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Rebuilding Your Picasa2 Database - If Yours Doesn't Look Right


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Okay, you guys... If you have accidentally gotten your Picasa2 into a mess, let me teach you a trick I found that will allow you to rebuild the database so it is clean - with the stuff YOU want in it. You can also speed Picasa2 up if you do it right.

 

 

- Close Picasa

 

- Open Windows Explorer, ensure it is set to view hidden folders:

tools > folder options > view, check "show hidden..."

 

- Navigate to the following folder:

Vista: C:\Users\<myaccount>\AppData\Local\Google

XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<myaccount>Local Settings\application data\google

 

- Create a holding folder inside of this location, call it "temp"

 

- Drag the folder named Picasa2 to temp to save it and hid it from Picasa2

 

- Right-click on your folder named Picasa2Albums and choose "Copy" from the pop-up menu. Then paste it into the "temp" folder you just created. This will backup your current database - just in case.

 

- Leave the original Picasa2Albums folder in the main Google folder.

 

- Start Picasa2.

 

- Select one of the scan options when asked, click

continue.

 

- Go immediately to Tools > Folder manager and change the folders Picasa2 is watching. This is when you will choose which folders you want Picasa2 to watch for changes. Take out all of the files EVERYWHERE - that you don't want Picasa2 to watch. You'll see how to do it once you are in there. It's easy. Taking the non-photo and video folders out of Picasa2 will speed it up. You can take out your folders where you have duplicate images, if you want. (But really... I would recommend you back those duplicates up and get them off of your computer altogether. They are just wasting space!)

 

- Go to Tools>Options>File Types and select the file types you want Picasa2 to watch. The .PNG files will end up looking kind of weird - it is something that Google is going to have to fix - but you might want to consider using it if you want Picasa2 to help you find things. It's nice for using its search engine to find things everything from a collection, etc. Picasa2's search engine is FAST!

 

Once you drag the item into your software (like Photoshop Elements), it looks fine. Picasa2 doesn't wreck it or anything. It just pixelates them in the viewer. I'm sure that is why PNG files aren't chosen as a default option. Google knows they have to fix it.

 

Picasa will proceed to rebuild your data base. If you wish to restore your old data base, simply close Picasa, delete the newly created Picasa2 and Picasa2Albums folders and replace them with the foldersyou moved to "temp".

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Oh - I wanted to tell you something about this... The week before I went on vacation, I spent two days cleaning up my computer of these multiple copies of things that Picasa2 had revealed to me. (It shows you how messy your "drawers" are basically...)

 

It also helped me find things that I completely forgot I had.

 

Anyway, I just did as I recommended to you above. It is the second time I have rebuilt the database. Because I went through and took out all of those extra folders, it is zooming through all of my drives (four of them plus an EHD) FAST. And everything is so pretty and clean. It's wonderful.

 

Now THIS is going to be truly usable.

 

So if Picasa2 discloses that your computer is messy, it is worth cleaning it up and then rebuilding the database as I've shown. You'll be so happy!!!

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I have a question, when I go in to Picassa and want to remove everything but my scrapbooking stuff, is it okay to just delete it from inside Picassa? Will it delete it from my computer itself? And if I want to clean stuff out of my computer that Picassa found if I click on the folder in Picassa will it take me to that folder on my hard drive? I hope these make sense !!!

 

Yikes I clicked on a folder in Picassa and it opened up 3 Folders all of the same stuff! If I only want that folder in Picassa and on my EHD, what do I do? How do I do that? I think I'm making this harder than it needs to be ! lol

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Okay, so MaryJo.... Follow these directions. If you happen to have the OLD Picasa on your computer, uninstall in and install Picasa2 instead. If you have Picasa2, follow these directions I have given you and then tell Picasa to only look at the folders you want it to look at.

 

Don't try to delete things out of Picasa. It sounds like you might accidentally have a mess going on. But then you may just need to experiment with the views. Go to View>Folder View and experiment with the options there. You may be looking at a view that is confusing you. I use the Tree View because it is the same set up as my computer's folder system.

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Today I noticed that not all of my Embellishment files are shown in Picasa. Yes, I have made sure the right folders are being watched. Yes, I have all of the correct file extensions turned on. For example, I have the AYO: Beads collection by Melissa Renfro. Picasa only shows me 5 of the beads and some of the strings inside the folder that I KNOW has many more on the OS file. I also noticed the Brads from my Fruit Smoothie Collection are missing. I was wondering if these missing files are "too small" for Picasa. Most of the beads are under 60 Kb, and the brads I was looking for are only 8 Kb. Anyone else have this problem?

 

I'm so glad to be a part of this message board. I've learned so much, and I've only been here a couple months! Thanks!

 

Suzy

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OH hey... me two with the AYO Beads. Yeah... maybe it is a file size issue.

 

But you know what? I like browsing the actual embellishment folders themselves - I like seeing the PNGs in their pure state, so I think I'm going to do that. Maybe I'll get rid of the PNG files altogether...

 

NEVER MIND!!! I found them...

Go to View and make sure that the Small Pictures option is selected. That unhides them.

 

Try that and see if it works for you!

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Oh Wow Thanks Ro, What I did was use the "Tree View" and "Sort by Name" and its just like looking into my folders !! Except its bigger and better, I think I can get the hang of this after all!!!

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Ro,

Are you using Picasa for your photos AND your scrapbook stuff? I tried that and couldn't figure out how to keep them all separate. Meaning, when I use the sort by date for my photos, then my supplies get all jumbled. and when I sort by name for the supplies then my photos get jumbled.

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NEVER MIND!!! I found them...

Go to View and make sure that the Small Pictures option is selected. That unhides them.

 

Try that and see if it works for you!

 

 

 

 

Ro, thanks so much!!!! You are really good at playing around with software! (This is something to add to your tutorial. He He) :o)

 

Suzy

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Hey Jennifer,

 

It would be the view you're using. If you will go to View>Folder View, you'll see that you have a lot of options. You can sort them in almost every imaginable way. I use Tree View because then things come up in the same order I expect them to when I browse my computer.

 

But then, if you sort by alpha, date, etc., it will sort the files WITHIN the folders... but your Tree View folders will remain the same.

 

My FAV thing is the way it displays the backgrounds (papers) and the photos. I can pick out things so easily and fast... and hold them down in that bin while I'm deciding. It's awesome!

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  • 4 months later...

Ok, I'm hoping that you all can help me with a problem I've recently been having with Picasa 3. Maybe I should start a new topic, but this one applies, so I'll try here first. I have been happily using Picasa 3 since it came out. It has revolutionized my scrapping. Love it!!

 

However, I noticed that after I did some organizing of supplies on my hard drive, meaning I moved some things around, put them in the right folders as in Ro's organizing system, Picasa started not recognizing some of my files. I realize that they are there on my hard drive, they are not gone, but Picasa is not "seeing" them. Picasa was "seeing" them before.

 

I have searchd Picasa Help, etc. and I have done all that they suggest, like making sure the folders aren't hidden, small files are being viewed, etc., etc. I have even rebuilt the database, and it is still not "viewing" some files. For example, I have thousands of background papers and it is only seeing a few in each color folder!

 

Does anybody (hopefully Ro will see this :D ) have any ideas as to what the problem may be? I know there are a few Picasa users out there.

 

Both of these are recent problems. I have used Picasa 3 w/o incident until now.

 

On a related note, but not as important, I've noticed that it is slow in picking up new files. It's like it picks up a bunch and then suddenly stops. Then doesn't start looking for them again until I close Picasa and reopen. Any ideas?

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