Lightroom won't start up.

Hi.

When I try to open Lightroom I get a message saying "The Lightroom catalogue named Lightroom Catalogue" cannot be opened because another application already has it opened.
Quit the other copy of Lightroom before trying to launch.

I'm running windows.

Any ideas

Ian

Have you tried going into Task Manager and stopping all processes related to LR? If not, give it a try but after stopping things reboot, and before starting LR, again examine Task Manger to see if something is automatically starting.

You don’t mention what version of Windows, but Ctrl+Alt+Delete will bring up a screen with Task Manager listed.

John from PA wrote in post #18948623
Have you tried going into Task Manager and stopping all processes related to LR? If not, give it a try but after stopping things reboot, and before starting LR, again examine Task Manger to see if something is automatically starting.

You don’t mention what version of Windows, but Ctrl+Alt+Delete will bring up a screen with Task Manager listed.

Hi John.

I think I'm running windows 10. There's nothing shown running in Task Manager, I just opened up PS ( which I hardly ever use ) which opened up ok. My charging cable point is playing up at present so it's shutting off randomly as the battery is almost flat, so it's re-booted several times in last hour ( think I need to get all pics etc off before it dies completely ).

Thanks,

Ian

is there a .lock file?

https://www.lightroomq​ueen.com …ng-up.33159/#post-1253083

pcs wrote in post #18948686
is there a .lock file?

https://www.lightroomq​ueen.com …ng-up.33159/#post-1253083

I've just looked in Task manager, there's no file for LR there at all. What they say makes sense though, as my Laptop is crashing due to above charging issues............

h14nha wrote in post #18948703
I've just looked in Task manager, there's no file for LR there at all. What they say makes sense though, as my Laptop is crashing due to above charging issues............

I think you need File Explorer to see if the file is present. Also, once open in File Explorer, make sure the option to view hidden files is enabled. It is also a good idea to enable the “see extensions” option and “see the full path in title bar” option.

See https://helpx.adobe.co​m …be-opened-lrcat-lock.html for some details about the error.

Hi John.

Thanks for the advice, I've had parents evening tonight, so after my last post I picked kids up from school, fed them and headed back to school, so, have had no time to try your suggestions.

I will have a look in the morning and see what I can figure out, I just wanted to let you know I appreciated your help.

@pcs thanks also for your post, all help gratefully received.

Ian.

The .lock file is not an active task, just a file. LR usually installs itself in your my pictures folder. Open that folder and there are a few LR files. One of them could be a .lock file(if as John said all files are visible and you can see the extensions). This should not be there if LR was normally closed and you should delete it. (ONLY the .lock file!)

h14nha wrote in post #18948703
I've just looked in Task manager, there's no file for LR there at all. What they say makes sense though, as my Laptop is crashing due to above charging issues............

It is not in Task manager... it is is the folder that your catalog is in. When you open a catalog and start editing LR writes to the file constantly. To prevent problems due to other programs editing the catalog file it locks it using the file "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat.lock". When you close LR it deletes that file and unlocks the catalog.

If LR closed unexpectedly (computer crashed) the lock file doesn't get deleted and the file is still locked so LR wont open. If you go to the folder and delete the lock file (NOT THE .LRCAT FILE !!) it LR will be able to access the catalog again.

John from PA wrote in post #18948714
I think you need File Explorer to see if the file is present. Also, once open in File Explorer, make sure the option to view hidden files is enabled. It is also a good idea to enable the “see extensions” option and “see the full path in title bar” option.

See https://helpx.adobe.co​m …be-opened-lrcat-lock.html for some details about the error.

pcs wrote in post #18949045
The .lock file is not an active task, just a file. LR usually installs itself in your my pictures folder. Open that folder and there are a few LR files. One of them could be a .lock file(if as John said all files are visible and you can see the extensions). This should not be there if LR was normally closed and you should delete it. (ONLY the .lock file!)

Dan Marchant wrote in post #18949163
It is not in Task manager... it is is the folder that your catalog is in. When you open a catalog and start editing LR writes to the file constantly. To prevent problems due to other programs editing the catalog file it locks it using the file "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat.lock". When you close LR it deletes that file and unlocks the catalog.

If LR closed unexpectedly (computer crashed) the lock file doesn't get deleted and the file is still locked so LR wont open. If you go to the folder and delete the lock file (NOT THE .LRCAT FILE !!) it LR will be able to access the catalog again.

Thanks all, the link John gave solved my problem. I appreciate all your inputs, that's what make this forum great.

Ian