I “believe” the backup/restore process as you describe it will work. I do not think you want to or need to do the command to write the tags to the image files. As you probably know there are disadvantages to do this, as discussed in several forums.

That being said, what I would do is make a small test catalog, add some tags, slide shows etc and try it.

Don

Thanks for a very interesting article. I have a question I hope you can help me with.

I am using a dedicated backup program to back up all important data on my computer (including my images). Therefore I am not interested in using the build in backup function in Elements.

Will the following method work: Backup the catalog file and the images (using my own backup program), format my computer, install the latest version of Elements, copy the catalog file to the Adobe catalog folder under My Documents and copy the images to the same location on the computer again.
Will that work and will all the tags, collections-tags etc. work?
Do I need to use the command “Write tags and properties info to photo” before the backup to make it work, or is this not necessary?

Thanks

Martin
Denmark

I assume you also ran the Repair Catalog command under File > Catalog. Even if the analysis comes back saying no errors found, go ahead and run it anyway.

What does the error message say when you try the backup command? If it has an error number, what is that? Are you trying to backup to an external hard drive or CD/DVD?

Any help appreciated.