of paid computer guru work that will turn up “lost” photos might be worth it!
Oh, Kim, I’m so sorry–I’m a complete Luddite–so I have no idea how to help you–but you do have my sympathy. (My hard drive crashed this year and I lost EVERYTHING). It just sucks.
Great to meet you yesterday and thanks for the pretty blue martinis!!
I feel your pain. Remember when I accidentally wiped my whole hard drive and opted not to choose to save a back-up because I “knew” what I was doing? Yeah. A few months worth of Erin as an infant down the computer drain.