V7 Organizer won't open in V9

[Ron Hunter]

I apologize if this post has already been addressed elsewhere in the forum. I searched but didn't find the exact answer to this question.

My old PC used PRE7/PSE7. I had a "Photo Catalog" and "Video Catalog" on a dedicated internal HDD. Each catalog has thousands of clips/stills/tags.

I have moved that HDD to a new computer (i7-950) on which PRE9/PSE9 are installed. I tried to open one of the "old" Catalog database files using PSE9 Organizer's "File>Catalog>Custom Location" command, but I received an error message saying the file couldn't be opened.

I then went to Windows Explorer, found one of the old catalog database files, and double-clicked it to open it. Once I selected PSE9 as the program with which to open the file, again I got an error message.

Is this a common problem? Am I doing something wrong? Will I have to uninstall PRE9/PSE9, then install PRE7/PSE7 on the new machine in order to use those catalogs?

Thanks for your help!

- Ron

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Ron,
Here is a good place to start
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/859/cpsid_85996.html

From this topic
viewtopic.php?p=76343#p76343

There are others but I'm sure the Catalog Gurus will want to ask specific questions of the Adobe article doesn't fix your problem.

[Barb O]

Ron and Chuck,

I will be back in several hours to check how I can help with this problem.

In the meantime, Chuck's link does seem like a good place to start. V9 should be able to upgrade your v7 catalogs.

Chuck or others,
--How does Ron verify that the disk volume serial number of the disk containing the PSE catalog is unique on his new PC system ?
(Now it probably is unique. However, if cloning software is used to make a copy of a disk, that is when I have seen people get in trouble because having 2 disks with the same vol serial number has been a problem for the Organizer.)

Ron,

1 -- Perhaps you are missing a file related to the catalog support file ?
Suggest that you post what Windows Explorer shows as the additional files in the same folder as your v7 catalog file.

2 -- I am wondering if auto analysis is a factor here. Did your catalog fail immediately or did it run for awhile and then fail?

3 -- your new PC is probably 64 bit -- what was your old PC ? (I have no specific reason to suspect this as a cause of your current problem but I thought it may be relevant information.)

Be back again in several hours ....

[Barb O]

some quick additional suggestions

4 -- in the v9 Organizer,
I suggest that you go to Preferences and turn off the Auto Analysis parameters (sorry I don't have specific fields info available immediately). This auto analysis function was new in v8 of the Organizer and my reasoning is just to initially avoid its activation in v9 -- objective make the catalog upgrade that should occur from a v7 to a v9 catalog as simple as possible.

5 -- before doing additional work, make an extra copy somewhere off your PC (like a flash USB stick) of the folder(s) where your PSE 7 catalogs reside. Note that the upgrade process should not modify exisitng v7 catalog, so this is just a precaution.

6 -- for this approach of moving the actual hard drive, the folder access path to the photo (and video) files should be exactly the same on the new computer as on the old computer. Is it the same when using Windows explorer to display photo files ? What are the drive letters for that physical hard drive on the old and new systems ? (whether drive letters absolutely need to be the same for a v7 to v9 upgrade, I am not sure: however I think we should discuss what they are and consider making them the same if possible)

7 -- On what version of Photoshop and Premiere Elements did you first create this catalog that is being upgraded now from v7 ?

[George Tyndall]

Will I have to uninstall PRE9/PSE9, then install PRE7/PSE7 on the new machine in order to use those catalogs?

Thanks for your help!

- Ron

Ron, Adobe allows users to have more than one version of Elements on one's machine. The only restriction is that one may not have more than one open at a time. Therefore, you can proceed to install the 7 bundle on the new machine, and they will open the files on your HDD without issue.

My advice is that you do NOT try to convert your PSE7 catalog to a PSE9 catalog--preferably never, but for sure not until you are CERTAIN that you are happy with the 9 bundle.

Why not?

My personal experience, despite having very adequate hardware, is that PRE9 did not run nearly as well as PRE7 on my machine.

Also, other members have complained that there are some features of 7 and 8 that are missing in 9 (but I don't know which as I never got that far).

Personally, because 1) nearly all my work consists of slide shows that I have created, initially, with PSE and 2) I sometimes like to go back and re-edit those shows, all of which have been saved in various Organizer versions, I never convert my PSE catalog when I install a later version of PSE.

I have PSE4, PSE7 and PSE9 installed on my XP machine (not the one in my signature), and I still use them all.

And I have both PSE7 and PSE9, plus PS CS5, installed on the machine in my signature. Regardless of which version of PSE I've used to edit and image (I also use PS CS5), I use PRE7 for the final edit of all my slide shows.

My experience is that the combination of Win7, an i7 processor (which is what you also have) and PRE7 work flawlessly together. That was not the case when I tried PRE8 and PRE9.

[Barb O]

I have somewhat of a different approach than George and I think it is because we are using the Elements software differently.

I have seen positive results posts for version 9 and I do plan to upgrade to v9 from v7 after we finish installing Windows 7 onmy laptop that was previously running Vista. Why ?

1 --When searching the Elements Catalog for tagged photos, it is only possible to search a single catalog. Because I have family photos in my Elements catalog, I do want to be able to search across multiple years of work that were originally entered in the Elements Catalog with earlier versions of PSE.

2 -- What types of video files you are processing
There are more Project Settings in PRE 9 to help you fit your video in to the best fit Project Setting.
2a -- My Sony HDD camcorder SD files with 5.1 audio are problematic in PRE 7: there are workarounds but they are tedious. Posts by others are indicating that this is resolved in PRE 9.
2b -- I have AVCHD Lite 720p videos from a Panasonic still camera. In PRE 7 this is problematic and my workaround has been to convert down to SD widescreen DV-AVI and then use that converted file. Posts by others indicate these files can be handled natively in PRE 9.

Note: it is possible to have and switch between both versions. However, I discourage cataloging the same photo or video file in more than one catalog because I think it is risky.

[George Tyndall]

Note: it is possible to have and switch between both versions. However, I discourage cataloging the same photo or video file in more than one catalog because I think it is risky.

Barb O, here is how I avoid that possible risk: I make copies of the desired slides for the separate catalog.

Specifically:

I have all my stills on a 1TB external HDD which has been backed up to two additional 1TB HDDs that I keep in separate locations.

I have PSE4 installed on my XP machine, and I use the PSE4 Organizer to keep track of all those stills, each and every one of which has been keyword-tagged.

The two backup HDDs contain not only all the stills but also backups of the PSE4 catalog that manages those stills. As a result, I can take any one of those three external HDDs, attach it to any XP machine in the world that has PSE7 installed, and then instantly open my PSE4 catalog by double-clicking the catalog icon on that particular HDD.

In short, I am quite confident that I am never going to lose the hundreds of hours of time that I have spent over the years creating those catalogs, including their detailed keyword-tags.

Now, let's say I want to create a slide show, using the PRE/PSE7 bundle on my Win7 machine, that consists of slides taken over the past 10 years. Here are my steps:

--open the PSE4 catalog by clicking on the catalog icon on the external 1TB HDD
--using keyword tags, select in the PSE4 Organizer all the slides that I wish to use
--copy the selected slides to a new location on an external HDD from within the PSE4 Organizer
--attach that external HDD to the Win7 machine and then open PSE7 and "get" the just-copied slides into the PSE7 Organizer
--create slide show as usual, that is, begin with PSE7 slide show editor and then "send" the show to PRE7 for final editing and sharing

The reason I now use the Win7 machine instead of the XP machine to create slide shows is that it is so very much more capable.

[Ron Hunter]

Well, this is interesting...

First, I tried to read the Muvipix thread Chuck linked to above. I got an error message saying I wasn't authorized to read that thread. But I did read the helpful Adobe page about catalog conversion, which I knew something about once upon a time but completely forgot.

I tried to "convert" my old Photo and Video catalogs within PSE9 Organizer on my new Win7 PC. (Those catalogs were originally created with PRE7/PSE7.) I was able to convert the Video catalog but when I tried to convert the Photo catalog, I immediately received an error message that said the catalog couldn't be converted. (No run time, just error message instantly after launching the conversion process.)

Next, I installed PRE7/PSE7 on my Win7 machine and was able to open both Photo and Video catalogs. HOWEVER, at least one of the .M2T files in the video catalog doesn't play properly within PSE7; video is fine but there is no audio. I can properly play the video within Windows Explorer so I know the file is OK. I tried to repair the catalog, then optimize it, and the behavior is the same. Even more odd, other .M2T files play properly within PSE7 Organizer.

You know, if all of this computer stuff actually worked as advertised, it would be quite amazing!

[Barb O]

Well, this is interesting...

First, I tried to read the Muvipix thread Chuck linked to above. I got an error message saying I wasn't authorized to read that thread. But I did read the helpful Adobe page about catalog conversion, which I knew something about once upon a time but completely forgot.

I tried to "convert" my old Photo and Video catalogs within PSE9 Organizer on my new Win7 PC. (Those catalogs were originally created with PRE7/PSE7.) I was able to convert the Video catalog but when I tried to convert the Photo catalog, I immediately received an error message that said the catalog couldn't be converted. (No run time, just error message instantly after launching the conversion process.)

Next, I installed PRE7/PSE7 on my Win7 machine and was able to open both Photo and Video catalogs. HOWEVER, at least one of the .M2T files in the video catalog doesn't play properly within PSE7; video is fine but there is no audio. I can properly play the video within Windows Explorer so I know the file is OK. I tried to repair the catalog, then optimize it, and the behavior is the same. Even more odd, other .M2T files play properly within PSE7 Organizer.

Ron,
1 -- please clarify when you say .M2T file and audio .. are all these attempted playbacks from the PSE 7 Organizer or are any of the playbacks from within the Premiere Elements - perhaps the organize panel ?
Are all these .M2T files from the same camcorder (with the same settings) ?
And also, I am confused : are both machines Windows 7 or what was the operating system on the old machine ?

2 -- Photo catalog conversion failure with PSE 9. There should be some type of a conversion log with messages, so I will look for additional info.

[Barb O]

Hi again Ron - just a brief note to say that I am continuing to search for more info.

v7 audio not playing problem
I recollect a post on a different forum where lack of audio when playing video from the PSE Organizer was resolved by installing an additional audio codec. However tonight I only found references in Adobe stuff about needing to install additional codecs -- but not info of the specific codec pack. So I will continue to look for a specific reference. I am still curious if the audio that fails to play and the audio does play are from the same source ?

v9 catalog upgrade failing
also still looking for more info on troubleshooting methods

[Ron Hunter]

Barb,

First, thanks for trying to help!

New machine is Win7. Old machine was Vista.

M2T file info:
- Original source files were from a Digital8 (SD) or HV30 (HD) camcorder
- Vista PC used to create M2T files using PRE7.
- M2T files were stored on "media drive" in Vista PC.
- That media drive has been removed and reinstalled in my new Win7 PC.

The Win7 PC problematic playbacks of M2T files were performed in PSE7 Organizer. Those same M2T files play properly in Windows Media Player on the Win7 machine.

(NOTE: You may remember a lengthy thread I started a couple of months ago where Vista PC AVI file playback in PSE7 Organizer did not have audio playback. That issue was NEVER resolved and was part of the reason I wanted to upgrade to PSE9/PRE9 on my new Win7 PC.)

So:
- Vista PC, AVI files don't play audio within PSE7 Organizer, but plays properly in Windows Media Player.
- Win7 PC, M2T files don't play audio within PSE7 Organizer, but plays properly in Windows Media Player.

Back to the original post, the V7 catalogs open correctly on the Win7 machine using PSE7 Organizer.

Clear as mud?

- Ron

[Barb O]

Thanks for the recap.

For the failure in your V7 photo catalog to upgrade to v9, I have additional information about finding the log file for troubleshooting.

You can locate the log file inside the %temp% folder of the user account. The name of the log file is of this format - PSE-Conversion-Log_<CatalogName>.txt

For locating temp folder, the user can just follow below steps:

On Windows 7, click on Start -> Inside the search box, type in %temp% and hit Enter. Look for the PSE-Conversion-Log_<CatalogName>.txt file.

It might be that contacting Adobe tech support will be the best approach for this problem. However, for now, I suggest that you look at this log and then we can determine the next step.