Well after considerable research and some great help which is much appreciated here, I thought I would share my back up plan for the experts here to find holes I might have missed and maybe have something that sparks an idea for someone else to use.
The computer is one I have that is JUST for digital imaging and maybe some really basic word processing, but its not and never will be hooked to the internet. Part of the reason is that virus protection would slow it way down, and anything running in the background its easy to forget to turn it off. They can also sap computer performance and that I didn't want to do. I know some people use backup software, and Matt K of Kelby Training recommends this approach. The software he uses archives essentially a copy of the hard drive and its a bootable disk. I didn't go that way because its running in the background and the limited uses for this computer. It also introduces another possible way to have a problem. IF you count on the backup software and it has a problem, you are at the mercy of a company that might not even want to talk to you on the phone. I decided self reliance was a better choice for me. My workflow includes backing up anyway.
The multiple hard drives was an issue I just couldn't figure out how to practically solve. Some of the smaller hard drives were getting on up there in years anyway, and rather than try to figure out how to make them work in Lightroom it became far more practical to see that they were retained as a rebuild of last resort. I bought another USB external hard drive that is as large or a bit larger than my work drive. I can copy my entire work drive onto this drive and have everything on 2 hard drives. If one fails, the other is good to go and ready.
Windows has a bad habit of renaming drives, and that keeps Lightroom from finding them. It was a big concern going in, but Lightroom has a find files command so you can relink them. It will solve the problem of replacing a drive, or if I have to unplug it. It would be a pain, but not nearly the pain of re doing the keywords of 25,000 images. Leaving them plugged in should solve that.
Both external hard drives will have a back up of the Lightroom catalog. It looks like you can just move that folder back to the right spot in LR and use the open catalog command.
I don't put any work on the computer hard drive. It seems when a drive starts to fill it slows down. Keeping it clean I hope will keep the speed up. IF the computer fails, reload Lightroom, Photoshop and Open Office and the next one is working.
Some of my images will also be backed up on Photo Shelter for off site. Probably will not do them all, but it seems practical to do some of the most important.
Now is there any other files in Lightroom that should be backed up?? Any other ideas? Any gaps you see that will cause me grief in the future? Any thing I am totally clueless about and need to look at and learn?
Thanks again for all the help.
Mark
