Computer help forum: Lost Photos

Sorry.....you are dealing with someone who is not very mac/computer savvy. I was not aware of time machine and it had not been set up. I also did not know that you should copy before trying to transfer anything. I "think" that I have located the lost photos. I searched under a clock icon for "today" and found the same number of files as lost photos. Each one reads "photo.####ipmeta".......the ####being a different number. I cannot open them and I cannot move them anywhere. They are in a format that is not recognized. I appreciate your help. All I can say is "duh" on my part. If I lose these pictures it will be such a loss and a lesson I won't soon forget. All along, I have heard that I should back up all my photos anyway in case they get lost in a computer failure. I will take care of that, but in the meantime, I sure wish I could find those 111 lost photos. Again, thanks!!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2122954?start=0&tstart=0 explains what these files are and how to rebuild the index in iPhoto.

Also they cover getting photos recovered from the media card.
Bob

Tomorrow I will back up my files and then use the rebuild photo library function on iphoto. Hopefully that will find those photos. Since they are not in the trash, I am guessing that they have to be "somewhere." What a hard lesson to learn. I appreciate your help again!

I am not as experienced as Bob or Klees, but I have had my share of problems that usually they have helped me with.

Try right clicking on one of the photo files that you can't open and then click properties. At the bottom it will say "Hidden". If that is checked try unchecking it and see if you can view your photo. If you can then likely all of your photos are "hidden". Just a thought.

I am pretty sure that I have located the lost photos. I searched under a clock icon for "yesterday" and found the same number of files as lost photos. Each one reads "photo.####ipmeta".......the ####being a different number for each of the photos. I cannot open them and I cannot move them anywhere. They are in a format that is not recognized. When I did as you suggested, properties is not one of the options that comes up. I know that the photos are there somewhere and that they are not in the trash. I have been reading and come up with dozens of suggestions, most of which involve buying a product. I may have to give in and call apple support. Thanks again for your offer of help.

When I got "info" on one of these lost photos this is what I found......../Users/flyer48/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Metadata Backup/Albums......anyone have any idea if I can access that and, if so, where? As always, thanks so much!!

Try copying that path, then paste it into the address bar at the top of the page. Hit enter and see what you get.

As Bob already said "metadata" doesn't sound like "picture". So I'm really afraid they are gone.

Kees

each one of these has a different number and they equal the number of photos that disappeared. 111 to be exact. So, that is why I assumed that they were the photos. They are not in the trash, so they have to be "somewhere".......don't they?

Why not have a look at those files to see if they are pictures in stead of just assuming. Things like:
- how big they are (filesize)?
- what's the filetype?
- can you open them in your picture viewer?

Moving an item from the hard disk to a USB-stick does NOT move it to the trash, but still removes them from the hard disk.

Kees

When I click on what I think are these photos and then click on Info, this is what I get.....

Info
General:
Kind: iPhotoSpotlightDoc
Size: 4KB ondisk(582bytes)
Where: /Users?flyer48?Pictures/iPhotoLibrary/MetadataBackup/Albums
Created: Sunday, Dec 16, 2012, 10:33pm

That is the time that I "lost" the 111 photos which matches the number of these items. I, unfortunately, cannot open them in iphoto (am guessing that is what you mean by picture viewer).

You are very kind to share your time. This kind of thing would make me crazy. I just have to be patient and have faith that they can be recovered. Thanks again and have a nice evening!