XnView Software

Hi,
I had my XnView.db and Thumb.db in an iMac, and all the images where located in an external drive.

I wanted to move the database to a PC with Windows 11, so as I read in one of the forums, I did a backup copy of both .db files.

I then connected the external drive to the PC, installed XnView in this Windows computer, and replaced the .db files with the backup copies I brought from the iMac.

I can see the categories I was using in the original catalog, with the number of images in each in between brackets, but when I filter by any of these categories, I get back thumbnails with no image. And if I double click them, nothing happens. I believe xnview is trying to find the images in the path to the external drive that I had in the iMac, which is different to the path it has in the PC. Does this make sense? Is there a way that I can redirect the path to the correct one?

See screenshot attached.

Many thanks,
Marcos

the problem is that the path on your MacOS and your Windows is not the same, or do you use a 'base path'?

Hi Pierre,

Thanks for your reply. Not sure how a base path works and how to set it up. I do not recall doing anything other than backing up the .db files, and assuming that when I copied them into the correct location in the new PC, it would work...

Nonetheless, I have discovered that if I manually change the paths in Tools> Settings>Catalog (image 1) then the thumbnails start to re appear. So what I am doing is identifying the missing paths from the thumbnails and then relocating it through settings. I believe this is fixing the problem. If there is an article explaining what a base path is and how to use it, please let me know because I wouldn't have to go through this when I change the PC again.

Thanks!

Marcos

mcasiraghi wrote: Tue Apr 22, 2025 10:17 am Nonetheless, I have discovered that if I manually change the paths in Tools> Settings>Catalog (image 1) then the thumbnails start to re appear.
xnview Screenshot

you can send me the xnview.db, and i'll make the relocate...

If there is an article explaining what a base path is and how to use it, please let me know because I wouldn't have to go through this when I change the PC again.

For example, if on the Windows you use 'e:\datas\Photos Backup', and on MacOS '/Volumes/WD 4TB/Photos Backup'
You can set the 'base path' on Windows to 'e:/datas/' and on MacOS '/Volumes/WD 4TB/' and all your files will be stored in catalog as '@/Photos Backup/*', so you can use same catalog on Windows and MacOS.

But currently you have absolute pathname in the catalog, so it's needed to change it.

Thanks, Pierre.

I will correct the base path so that in the future I need to migrate again, I will not run into the same problems.

And let me try do it manually, it serves as a learning lesson for me, and also, I can clean up things a little bit.

Thanks again.