Can I import from ACDSee 4.0 to IRFANVIEW ?

[Oniro]

Shall I lose all my photos if I delete the application storing them? Can I import from ACDSee 4.0 to IRFANVIEW ?

I have installed in my XP an VERY old ACDSee 4.0 (is an editor and storage program) from 2001, which today results totally anachronic. I have not deleted the whole thing because I have so many photos saved in it, and I am affraid that when I delete the Program I will lose all the stuff I have kept along the years. I want to install IRFANVIEW

For most of you this might be a silly question, but I am honestly very ignorant on computer matters. Could you please tell me how can I eliminate the ACDSee Program still in my PC, making sure my stock of pictures is saved ?

Thank you guys for your insights,

Oniro

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

ACDSee is basically a catalogue of your photos. If you delete the program you delete the catalogue index and thumbnails, but not the pictures themselves.

If you value your image collection, you should anyway keep a back up copy on a CD or external drive. Computers are temperamental things, and user error can quickly erase thousands of files even if your hard drive never fails until you buy a new computer.

IrfanView doesn't save catalogues or thumbnails, but generates thumbnails each time you browse a folder. Its so fast that this is not normally a problem unless the images are very large or very many in one folder.

[Oniro]

Thank you so much for your quick answer !.

Now I will be very grateful if you tell me how can I transfer or back-up the whole ACDSee to an external HD ?

How could I import FIRST to IRFANVIEW, previous to the transfer, all the photos I have stored at ACDSee ? Is it possible ?

Indeed my level of computer skill is very precarious.

Thanks a lot again.

Oniro

[WellOiledPC]

Welcome to the Forum, Oniro.

You do not need to import any pictures into IrfanView - just take a back-up of all your images, run IrfanView and open them in it!

You may also install ACDSee onto your External HDD, if you have or download its Setup file.

Trust this helps

[matera]

Your pictures are somewhere in a folder called "My Pictures". Never mind ACDsee. It doesn't own the pictures, only its own database. IrfanView can't use that. It doesn't use a database, doesn't make fake albums. It only views the actual pics.

Please, do yourself a favor and get aquainted with your file system instead of letting a program "manage" things for you and keep you ignorant of where the files really are. Find the MyPictures folder in Windows Explorer (My Computer). Its true location is:
C:\Documents and Settings\(your personal profile)\My Documents\My Pictures

Well, more or less. Microsoft makes it confusing, IMO. But Windows will get you there one way or another.

Uninstalling ACDsee will NOT remove any pictures. You will probably find that they are not arranged the way you thought they were. If you used some kind of notation feature, notes will not be available. That is the problem with programs like that. They keep all their secrets to themselves. Anything you do that only that program can do, only that program can read, dies with it. But the pictures remain the same. IrfanView only deals with the actual images, it doesn't pretend to organize them for you. It lets you stay in control.

[Oniro]

Thank you very much for your thoughtful answer dear Matera.!!!

I will do it as you said because of the reassurance feeling you communicate. Should I have a surprise I will come again to the forum.

All the very best,


Oniro

Thanks also to WellOiledPC for his-her suggestion which basically is complementary to the previous ones.