....without thinking this through,

[ratssass]

...and not sure how to achieve my goal,I subscribed to Adobe's "Lightroom/Photoshop"combo.I have it installed on my pc in the office,and my laptop,here in the garage.Thinking that I could just move my external harddrive between the 2 ,to pick up where I left off,from one location to the other.It then occurred to me that the LR cat needs to be on the ext harddrive (is that correct?).I don't really care about Photoshop files,going back and forth,but wanted the flexibility of working the Lightroom files,seemlessly from one location to another.
Would all this be easier,if I just learned to set up a home network,and leave the ext HD in the office?
Thank you in advance for any thoughts....

 

[JacaRanda]

Hope this helps. How to Use Lightroom on 2 Computers and Keep the Catalogue Synchronised - Digital Photography School

 

[robbins.photo]

...and not sure how to achieve my goal,I subscribed to Adobe's "Lightroom/Photoshop"combo.I have it installed on my pc in the office,and my laptop,here in the garage.Thinking that I could just move my external harddrive between the 2 ,to pick up where I left off,from one location to the other.It then occurred to me that the LR cat needs to be on the ext harddrive (is that correct?).I don't really care about Photoshop files,going back and forth,but wanted the flexibility of working the Lightroom files,seemlessly from one location to another.
Would all this be easier,if I just learned to set up a home network,and leave the ext HD in the office?
Thank you in advance for any thoughts....

Network would be easier from the standpoint of not having to lug the drive around, but it will be slower to transfer/open files than an external HD plugged into a usb port, so it is a trade off.

Sharing a drive is pretty easy in both Windows and Mac, and not really all that tough even in Linux. Just sort of depends on what you think will benefit you the most in the long run.

 

[snowbear]

You can specify a catalog to open. If it's different than the default, then LR will reboot with the one you specify.
I found it easier, when I took my digital class, to user an external drive for both class and home. Can you just "share" the directory on the office desktop with the laptop? I do that at work to synchronize files between the laptop & desktop.

 

[ratssass]

...oh lawdy.....gettin' a headache already!Thank you all for the swift response/options.

Jack....thought ya had me at the video,untill,it presented me with yet,another 3 options lol.
Robbins...understand what your saying about trade off between ease,and transfer time.
Snowbear,I'd like to more fully understand your method,as that was kind of the original plan (kinda,sorta)

I can see,that any of these methods have there own pro's/con's....though I think that if it isn't incredibly slow,the network might be the way I at least look at,for other reasons.

thanks again,guys

 

[snowbear]

I set up "sharing" on the desktop (I don't have admin rights on the laptop) for "C:\" (both machines run Windows). I limited the accessibility to my own login.
From my laptop, I browsed the network for my desktop (we use an IT installed barcode as the network machine ID so it was pretty easy).
Created a shortcut on laptop to that particular machine ID.

When I go to sync, I just open two file manager windows - one for the laptop's "My Documents" and the other for the desktop (further browse to My Documents) and copy from one to the other. Obviously, I'm running the sync at the laptop. The nicest part is that, if I leave the desktop running, I can access it from home via VPN.

 

[JacaRanda]

I would drag the external from place to place - just as long as I didn't have to bend over, get on my hands and knees, and crawl behind a dusty desk with a mini flashlight or cell phone or match, just to find the usb port each time. That would be tough on this old man body; but really I don't want Wifey to tell me I should dust back there! 'Honey, are you talking about behind the computer, or my behind?'

 

[snowbear]

just as long as I didn't have to bend over, get on my hands and knees, and crawl behind a dusty desk with a mini flashlight or cell phone or match, just to find the usb port each time. That would be tough on this old man body;

Isn't this the reason for having kids and, I suppose, grandkids?

 

[dennybeall]

Years ago when I first started feeling old I looked around and found they make an extension cord for a USB port. I immediately bought three. Never have to crawl around again. One is on the printer cord at work so I can disconnect the printer, plug in a thumbdrive, run a quick backup and plug the printer back - all without getting out of my chair.