Restore Picasa people tags

Question

I have loaded Windows 7 to my laptop. Before doing this I backed up all my pictures using the Picasa backup utility. I then ran a restore on the clean Windows 7 install. I then installed Picasa 3.5 and none of the people tags showed up.

I then went and deleted what I thought was the Picasa DB and then tried running the restore again. Now each folder shows up twice in Picasa but only once under the Windows Pictures folder.

How do I get rid of the duplicates in Picasa and get my people tags back?

Solution

Since you are so early in the process, I would probably opt for re-doing the restoration rather than trying to "fix" the duplicates. Just to avoid any potential side effects.

I found this "list of common questions" about backing up and restoring name tags here:

How to Back up Name Tags and copy to an another compter

Thanks for trying out Picasa 3.5 and thank you for your posts! We've put together this list of common questions on the topics you've addressed that we hope will be helpful to you.

Q: Is face tag data stored in the photo itself?

A: We currently do not store face tag data directly inside the photo but this is functionality that we hope to have in the future.

Q: Since my face tag data is not stored in the photo itself, where is my face tags data stored?

A: Face tag data is stored in the Picasa database and also in the .picasa.ini file in the folder where your tagged photo sits. To see the location of the photo on your hard drive and the .ini file where the information is stored, right click the photo and select "Locate on Disk".

Q: How do I transfer my face tags from one computer to another?

A: There are a few different ways to transfer your face tags:

1) You can perform a Backup of your photos and restore them on your new computer. This process will preserve your face tags. ("Tools" > "Backup Pictures") 2) You can copy your files and the .picasa.ini file from your hard drive to the new destination 3) Upload your face tag albums to Picasa Web Albums and download the album to the new destination

Comments

[Paul]

Do I need to remove Picasa before I restore again?

[Paul]

Where are the picasa DB files located?

[Robert Cartaino]

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Picasa2 (?), if memory serves. I don't have Picasa installed at the moment. I just reinstalled my OS.